robbwolff

And at NBC, SFT and Generations were cancelled under his watch. Personally, I think the man more than earned the lackluster reputation he has.

He was long gone from NBC and had nothing to do with Passions. I think Susan Lee was in charge when Passions was launched.

What was the last new soap commissioned?

I was a GL fan on and off for nearly 20 years but finally bailed when the mob surfaced in Springfield and we had to put up with that San Cristobel dreck. I've lived in NJ my entire life and I still can't comprehend why Ellen Wheeler settled on Peapack for the location shoots. That setting didn't match the Springfield we all knew and loved. I remember scratching my head when Cassie had parked on a country road when she went to Towers. That made no sense. Trust me, folks. Peapack is a lovely town. A very affluent area. But that didn't come across on screen at all. I think the location filming premise at the end could have worked had there been better equipment, better sound, better lighting, and less of it. What would have made sense was to simply go 30 minutes south of Peapack to New Brunswick and film there on occasion to supplement the in-studio scenes. New Brunswick is more reminiscent of the Springfield we saw for so many years: a mid-sized city with hospitals, high rises, various socioeconomic classes, affluent areas, struggling communities, parks, mansions, and even a university (Rutgers). Had Wheeler filmed there instead -- and only on occasion -- it could have worked. The inclusion of Springfield university would have driven character and story. And filming in that area would have enhanced what we saw on screen. It was a missed opportunity.

Good question. I think she could have passed as his mother. Viewers bought Ellen Wheeler as her daughter and Ellen was only a few years younger than Hank. Viewers bought Stephen Yates as Rachel's son Jamie and there was only a three-year age difference between them!

I don't think Mary ever fully regained her memory so that may explain why she didn't know Michael. However, they did interact. Michael was the one who told Mary about Reg's involvement with the twins. As for Mary's complicity, what likely derailed the story was Anna Stuart leaving in 1986. Margaret DePriest set it up so that it appeared that Donna gave birth to triplets, not twins. Scott was rumored to be the third child that Donna gave birth to. The story was dropped when Donna resurfaced in 1987, now played by Philece Sampler. As for why Peter, Donna, or Peter didn't mention Mary to MJ or Ben. I doubt the story involving Mary was planned when Ben was on the canvas. Ben was only around from July 1984 to February 1985. Richard Culliton and Gary Tomlin were writing at the time. Mary didn't factor in until DePriest was writing in 1986. Michael didn't show up till January 1986 so he never interacted with Ben.

I thought Brown was a temporary replacement for Flood on From these Roots.

I believe Ilene returned early in 1982 -- around February. I recall watching that day when they announced the cast change. Her first scene had something to do with searching for Little John in the Ryan's apartment.

Jake was still around when the story with Mary started. She arrived in August 1986. Jake and Marley married and left Bay City in late September/early October. More importantly, Mary's family were still on the canvas: Vince, Cheryl, Kathleen, and MJ were all in town and featured prominently. When Margaret DePriest took over as head writer in 1986, she discussed her intention to focus the series around the Cory, Love, and McKinnon families.

One Life to Live's Scott Evans (Oliver Fish) is on the new season of Grace and Frankie, which was released on Netflix yesterday. Ironically, his character's name is Oliver. He shows up in episode #4.

I think it was a working title and there was very loud opposition for it from the soap press because the title was difficult to format in magazines. Personally, I’m glad they switched it though I didn’t like the title “The City.” I found the working title clunky.

I thought Linda Grover's stint was well regarded though perhaps I'm wrong. I know that Mel and Ethel Brez's stint was considered disastrous. There are articles floating online that indicate that the Brez's writing was riddled with inconsistencies...even from one episode to the next.

I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment. I met her in person some years ago at a book signing with Lisa Brown and she exuded much warmth and friendliness in real life. We almost didn't recognize her in her dowdy clothes and ball cap: the opposite of her roles like Tracy, Angelica, and Cynthia. She also exuded a lot of warmth in her performances as Carrie on GL. It was her riveting and complex performances as Carrie that drew me into GL. She could definitely play warmth but show after show pigeon holed her into the same type of role.

I thought Channing’s murder was wrapped up in May 1985. That was when Julia was introduced.

The whole thing was ridiculous: Eterna, Megan and Sarah wondering which of them was Viki's daughter, the "feud" between Megan and Viki that was over so quickly.

Where did you see this about Jeanne Cooper? I've never heard that before. I can't see that at all. I can see Jeanne Cooper playing Addie when the character was recast in the early seventies. But Julie? That would mean that Julie went from a shoplifting teenager in 1965 to a 40-year-old woman a few years later.

Mary Stuart was supposed to join GL in 1987. I read that in an interview with her. She was slated to play Hannah Bauer.

I’m not sure why you say Texas was non-canonical to Another World. Things that happened on Texas — Vivian coming to Houston to work for Iris, Iris marrying Alex, Alex dying, Dennis being Iris and Alex’s son — were all facts that were part of the Another World universe. Iris wasn’t a threat on Texas in a business sense because she was written first as a heroine, then regresses to her scheming ways.

I thought it was widely rumored that Farren Phelps was the uncredited head writer during a good chunk of ‘99.

I'd place it around 1979. According to a character bio online, Jay served time in prison in 1979. Barbara Rucker left around that time. The folks that sold some ATWT and GL videos a few years ago posted videos of ATWT from the latter part of 1979 when Marland was writing and Barbara was off the canvas. And she was onto Another World/Texas by mid-1980. The bit about the show being on for more than a quarter century may simply be an error. After all, the ad includes another error: the spelling of Grant and Lisa Coleman. The surname was actually spelled Colman (no E).

Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the new season. I absolutely loved the first season.

From the way Sharon talks about Erwin Nicholson, he didn’t seem to be the type to punish her by omitting her from the credits. She talks glowingly of him being supportive. The new credits that debuted in 1980 featured the three main couples at that time: Mike and Nancy, Miles and Nicole, and April and Draper, and was later enhanced to feature more characters.

1984 was an interesting time for Another World. I remember Soap Opera Digest announcing that Linda Elstad (who is credited here on the writing team) had been named head writer. In the article, she previewed one of her planned stories: where Donna Love would buck tradition by trying to gain entrance to an all men's social club. Not sure what happened but Elstad never became head writer.

I agree though I think Court worked better as a villainess. I have vague recollections of the latter Ann Larimer and recall her brief stint as June on Another World. I found her riveting in those performances. I only caught her last year as Jennifer on Guiding Light when the character wasn't front burner.

I watched pretty loyally till the fall 1973 episodes. I don't care for the Pollocks' writing at all. Their first few years of writing the show weren't bad. I quickly got tired of all the stories with the staff of Hope Memorial having health crises. And so much emphasis on a boring, lackluster character like Ann Larimer. I know the character goes through a transformation, but the character thus far has been a big snooze.