Chris B

If this is true give us soaps streaming. Even if you start with Port Charles or Passions which could appeal to younger viewers. Give us something lol.

This show is killing me. I’m still in 1971 trying to finish the year out. I’m at the end of October as Steve being jailed for Dan’s death is the main storyline. I understand now why Harding Lemay hated court stories. We all know Dan killed himself and that Steve didn’t do it and we know he’s the father of Carolee’s baby. There is nothing to look forward to and no dramatic potential that justifies this going on for the next two months. Not to mention that she’s been pregnant for a year. It truly amazes me the Pollocks brought such success and critical acclaim because their first has done nothing but put me to sleep. Endless flashbacks, uninteresting stories (like Maggie’s illness) and most of the characters are wasted. I’m happy Karen is back but she isn’t doing anything interesting either. Is 1972 a more interesting year for them?

She needs to do her own research and watch the season 4 reunion and see how that all backfired on those girls. Hell, She was there for season five and doesn’t remember how loved Pump was? She’s an idiot lol.

They wouldn’t have allowed if she would miss the reunion. There’s still plenty of time to stay until the final day of Big Brother and film a reunion if there’s a full season as usual.

I’m glad it’s over too. I personally hope there’s a tiny shakeup next season. Quad needs to go for sure and I’d consider dumping Contessa if casting is good enough. I wonder when when they’ll premiere Married To Med LA. I know it finished filming ages ago. I wonder if they’ll get the same horrible treatment as Houston.

ATL did what needed to be done tonight! MARLO AND THOSE BAGS HAD ME ON THE FLOOR! Of all the people to lose their luggage for it to happen to the most vain and label obsessed one was iconic. She was sick and it gave me life lol. We we had a good amount of shade and fun moments so far. Shamari could’ve stayed in Atlanta because it felt like she wasn’t even there. The tour guide had more of a presence than she did. Loved Porsha’s pregnancy announcement and of course the fight with Tanya and Nene was great! As usual, Nene makes it hard to support her because she’s so unwilling to bend when a friend is upset or feels slighted. Eva’s news was very sad and I liked seeing her go to Kandi who had a unique and uplifting perspective IMO. She was the right one to go to. I wonded how how many episodes are left. It feels like they just started.

I’m currently in the August 1980 episodes and at this point Cecile is a main character. IIRC two actresses played her. I know she became incredibly popular when the second actress was in the role, but the original was excellent! She’s one of my favorite parts of these episodes. Considering how well liked the recast was I can’t wait to see her. Right now the story is that Pat is an alcoholic and has taken a break from her job at Brava and ace Ike has taken her job and is doing all sorts of manipulations. This is the first new story I’ve taken to mainly because of the two actresses. Of course I still love anything with Rachel, Mac or Ada. A lot of the male characters are nondescript. There’s a rich female character who keeps interfering with Rachel and Mac’s lives and she seems like a clear Iris replacement. Not nearly as smart or as interesting of course.

I was no Jennifer fan but I have to agree she just slaughtered Marge. I don’t agree with her beef with Jackie, but Marge was being a total hypocrite.

@DramatistDreamer That’s very true. Their stupid decisions is why Another World tanked in the 80s and also what killed Search For Tomorrow and Edge. They could’ve built an empire if they were smart. Hell, even with Hallmark they could be doing ATWT and GL movies but instead we get nothing. I still don’t get why they stopped the Hulu deal.

Have y’all heard this Kay Alden interview: https://m.soundcloud.com/casey-hutchison-450535820/kay-alden-interview Its a damn shame the interview was handled by someone who seemed to lack knowledge of the show and basic interview skills. Particularly when they go into the most recent stint she started to get into interesting things but there would be dead air and he’d go back to his question that had no relation to what she was saying. No follow up. She mentioned how the Tessa/Mariah didn’t work out when they were writing it. My question is why? Was it network interference? Instead they follow up with what her story plans for JT’s return, something that had absolutely nothing to do with her. Something interesting is that when asked if she or Sally would return, she wouldn’t go into details but she pretty clearly said they wouldn’t ask either to come back. Not so much they wouldn’t return, but they knew they wouldn’t be asked. It makes me so interested to hear about the type of network interference they must’ve gone through. For most soap writers that would be normal, but for Kay working under Bill Bell I can imagine how that would be jarring.

Okay so the ATL ladies are finally headed to Tokyo. Bravo released an extended clip of Tanya and Nene fighting and she held her own. This is the most stupid feud they could possibly have. Nene’s jealous side is back once again. Smh. I never expected this to be who Tanya was fighting with. All in all I’ve found the past couple episodes to be fun. This season isn’t the most OMG in terms of drama, but I think a good transitional season we just aren’t used to since ATL rarely has new wives. I feel like they’ve knocked it out of the park with casting. If Tanya doesn’t have a peach next year they’re nuts. It’s great to see another wealthy, but smart black businesswoman on tv.

