YTG

Sue Scannell probably knew a few months in advance that she was getting out of her contract with CBN. The network allowed her to relieve herself from the contract and start working for SFT while she was still filming for AL. The entire story she had with Dave Cohen was the dramatic vehicle for her to get out of Kingsley and the one-on-one scenes she had with Dave in a secluded hotel room somewhere in the Big Apple while she was recording her first album were a way to ease her workload. It was also the catalyst for Russ to be lured by Sheila and for Dave to play the predator...and when she came back to Kingsley for the college graduation ceremony, she caught Russ with Sheila redhanded. Not coincidentally you had Carrie Weaver providing the 'proof' that Russ and Becky were never legally married by the justice of the peace which meant that Carrie would also finish her role on the show around the same time. How convenient...the point is they 'milked' that trainwreck the best they could so that Becky would rationalize she had no more feelings for Russ whatsoever and was ready to conquer the stage on a high note more determined than ever. Her send off scenes proved that the show runners knew how valuable she was for the success of the soap. I can't really speculate what would have happened if she stayed or returned. Her story went full circle for me, even if at the time Russ and Becky were a couple in real life. It's kind of hard to explain why would Sue want to move away when she had a good thing going. They separated in 1985 and I'm not sure if it was before she got the role on 'Dynasty' or as a result of it. In any case, there's no question Russ and Becky were the show's 'rebels without a cause' or if you'd like, its two young firebrands...On a personal note, way back in 1994 when I was in my twenties, I was sitting at a Doctor's office browsing through some magazines when all of a sudden I stumbled upon an entire page with a Russ and Becky photo. I don't remember if it had to do anything with AL or with them as a real life couple, but the magazine publication was from 1985, so I suppose they had some sort of 'soap notoriety' if you wish. Boy was I surprised seeing that years after the show ended. I didn't remember Sebastian alluding to Ted Kennedy's car crash in Martha's vinyard back in 1969...im any case, I suppose Amber and Lee could have found a romantic common ground with the kind of insatiable ambition they both possessed. But Amber became so radioactive as the show progressed that she practically alienated everyone. She was heartless. Her only breakdown came when her planned miscarriage came to haunt her at a photo shoot and right before she left she called Dave 'Daddy' when she came to see him at his flat when Terry was there with him. There was really no where to go with her character, just like Marianne couldn't serve any purpose after Russ. There were no other men around and Peter was designated to repeat the same mistakes with women... As for Carla, Kari page left because she got pregnant in real life and was about to deliver in early 83'. I have no idea why Elaine Graham left to begin with and what made her return because this was never meant to be a temporary absence. I think her relationship with Ione was explored when Gene and Carla fought over Jimmy and when they were trying to resolve their differences. When Kari Page joined, they were already patching things up and there was no conflict, plus she didn't have the temperament nor a good script to sink her teeth into. It was mostly lovey dovey all the time. I have to say that Babs' name was not coincidental. Julie Jenny's mannerisms and accent always reminded me of Barbara Streisand's role in 'What's Up Doc' or perhaps a combination of comedic roles. Plus Babs would sometimes spice her language with New York Jewish dialect. Can't put my finger on it but I'll recognize it when I hear it. Maybe it was deliberate, like ''Dave Cohen' was deliberate and not 'Dave DiAngelo' since the actor who played him was Italian. I also always wondered why would Harold Webster bring the Davidsons a Menorah on the 1983 Christmas episode? I mean since when do people celebrate Hanukkah and what does it actually have to do with the birth of Christ? So I thought it somehow suggested that Harold may have been Jewish because there are a lot of Jewish lawyers or Jewish lawfirms in general. I would later find out that Alan Sader's father was Jewish. That isn't to say he was brought up Jewish. By the way, Michelle Seidman (Jill) is half Jewish. Her father was. How do I know that? because on her social media, she mentions the Jewish holidays plus talked about her late dad on one occassion. Kari page actually converted to Judaism. She married a Jewish guy and moved to Florida. Her acting career pretty much ended after she left AL. It's not like you can call it a career. She started off as a model and had a small role in a 1978 Faye Dunaway movie, but other than that wasn't credited for anything. The actress who played Terry's mother was Jewish (Naomi Riseman).

