The Young and the Restless Writer's Thread/Index

[Paul Raven]

In a bio Enid Powell lists Y&R from 83-94. She was in her 50's when she joined Y&R staff and was Chicago based.

[will81]

She is defintely there post 1984 as she is credited 10 times in the 1986 end credits. Pretty sure I saw a 1985 one as well. Also pretty sure she was one of the few credited in 1988 with Eric L. Roberts

Edited May 21, 2020 by will81

[soapfan770]

 

Technically speaking the position was called “Senior EP” and he held it till the day he passed away.

[mikelyons]

Joshua S. McCaffrey was a former Y&R intern who became a script writer for Y&R in 1997. He left the show in 2007 (LML fired him) and went to B&B. However, Brad became fixated on him and fired him for no good reason. I don't think Joshua has written for daytime since being sacked from B&B.

 

Natalie Minardi Slater was a former Y&R intern as well and she became a script writer and breakdown writer (1998-Present). Before Jack Smith was elevated to head writer, many suspected Minardi Slater was being groomed by Alden to eventually become Y&R's head writer. 

 

With the additions of Minardi Slater and McCaffrey in 1997-8, it seems Alden was building out a younger subset of the writing team to coincide with the transition from Bell's era to hers. 

It's amazing how many soap people from the 70s came out of children's television. I wonder why that was a thing...

[Khan]

IIRC, William J. Asher is Elizabeth Montgomery's ("Bewitched") son by William Asher.

[mikelyons]

This is from 1988. Smith states that he and Kay Alden are head writing Y&R. Could it be that after B&B launched, Bill Bell let Alden & Smith execute his vision while he was busy getting B&B up and running? We know that Smith wrote Y&R and B&B at the same time during this period. It seems Smith went to B&B full-time after Bell came back to Y&R and B&B was "settled". Conjecture, of course, but any insight is ALWAYS welcome. 

[will81]

Bell stated in interviews that he handed over writing duties more and more and stepped back from the show as the years went on. I'd suggest even before B&B, after Y&R had regained its own momentum, Bell pulled back more, and maybe that's why he felt he could do B&B (or Rags as it was to be known). I have an article from 1987 that states Bell and Lee Phillip rented a hotel room in Dec 1985 and began putting ideas together for the new show. By this point Y&R was on much more solid footing, and would begin hitting #1 again periodically.

 

I do think he turned over the heavy lifting to Alden and Smith. Alden is credited as a Head Writer in newspaper interviews as early as 1980 (I assume Associate Head Writer) and every interview/article on her from that point on refers to her as a Head Writer of the show. Bell once said Alden's scripts are so similar to his in style and structure that he could barely tell the difference between one of his and one of hers. 

 

I'd suggest possibly from 1980 (just a guess) he may have stopped writing the show and focused on outlines only, which was why he promoted Alden. Bell hated the 1 hr format and didn't want to write a 1 hr show. Makes sense he would hand it off more to Alden, since she was a clone in terms of scripting.

[cassadine1991]

Wish they gave Sussman/Alden more of a chance 

[Aback]

 

I agree.

 

Thanks for the info about Sherman! I loved reading about him. The legal aspect of each storyline was always so intriguing.

[Paul Raven]

Ep # 1051

Airdate Wed May 18 1977 

Written by 

William J Bell

Kay Alden

Elizabeth Harrower

 

 

[titan1978]

I have questions.  I know from the credits and other sources Kay was very involved, a co-hw ( or Associate HW) for a long time.

 

My question is for those that assume

Bell was more hands off far earlier than before- I really do not see it.  Maybe for periods of time.  But when she was solo things were in the “Bell” style, but she and the team did have a different flavor, pace, and at times tone.  The difference between his last year and then her first year solo are not that great as the couple of years before that, when the show was sometimes in a drought, and had gotten kind of bland.

 

I also know from that interview with Bell and Labine, he talks about how important Alden was and is.  A shared consciousness about the show.  He doesn’t mention anyone else at the show but her by name.  And he says he doesn’t write long term bibles.

 

What I think is very possible, is that he put his polish on everything, even if they were actually generating the plots at certain periods of time.  He probably tweaked everything. Because even when she was solo it had a different feel without him.

[DaytimeFan]

 

I think that's the most plausible scenario - he polished everything but left the overall writing work to Alden. 

 

It's interesting to see Meg Bennett listed as an EP in that list above. 

[will81]

Chicago Tribune interview with Bill Bell - Oct 14, 1973 @Paul Raven Bell very briefly mentions the writers strike. It is a longish interview

 

 

Please register in order to view this content

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for posting. Yikes at that Brad/Leslie scene of him telling her she could lose a few pounds. Wonder how Janice Lynde felt about that?

[will81]

Yeah I was quite surprised by it too. I am betting Janice was her usual outspoken self, haha. I can't imagine her keeping quiet about something like that