Xanthe

On 7/6/2023 at 12:30 PM, Michael said:

Seems like it's doing impressive numbers and getting good press thus far, and I'd love to see an adequate Twitter replacement take over. But functionality-wise... I use Twitter for way different things than I use Instagram for. I don't necessarily want my soap discussion friends to be following my Instagram, or for all my family and friends who follow me on Insta to be seeing my soap discussions or whatever (not even that I CARE about them seeing it, it just seems weird to be serving that stuff to them). I dunno, having them all linked doesn't make it very appealing for me.

Absolutely. I prefer to keep my various kinds of nonsense separate and even though none of it is shameful I wouldn't want to be self-conscious about who is seeing what or who might react to what if Threads insists on showing you to your Facebook friends and vice versa.

45 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

My favorite soap, #AnotherWorld, my favorite actor, Stephen Schnetzer, playing Cass Winthrop but in drag as Krystal 'with a K' Lake, being caught by Tony the Tuna. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DliA4gOrUNo

So nice to see Julie Osburn as Kathleen with Kathleen Layman as MJ. They may be my favourite pair of sisters of all time.

2 hours ago, denzo30 said:

Yes, that was the point I was trying to make that the audience in 99 may not have even know Bev.  She had left the show 20 years earlier.  For us long time fans, that would have been great to see her but ideally Carmen would have been the choice I think the network would have wanted. 

I know that some people disliked it, but they used Sam Groom, who had previously played Russ, as the officiant at Cass and Lila's wedding. If they could not think of a way to use Iris well they might have been able to come up with a way for Beverlee and/or Carmen to play some other part that would deliver fan service and acknowledge the performers. (On the other hand although I had liked both John Aprea and Alice Barrett and I don't object in theory to actors playing different roles I wasn't thrilled with Alexander Nikos or Anne O'Donnell, so maybe it would not have worked.)

10 hours ago, Darn said:

It definitely is.

Thanks. According to the ibdb it looks like he would have been in NY doing Me and My Girl in 1989.

I don't see him listed in the Actor Guide on the AWHP, but I am pretty confident that this is Edward Hibbert here (March 31, 1989).

 

On 6/22/2023 at 8:10 PM, TVFAN1144 said:

I’m thinking Nicholas Coster and Beverly McKinsey did not get along 

Just saw the news that Nic Coster has passed away.

The photo that sparked the triplet rumours was shown to Anna Stuart as Donna right before she was institutionalized and subsequently recast as Philece Sampler. The audience was not shown the photo until much later when it was revealed to be John Hudson holding two bundles and the trigger was supposed to have been that it reminded Donna that because John had raped her as a teenager he could have been the father of the twins.

Nothing about the photo has ever made sense -- even if John had been in the same place as Marley and Victoria when they had just been born, it wouldn't be any type of evidence that he could be their father. What I don't remember noticing or discussing is that there appear to be palm trees in the background of the photo. I have always assumed that Reginald had faked the photo to freak Donna out. But if he did fake the photo, why wouldn't he have changed the background to make it look like John could have been in Bay City? And if he didn't fake the photo, and just fortunately happened to have one of John with two babies in Vietnam, why would anyone who sees it assume that the babies were Marley and Victoria instead of two Vietnamese babies?

http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/donna.html

I've been watching some episodes from early 1989. I can tell at this point Rachel doesn't know that Evan is Janice's son. Who did know and when? I assumed that Iris would know and that's how she brought him into her dastardly scheme, so perhaps Jason also knew but not Sharlene?

 

I can't believe how long Amanda's investigation of Video Match went on. I was thinking that it was primarily an excuse to frame the Valentine for Singles episodes but it started in December and carried on into at least March. She and Sam went on a double date with James Kiberd and Jane Krakowski (or rather I should say she and James Kiberd as Dustin Trent went on a double date with Sam [pretending to be Amanda's brother] and Jane Krakowski as Tanya). 

