Mona Kane Croft

2 hours ago, robbwolff said:

 

Another World's closing credits were separated during July 1980 to reflect the crew responsible for both shows. And this talk of the Texas characters makes me wonder who was responsible for introducing the Bellmans and Cookes on Another World. This was the period when Tom King was head writer. So did King create these characters or was it the Corringtons?

Good question.  It seemed to me at the time, that Reena, Kevin, Striker, and Victoria were created for Another World, and the idea of sending them back to Texas came along later.  Especially since they changed the Bellman family so much, when Texas premiered.  I really enjoyed Reena on AW as Pat's romantic nemesis, since Pat had never really had a long-term enemy before.  That was by far, Pat's best post-Lemay storyline, in my opinion.  

They didn't use the Texas logo at all on Another World.  I don't remember if the cast credits were separated on AW, but even if they were, the Texas logo wasn't used.  The first time the audience saw the Texas logo was in the opening credits of the premiere episode.   

Iris's friendship with Reena started on AW, when Reena first came to town.  If I'm not mistaken, most of the friendship was played when Carole Shelley was substituting for Beverlee McKenzie for several weeks.  And then it continued, when McKenzie returned to AW briefly before the Texas premiere.  

So many things the Corringtons planned for Texas were ultimately never done.  I don't know who jettisoned their ideas -- I suppose it was either Paul Rauch or P&G.   For example, there was supposed to be a big reveal explaining why the rich Marshalls and the working-class Dekkers were so close.  Probably that one of the Dekker kids was an illegitimate Marshall.  And Maggie Dekker held some kind of secret regarding her nephew, Rikki.  Both situations were just dropped, with no further mention or explanation.  

And the irony behind the show's failure was -- although critics called Texas a rip-off of Dallas, it really wasn't enough like Dallas.  It was hardly a rip-off.  The audience had been led to believe they were getting a daytime version of Dallas, but it turned out to be just a normal soap opera set in Texas.   

On 8/5/2019 at 8:16 PM, watson71 said:

How long into Texas' run did they change the show's logo?  The logo in these early episodes looks very amateurish compared to the Texas flag blowing in the wind with the gold Texas script lettering.

 

 

 

 

The new logo (the show's second) replaced the original so quickly, I've always wondered if the first logo was meant to be temporary from the beginning.  Maybe the "real logo" (the second one) was delayed in production, and TPTB had to use a temporary version in order to get the show on the air on the premiere date.. I have no evidence to support this, other than the first logo was so amateurish (even by 1980 standards), and its was replaced so quickly.   

The old set was probably too expensive to take up and down, and store.  It's likely the new set will be smaller, and they will probably use fewer rooms.   We're lucky they even kept a staircase.  ATWT got rid of every staircase on the show around 2000, or maybe even earlier. 

25 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Yeah, they were supposed to be the same person, but the storylines were written by two different writers so there were a few continuity errors. I think, though I'm not sure, that when it all came out in 98-99, it was said that Stefano had wiped the Princess Gina memories from Hope right before she was discovered alive back in 94. 

 

This time, Rolf injected her with some kind of serum that he developed. He even said to himself at one point that he didn't need the chip anymore. I think he did this now to get back at Hope for shooting the real Stefano.

Wasn't the real Princess Gina also supposed to be 20 years older than Hope? I remember seeing Kristian Alfonso in old-age make-up playing Gina at least once, many years ago.  At one point, I believe it was said Hope only resembled Gina.  They weren't originally identical.  I think much of that has been changed by later head-writers. Does anyone else remember any of this?  

9 hours ago, chrisml said:

Where else has the retro rep posted? I'd like to read what she has to say. I don't understand why she's not approved but the woman who took over the board for weeks was allowed to go unchecked.

She's also in at least one Facebook soap opera group.  

Why won't the forum allow the RetroTV rep to join?  I read the rationale for no new members, and it seems like the forum chief is a bit too paranoid about spamming.  Clearly the RetroTV rep is not going to spam the board.   

But he's the owner, and I guess he can handle things any way he wants to.  

9 minutes ago, watson71 said:

 

Lemay's last episode was in mid-November, however I don't think Swajeski's episodes started airing until late-November or early-December.   Maybe the writers worked from an outline that had already been written by Lemay.  It has always been stated, but never proven, that Swajeski borrowed heavily from a long term bible that Lemay had written for the show.  If  this is the case, it would be interesting to read it to see how much Swajeski borrowed from it.  The Red Swan mystery was clearly a Swajeski storyline since no one could have predicted the sudden passing of Douglass Watson.

I forget to mention -- I read near the time of Mac's death, that Swajeski had conceived the Red Swan mystery before she officially took over as head-writer, and had planned to use it as a major storyline.  But when Doug Watson died, she decided to tweak the details in order to incorporate Mac's demise into the plot.  I think Mac's passing should have been handled in a more straight-forward and believable manner, in reverence to both the character and the actor.  

5 minutes ago, watson71 said:

 

Lemay's last episode was in mid-November, however I don't think Swajeski's episodes started airing until late-November or early-December.   Maybe the writers worked from an outline that had already been written by Lemay.  It has always been stated, but never proven, that Swajeski borrowed heavily from a long term bible that Lemay had written for the show.  If  this is the case, it would be interesting to read it to see how much Swajeski borrowed from it.  The Red Swan mystery was clearly a Swajeski storyline since no one could have predicted the sudden passing of Douglass Watson.

And Lemay would never have concocted such a stupid storyline to surround the death of a beloved character.  

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

Another world had too much energy and flash (a good thing)..Marland would have deluted it.  

