BetterForgotten

Of the NYC-produced soaps, it was said ANOTHER WORLD had the biggest soundstage (and actually second biggest soundstage in daytime after DAYS). I guess that makes sense, AW’s sets and directing (in the 70’s at least) has always stood out from the other P&G soaps or other soaps shot in NYC. Of course ATWT later moved to that studio when AW was cancelled, but by that point the soaps no longer had the same kind of budget they used to have.

But you know what, it was always going to be struggle for any show/soap to continue to center a show around an aging woman. It was bizarre to write out so much of Jo's family, but Jo as the continual centerpiece always seemed very non-sustainable to me.

I’d so love to see more of Jennifer’s descent into madness. There is a real authentic quality to Morgan’s performances in the SFT clips available, and it’s not overly consumed by camp or glamor like her other roles.

Nothing B&E ever wrote had much depth. Sydney was essentially just a string of catty/cheap one-liners. A few years ago, some of Morgan's work on SFT was up - she was really amazing on that soap.

Well, it's been rumored for years that the cast treated poor Morgan Fairchild horribly and were terribly jealous of the special amenities allotted to her in her contract. They would have never gotten away with that sh!t with an ABC Daytime superstar like Lucci.

And Jane Elliott herself was a producer on Loving during its last years! I would have sent Debi and Darnell back to AMC the first chance I got, but then again, maybe it's a good thing they weren't there for McTavish's second stint...

Labine had also created a version without a GH connection called Union Place, which was pitched to NBC, but they opted for Sunset Beach instead.

Or just give Claire Labine that NYC-centered soap she tried so hard to get of the ground after her GH stint came to an end. It would've been canceled anyway, but I would think it would have at least been more compelling than what we got with THE CITY (or during Labine's OLTL stint).

I personally thought Peluso's best work was on Loving, though, I know a lot of people seemed to think that's AW.

Agnes also started focusing on projects outside of daytime by the mid-80’s and returned in some capacity to AMC in the late 80’s when it was in a bit of a creative turmoil. When she left OLTL, she has mentored Gordon Russel and fully supported him to step in and creatively guide the show, the same with Wiser Washam at AMC. At Loving, there didn’t seem to be that foresight or much of a plan after Marland left. True, it was a much newer show, but it certainly coasted for such a long time. Perhaps her heart wasn’t fully in it, despite her business interests in it?

One has to wonder why this show was managed so poorly behind the scenes. Unlike her other soaps, Agnes Nixon maintained ownership of Loving, it was never owned by ABC outright. Either she didn’t have the business acumen to manage a business operation on her own, or she wasn’t equipped to manage against network interference. Even for daytime, the BTS turnover on a soap that lasted just 12 years was excessive. I wonder if we’ll ever know the full story. I remember when Laura Wright first went over to GL in 1997. She said she was shocked at how much better the morale and working conditions were on GL vs. Loving/The City (even though it was more work to do a hour long soap than a half-hour one).

Did Alan even work on AW? I know he worked on the CBS P&G soaps starting in 1997, but did that extend to AW too? If I did, It wasn’t for very long given the time he started.

The whole thing seemed lazy to me. The City should have been a brand new show without any ties to Loving. Bless Debi and Darnell, but that last scene of Loving is a hell of a lot more crass and disrespectful to fans of the show than Paul Rauch stomping out his cigar as the last shot of Santa Barbara’s finale. It was basically, “f.uck this loser show, but come watch us on The City next week y’all!”

Simms and Beverlee McKinsey were fire together as adversaries. To this day, the story with Roger and Alex remains Mindy’s signature story, IMO. Simms brought a sex appeal to the role that Tesreau would never have. But she was also very vulnerable and had chemistry with all the principal actors they wrote her with.

Women like Maeve and Maureen Garett are what first attracted me to GL. So very glad they’re participating in things like this. Simms is the ONLY Mindy as far as I’m concerned.

Reminds me that Cady really did the best work of her career during her first stint on ATWT. Probably the only ABC transplant that worked, and I never knew she had it in her after the last few years of her second stint as Dixie on AMC (you could tell she hated playing the character at that point).

I wonder if this was before or after Linder proposed they kill off Katherine to give her a big story, LOL.

Extra meh

Grant and Beth both still look so good.

Meh, but just me.

Though, in a way, I'm glad he didn't come back as I'm sure he would have been wrecked by poor writing, but Peter was probably the most connected character on the show - connected to all the main families somehow (Reardons, Thorpes, Bauers, Lewis/Shaynes). Roger's grandson, Blake's nephew, Reva and Billy's step-grandson, Vanessa's semi-adopted child, Ed's niece's son (whatever that is), etc.

Vanessa would have also been in that mix!

I guess it goes back to what Michael Park said in the first reunion chat - it costs nothing to be nice/polite. If you aren’t, people will remember and that reputation will follow you around (especially in the entertainment business and especially if you’re a woman).