It was a bit jarring to see Jamie so wholeheartedly devoted to Vicky while Lisa had nothing much to do. I suppose it was because Joanna Going was on the verge of leaving anyway. Perhaps if Lemay had stayed he would have made more of the triangle and the parallels to Rachel/Steve/Alice.

On 6/21/2023 at 8:09 PM, j swift said:

I recently read the novelization of Another World (Haunted by the Past) which dealt with the Clarice/Robert relationship, and it provides an interesting interpretation.  Obviously, we can't know Lemay's intent, given that this novel was written by someone else, but I found it entertaining.  Cordelia Burke (which sounds like it has to be a pseudonym) describes what we would reference in more modern times as a co-dependent relationship.  Clarice had a power imbalance with Robert given his money and education, so she was willing to provide unconditional support without demanding that he deal with his addiction.  Even though Robert was experiencing multiple failures in his career and his friendships, she still felt grateful for his attention and compassion. 

The reason I don't like the pairing of Robert and Iris is that it brought out the worst in her.  When Iris spared with Rachel, they were equals in terms of their intellect and self-assurance.  Those scenes are fun because both women are sniping at each other from their own base of power.  However, when Iris goes after Clarice to hide her pregnancy from Robert, it is just mean.  She intimidates Clarice using money and threats.  She plays with her emotions and makes her feel inadequate.  This isn't bratty Iris, this is Iris as an actual cruel villain.  And even though I think Robert was dreamy to look at, and so romantic, he was hardly worth the machinations that Iris used to try to win him over.  

I read the Soaps & Serials novelizations when they came out in the 1980s and the cover of Haunted by the Past always amused me because the characters depicted had a faint resemblance to Ed Fry and Sally Spencer who were then playing Adam and MJ even though the novel was about storylines from 10 years earlier. 

I don't know if I was reading too much into things but I thought there was an element of classism in the Robert/Iris/Clarice triangle that explained more about why Iris pursued Robert than anything like love. But that is assuming that the Delaney family and his career as an architect made Robert that kind of catch. 

23 minutes ago, Neil Johnson said:

 

I really think Harding Lemay's goal was to create a major rivalry/hatred between Iris and Clarice, which I believe was quite successful.  And he did that by using Robert -- even though it seemed a bit out of character for Robert, in my opinion.

What about Robert's relationship with Clarice? Was it convincing? Were we supposed to think Robert was truly romantically attached to Clarice or was he merely taking advantage of her?

2 hours ago, j swift said:

When I think of Iris's home, before she left for Texas, I picture her penthouse with a sunken living room and a terrace.  I also recall her dining room where she would take breakfast, and Mac would often stop by on his way to the office.

Then I was reading this May 1978 recap from the great work of @FrenchFan in the thread "Look into the past 1975" which included the following information:

Millicent suggested Iris call Elena to find out what was going on. Iris was upset that Brian sold her house to Elena so quickly, even though she left such orders.

Which left me to wonder how many homes Iris had before she left Bay City for Houston (I was less concerned about where she lived once she returned)?  Did she live in a home with Brian and then purchased the penthouse after their divorce in 1978?

The AWHP lists only one apartment : Iris, 1978 - 1986 (Vivien, Brian, Cecile, Sandy, Cass, Felicia) - I assume they mean that when Iris left in 1980 Cecile, Sandy, Cass, and Felicia lived there afterward, sequentially, not together

So, how many homes/apartments do others recall Iris living in from 1972-1980?  I don't recall her ever living in the Cory Mansion in Bay City.

 

I remember whoever killed Kirk Laverty holding Iris and Vivien hostage in the apartment Iris lived in, which would have been 1979. I think I remember Brian being in the same apartment but maybe that could have been after their marriage broke up.

I don't remember Cecile moving in but I know by the time Cecile left in 1984 she had been living in a house that Cass was later living in and evicted from. 