Here is one demo reel I think you'll enjoy watching. Maybe you weren't aware of her body of work over the years. This is just a small sample. Not saying who to keep a certain element of surprise... https://share.google/woQ0czgcHR8fubx3O

Speaking of Sue Scannell, she and her husband Robert Gilbert founded a production company called Gilbert Entertainment just before Covid broke out and they made an indie film called ATOMIC POOP released in 2023 which Sue actually co-wrote and directed. It's a 'cheesy' low budget alien invasion genre movie. They also had other short film projects which were submitted to the Long Island International Film Festival in recent years and the Indie Gathering International Festival. Atomic Poop https://fawesome.tv/movies/10556359/atomicpoop&utm_source=social_share&utm_medium=website_fawesometv_navigator_api&utm_content=video_screen On Sue's Instagram page, you can watch scenes from 3 short films she took part during the last year. One is called 'Too Close' and the other two are unclear. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF3APcjoqzL/?igsh=NWtscHFqM2ozb3Ri

I agree that Vicki #1 was the best down-to-Earth Vicki who started off mousy looking and later grew out of her shell, very much like Stacy did, but perhaps she wasn't cast as a contract role at first. Maybe the writers at the time didn't have any concrete plan to use her character again, which is why Jill became Peter's next romantic interest. You're right to point out that Vinley probably resuscitated stories that marked the show's 'lost' episodes with emphasis on Kingsley's underworld. He also brought back Eric Mason in person and an off screen Paul Mason since their early let off from the show was perhaps necessary, just like Helen's was, but they all had to return at a later point as Miriam got her life back on track. I remembered now that when I watched AL when I was 14 years old, I couldn't fully let everything sink in and so for some strange reason I thought Blue Nobles with actually Russ' lost brother 'Tony' because it was my impression Russ would also stutter at times when he got really enraged. I can't come up with concrete examples, but I thought it would be a Greek tragedy if he unknowingly killed the brother he didn't know. How I could have concocted such a convoluted story is still a mystery to me. What you're telling me about Dave #1 is coming back to me now and it pretty much makes sense. He was Jeff Cummings' cell mate when he was incarcerated after being mistakenly accused of harboring drugs at the book shop if I recall. Speaking of Sebastian, I think I mentioned some time ago or maybe not that the actor playing him passed away before completing the storyline and so the script had to be adjusted. As a result, a few scenes were played by a different actor making it seem as though the original actor playing was still at the helms. They used old shots and other manipulations to disguise the fact he was no longer there. They even used a different voiceover without actually showing him during the reconstruction of the murder scenes, when Amber's neighbor, the eccentric Mrs. Schmidt, heard the shooting from Amber's apartment just after a heated arguement between Kate and a man with a deep voice. In fact, the actor who played some of the new scripted acenes was non other than Alan Sader (Harold) who had similar body measurements like Sebastian. If you rewatch those scenes or notice when Sebastian mysteriously disappears from the show with off screen phone calls between him and Lee, you'll know that's when the actor was no longer alive at that point. The second bullet theory which was a turning point in solving Kate's murder may have been an unforeseen development, but how could possibly any professional forensic unit not identify a second bullet after cordoning off the crime scene in the first place? Seems not plausible after thoroughly scouring a small size apartment... Besides, how could Amber possibly stay one more second at that place afterwards? and how could Miriam rent that space? And how conveniently would Miriam take over Amber's modeling agency without prior experience or background? Some really shabby writing there. That's why I say things mostly went South after Dave's trial was over and the identity of the killer revealed. At that time, Russ was developing a relationship with Blair Simpson, Amber's friend, but that was cut short because the writers decided to have Blair suddenly fade into thin air without any explanation and drag Russ into that ludicrous old Bible hunt and the final showdown with Lance.