Dallas and Neighbours have been added to Amazon’s new ad supported channel FreeDive. I hope that’s a step towards at least more prime time soaps streaming. It amazes me a company like PGP hasn’t put their soaps up somewhere. Even if only the recent years. It’s a shame they gave up on streaming Another World.

I have heard that Sally was quite popular. If that was the case why kill her off? Was the recast really that bad? Also did they ever attempt to bring back the Matthews in the late 80s or 90s?

Yes I got to see her episode and it took me a minute to figure out it was Alice even though they were talking about Sally. That is such an odd choice for a recast. I didn’t mind that only because they had a staff and I enjoyed hearing the staff greet whoever was at the door instead of them just walking right into these Uber rich peoples homes. It added a bit of depth to the set IMO.

@watson71 Thanks for that info! It seems like NBC was a powerhouse for soaps in the 70s but what I’ve noticed here and with The Doctors is the constant changes in time slot and writers ultimately killed all the goodwill they build. DAYS seemed to really benefit from consistency in terms of writers and cast and a good time slot. AW is lucky to have lasted as long as it did with all the changes. The list of writers and produces after Lemay left makes my head spin. Seems like they were constantly in transition which is probably how the history was so easily lost. If you search Another World 1979(or any year) it pops a playlist that I’m assuming compiles all that is available on YouTube for each year. I’ve been working my way through the 1979 stuff. I’m currently in the May 21st episode with Jamie returning. 1979 is not all full episodes but enough to follow the plot lines before I get to 1980-1981 which I think are complete from the AOL airings. The Cory mansion set is absolutely gorgeous and completely unrecognizable from later episodes I’ve seen. I guess Y&R was the only soap to keep the similar looks to their sets. I love Louise and Brooks. You really get the sense these people have money. I like that there’s a clear separation between the different classes. Also I’m not usually a couple person, but the chemistry between Mac and Rachel is truly unbelievable. I also like that their breakup seems more about her meddling in her sons life than you typical cheating scandal. Janice only seems to be coming into the picture after they’re already living apart. I’m also enjoying what I’ve seen of the Randolph’s. This Marianne is pretty good but I know none of them stick around so I know not to get attached. Janice seems like an interesting character as well. I was surprised to see Katherine Widdoes on here looking so young. Certainly a more interesting character than he’d longer running ATWT role. Knowing Iris only from Texas shows me what a disservice they did to her character. I enjoyed Texas, but the characters weren’t interesting enough to play against her. You could tell she was greasy but nobody ever really gave her anything to work with on that show.

I just watched this episode which I believe is the first 90 minute episode. It’s nice to see one of the stories Lemay spoke about in his book. Crazy to think this is something he didn’t want to do in terms of the 90 minute format and senseless murder plots, but I still found it very engaging. It also was very fast paced for the length although I can see how that would be difficult to carry on. I’ve found a few playlists separated by the year for AW so I’m going to keep watching all I can find. It seems like more so than the other soaps there are so many different eras and so many different characters and families. Prior to watching when I think of Another World I think Felicia, Donna, Vicky and Marley who Id heard of just being a soap fan and none of them are even heard of yet. It’s crazy to think they had so many popular characters who left and never returned. Finally getting to see Pat it amazes me she was written off. Not only was she a long term vet, but the actress is very beautiful plus she’s part of a core family and has kids that could’ve easily been developed long term. Does anybody know why they wrote her off?

I’m still searching through YouTube for Another World clips and episodes. I see there’s lots of stuff from the 80s so I plan to start with that once I get past all the 1979 episodes I seem to be finding. Something interesting I found is a series of video complications for the 5 different Alice’s. Considering recasting her was a big part of Lemay’s book, this was a great find for me. Each video is separated by actress and besides the Courtney one which is two parts, they’re each around 15 minutes. I’ll give me thoughts on each actress. Jacqueline Courtney - the clips for her were a mix of 70s scenes plus some from her return in the mid 80s. I’d also seen her in the episode with Robin Strasser as Rachel on YouTube. I found her to be good in the older scenes. Strikingly beautiful and very charismatic. I can see why she was so popular. She seemed like the perfect romantic lead. In the 80s scenes I do feel she was a little flat and she felt more cold. Overall she felt perfectly cast though Susan Harney - she was excellent IMO. I didn’t feel much chemistry with her leading man but she was a very strong actress from the scenes I saw. I can definitely see why she lasted as long as she did. If she didn’t choose to leave I could see her Alice remaining as long as she wanted. Also physically she looked the part. For such a popular role it’s interesting they seemed to get it right off the back. Usually it takes a couple recasts to find that perfect fit. Wesley Pfenning - her video is the shortest being under two minutes. It’s a clip from One Day At A Time so it’s hard to say how she fit as Alice. She seemed like she can act but being a brunette I can’t see why they’d cast her. Vans Tribbey - I felt she was all wrong for Alice but a good actress. She felt more like a Faith from Ryan’s Hope. I did like the scene with Rachel and considering roles change with recasts I’d have kept her a little longer to see how she worked out. Linda Borgeson - she was beautiful and looked the part but felt weak as an actress. I’m not surprised they rested the character after her. After seeing off of this though it is shocking to me that Alice last appeared in 89 and the show continued so long. It seems sad that AW had so many living, popular legacy characters they never brought back. It’s insane to think none of the HWs thought to bring people like Alice or Pat back. I still haven’t seen Pat but I know she was another popular character that left before her time.

