Tuesday, July 17, 2012

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #35 Lance & Lorie From THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

COUPLE: Lance Prentiss & Lauralee (Lorie) Brooks
SHOW: THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
RANK: 35
PLAYED BY:
Lance: John McCook, Dennis Cole
Lorie: Jaime Lyn Bauer
YEARS: 1976-1982

STORY:
Lance originally was interested in Leslie Brooks (Janice Lynde, later Victoria Mallory) but soon became involved with her sister, Lorie.  Lance was the debonair owner or Prentiss Industries who was able to romance Lorie in grand style.  When she visited his home, there was mystery in the air as some parts were off limits.  It was later revealed that Lance's mother, Vanessa, lived there with him.  If we were ranking soap opera "Mothers From Hell" Vanessa would be near the top.  She was spooky, wore a veil, and did not want Lorie with her son.  She spent years trying to keep them apart eventually jumping to her death leaving Lorie to stand trial for her "murder".  Lance and Lorie were married in 1978.  Soon after, Lance's brother, Lucas, came to town and began to stir up trouble.  Lance and Lorie were married again after both characters had left town (Lorie revealed this at Victor and Nikki's 1984 wedding).

IMPACT:
Lance and Lorie were sexy, smart and sophisticated.   They were the most popular couple on Y&R at a time when its share of the audience was still growing (it was around 34% at the time McCook left the role of Lance in 1980, the highest of any daytime soap some months).   Lance/Lorie/Leslie/Lucas drove story for years with back and forth twists and turns.  John McCook was named Most Exciting New Actor by the Soap Awards in 1977.    Lance & Lorie graced the covers of magazines, won fan polls and helped bring new viewers to the show.  People magazine dubbed Y&R "The Hot and the Horny" during this time in a feature about Bauer, who became a star of Daytime TV and beyond.

McCook became part of the original BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL cast in 1987 and has played Eric Forrester ever since.  In a confusing twist for Lance & Lorie fans, McCook has crossed over to Y&R as Eric.

The second Lance, Dennis Cole, died in 2009 at age 69.

CLASSIC CLIPS:
Random clips of Lance and (mostly) Lorie from over the years including a 1994 reunion of Bauer & McCook

Share your thoughts on Lance and Lorie in our Comments section below or on our message board.

RELATED:
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actors: The Complete List
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actresses: The Complete List
- THE COMPLETE LIST: 25 Biggest Blunders In Daytime Soap Opera History

5 comments:

  1. Just adding that -- In Lorie's 2002 return, we learned that at some point in time she'd married and was in the process of divorcing "the kitchen cabinet magnate of the Midwest," Maxwell Hollister (played by Sam Behrens). So whatever had transpired with Lorie and Lance off-camera was now over.

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  2. Fox, that never happened in my world. And Jill is still a Foster. ;)

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  3. Roger, I know. Ain't that sad? I'm sure that can be easily explained away by Ma Foster's brain tumor talking - and of course, she's not really dead either. :(

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  4. I hear ya, Roger, this was my couple of the '70s, being in high school and loving the fun, humor and the sexuality was rocking between those two actors!

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  5. John & Jaime Were Rocking As Lance & Lorie--Yay!

    Brian :-)

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