Without giving away too much, your instincts about Sebastian are absolutely correct. Lance does return after he gets incarcerated. I won't disclose the circumstances, but I will say that for a newcomer soap actor, it was like winning the lottery because only few actors get to do what he did. It's not that the storyline had any credence, but rather the fact that it could have given him a career boost. Unfortunately it didn't and he would eventually retire and become a psychiatrist... https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/david-kelly-gwin-licensed-psychotherapist-new-york-ny/72575 There was a suggestion at some point that Peter and Marianne could have hit it on, that he could have been more than a friendly shoulder to cry on. Vicky #2's sudden departure (or what at least seemed like one for either contractual or other reason) created a problem and the story had to be exhausted. It seemed like the casting was rushed because 'Vicky' didn't look anything like Vicky, but she was more credible as an actress. The problem was her exit storyline which saw her get involved with... Lee Corathers' campaign. That's only one aspect that had to do with her eventually leaving, but I don't want to give away the rest. Let's just say the Corathers angle made sense, but her relationship with Peter made Peter look too foolish and altruistic beyond belief. BTW, Peter actually left 6-8 weeks before the show ended while others left a few months earlier. Russ was certainly a very troubled man after his personal and professional upheavals, so I get that he was haunted by the ghosts of the past and that his near death experience or the fact that he was clinically dead for a few minutes made him have visions of going to Hell as a perpetual boiling pot. The fact that Nancy sued Ben may have made sense, but it felt so contrived. I understand that Nancy would have eventually reach a point where she would want to take her life, but not in the way it had Ben involved. It was just too much, an unnecessary complication in my view because it dragged on and on and on. I remember having a hard time with it. Doug Hughes' role in all of this is barely memorable to be honest which just goes to show that the whole story arc got on my nerves. Doug approached Ben as a friend but was actually sent to him as a 'spy' to get dirt for Nancy's lawyer. Only later did he switch sides, came clean and helped Ben win the medical neglect claim. The New Carpenters were indeed introduced a few months before Charles and Miriam left around the same time. They didn't arrive all at once just like the Philipps' clan was gradully introduced, but the first new Carpenter's identity wasn't disclosed. We only knew his or her private name for a while and it was only later that the connection to the Carpenters was established.

If you refer to the Dar Salaam Bible storyline which I referred to as 'disturbing' (and I was very restrained in my characterization), then I agree things really went south from there. Yes, it was action packed with video shots on different locations, hot pursuits, twists and turns, mistaken identities what have you...it had almost the entire cast involved some way or another, but I think it drained the show's resources and seriously backfired in terms of viewing figures around late 83' and the first quarter of 84'. It was also a time when we saw early departures of major characters who were there from the beginning and that was clearly an ominous sign. I don't think the idea to introduce the extended Carpenter family was particularly engaging, although the Peter-Courtney-Vaughn triangle was interesting up to a point. I didn't appreciate the fact that Carla and Lori's characters were reduced to being the dutiful wives to the point they were actually functioning as their respective husbands' personal job assistants instead of having a dignified storyline of their own, but since both were just after giving labor, there were no viable options for their character development. The Vanessa storyline was captivating and Vanessa's casting fitted like a glove, but its conclusion unforgivable, just like Jeff's miraculous healing through divine intervention wasn't something I could accept as a dramatic vehicle for a soap. I knew very well I was watching a Christian soap with clear subliminal and not so subliminal messages and indoctrinations. I had no problem with the premise, more with the execution at times. I can think of many more underlining stories that bored me during the last year: I didn't like Nancy's lawsuit against Ben with Dan Meyers as the new shady lawyer, the marriage scheme, Miriam falling for Jeremy of all people as a parable for something... I know what the purpose was, but it was still unacceptable to me. And then we had Ben getting national recognition and media attention, leaving the clinic for the Bedford institute without knowing he's a pawn in Brian and Vanessa's deadly schemes. The campus fake shooting story was not one I particularly warmed up to. The paternity/pregnancy story seemed like an unecessary complication to get Dan and Gil's characters some 'action' after a long lull. I did like Tina's addition to the show from the moment she walked in, although her connection to John seemed completely random. She was a hoot...up to the point where things got more serious. If I had to watch those episodes again, which I probably won't, I don't think my mind would change about how I feel about those stories. There is more to unpack here, but that's for another occasion.

