robbwolff

I really enjoyed that period of AW. It was riveting at times with Blaine on trial for Jordan Scott's murder, the burgeoning Mac-Alice-Rachel-Steve quadrangle, and Cecile mixing it up with Jamie and Sandy. But then things seemed to fall apart rather quickly. I personally loved Vana Tribbey as Alice and was disappointed when she was replaced with the bland Linda Borgeson. I distinctly remember Corinne Jacker's name appearing in the credits as head writer circa November 1981. However, Eddie Drueding lists L. Virginia Browne was head writer from December 1980 to November 1982. Does anyone know the story here? Was she still writing the show during the period Jacker was credited? Also, does anyone know the story about Linda Elstad and her association with AW? In early 1984, Soap Opera Digest ran a story that Elstad had been appointed head writer but I don't think she ever served in the capacity. The SOD article mentioned a story she had planned for Donna Love where Donna was slated to try to gain access to a men's club that discriminated against women.

The writer did kill off Cecile. An absolute shame. The continuation has been hit and miss, in my opinion.

There is an official continuation of AW called "Another World Today". It started about five years ago and was officially sanctioned by Procter and Gamble. P&G has nothing to do with it anymore. I do read it consistently. They've brought some dead characters back to life (e.g., Frankie, Lucas). It's not bad though lately I feel that some of the characters are not being written like they were on the series. http://www.anotherworldtoday.com

Fascinating tidbits! Thanks for sharing. A few things: Geraldine Court was on in 1979, not 1983. Iris was long gone by 1983. She exited in 1980 for Texas and didn't return until 1988. I wonder why the show switched its plans for Jason Frame. He was originally designed as a romantic lead and was slated to have two teenage daughters (I recall reading this in Soap Opera Digest). The black market baby story doesn't sound interesting…to me anyway. I had no idea that Dorothy Ann Purser had been a casting director. She wrote for many shows over the years, including stints as head writer of Another World and Texas. Curiously, Wikipedia doesn't reference her Texas stint. (I believe she introduced two of my favorite Texas characters -- Lurlene Harper and Ruby Wright.) Her Wikipedia entry falsely claims she was head writer of Guiding Light from 1952 to 1958.

Yep, still is, according to her Facebook page. I always loved her, especially as Helena Manzini.

Likely 80-81. Wasn't the guy with Morgan named Duke?

Re: Holly and baby Maureen, they weren't rumors. Esensten and Brown said in a 1998 interview that Holly would become attached to Maureen and eventually "take" her or something like that. But then they changed course and went with "something that had never been done on daytime before" (aka the mass kidnapping of kids).

Interesting. I never knew that was the original plan for the show. I would be curious to see how they dealt with the topic of homosexuality.

I'm just curious. How did the show shift away from its original format? In what way? I've never heard anything about Another Life being created around her. Seems odd to me.

Wow. I was so not expecting that twist at the end. Well done!

Many believe it was the move of the show from 11:30 a.m. to the 4:00 p.m. timeslot.

Is that C. David Colson/David Cherill as Tom in the photo above? If so, he was very sexier on screen.

Best line: I may need a tranquilizer on this swamp monster. Brilliant!

And I thought Guiding Light was clear that they would not be bringing Cassie back -- that Cassie's story had come to an end when Nicole Forrester left and there was no purpose bringing the character back.

Which character did Madison audition for? I don't recall hearing that GL was planning to bring back Marah. They were planning to bring back Michelle Bauer and there were rumors early in 2009 that Madison was slated to play Michelle.

If they went that route, I hope they would have recast the role of Mae. Elizabeth Hobgood was painful to watch.

In regard to Labine's plans… On a board I frequent, one person (who claims to be a soap writer) said that Mae (who sold cigarettes at Millennium) was supposed to turn out to be Stacey, Nola's daughter with Floyd. I'm not sure how true that is.

Mary joined in November 1996 and passed away in February 2002. I think her last episode was toward the end of 2001.

Hannah was supposed to be introduced early in the year, shortly after the end of Search for Tomorrow. I can't remember all the details but Johnny's ex Christine Valere was caring for an older person who was ill. I'm not sure if that was supposed to be tied into Hannah's arrival. The story involving Christine seemed to be dropped rather abruptly and the character written out. The only other Bauer I recall that was slated to be added was Todd, who was the brother of Johnny and the very short-lived Lacey. Wasn't Frank Dicoupolus cast as Todd? I thought I read that. But then Sheri Anderson was axed as head writer and Pam Long rehired. And Long dropped plans to introduce Todd and instead created the role of Frank Cooper. Or so the story goes.

Mary Stuart was supposed to join Guiding Light around 1987 in the role of Hannah Bauer. I have no idea who Hannah was supposed to be -- perhaps Johnny Bauer's mother since he had been introduced the previous summer. But the plans fell through. Of course, Teri Keane later played Johnny's mother Lainie.

I vaguely recollect that there was a Soap Opera Digest article around April 1986 where then head writer Jeff Ryder talked about his plans for the soap. He specifically mentioned plans to introduce Sarah and Rusty Shayne and I think he mentioned bringing back Hope, too. So it's possible the plans shifted when Ryder departed and Mary Ryan Munisteri took over as head scribe.

Gail Kobe was producer. I think Dorothy Ann Purser and Samuel Ratcliffe were head writers. Pam Long took over as head writer in the last months of the series in 1982.

Nope. She was still on. She left around November 1981. This was likely the spring of 1981. Ryan and Ginny were in love but their relationship was complicated by Barrett's return. Barrett was psychologically unstable. I think Barrett was written out in June 1981 though resurfaced briefly a few months later. Interestingly, Stephen Newman also played Mike Marshall, the father of the Marshall kids when Texas was introduced on Another World in the summer of 1980. Mike committed suicide.

I believe they were Gracie Harrison (Greta) and Ben Thomas (Jack).

Beverlee is not in that promo. The actors are Barbara Rucker (Ginny), Philip Clark (Ryan), and Stephen Newman (Barrett).