Tisy-Lish

Why would remotes be needed to write a successful long term romance? A compelling romance can be super popular with limited sets and no remotes. All it really requires is good writing and good acting. I could say the same about murder mysteries/murder trials. Just good writing and good acting, a few sets, and (of course) a courtroom set. That's all it takes.

Yes, that demonstrates the influence those two women had on AW, even though the show veered so far away from the original concept in the last half of its broadcast history.

Your research skills are amazing, and I appreciate your posts. It's ironic that despite the minimizing of the Matthews family during the last twenty years of AW, still four of the five longest running characters were members of the Matthews clan. And even Rachel had a member of that family for a couple of years. But if I'm not mistaken, Russ was written off for about a year near the end of Lemay's run as head-writer. And returned to Bay City while Tom King was writing. If I'm correct about that, Russ would be reduced to about 18 years. But would still be in the top five.

This is the inn that was later called the Hartford House, right? When did they start calling it the Hartford House? Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't make any reference to the Hartford family in this scene. I've always felt SFT should have kept Jo and Stu running the Hartford House. It was such a great set, and became sort of the center of the community. Plus it allowed Jo to be in the center of much of the action, even when she did not have her own storyline. It was a silly decision to get rid of this set. Does anyone know what head-writer made that decision??

Thanks for responding. I suppose Pat would likely be the fourth longest running character -- 1964 until 1982. Do you think I'm correct about Pat?

How can Josh Griffith have had such a successful career in daytime, while he writes this kind of worthless drivel on Y&R for years and years? Has he been this bad on his previous soaps?

I suppose it is pretty well established that Vicky Wyndham was the longest running actor on Another World, at more than 25 years. But was Rachel the longest running character?

Has anyone else noticed -- part of the Coffee Shop back wall looks like a log-cabin??. What the heck? Where is this place supposed to be? I've thought it is probably in a food-court of some kind. But after seeing the log-cabin wall for a few days, it makes me reevaluate that assumption. Would there be a business of any kind near DC that has a wall made from visible logs?

Perhaps. I do think current actress is okay, but she does seem a little mature and settled -- in other words, she demonstrates no naivety. But she hasn't really been challenged with much emotional material, so we may not have seen her acting skills shine. And Samantha is the closest thing to a traditional ingenue on the show, in my opinion. The other young female characters are a bit too experienced and catty to be categorized as ingenues. If Donnel and Samantha did become a long-term young romantic couple, I think the writers need to surround them with a small group of similar aged characters. Both Samantha and Donnel have siblings in that age group. Then I'd add maybe two more -- one being a working-class young woman to be the interloper between Donnel and Samantha -- the "Rachel" to complete the triangle. Is there any chance Mona has a daughter in that age group?

Does anyone think we might get a long-term young romance with Samantha and Donnel? They could be the Phil/Tara, the Greg/Jenny, the Holden/Lily, or the Steve/Alice of BTG. Romance is one soap-opera staple that's missing from BTG. And by long-term romance, I mean it needs to be on-again, off-again for six or seven years. And it needs to be messy with interlopers, pregnancies, marriages, and many misunderstandings. Would any soap-opera writer in 2026 be willing to think that far ahead, and stick with a plan?

The forum seems to be going back and forth between the new design and the old design. It doesn't appear to affect reading and posting ability.

Is the entire episode streaming anywhere other than Hulu or Disney+?? Seem to be only clips on YouTube.

Yes, that's it. Thank you for finding this!

Actually, strangely enough, I enjoyed the novel Beggarman Thief much more than the TV miniseries version of it. Interesting. Did the novel more closely connect the plots from RM,PM to BM,T? There did seem to be almost a deliberate disconnect between the two television mini-series. I'm wondering if the two novels might have had more in common.

Yes, Lemay was head-writer until 1979. And under his pen in 1978, Another World hit number one in daytime ratings. This was during the climax of the "Sven" storyline which Lemay did not enjoy writing, but the audience absolutely devoured it.

Does anyone else remember the background music cue that was often used in the 1960s and 70s, when Nancy and Chris Hughes were in scenes together? I believe it was most often used at the beginning of scenes, rather than the end. It was a lovely slow melody, used for many years. I can hear it in my mind, but of course, no way to translate it to text. Anyone else remember it?

I cannot disagree. Although the RM,PM franchise was so hot during that time -- one network or another was likely to have dramatized Shaw's sequel.