 

Like @chrismlmentioned Swajeski had good ideas..but had trouble with pacing...but her individual episodes were top notch..  Marland could pace his shows with flair..but his individual episodes sucked (unrealistic dialogue..no one I knew ever talked that way).  Shame Marland was a micro manager..cause he and Swajeski could have been a good pairing.

 

Also, pat left too soon.  Her visit in 1989 showed she had a lot to offer especially her exchange with her niece Olivia when she noted her interest in the much married Sam.

Are you suggesting Another World in the late '80s was better than As the World Turns in the late '80s?  Oh my,  you and I definitely have different taste in soaps.  LOL.  Although those things are often just a matter of taste, I think the ratings do say something about the quality of the two shows during that period. 

6 hours ago, watson71 said:

AW's Best Thanksgiving Episode- 1988

 

This episode featured the famous Mac Cory speech:

 

Well, everybody... It's been a hard year to get through for many of us. Yet, here we all are, for Thanksgiving. And together. I'm very happy Iris is with us after all those years. And as I look at Jamie, Matthew, Amanda, Sam, and then Alexandra, I am grateful for the awareness of the sheer munificence of life as it keeps on rolling on despite our little problems. Sharing our lives with our friends and our family is far stronger than anything that world out there can do to us. Today especially, though indeed every day, Rachel and I our truly blessed. Our riches are at this table with us today. [Looking to the viewer] As indeed you are in our hearts every day. And so I give you, all of us, I give you life!"

 

 

 

 

This era was probably the final time AW really had a chance of surviving long-term,  The focus of show had returned to family drama and class conflict.  And even a couple of Matthews were on their way back to Bay City.  If only a writer like Doug Marland or Agnes Nixon had taken-over the show after Lemay left in '88.  Sadly that didn't happen, the show started to decline again, and it limped along for 11 more uninspired years.  

4 hours ago, StepBack said:

How can Griffith put this together and not understand what made the show so wonderful?

My understanding is head-writers seldom have much to do with these tribute episodes.  They usually turn them over to an underling who expresses some interest in the project.  Head-writers do not like to be reminded how good their show "used to be."  They prefer concentrating on their own stuff.  Griffith probably didn't even watch the episode.  

3 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

Tomorrows spoiler pic. 

Is the club now called Julie's Place?  Look at the door.  Is Doug dead?  What the heck????

12 minutes ago, Albert said:

Ms. Penberthy certainly seemed dissatisfied in 1976 when reading the article in the soap treasures thread from the Daytime TV series interview alongside Michael M. Ryan. I have to wonder what the actors playing the Matthews family in 1975 thought of the storyline change. She never seemed to be the lead actress during her run.

 

I agree about that 1976 interview.  Considering the wonderful things Harding Lemay said about her in his 1981 book, Penberthy seemed rather unappreciative of his writing five years earlier.  I always got the impression she did not enjoy working with Michael Ryan -- that she perhaps thought he was too old, or that John was too boring, to be Pat's love interest.   But that may just be my impression.  

Yes, I've read it.  Maybe 20 years ago.  It is very interesting, and very detailed.  But I don't understand how anyone would think "Oh, this guy would be a great writer for a soap opera," based on that book.  His plays give a much better understanding of his ability to write drama.  

15 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

That is ludicrous. Why would JC run around pretending to be an unhinged black woman who had an affair with a psycho?

I can't remember the details, but a few people thought they saw hints in some of the things she said about Another World.  And some folks were connived she was a total fake, (which wasn't true at all) and I think they were just willing to believe anything so they wouldn't have to admit she was for real.  Who knows really?

At least two soaps have already had time jumps.  Guiding Light jumped ahead one year in its final episode.  And Dark Shadows jumped ahead 25 years, from 1970 to 1995.  So what Days is doing is unusual for soaps, but it's definitely been done before.   

Guiding Light jumped ahead a year for it's final episode.  And Dark Shadows jumped ahead 25 years.  Someone needs to tell the soap press not to pee their pants over this.  I has been done before.   

You're right, the incidental music was terrible.  Embarrassingly bad.  Using that synthesizer was a stupid idea. It made the entire show seem like it was on a shoe-string budget.  And when that nazi treasure story stated, I knew the writing was going down hill fast.  

Wow, what has happened to Matt Ashford's acting skills?  His acting at Jennifer's bedside today was awful.  He was stuttering and stammering, and using what almost sounded like a child's voice.  His reaction to Jennifer's waking-up was just not not convincing.  Not genuine.  I have always thought he was a terrific actor, but today's performance has me questioning that.   Maybe he's been out of the business too long.  

Fake time jump spoilers???  Unfortunately they aren't fake.  I only wish they were.  I believe the time jump happens this week, or maybe next week.  

His plays were published about a decade ago, and available at very reasonable able prices.  They are now out of print, but can be found on Amazon and Ebay occasionally,.  Unfortunately, the prices have gone up significantly.   Well worth reading, if you are a fan of Lemay.  

I remember her identity was sort of questionable.  And some folks believed she was Jacqueline Courtney in disguise, at least for a while.  LOL.  I never believed that one.  But her name must have been real, at least in some legal way.  Because that was the same name that appeared in the DOOL credits.  

Why was she banned?   I'm not her, by the way.  But she was telling the truth about DOOL.  I can't attest to any of her other claims.  

Actually, I don't really care why she was banned.  But why can't her name be mentioned?   

Has anyone read any of Harding Lemay's plays?  I've read a few, and they seem very much like his work on AW.  Families with lots of conflict.  And nobody is really a total good guy (or girl).  All the characters have flaws that influence their actions.