I was very surprised Paul Gleason took this role as he was already an established film and primetime tv actor who would go on playing in blockbusters such as The Breakfast Club and Die Hard. Furthermore, the actual age difference between Him and Dorothy Stinnette was evident and it made me somewhat uncomfortable. He was 44, she was 55 and it just didn't seal the deal for me. Dorothy Stinnette was a class act actress, but she looked older than her real age even in her earlier soap roles. To be fair, Tom Urich was also 7 years younger than her in real life but there was much more baggage and conflict with 'Dave' while 'Lee' was basically a conniving double-crossing character in both his public and private life. Amber starts off as glamorous, sophisticated and very business oriented, but pretty soon we see how patronizing, condescending and possessive she is, how cold blooded, manipulative and damaged she turns out to be. It's a loaded gun waiting to shoot a metaphoric bullet and while I don't want to give away much, it was so clever to have Amber and Stacey evolve in juxtaposed directions with far reaching consequences. This was the best story arc for me in terms of sibling rivalry gone wild in epic proportions involving Gil-Amber-Stacy-Kate-Lee-Sebastian-Dave. When it was over, I think the show wad basically over. When the new executive producer tried to upstage that with a huge new storyline which would capitalize on past character/s and a desire to ride on the success of the 'Raiders of the Lost Ark" film genre, the result was, shall we say...disturbing. I do have to mention that the Philipps clan was created because the Prescotts didn't work out the way they should. The actor playing Jason Prescott, Read Morgan (who played supporting roles in many TV westerns) apparently didn't click with Mary Jean Feton or perhaps it was the other way around which is why Jason's indiscretion with his secretary became his exit storyline when it became clear he wasn't going to be Terry's designated leading man, so creating an entire new household with a new leading man had to be made from scratch and since Dave Philipps already made an appearance as a different actor almost a year earlier, the writers created this whole new background story. I honestly don't remember if the original Dave ever mentioned his family or alluded to him being responsible for his son's death. So as a viewer one has to accept that Dave's daughters are already living and working in Kingsley, that Gene and Stacey were already working together at The Chronicle and that Kate was 'galavanting' around the country...but I guess we as viewers are very easily willing and able to bridge the gaps, make sense of some inconsistancies and fill in the blanks.

That's precisely right. To keep production costs manageable, the scenes of the attack on Pearl Harbor were footage originally shot for the movie (Wikipedia).

Thanks for finally putting all the pieces together. I was unaware he played a different character in the first installment of episodes. I always thought he returned as Tab in 1982 because in one of the scenes at Kingsley hospital where he escorts Nancy for a check up, Terry Davidson greets him with suspicion suggesting she is familiar with his checkered past. This was the only scene they ever had together, so this 'revelation' is somewhat puzzling, but It's a nice closure... I remember Bob Turnball segments very well from the early 80's on The 700 Club and as separate segment fillers between scheduled shows. I also recall him playing supporting roles on a few episodes of Hawaii Five 0 and a famous WW2 movie called Tora Tora Tora from 1970 which reenacted the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and at the time it left me at awe because of the aerial combat scenes and the visual effects.

Thanks. Sure, you can go ahead and post.

I'm back for a bit. First I want to apologize for not writing either here or privately that I would be leaving the board. It wasn't like my mind was made up back then, but when I realized I was losing interest and the urge to type anything, I should have said I'm taking time off. Although I barely cared about Another Life fot the past 6 months or so, I was immediately drawn to the missing episodes' summaries. What was not mentioned and will probably continue to remain a bit mysterious is what was the nature of Mandy Bolen's association with Tab Baron about. Tab would later be reintroduced as Nancy's extortionist physical therapist. I know Tab appeared on those missing episodes for a fact. So now that's off the table, I just wanted to send a link to the short comedy film COUGAR CATCHER with MaryJean Feton in the lead role. This short was shown at the LA comedy film festival last year and was just recently released for public viewing on Youtube. Saying it's a side one wouldn't expect seeing from her would be an understatement... I will reserve my opinion about the film for the time being.

I had to correct the previous post. The second person I mentioned as one of the show's executive producers was inaccurate. Their names were the same (Dave Hummel and David Hummel), but it wasn't the right David Hummel who actually passed away in 2016.

https://spi-collective.com/who-we-are/ It turns out that the founder of this media production company based in Virginia Beach is directly connected to Another Life. The guy at the top who founded the company actually played a 'villain' for a couple of months. His name is Chris Calcagno and he played the part of 'Dave Cohen' who was Becky's big shot record agent/producer from the Big Apple. While he was clearly depicted as a manipulative, shady, unscrupulous and stereotypically Jewish (Even though he's Italian), there have been many Italian/Jewish cross-ethnic castings, most notably Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur from 'The Golden Girls' or John Turturro and Robert De Niro playing Jewish characters in various films. He's 71.