Thank you all for this great insight! It seems clear Another World has a storied history and we’re lucky to have a window into it unlike most soaps. I plan on reading Bill Bell and Agnes Nixon’s memoirs but I know they won’t be as frank.

Oh that is hugely disappointing.

@Efulton From the book he made it clear they made several attempts to work things out with her from Paul Rauch talking to her and he even went to lunch with her and she was adamant she wasn’t willing to make any adjustments. Granted we only have his perspective but it seemed like they had a few divas in the cast and seemed to give them chance after chance before doing anything to them. Even the guy he said was his friend was given several reprieves before Rauch fired him. I do think it’s a shame the show lost a matriarch but it does seem like it was her doing. In general did Lemay feature much of the Matthews family or did he phase them out?

I never watched this show when it was on or during the SOAPnet or AOL/Hulu reruns. I tried here and there but it never caught my eye like other soaps. I did watch the AOL reruns of Texas where I fell in love with Iris. I decided to buy Harding Lemay’s book and now I am so obsessed with this world which is a shame since his material isn’t even available lol. I did find some 70s scenes between Alice and Steve and I agree with his assessment of Jacqueline Courtney but I found the actor playing Steve to be terrible. I also loved the snippets in the book about the actress who played Mary. How do y’all feel about her being written out? I think it’s a shame she let her ego get the best of her because I’m sure he would’ve wrote great things for her. I’m not sure what she expected by refusing to read the lines as intended. All the talk of Ada and Rachel and Mac has me wanting to explore Another World, even if it isn’t the stuff Lemay wrote! Looks like an interesting show with quite the backstory.

Danielle as a Friend with no talking heads makes no sense. They’ve spent two episodes in a tropical location centered around her wedding and we have no insight from her? Huh? I get it with Pandora on BH, but that was Lisa’s daughter and she planned the wedding. This just felt weird, especially the most recent episode. Considering how much she’s around I’m not sure why they didn’t just commit even if only for one season. I do agree with everyone that Jennifer is a total dud. She’s boring, vain and her family life isn’t interesting to me. Jackie on the other hand I love. The feud with Teresa is interesting and I like how strong she is without being overbearing. It’s sad that Danielle ruined her friendship with Margaret. She was a good ally to have and that won’t help her longevity on the show. Dolores is so irrelevant I’m not sure why Danielle is letting her affect her so much. Andy posted the reunion is being filmed soon so I’m guessing we have another short season. That’s a shame because I feel like they could keep this stuff going for a while since they finally have an interesting cast. I’m looking forward to their cast trip and seeing where this season goes.

I’m surprised more people aren’t enjoying season 11! Last season I remember everybody saying they were tired of Sheree and definitely done with Kim and that the show needed fresh storylines. Kenya I’ve always loved but she always had her fair share of detractors. I find it a very enjoyable reboot. It reminds me of a good RHOC reboot. Shamari and Tanya both have potential IMO and I’m leaning strongly towards Tanya getting a second season. The more I see her the more curious I get for what happened on Tokyo that almost landed her a peach. She’s a revelation.

Another fun episode of RHOA! This cast is starting to gel and let loose. I loved the little competition and all the humor with Porsha maybe being pregnant. Now the main event was Shamari and Marlo fighting. I don’t understand why Shamari got so upset. She’s very defensive about her Citi Trends fashions, but I would’ve just told Marlo no and keep it moving. I didn’t think it was a big enough deal to argue over when Marlo was trying to help her. She looks terrible and the girl is gorgeous. I guarantee you if she gets a second season she’ll have a makeover. The surprise for me was Miss Tanya. This girl EARNED that peach and I’m so upset that we have to see a minimized version of her story because she seems educated, youthful and fun. I’ll admit she doesn’t photograph the best so I assumed she was this mid-to-late 40s wife with two kids. I’m shocked how different she is from my perception and also how beautiful she looks on the show. Nene pulled out old school season 2 Nene with the jealousy. The girl did absolutely nothing wrong and Nene is coming for her. Tf?! That was truly bizarre! I can’t wait to see how this develops. Its a damn shame too because Nene was having a good season. Once again she’s her own worst enemy.

@Vee Thank you! I’ve never seen those interviews. Gonna check them out now.