Tisy-Lish

One of the things I love about BTG is, the show is grounded in reality and believability. It's not about some over-the-top garbage we have been fed from other soaps since the early-1980s. Yes, a couple of the characters are OTT, but the storylines are still believable. Even the reveal of Martin's secret is believable. BTG doesn't need an international spy syndicate, or moustache-twirling Euroro-trash villains to be the bad guys. The extended Dupree family certainly cause more than enough trouble for themselves. And isn't that exactly what Harding Lemay was trying to write on Another World nearly fifty-years ago? MVJ is a genius of the post-modern soap opera.

Absolutely agreed....

I agree. It seems we have all more or less figured out Martin's secret, and nothing about it is particularly scandalous. And perhaps the audience is headed for a let down. But if there are more details -- especially details that do not paint Martin in a positive light, then we might be surprised and possibly even revolted. And that would be a good thing...

Good point. The entire mystery has become so convoluted, that thought didn't even come to me. How did Smitty even know the man in the park was Kenny???

Great point. And yes, I was remembering Salem Place. It has probably been the longest running outdoor set on a US soap. But unfortunately is wasn't permanent. So it disappeared. I think American soaps are ready for outdoor sets that last throughout the life of the show. But paying for those sets is going to be the problem. Unless they exist on the studio's property.

Yours is actually a pretty wise response. Sadly.

Does anyone think an American soap opera will ever have a large permanent outdoor set, as some of the British soaps do (Eastenders for example)? I know it would be prohibitively expensive, unless/until the production and funding model of American soaps changes. Still, I think having consistent outdoor sets (as soaps have long-running in-studio sets) is important to the future of the genre. Mind you -- not the most important thing. The most important thing is good writing. And the second most important thing is good acting.

Okay, strange murder mystery. Because NONE of the visitors from Genoa City are going to jail for murder. So doesn't that leave only one possibility? Aristotle's (oops, Cane's) nerdy little assistant -- I can't remember his name. What other character on the French estate is expendable?

Thanks for that information. I'll assume you are correct. Another site suggested Phoebe's first husband was named Matthews. Now I'm wondering if both could be true. Was Nixon head-writer in 1987?

As I said, I'm not suggesting any of this is literal. And definitely not saying that Nixon based Phoebe on Liz. But on the other hand, since the AMC bible was written before Nixon wrote for Another World, certainly Agnes learned a lot from her time writing for AW. So it would make sense that her time at AW had some influence on what finally became AMC on ABC Daytime. And especially her experience writing for actors like Robin Strasser, Audra Lindley, Connie Ford, Judith Barcroft, Michael Ryan, etc. I'm confident Nixon took much of what she learned from her success at AW, and transferred that wisdom to old/new creation, All My Children.

AW fans have discussed similarities between characters written by Agnes Nixon on Another World, and somewhat similar characters she created for All My Children. Some long-term AW fans have suggested that AMC's Phoebe Tyler was an exaggerated version of Audra Lindley's interpretation of Liz Matthews. Well, I learned something interesting today. Phoebe Tyler's first husband was named Matthews. So Phoebe's name was Phoebe English Matthews Tyler Wallingford. Isn't that a strange choice for Nixon to make, especially with all the fan comparisons between Liz and Phoebe? In a BIZARRO world, it would almost be like Liz moving to Pine Valley and marrying Charles Tyler, then becoming an alcoholic and... I'm not suggesting any of this is literal. But after being such a successful head-writer on Another World, I doubt it was a coincidence that (just a few years later) Agnes Nixon used the name Matthews for a major character on AMC. Makes me wonder if Nixon ever pursued Audra Lindley to play Phoebe. Hmm.

Ruth Warrick has said in a couple of interviews, and I've read in one or two soap opera history books, that a few months after the premiere of All My Children, Agnes Nixon was ready to fire Ruth because she was not happy with the way Warrick had been playing Phoebe. In Warrick's interviews, she explained that at that time she was told this by a friend/confidant, and not directly from Nixon. So Ruth immediately made changes in the way she played Phoebe, and apparently these changes made Nixon happy, because she was not fired after all. So, does anyone know what changes Warrick made to her interpretation of the role? And in what ways she changed her acting style? And more specifically, can anyone describe how Warrick had been playing Phoebe before she heard about her impending exit, and what changes she made that ultimately saved her job?

