Xanthe

The Aga Khan has died at 88. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/aga-khan-dead-1.7450433

Categorizing Bridget as merely a servant is a bit off since she was of course Victoria's foster mother. But that is probably a disservice that the show did to the character since even after Bridget got herself hired at the Love Mansion as part of the scheme for Vicky to impersonate Marley she remained there in a servant role for several years. Did she stay with Donna after Vicky moved to her own apartment? I can't remember whether she was with Vicky and Jamie in their early married life or if she really only moved in with Vicky later.

I was looking in the book recently and there is a little tiny bit more about how Ford's work on AW tied her to NYC.

If it helps, the AWHP has daily synopses for the period Shanks appeared in 1991 and I see the character Mark Allen mentioned on 4 specific days: April 10 & 16, May 1 & 2. http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/aw1991d1.html I have not found any video online with those dates but there could be undated or compiled clips.

According to the AWHP, he was on between April 10 and May 2, 1991. http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/minor1.html I haven't found any episodes online that he is in but I was happy to come across this episode from April 18 since it looks like it has plenty of Kathleen but also the appearance of Ann Harada as Mimi. I don't see any credit for Bill Shanks as Mark Allen in the credits.

Didn't they also introduce some kind of middle-eastern political and/or titled family as part of the transition? There should have been multiple threads on the go based on how they seemed to be setting it up. It kind of makes sense that they wanted to have more than one hook, but maybe they didn't pull it off very well.

I wonder what data they had about how frequently viewers typically watched in those pre-VCR days. Maybe they thought they had to spread over the longer period so that most viewers would pick up the breadcrumbs. But that said I don't know whether they set up the right kind of cliffhangers to make viewers want to follow the story into Texas to find out what would happen.

Thanks for these tidbits. I have no idea who Karla would be but Somerset wasn't on for even one decade, let alone multiple, so her claim of seniority doesn't sound accurate. It makes me wonder if Sloan is mixing it up with another longer-running show or just confusing details. But the despair of the older actress rings true enough. Are there any long-running soap actresses named Karla?

According to the AWHP, Paul Tinder married Vana Tribbey in 1982 which was after Tina Sloan's time but I suppose there should have been a window for courtship. Rick Porter is about the right age and didn't marry Deborah Hobart (Amy Dudley) until 1983. Christopher Rich likewise, married Nancy Frangione at the end of 1982. There were a ton of young guys about 10 years younger than Tina Sloan although after ruling out Richard Bekins I don't know who might have been interested and available at the time -- Ray Liotta (Joey), Jack Parrish (Brad), James Horan (Denny). Tony Cummings (Rick) and Christopher Knight (Leigh) were a little bit younger but perhaps close enough.

There seemed to be an unfortunate amount of turnover in the black cast during 1982-1984 although we had several excellent actors and more than one or two castmembers at any given time. But having a variety of adult characters with assorted relationships was very pleasant for a few years. It was a bit depressing to me after Roy and Henrietta and then Lily left and we were limited to one young couple plus one man and one woman from the older generation. Quinn didn't have much to do after Thomasina got married and Grant died. And her relationship with Zack was so brief that it felt to me as if it was put forward only to give the Sin Stalker an excuse to (unreasonably) consider her a slut.

Madison! I struggled so hard with the link that I didn't notice the typo here and now I can't edit the post. 😡

I meant discreet. That is if the actresses were living together but did not want to admit it, saying that they simply happened to find it convenient to be picked up at the same location would provide cover. But equally in the absence of other evidence they could just be colleagues who lived in the same part of Manhattan who found it convenient to be picked up in front of Augie's.

For what it's worth, a timeline as I understand it. Ford was married to Shelley Hull from 1946 to 1955. When she was playing Eve Morris on The Edge of Night (1964-65?) she moved in with Louise Fitzhugh and they were together until after Ford started on Another World in 1967 but broke up around 1968. Wickwire was married to Basil Langton from 1959 to 1969. She was on Another World from August 1969 until July 1971. In this article which according to the original post was from 1969, the driver picks up Ford and Wickwire together "in front of Augie's Coffee Shop at E 41st St and Matison Av". The writer specifies that the actresses met for the pickup but there is no way of knowing whether that is true or simply discreet.

I am hoping that even if it is in a dull patch you will be able to spare a comment on Mary and Pilara at some point.

I recently learned that she was the original Madame Morrible in Wicked on Broadway.

It looks like an excerpt from the book Her Stories by Elana Levine. Thanks, @chrisml. I have the book on my Kindle but haven't looked into it much. Anything else interesting you have found?

I was shocked when I realised how long the Red Swan had lasted. I think part of the problem is that for quite a long time they were vamping -- whether it was because they had not decided how to resolve it or because they thought it needed time to build up I do not know, but there were possibly too many red herrings sprinkled in. A good MacGuffin would have tied the story together better -- but maybe MacGuffins serve finite storytelling better than open-ended serials. That said, although it was a chore to get through some of the mystery, I did not hate where it ultimately ended up (even though I know they could have got there without using the Red Swan as the device). I was trying to see if I could find the portrait that Sam painted of Amanda over a canvas that had the Red Swan painted on it and the portrait became a kind of sub-MacGuffin as a result, but I haven't found anything online showing it. (This was from the end of August into at least October 1989.)

Dame Joan Plowright has died. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jan/17/joan-plowright-dies-after-long-stage-and-screen-career

It's funny to me that they label these as: Actress name "Character name" Soap, as if the figure depicts the actress in her personal life. Although I don't really picture Marlena in that polka-dot dress either.

I found this post in an archived thread quoting a few stories: Two murders, though.

Do I have room to do it? I assumed since the board restrictions had been changed I had exceeded my limit. Looks like it worked though.

A lot of my earliest memories are just of the freeze frame and therefore the moment of the highest drama, and I don't picture Pat in any of those situations. But watching eps that are available online, Pat was certainly familiar although John is not. Beverly Penberthy's voice strikes me as very warm and appealing.

Can't put a screen cap in the post but here's the episode. Penberthy appears about 35 minutes in.

It may have been paced badly as well, possibly due to the strike. I had forgotten that first Vicky claimed to be pregnant before she was really pregnant. But I had expected the triangle to go on for longer and was surprised that Lisa was written out. If I recall correctly the audience did not know that Vicky had slept with Jake until she started worrying that he could be the father. If that's the case I don't feel that was fair play.

The whole improbable backstory of amnesia and Paraguay wasn't treated as meaningful within the story. Mary pretty quickly dropped the name Marissa and adapted to being Mary McKinnon. Maybe if the writing had treated that disconnection from her "real" life in a more grounded way it could have been better, but I tend to agree with the suggestions that Denise Alexander should just have been cast as a different character. But any of those more grounded options would have depended on different writing.