‘Young and the Restless’: Peter Bergman Explains Why New Abbott Mansion Is ‘Shot in the Arm’ to Jack and Diane’s Marriage

In the Friday, April 25, episode of The Young and the Restless, Jack Abbott, played by three-time Daytime Emmy-winner Peter Bergman, and his son, Kyle, played by Michael Mealor, got their first full look at the new Abbott digs.

The redo of the long-running Abbott mansion was talked about for quite some time. Diane Jenkins Abbott (Susan Walters) is not only an architect, but she’s been looking for a way to show her husband Jack that he was right to trust her with his lifelong residence. To that end, she redid the family home, keeping the set’s “old money” look while also modernizing it a bit.

TV Insider chatted with Bergman about the set and the identity of a person in one of the photos who is incredibly near and dear to him in real-life.

The Abbott mansion was one of the few sets in all of soaps that hadn’t undergone a facelift of some kind

Peter Bergman: You are absolutely right there. It is the one set that never changed. I had a hand in that. There has been talk of changing it along the way. Someone would say, “Maybe the set needs a little change?” I’d jump in and say, “No, there is history here.” This is literally the set I auditioned for except for a few tchotchkes. We had a celebration of Ashley [Eileen Davidson] and Traci [Beth Maitland being on for] 35 years a while back in the Abbott family home set.

The Abbotts haven’t splurged on new furniture over the years – even though they can afford doing just that.

My argument has always been that the Abbotts are “old money.” Yes, there’s a certain snobbery to that, but there’s also a truth to it. Old money doesn’t go shopping for furniture. Old money inherits furniture. Jack looks around the room and sees the breakfront from Aunt Edith’s home. He’ll see his great grandmother’s settee. These things are of such value. This time, [the show] got serious about doing a change and making it a permanent set on Stage 43. It won’t get moved out. I love knowing the Abbott living room will be standing all the time.

More than that, they wanted my input. I said, “Just remember – old money.” Jack doesn’t look at a fabulous mid-century modern and think, “Ah, this is home.” He has an appreciation for an old family home. I think the audience takes comfort in that.

When I get to work, I walk into my dressing room and the second thing I do is I find out what I’m wearing. I use my costume to become Jack. People at the show have always joked that I come to dry blocking completely dressed in my wardrobe. I want all the equipment I have to help me be Jack. That includes the set. He hasn’t lived anywhere else – at least that I can remember.

From the photos we’ve seen, it looks both the same and different

Yes. You’ll recognize the set immediately. It still has the same shape, the staircase is in the back, and the dining room is off to the left [after you walk in]. Some of the furnishings and the wallpaper are different. It’s literally the same shape. Otherwise, they went to great lengths to make sure it looked the same to [chuckles] Peter Bergman and to the audience.

Viewers were prepared for this. There was talk for weeks about Diane re-doing the house.

Making a story out of this was something I also had a hand in. I was invited to the set designers’ [office] and the prop department. They knew it meant a lot to me. I was very flattered and grateful. Josh [Griffith, head writer/executive producer] said, “Any thoughts on what we want to do with this story-wise?” I said, “This is a golden opportunity for Diane to prove herself to Jack again and for Jack to show his colors about not wanting things to change.” After months of talking about it, the audience was just as surprised as Jack was. Both Jack and, I hope, the audience were both pleased with the way it looked.

Sets can be new and still partially the same in some ways.

I think the show learned a very valuable lesson in rebuilding the Newman Ranch. It has the same basic shape — the sunroom, the living room, the bar area…they moved the entrance, of course. But I think they learned something from that. There was some comfort for the audience seeing [the old set come back].

The front door has not changed at all. It’s the same glass door with the metal grill and will ever be thus. The metal grill hides just enough of who’s on the other side. I was so incredibly flattered with the care they took. There are a number of photos of family members in the Abbott living room. Ashley and Traci together. John [Abbott, played by the late Jerry Douglas] with his children. Diane with Jack, Harrison [Redding Munsell], and Kyle. There’s a very sweet picture of Kyle as a baby, a 10-month-old.

Is it really of Michael Mealor…or one of the child actors who played Kyle?  

The little 10-month-old in the photo is actually my grandson, Fred. It was so sweet that Justine [Mercado, set decorator] came to me and said, “Hey, we don’t have enough baby pictures in there as there would be in a home. Would you like to have one of Fred in there?” If someone says, “Hey, that’s Harrison… Well, that’s okay, too.”

The remodel was important to Jack – and to Diane, too, but for different reasons.

Story-wise, the next step is Diane waiting for Jack’s approval. It’s clear that Diane really cares what the family thinks about this. She really cares. That ended up being a very interesting chapter in Diane’s development on the show. She’s proved herself to Jack and to Kyle. There’s the rest of the family’s response, too. It’s an interesting turn. It has opened the door to her asking, “Who am I in this Abbott family?” in a very interesting way. A lot of thought went into this.

Diane’s past as an architect makes her taking on this project very organic.

It’s quite organic. It becomes clear that there are things in the house that were very well thought out in terms of Jack feeling he’s surrounded by family. There are pieces throughout the house that show he didn’t just go to a furniture store.

It can be quite jarring to viewers when sets are changed without any story reference on-air.

We don’t talk about sets enough. There are power seats in sets. Actors rely on these things. The art department really outdid itself. Also, the house means something different to Billy [Jason Thompson] than it does to Jack. The audience gets to see that. This isn’t just a house to these people. Billy, of the four Abbott children, spent the least amount of time in the house. He needs an anchor in there. This redo of the Abbott mansion is a shot in the arm for Jack and Diane’s marriage. It’s a reminder that he married a very special woman.

The Young and the Restless, Weekdays, CBS