In a completely unrelated event, today I learned that Linda Dano and John Aprea apparently played siblings in a 1975 series called The Montefuscos.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Montefuscos

26 minutes ago, Neil Johnson said:

At the end of the storyline it was revealed Sven was not Helga's cousin (or brother?) at all -- but her former lover.  And Sven had years-earlier murdered Helga's husband, Knut. Was Sven Regina's bio-father?  That was never revealed.    

I don't remember these characters first hand, and I believe the novelizations end before the storyline starts, but there are some oddities in the AWHP synopses for 1977 and the character guide. According to the character guide, Regine's father's name was Knut and according to the synopsis for January 31, 1977, Sven's character name was originally Knut (and Helga referred to Sven as her cousin). On February 10th, Lars was mentioned as the name of Helga's husband who died. Then in July Helga starts having nightmares about her husband and Regine's father, Knut, whom Helga married only because she was pregnant and she seems to suggest that she would have preferred Sven.

At the same time Regine had become pregnant by someone called Cliff, but as part of his evil moneymaking scheme Sven engineered a situation where he put an unconscious Regine in bed with an unconscious Mac and expected to force Mac to marry her or at least pay blackmail or something.

So on the one hand maybe Helga simply did marry Knut because he was Regine's father. But it could also be possible that Sven and/or Helga had an elaborate scheme to take advantage of Knut by claiming he was Regine's father when Sven was actually her father.

http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/aw1977d.html

On 5/29/2023 at 9:22 PM, watson71 said:

Felicia shot Kyle with a gun, but Kyle had a fist fight with Ian, causing Kyle to have a brain hemorrhage that killed him.  

It doesn't seem as if Ian was charged with manslaughter or anything either. Clearly problem solved -- the bad guy was dead and Felicia was not technically guilty.

I liked Ian as a character reasonably well at the time, but somehow now 30 years later I wonder if he and Derek Dane had essentially the same function and maybe I only preferred Ian because I found him better looking. 

14 minutes ago, Khan said:

Ironically, I remember liking Wanda De Jesus as Santana and thinking she had good chemistry with Jed Allan.  That was a bright spot in an otherwise difficult time for SANTA BARBARA.

I thought she was extremely good in the small and nearly thankless role of Reginald Love's henchwoman Gomez on Another World and was disappointed when she left for the primetime series Mariah.

The May 4th anniversary passed unremarked this year. It would have been the 59th. Next year will be the 60th so maybe we're saving up for a big diamond jubilee.

I don't think I remember knowing the fact [the broadcast itself was before my time] that Sarah Cunningham was the first Liz Matthews on day 1 who was then replaced by Audra Lindley on May 7. And apparently Audra Lindley's last day in the role happened to be June 25, 1969, exactly 30 years before the series finale. 

Gordon Lightfoot has died.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/gordon-lightfoot-dead-1.6828991

3 hours ago, Neil Johnson said:

Personally, I thought the Red Swan storyline was a total disaster from beginning to end.  And I don't think even having Mac alive could have saved it.  

I vaguely associate the Red Swan with Ken Jordan and Paulina so I was shocked to scan through the AWHP synopses from 1989 and 1990 and discover that for months and months before Ken arrives, people [Lucas, Derek, Mitch, Caroline, Griffen Sanders?] talk about and try to acquire the Red Swan by fair means or foul [and fail to notice it depicted in the background of a painting] but there seems to be no ultimate reveal about its significance. Was it intrinsically valuable? Did the papers it contained prove that Mac had had an affair with Paulina's mother? Was the painting evidence of anything at all? Did its function as a MacGuffin drive story in any meaningful way? If Mac had been alive would they have cast Paulina's mother to create a love triangle?   

On 2/2/2023 at 9:24 PM, Xanthe said:

When Dee first arrived in early 1985 Wallingford talked about his parents wanting to protect him and telling him to stick to his own kind, but he didn't want to limit himself so he left home. (Not clear whether there were other little people in his family.) He also mentioned that people felt free to be rude and unkind to his face because he looked different. 