Well, you are probably aware the Beggarman, Thief mini-series was based on the novel by Irwin Shaw, which was the actual sequel to his Rich Man, Poor Man novel. But the audience had already seen the ABC TV sequel (RM, PM Book II), which was not written by Shaw and not based on his actual sequel novel. RM, PM Book II took the story in its own direction, while Shaw's sequel novel (Beggarman, Thief) took a completely different course. So any viewers of the two ABC mini-series who tuned in to Beggarman, Thief on NBC (including myself in my late-teens), likely thought "What the hell is this? It doesn't have continuity with what I've already experienced on the ABC versions." I remember getting about half-way through the first episode of Beggarman, Thief and turning it off because it seemed to have little connection to the earlier mini-series. It was completely confusing to viewers. But that was not the fault of the producers of Beggarman, Thief -- it was actually due to ABC's insistence on writing their own sequel to RM, PM which essentially made Beggarman, Thief irrelevant. Now, I have no idea if Beggarman, Thief was a good sequel to RM, PM. It may have been wonderful, or perhaps it was dreadful. I just don't think the viewers gave it a chance. I certainly did not at the time.

You are probably correct. Nixon wrote for Missy and Bill, then created the Alice and Steve love story. Two of AW's greatest romances. Lemay toned-down Liz, so she could essentially replace Mary (huge mistake). Clarice was Lemay's version of Lahoma.

As much as I loved Lemay's AW, it was far from perfect. So I'd suggest that Agnes Nixon's era was probably better. Lemay's AW was wonderful and full of character driven material, but Lemay's plots were infrequent and fairly weak. As I've mentioned before, Lemay's AW was almost plotless -- nearly to the point of being experimental television. Don't misunderstand, I was completely addicted to Lemay's AW. But it was because of his characters, not his plots. Watching AW everyday from 1971 to 1979, I was often frustrated by the lack of the distinct storylines played out on other soaps of that period. But I could not stop watching because Lemay's characters were so believable and compelling. On the other hand, Nixon's work on AW was also character-driven, but did include normal soap opera plots with a beginning, a middle, and an end. So I will suggest Another World's golden age began when Agnes Nixon was hired as head-writer, continued through the Robert Cenadella era, and then the golden age ended in 1979, when Harding Lemay resigned as head-writer.

I believe at least somebody in the Brooklyn studio had plans for a Willis/Rachel connection. Maybe it was Lemay, perhaps it was Rauch, or somebody at P&G, someone at NBC, or maybe just a publicist. But there are enough subtle hints in photos and published ads that definitely suggest someone was a fan of getting Willis and Rachel together. Two things probably derailed the likelihood of a Willis/Rachel romance -- 1.) Wyndham and Watson's unexpected on-screen chemistry, and 2.) the decision to kill-off Steve Frame in 1975. Because with Steve dead, a Willis/Rachel connection would have been of little consequence.

Well, I dislike the term "soapy content". I believe that term is demeaning to the soap opera genre. But if you mean RM,PM was a continuing story focused on romance, drama, and a bit of suspense, then yes. But nearly all mini-series ever produced for American television featured that type of content. So are we going to reclassify all mini-series as soap operas? I really believe the television mini-series was its own genre. The mini-series was different and distinct from episodic primetime dramas, and distinct from primetime soap operas. Mini-series thrived on American TV for around 15 years, and then disappeared. I won't be offended if you disagree with me. I'm just offering my opinion.

How could I have forgotten Joan Bennett? I was/am a huge Dark Shadows fan. I'm not familiar with the other two actors, but appreciate the information. And Paradise Bay would have been another NBC attempt, as you point out. Never Too Young on ABC cast Tony Dow -- not a film actor but a well known primetime TV actor.

I barely remember Strudwick as Jim, mostly because I didn't begin watching AW daily until 1971. But from what I remember, he seemed a little old to be married to Virginia Dwyer, and Marlowe seemed a better fit -- at least age wise. I don't know the DOB of either Strudwick or Marlowe, but Marlowe at least looked younger. And I believe Dwyer was only in her mid-50s when she was fired in 1975, while Marlowe was in his early-70s when he died in 1982-83. I'd love to see more Nixon era episodes with Strudwick, Dwyer, and Groom. It seems to me that NBC put some effort into casting former movie stars as the patriarchs of some of their soap operas in the 1960s and early-70s. And that may have contributed to there being four actors cast as Jim Matthews. All four had at least some experience in motion pictures, but Marlowe had by far the most experience in Hollywood. So NBC was satisfied with Marlowe and they finally had their movie star. Of course DOOL had MacDonald Carey, and Bright Promise had Dana Andrews. I'm not aware of any attempt to cast a movie star on either The Doctors or Somerset, although there may have been some effort that ultimately failed. And aside from the patriarch role, AW also had Ann Sheridan and Connie Ford, both had lots of motion picture experience. I do not recall either CBS or ABC casting movie actors in major roles during that time period, so this seemed to be a special effort on the part of NBC. All just speculation on my part, of course.

They were both mini-series. So I would not consider them primetime soap operas. Unless we were to define all mini-series as soap operas.