Xanthe

Ben was the second McKinnon introduced after MJ. He played football on the high school team, was close friends with Carter and was part of Marley and Nancy's friend group when Marley came home from Switzerland and decided to do her senior year in Bay City. Marley and Ben started dating. That made Donna a little bit agitated because it reminded her of her youth and Michael. One of my favourite scenes of Donna's was when although she felt compelled to keep Marley from making the same mistake she had she quietly reminisced to herself about how kind and wonderful Michael had been. (This was well before Victoria or Michael came on the scene and at this point Marley still believed she was Donna's sister.) Ben wasn't around all that long (less than a year) before he was suddenly obviously replaced by his cousin Jake. He had a football opportunity at a school in California and left town. Marley was heartbroken to see him go. After a few weeks he stopped writing to her and I think maybe even told her he was seeing someone else. He never came back to Bay City, although they did talk about him maybe coming back after Mary turned up alive. Ben didn't really make that big of an impression. He was basically nice and genial so the main conflict was Donna's disapproval because he wasn't from a good family.

I was watching during Julie Osburn's first tenure as Kathleen and I liked her with absolutely everyone -- the McKinnons (especially MJ, then played by Kathleen Layman) and with Cass/Felicia/Wallingford. I wasn't able to watch as consistently during her return but I was struck by how comfortable it felt to see her and Steve Schnetzer together even though I also really liked Cass with Frankie. In the episode below Ben is leaving and his friends and family (including the original Vince) are seeing him off. Kathleen interacts with an assortment of people, including a confrontation with Donna.

I have not found the time to listen to the whole thing myself, but I was tinkering with the Youtube AI helpbot thing (which in the app I found by swiping right on the Comments). The high level summary didn't point to it but it let me ask what she had said about Constance Ford and although its paraphrase was inaccurate it did point me to the mention about 52 minutes in. The only thing she said in relation to Ford that could be construed as negative was that when the interviewer asked what she had thought of her she started with "you devil!" and where she had gushed about how lovely she found practically everyone else, she just said that she hadn't really known Connie well and had never sat and talked with her. She also mentioned earlier that originally she had been very friendly with Jacqueline Courtney but they had later fallen out.

Alma dressed up as the doll was very memorable. I thought as well that there was some kind of clown element in Quinn's stalker storyline the following year but I don't seem to find any reference to it -- have I misremembered? I was thinking about Alma recently because Lois Smith who played her friend Ella Fitz was on an episode of Elsbeth a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for pointing out Ilsa. Kyra Sedgwick as Julia! I never realised at the time that she/Julia was so young, I assumed she was over twenty at least. thanks @watson71 for sharing the episode.

For reference I found some very old discussion in the Somerset thread about the interview but the October 1970 did not appear to have been posted -- the second link is to what seems to be a slightly different interview that you posted at the time. https://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/40366-somerset-discussion-thread/page/13/#findComment-1097168 https://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/40366-somerset-discussion-thread/page/13/#findComment-1097268

Is this recording not the 2005 interview Eddie describes on the Publications page?

Thanks. The interview I was looking for is a magazine interview, probably from October 1970. I probably don't have the time or the patience to listen to this one right now -- do you know, does she mention her scary neighbourhood in this?

Thank you! I haven't found the specific interview but I did see one that mentioned that she lived in a bad neighbourhood and couldn't go out after 11 pm.

Very distressing. According to this post, Kean stabbed DonHowe because he believed she was cheating on him. https://blog.mcny.org/2014/05/20/untimely-deaths-of-stage-performers/ I have only very dim memories of the arrival of Sandy and don't really recall Ilsa. Was there a noticeable difference in the character in her two stints?