Since we were talking about Wallingford's personal life a while ago, just wanted to note for posterity that around the time Felicia met Zane, Wallingford confided in her that he had been engaged before but his fiancée's  family had interfered and prevented the marriage. 

2 hours ago, Neil Johnson said:

Regarding the Frames, I didn't count them, but I'm sure there were fewer than eight.  Janice, Vince, Willis, and Jamie.  Any other Frames?  I do not think Willis and Gwen were married at the time of the photo. 

According to the AWHP Willis and Gwen were married in August 1978. And Angie Perrini had married Vince in May 1978. But maybe they are no longer together since Vince apparently marries  Mimi Haines in June 1979.

13 minutes ago, robbwolff said:

The Matthews family is on the left side of the photo: Pat, John, Marianne, Liz, Michael, Jim, Alice, and Susan. As Neil said, Dan Shearer doesn't seem to be in the photo. Sally wasn't around at this point. She returned in April 1979.

Thanks! If it's that early in the year I guess I should have been looking for Tim Holcomb and not Richard Bekins and he must be the young man between Ada and Louise and not the partial figure in the back.

7 hours ago, Neil Johnson said:

1979 was the final year there were more Matthews on AW than any other family. In this cast photo, there are eight members of the Matthews family plus Dan Shearer, who I don't see in the photo. So that makes nine Matthews (counting in-laws) There are eight member of the Cory family in the photo (counting in-laws, but not counting servants). By March 1979, the Matthews family began to diminish rapidly -- starting with John, Dan, Susan, and a few months later Alice and Michael were written off.

I don't recognize everyone and/or can't make out all of the faces in the back. How many Frames were there at this point?  I can see Gwen and Janice and maybe the top of Jamie's head. But I suppose Jamie is also being counted as a Cory? Are the 8 Mac, Iris, Rachel, Brian, Ada, Charlie, Jamie, and Blaine? What about Clarice (Charlie's daughter) and Larry (Blaine's brother)?  As I write that out it seems as if none of the Cory set have any close connection with the Matthews set. When did Pat and Liz start working for Cory Publishing?

Matthews: John, Dan, Susan, Alice, Michael, Liz, Pat, and ... Sally?

On 3/28/2023 at 7:58 PM, janea4old said:

 

 

Yeah I was watching AMC when that aired. Def. 1971.  I remember Erica went to New York for it.

Thanks everyone for the clarifications and corrections.  So Pat's was the first, Erica's in 1971 (in NY, having travelled from PA where it would not have been legal), would be the first legal, and Maude's in 1972, also in NY where she lived, was also legal but both hers and Erica's were pre-Roe. 

2 hours ago, Neil Johnson said:

Just wanted to correct something I saw on a soap opera special this evening on CBS.  Another World's Pat Matthews had the first abortion on daytime (and maybe the first on TV) in 1964.  It was not Ashley Abbot or Erica Kane.  Jeeze-Louise!!  

As I understand it Pat had the first abortion on US TV. Erica had the first legal abortion on Daytime. (I think Maude had the first legal abortion on US TV period.)

52 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Lemay seemingly agreed as he had Rachel viciously spurn Liz and cast her out of the family (briefly) in his return to the show. I'm glad those episodes will be up on Youtube before too long.

Was that when Liz told Matthew about Mitch's past? 

3 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

I remember liking Kevin and Lorna at the time. For the life of me i can't remember why he went to prison. And i was watching back then. 

The Character Guide entry uses the term "assault, wrongful use of office, and conspiracy to commit murder" and gives his final words as:

[The courtroom, to Victor Rodriguez, before being taken to prison,] "Carl would have done some serious time. But no. You know better."

ETA: I don't remember whether I liked Kevin with Lorna but I do remember liking her with Victor.