And at least we finally get a little romance on this soap. It's weird, the only characters JG ever writes truly romantic scenes for are Michael/Lauren and Danny/Christine. And I'm not sure any of those four actors are on contract. JG seems to have absolutely no interest in writing romance for any of the contract actors. What's wrong with him?

As I said, everyone is free to believe whatever they choose to believe. But it seems to me, you are just making excuses for bad writing. Why in the world would anyone do that? And please don't tell me, "it's just a soap." Many many soap operas have had superb writing, and writing that respected the history of the show(s).

Thank you for the information. Very helpful. But still no name of the city Fairmont Crest is within? Or is it in unincorporated Prince George's County? If that is the case, I don't think it has been mentioned in a script. Sooner or later, a future head-writer will give the city a name.

I think it has been mentioned in a script or two that Fairmont Crest is in Maryland. But I could be wrong. However, if Fairmont Crest is actually inside DC, would Martin be a senator? Does DC even have a senator?

Thanks. But I believe when she used the word community, she was likely referring to the gated community (Fairmont Crest), not the city. I could be wrong, of course. Several soaps have started off without naming the city in which the action takes place, but eventually (even years later) the city always gets a name.

Does the city were BTG takes place have a name? Or is it just a vague suburb of Washington DC? And obviously, Fairmont Crest is the name of the gated community, not the name of the city.

Well technically, on AW Will Matthews had already died before the show premiered, and even the funeral had already happened. So during the premiere episode the family was still dealing with and discussing him. But the first real death during AW's run was likely Tom Baxter.

At this point, I only watch Y&R because I love the characters. The storylines are barely storylines at all. The writing makes me yawn. And its been this way for several years. I feel like it's Another World all over again -- just watching for the characters, not the storylines. And I felt that way about AW for the final twenty-years of the show. I'm not going to make the 20-year mark for Y&R, I'm afraid. Please give Y&R an effective and experienced head-writer asap.

Absolutely. For example -- the 25th anniversary of Brava Magazine, or the 25th anniversary of the Russian Art Series, or the 25th anniversary of Cory Publishing's move to Bay City. And even though those dates would have still been askew, at least none would have been as embarrassingly bad as declaring that Cory Publishing was only 25 years old in 1989.

Hmm. . . Many of the characters she created were stereotypes. Frankie Frame - wide-eyed psychic; Derek Dane - Beauty and the Beast; Lucas - mobster; Ken Jordan - Indiana Jones; Dennis Wheeler (not created by Swajeski) brought back as a race-car driving rich alpha-man, etc, etc... Did Swajeski create even one believable character, who did not start as a stereotype??

I certainly do. Oh Lordy!! No doubt, deflated... When I read that, it finally confirmed that woman was not a good successor to Harding Lemay. The fact that she went forward with a storyline, after her leading man was dead, makes me shake my head and sweat profusely. Dear God in Heaven...

I tend to agree. Although the Coleridge family was far wealthier than the Ryans, their closeness and inter-connectedness made them seem almost peers. But Rae's wealth set her apart, even from the Coleridges. Plus Rae was fairly skeptical of the Ryans, which added some needed spice to the show.

I had forgotten that bit of information. But even that episode was written after Lemay had left AW, and was itself a retcon, and historically inaccurate according to Mac's previous comments about his company. Still, it would have been more believable than 1964. You know, all AW needed was a big reason to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary. Whatever the characters celebrated in the scripts did not need to the be literally the 25th of anything. For example, in 1986 ATWT celebrated the show's 30th anniversary with a week of special episodes celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of Chris and Nancy. And that worked perfectly. So maybe to celebrate Another World's 25th anniversary of broadcasting in 1989, the characters should have celebrated the 50th anniversary of Cory Publishing. Or even the 100th anniversary of Cory Publishing. Either would have made a lot more sense and would have avoided some big errors in historical continuity.