Efulton

Do you guys think someone will be possessed or it is just a reenactment as part of Johnny's movie? I assumed it was part of Johnny's movie until I read this thread.

I would love to know what was planned as well. Especially about Anne/Frankie.

Never mean!? Pat Randolph would like to have a word with you.

I loved this show.

Yes to all of these people!

Donna Swajeski had a storyline that moved Kathleen into Grant’s orbit. However, Julie had already extended her contract once and wanted to get back to her life in the west coast.

I think the Kasnoffs were part of Douglas Marland's long term story bible. Not sure about Carly.

I did not say he said it Eight Years in Another World. I did read somewhere that he did write it and paid to have it put in the New York Times. I am not sure where I read that so it may be incorrect.

I agree. I wish they all could have taken a step back and figured out how to make it work. I did not start watching until 1976 but I have read many fans say 1972-75 was incredible.

I am not sure what the disagreement is. He is on the record saying he did not think Mary Matthews was an accurate portrayal of a real mother. Virginia Dwyer fought the changes he made so he killed off the character. He also stated publicly that he did not like Jaqueline Courtney's acting and was much happier with her replacement. His could not get past his personal opinions/biases and accept that both actors were very popular and had created their characters so they were gone. He liked Connie Ford so he accepted her input. I am sure many head writers have written for actors that they were not thrilled with because the fans loved them. He was unwilling to do so. Should they have accepted the wishes of their head writer? Possibly but both actors had been on the show since the beginning and deserved much more respect from him than they got.

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To me it felt like it was more about certain actors than the Matthews family characters. Although he did like to write characters he knew from his own life - the Frames (similar to his own family) and wealthy New York socialites. He said something like no mother was as perfect as Mary and when he tried to change her Virginia Dwyer refused to play the scenes as he wrote them. He then brought back Liz, defanged her and basically wrote her the way he wanted to write Mary. He also did not like Jaqueline Courtney's "soap opera" acting style. He preferred New York stage actors. In my opinion there was room for both. I will give him credit for keeping the Matthews family on the show. When he left Jim, Liz, Susan, Pat, Marianne and Michael were still part of the canvas. I suspect he would have eventually brought back Russ, Alice and Sally.

I have read Eight Years in Another World multiple times as well as several interviews with Harding Lemay. There is no doubt that he was charming, intelligent and extremely talented. Writing Irma Phillip’s obituary was a classy move. His Another World got me hooked on soaps and was like nothing before or since. However, he was also arrogant and had a huge ego. His disrespect towards Virginia Dwyer and Jacqueline Courtney was gross. Getting them fired was completely unnecessary and I believe it caused long term damage to the show. He expected everyone to fall in line yet was unwilling to find any common ground IF he didn’t like the actor. Connie Ford was a genius for changing his dialogue. Hugh Marlowe was a movie star so it was fine he could not remember his lines. Virginia and Jacqueline fought for consistency with characters they created so they had to be punished.

I thought Nancy got involved with drugs after Perry's death and leading up to her relationship with Dr. Chris Chapin. I also suspect she was written out to make room for Amanda as the young ingenue of the Cory family. Both Sally and Marley were written out in 1986. Nancy was front and centre until her exit in 1987.

Being incompetent but not intentionally incompetent does not make feel differently about JFP. AW never recovered from from her disastrous decisions followed up my the equally disastrous decisions made by Charlotte Savitz.

All I heard from her was excuses. You do not modernize a show by killing off legacy characters, firing veteran actors and destroying familiar sets. You write modern stories that have not been told before and cast unique, diverse actors. Shocking moments (murders explosion, etc) may give a short term increase to the ratings but if they are not part of a character driven story they end up alienating fans. JFP produced some brilliant episodes but left all 6 shows in worse shape than she found them.

I recall reading an interview with Julie Osborne where she stated she extended her contract and the show wanted her to stay but her life was on the west coast. They were putting Kathleen in Grant's orbit towards the end of her run and I suspect that is what her next story would have been if she stayed around.

I watched Another World from 1976 - 1999. 1984 was one of my favourite years of the show. The headwriters were Gary Tomlin and Richard Culliton and in my opinion the show was never written as well again after they left. I also don't agree with the criticism of how Alice was written in 1984. However, 1985 was a big pile of poo.

This might have something to do with the timing.

I found the interview very frustrating. If JFP did not know killing the beloved matriarch of the show's core family was going to be negatively received she had no business being the EP of a soap. She obviously did not understand the genre. After Maureen Bauer she learned her lessons about killing off character the fans care about? Another World fans did not care about Ryan Harrison, Bridget Connell AND yes Frankie Frame? General Hospital fans did not care about Alan, Emily & AJ Quartermaine, Georgie & Tony Jones and Justus Ward? You do not modernize a show by killing off legacy characters, firing veteran actors and destroying familiar sets. You write modern stories that have not been told before and cast unique, diverse actors. Shocking moments (murders explosion, etc) may give a short term increase to the ratings but if they are not part of a character driven story they end up alienating fans. JFP produced some brilliant episodes but left all 6 shows in worse shape than she found them.

Catlin was Jeanne’s son not Fred’s.

Not only did they not get a good bye scene I don't believe it was even mentioned that they left Bay City.

From interviews on the French Santa Barbara site: Ismael Carlo does say why he left but it is apparent why he did not last long... In her high petulant way she (Bridget Dobson) commenced to tell me how all her South American workers were beholding to her. How she treated them, "like children". I said to her, "I'm not a child". She got upset and started to cry. I told her that if she did not want me on the show, all she had to do was break the contract and pay me. It never happened. The Dobsons, who were the producers, where a pair of what you would call in your country aristocrats in their minds. I almost quit just before I started. But like any actor at the time I stuck it out all because of the work. Ava Lazar You left the show before the end of 1984. What were the reasons of your departure ? With time, did you have any regret about it ? When the producers on the original show were all fired and new producers came in from New York they maintained primarily those actors they had worked with in New York. It was really not up to me to stay. Sadly I wish I could have remained on the show. By that point it was becoming fun again

I just watched the Locher Room interview with Ellen, Harley and Michael. I really enjoyed it and thought Ellen Dolan was funny and interesting. As a huge Texas fan I love it that Michael and Harley enjoyed their time on the show.

I just watched the episodes of Texas where this is explained using flashbacks. Iris and Elliot were dating when she met Alex and had sex with him. Alex disappeared and she found out was pregnant. She then called Elliot, asked him to come visit her, slept with him and told him he was the father of her baby. They then got married.