I came across this item from April 1985 by Lilana Novakovich, who was the agent for a lot of soap actors in Canada. I was surprised to learn that Tom Eplin was acquainted with Gordon Thomson. "My phone call to Tom Eplin (Jake McKinnon, Another World ) turned out to be a highlight in a long crazy week. Another World producers and casting people certainly knew what they were doing when they signed Tom to a two-year contract. I predict that this handsome and talented actor will attract many new viewers and become a major part of the show. "One of the first things noticeable about the character is the sex appeal. It already jumps out at you -- and the scenes will get hotter! It was a major step for the normally very conservative Another World to air the shower scenes the week of March 18 and I look forward to hearing viewers' response to this new, liberal approach. "Tom is a great guy and our conversation was most enjoyable. Coincidentally he had been out with my client Chris Holder the night before and they discussed Canada, the success of the show here and, of course, the dedication of Canadian fans. "Also, my friend Gordon Thompson [sic] (Adam Carrington, Dynasty) is from Toronto." Tom said, "and has told me so much about your country. I can't wait to get there." "Tom is from northern California and loves the outdoors, waterskiing, and motorcycles. In fact, he was in the midst of purchasing a new bike. He has a movie (Sunset Strip) coming out this year and a heavy storyline on Another World to look forward to. "His enthusiasm is genuine and refreshing, And behind the fun-loving and easygoing personality is the mind of a very bright and wise young man. "He is in the midst of setting up a fan club and will let me know how Canadian viewers can join once it's organized."

I can't think of any, unless possibly one of the tiny bit parts like a hairdresser during Lesoleil or a fellow AIDS patient during Dawn's illness flew under the radar. I tried some searches of the AWHP and turned up nothing relevant, but it led me to the review of The Ultimate Another World Trivia Book which included this comment: "No vintage soap mags, such as Daytime TV or Afternoon TV, were used. This was disappointing. Their very appeal often lies in the anachronistic nature of their interviews, such as the megapopular AW star decrying "the homosexuals!" living in her neighborhood in a 1970s issue of ATV." I am madly curious to know more about the referenced interview and whether "decrying" is an accurate description of what the star said. http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/public3.html

I believe in his somewhat recent interview with Locher, Richard Bekins did talk about being gay. But I don't know whether he would have wanted to play a gay character in 1995 even if the storyline could have been handled well enough to account for the fact that Jamie had never appeared to question his sexuality before. People tend to be so much more open now but 30 years ago there were still a lot more people in the closet.

I did like Rachel and Vicky in this period and I was kind of disappointed that Jamie and Vicky's marriage blew up as quickly as it did. And if there had not been any question about Steven's paternity, could it have been more interesting for Rachel to be more willing to support Victoria in the custody disagreement? Stacy was in the mix when Nicole was in love with Jamie. And my goodness, 1981/1982 seems to have been a busy time for Jamie -- according to the AWHP, he slept with Marianne, Susan, and Christine Wylie (I never recognize her but I think she was in the movie based on his novel?), as well as Stacy, and found time to flirt with Anne Whitelaw (the depressed patient in the December 1981 episodes) and Susan's daughter Julia. Sounds like chaos.

When Cass first arrived (not long after Maggie was born) he appeared to be very familiar with Elena. However the AWHP synopses for 1982 describe him as "[taking] a liking to Cecile" the following week, so it's not clear to me whether at the time the story established that they had never met before or not. That was the best part of the storyline and it would have been nice if that had held up. I don't think Cecile did it because she wanted Cass for herself. I think she had some kind of financial motivation, but I can't remember how it was supposed to work because surely Maggie as a Cory would not be impoverished.

I believe the money is good if you don't have a series or a movie career but it's hard to limit yourself to commercial work unless you become the face of a campaign. If you appear in too many different ads other companies will typically feel that the audience has seen too much of you already and won't want you cast. I think most actors in commercials who aren't recognizable are either mostly working in theatre (including standup/improv as well as straight plays) or auditioning for TV/film.

Laurence Lau really read in some ways as a replacement for blond Dr Chris Chapin rather than Jamie. Vicky in Ellen Wheeler's day was slightly interested in Chris because he was rich (and Donna pushed him because his family was "good") but mostly made a point of seeing him in order to annoy Nancy. Rhonda Lewin's Vicky had a brief flirtation with Jamie but was let go not long before Lisa was brought in to be the good girl. Vicky's relationship with Jake during her pursuit of Jamie wasn't quite romantic. IIRC she slept with Jamie and told him she was pregnant when she wasn't and then turned out to be -- and then somewhat later the audience found out that she had slept with Jake somewhere in there and Jake could be the father. And for some reason Jake was oblivious to the idea that he might be Steven's father until after the baby was born. I guess if that was because he believed she was already pregnant when they slept together that could account for it but I thought it seemed like they had retconned the paternity issue rather than intended it from the start.

