Mona Kane Croft

At least it appears Billy now has a house, not another condo or apartment -- or GCAC room.

Yes, Susan Sullivan was invited to both appear as Lenore on the 25th anniversary episodes and to attend the show's 25th anniversary party in New York. She declined to appear as Lenore, but did fly to New York to attend the party. I'd really love to see a full list of AW's former actors who attended the anniversary party. There are a few photos of the event floating around online. Susan Sullivan appearrs in a couple of those photos. But I have never seen an entire group photo or a list of actors in attendance. I also wish TPTB had asked Judith Barcroft to appear as Lenore in the anniversary episodes, after Ms Sullivan declined. The two women have simiar acting styles, and I'm sure Barcroft would have had great chemistry with Nick Coster (Robert Delany),

I'm sure lots of things were scrapped. But she did say the Red Swan plot had already been planned, and was just adapted to include Mac's death. Truthfully, I wish she had scrapped that one!! LOL.

I recall in interview with Swajeski soon after Doug Watson's death. In the interview she said she had prepared a big storyline for Mac and Rachel which she had planned to begin a few weeks after the show's 25th anniversary. When resolving how to deal with Mac's death, she decided to continue with the planned storyline, and just tie Mac's death to that plot. So the "big storyline" was obviously the Red Swan mystery, and details were just changed to include the unfortunate death of Doug Watson. I believe tying Mac Cory's death to such a trivial and silly plot was an undignified way to say good-bye to a very dignified actor and character. The red swan was a gimmick storyline, and Swakjeski loved her gimmicks. That's one of the reasons I did not enjoy many of the new characters Swakeski created -- because most of them joined the show with some kind of gimmick, as opposed to being believable and grounded characters. I've given examples of this in the past, so I won't repeat all that here.

1989

The Red Swan was a MacGuffin. In literature -- an object or device that serves as a trigger for the plot. Some soap opera MacGuffins have made for interesting storylines. Sadly, the Red Swan was not one of them. Poorly conceived and poorly written. Probably one of AW's worst major storylines EVER.

Maxim -- I'd never thought of it that way, but I suppose that situation could be exaggerated into a movie. I'm sure Ms Barcroft was paid well for her one-day in the studio, but still it was difficult for long-term AW fans to see her playing such an insignificant role.

Contessa, no need to question our connection of respect. It's completely okay if we disagree on a particular issue. It's "Point / Counter-Point", (respectful debate). Of course we are still friends.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. I did not feel sorry for Ms Barcroft because she lacked acting skills. I felt sorry for her because she had once played a very major character on AW but was, in 1989, hired as a day-player to perform as a pharmacist selling condoms. In a soap mag interview at the time, Ms Barcroft explained that she walked into the Brooklyn studio and still knew her way around. But the only actor in the 1989 cast who she had worked with as Lenore was Connie Ford (Ada), but Ms Ford was not working that day. So she felt at home in the studio while still feeling very alone. So that's why I commented that I felt sorry for her.

Just wait a few weeks, until Matthew buys condoms from a former Lenore Curtain!! I actually felt sorry for actress Judith Barcroft.

Funny! If TEXAS had lasted longer, I wonder if P&G would have eventually moved Houston to Illinois... LOL.

Hmmm, Papa Bauer wasn't Berts dad. He was Bill's dad -- Bert's father in law. Lordy, Lordy.

So interesting. Thanks for the information. Sounds as if you are of the belief (as am I) that GL's transition from Los Angeles to Springfield was not a "scripted" move. In other words, none of the characters actually moved to a new city in the script, but TPTB just stopped mentioning Selby Flats in the script for a year or two, and then quietly began referring to their location as Springfield. That seems to be the way it was handled according to the information that is available. However, I have read accounts from some fans who swear they remember an on-camera move -- in which the Bauer and Fletcher families literally moved from California to Springfield. Mostly prompted (they suggest) because of a new branch of Cedars Hospital opening in Springfield. No idea why Bert and Bill would have made the move, because Bill did not work for Cedars. Anyway -- this has to be one of the biggest unexplained mysteries in the history of Daytime TV

You may be correct, but are you sure about that? I've always been told that transition took place while Mike Bauer was appearing on Another World in 1966, and that is why Mike never mentioned the name of his home town (Selby Flats), while he was in Bay City, He simply called it "my hometown." And by the time Mike returned to Guiding Light, the show had been relocated to Springfield. And wasn't Nixon still writing both GL and AW at that point? This would have been around 1967, I believe. Before the premiere of One Life to Live on ABC. I appreciate your comment, and would enjoy continuing this conversation. Guiding Light's move from Los Angeles to Springfield is so clouded by lack of information, I would love to know anything you have read or heard about it. If Nixon didn't write the location change, then that makes the entire situation even more clouded.