Possibly even worse, Jennifer Runyon played the girlfriend of Charles In Charge.

After the child Cathy Green and before Jennifer Runyon we had the juvenile delinquent iteration played by Julie Philips. I occasionally wonder what Sally's storyline would have been like if they hadn't whitewashed both her and Catlin's pasts for the Brittany storyline and gone back earlier than Peter when looking for a spoiler in their marriage. Chris Holder's Peter was quite a different guy from the more decent John Hutton version. Regarding Pat and Brian, I don't recall how far it went, and without context his apparently sudden declaration of love and her resistance felt awkward. Then in the Xmas day episode when Brian steps out of the room briefly Pat, who has been trying to sidestep talking about personal matters, is somehow willing to open up to Liz, who wants to push them together, about how great it is that he can be both level-headed and whimsical. I can understand that they wanted to show Pat's feelings but it felt like the wrong place and time for that conversation as written. That's probably a lower-level decision than HW so it may not be Jacker's fault, but a lot of the scenes feel inorganic to me with sudden changes of mood.

How dare you! Emma was famously plain and drab, unlike glamorous socialite Iris. 😀 Thanks @Tisy-Lish for the added details. Thinking about 1989 Iris and Evan, did Steve have any point of view about what had happened to Janice or was all of that ignored when he came back from the dead?

I just had a sudden flashback to reading a scene where Jamie told Dennis that Steve and Rachel were getting married. And I know Rachel tried to get in with Iris very early, so I think maybe she met Mac through Iris. Maybe Iris newly arrived in town would have required some architecture.

What kind of relationship if any did Steve and Iris have back in the 1970s? I know from the novelizations that Iris was not happy with Eliot's interest in Alice, but did Steve and Iris cross paths much?

It was the yelling that made Pete unattractive to me -- he was yelling at Diana before Steve showed up. Maybe there are other scenes where he is sweet to her that would let me see his appeal but without a context that shows that he's only yelling because he cares about her it's offputting to me. And her reaction didn't give me any sense of their relationship that could have won me over. Diana's conversation with Sally about sex felt very expository and unnatural and I desperately wanted to rewrite it to make it a more interesting dynamic between them.

It's hard to say especially if the actor didn't want to stay. If Jacqui Courtney had been in the rôle of Alice and if they had kept Steve and Alice together it would probably have been more successful but it's hard to say with the writing at the time which seems rather jumbled. I haven't watched all of these episodes all of the way through yet (thanks @Maxim for sharing) but it feels like an odd mixture of attempts at crime and adventure mixed with people talking about their love lives rather than doing much about them. Bringing Steve back from the dead required a lot of explanation. He wasn't supposed to have faked his death, was he? I thought I remembered they explained his staying away as convenient amnesia but the AWHP character guide mentions partial amnesia in 1970 and simply presumed dead without further details between George Reinholt and David Canary. I'm not sure why Sandy is talking with the police about drug addiction and crime -- is it because of Jamie or is it supposed to be journalism or both? Diana's accent sounds more English than Australian to me. Maybe she's supposed to be too posh to be colonial? And I don't really know what she sees in Pete.

I've seen that clip over and over and marveled at how much the actor resembled Peter Bergman without actually thinking it was him.

It wasn't that long (3 months) before the character was recast with Brian Lane Green, whixh suggests to me that they were replacing the actor rather than resting the character. Brian Lane Green's Sam seemed less intense than previous versions and they chose to emphasize his singing talent which I'm not sure did much for the character really. I guess it gave him a reason to interact with his nephew Matt the music producer a lot? I haven't found any news items from the time to suggest any reasons behind the recast.