You are right, Mitch64. If your soap opera town is named Springfield, DO NOT say it is in Illinois, unless you intend it to be the state capital. Put it in Michigan or northern Ohio. But Hell, Agnes Nixon was the head-writer who moved GL's location from Selby Flats California to Springfield -- and knowing her tendencies, she probably wanted it to be in Pennsylvania. Sadly, I'm not sure there are any lighthouses in Pennsylvania. There was really no logical reason most of the P&G soaps were suddenly said to be in Illinois beginning in the 1980s. Previous to that silly decision, the fans of various soaps just made their own assumptions about which state any soap opera took place in. For example, I think most fans assumed Edge of Night took place in Ohio, Another World took place in Michigan, ATWT took place in Illinois. And I really haven't a clue in which state fans of Guiding Light or Search for Tomorrow assumed those to shows took place. But to arbitrarily cram them all into Illinois in the 1980s was ridiculous, and spread suspension of disbelief a little too thin, in my opinion.

I can't answer your question directly. But I do remember a strange explanation in the soap-press maybe in the mid to late-1990s. There was some conversation about Springfield being in Illinois, and a representative from the show, or from P&G said something like the following (I'm paraphrasing), "Guiding Light's Springfield is in Illinois, but it is not the capital of Illinois. Yes, the capital of Illinois is Springfield, but Guiding Light's Springfield Illinois is a different Springfield. It is not the capital." And that seemed like a ridiculous explanation to me. How could there be two fairly large cities in Illinois, both named Springfield?? Especially when the real Springfield Illinois is the state capital?? It was really rather an offensive comment. It was as if the P&G representative was saying -- "Oh, this is just a soap opera, and we all know it's all pretend anyway. And nobody cares about the reality of the situation." What a way to belittle your audience.

Thanks. Now, that makes me wonder about photographers who are dead. Wondering how they get those rights. Oh well, I'm just going down a rabbit hole. LOL I did look up Getty Images on Wikipedia. And near the end of the article, it does describe some questionable acquisition tactics that have allegedly been used. Not sure how accurate it is, of course.

I've always been curious -- how do companies like ImagoImages, Getty Images, etc. get ownership of the online photos that bare their watermarks? Do they actually buy the photos from the original owners? Or do they just claim ownership and slap on their watermarks? For example, the photos in the post above were almost certainly originally owned by P&G Productions and P&G is almost certainly the entity that paid the photographer(s). So in all likelihood, they were originally part of the P&G collection. How did ownership transfer from P&G to ImagoImages? Frankly, I would be very surprised if P&G went to the trouble of sorting through all their thousands of photos and decided to sell the rights to some of them. That just doesn't sound like something P&G would do. Is there any chance these image/photo companies just steal the images and claim ownership with their watermarks?

Yes. Hard to believe AW's dear Pat Randolph (Ms Penberthy) is 93 years old. Pat Randolph was one of the many soap opera characters that women my mothers age could identify with during the 1960s, '70s, and early-'80s. Pat's life very much mirrored the lives of suburban women all over the US, with a few exceptions -- two murder trials for instance, and a nanny who kidnapped Pat's twins. LOL. But in those days, most soap operas tried to be as realistic/believable as possible, with occasional over-the-top plots -- just to spice things up briefly. Sadly, for the past 30-years most soap operas have tried to be as over-the-top as possible, with occasional believable plots -- just to tone things down briefly. As Katherine Chancellor would say, "Dear God in Heaven..."

Wow! Ms Penberthy was still looking great in 1999 -- a full 10-years after her final appearance on Another World during the 25th anniversary. And if my calculations are correct, Ms Penberthy was 67 years old at this time (1999). Thank you, Contessa, my friend. I should have know you would come through with a screen-capture. Many thanks!

Wow, that was fast. Thank you so much!

Does anyone happen to have a screen capture of Beverly Penberthy's (AW's Pat Randolph) appearance in an episode of "Now and Again" in 1999. This seems to be her last on-camera performance to date.

I believe you are correct about Malone having an office in the studio. I think I remember reading that in the soap press when he was at AW. That seems to be something actors might really respect and respond positively to. I have not heard about him interviewing actors. But it is certainly possible, since he was so often at the studio. When Malone started writing AW, I remember having such high hopes for the show and what he would do with it. And then his work started appearing, and it was abysmal and not at all what I expected from him. I sincerely did not enjoy even one of his plots, and found most of them silly, uninspired, and some were "over the top" almost James Riley-esque. Such a disappointment, after he had such success at OLTL. I could not believe that Michael Malone was pounding another nail into the coffin of Another World. What in the world happened with him???

I really think back from the dead storylines seldom really worked on AW. AW didn't even have its first BFTD plot until the show was 16 years old!! Later, Steve Frame's BFTD plot didn't work. And then Denise Alexander's character was introduced with a plot that featured TWO returns from the dead in the same storyline! On a show that didn't have a good track record with that type of nonsense. WTF?? I really think the entire idea was poorly conceived, and seemed more like a plot that might have been accepted on DOOL. Denise deserved far better writing. And the audience deserved to have Denise playing an important vital role, more fitting the actress. All this is just my opinion.

That line sounds exactly like something Jamey would write. He loves anything with a touch of camp, or a wink at the audience.