Yeah, her tv and movie credits prior to Another World were much more sporadic and usually in a supporting role capacity. She was mostly invested in the theatre. I watched scenes from complete episodes of AW in sequence on YouTube from 1999 where she plays Etta Mae, but it's not like I cared much about the storyline.

Elain Graham ('Carla Redlon') has been on many great TV shows up till 2018, from Another World between 1996-1999 and later on critically acclaimed prime time shows such as 'Oz', 'Law and Order' and 'Smash' to name just a few. She has been a prominent figure in the NYC theatre scene for decades and in 2022 made an appearance in a documentary produced by actor Glynn Thurman entitled "Women of Theatre New York, a Love Supreme" together with 7 other actresses, mostly African-American, about their career. You can watch the entire film here. She makes several appearances throughout the documentary. She is 73 here. https://fawesome.tv/movies/10567817/women-of-theatre-new-york?utm_source=social_share&utm_medium=website_fawesometv_navigator_api&utm_content=video_screen

I came across this blog written by Eddie Hailey ('Gene Redlon'). He was a praise and worship leader in a Santa Monica community church between 2013 to 2020 or so but that church is close now. He very candidly writes in length about his childhood, his upbringing, how he became born again, his move to LA from the Mojave desert where he grew up, his acting career and more. He never mentions Another Life as far as I can recall but I may have missed something because I skipped over parts that were more evangelizing in nature. I have to say that he's a very good writer and that these entries could and should be the basis for his biography if he ever releases one. I didn't find anything about his whereabouts since then on social media, but I believe he should be 77-78 y/o by now. His final entry is the first one. The first entry is the one at the bottom of the page. https://share.google/vvPj7Q6aRntFirhLI https://share.google/deq119lHFZm5ovsmm (Most recent photo of him from a decade ago. Second photo from the top)

https://share.google/IYYWIWFxeajIXhAb6 You may be familiar with this Pinterest account. It has a few random photos of Another Life cast members in individual and group settings probably released by CBN for promotional purposes. Scroll down and you'll find those photos after a set of photos from The Doctors and later on between other soaps. Other photos are taken from The Secret Storm, Love is a Many Splendored thing, The Doctors and more. The actress Lori March who starred on The Secret Storm would later guest star on Another Life in 1984 as one of Dr. Vanessa Fazan's high society patients. Roy Winsor created The Secret Storm and Another Life so this was a tribute to his leading soap actress on The Secret Storm. ***UNRELATED: If you followed or are still following 'The Doctors' on RetroTV, You can watch all available episodes from 1967 till the most updated ones at the moment from late 1980 on the following link. Episodes will most likely be added until the show's conclusion in late 1982. http://watch.itsrealgoodtv.com Scroll down the page and look for THE DOCTORS

I've just now learned that the actor who played Miriam Carpenter's husband on the show, Paul Mason, actor Robert Bendall, passed away at 73 in early 2022. We only got to see him in 30 episodes but he was actually an original cast member so he was there for 100 episodes together with their son Frederick who only appeared maybe twice during that 30 episode block He had a modelling career in NYC prior to joining AL and after moving to the West Coast following his dismissal from AL he had supporting roles on shows like Night Court and Falcon Crest to name a few, but he left acting in the Nineties for teaching in the LA public school system. https://share.google/3p2gOBUh81RQNcHLy https://share.google/EHtJFpIqeK55ljMPO

I knew about this movie a long time ago. The screenwriter Tony Bruce was a huge fan of AL and that's how he got both actresses on board. He wanted to do another film project with MaryJean Feton in the Nineties but it didn't work out in the end. https://share.google/EIazYUwJhviPwOwEK This is a very well written synopsis and a very elaborate critical review that makes some good points about how one should reevaluate this effort looking 20 years back.

Are you familiar with a movie called 'Visions of Sugarplums'? I wouldn't have bothered mentioning it if it wasn't for the fact that both MaryJean Feton and Edye Byrde had co-starring roles in it and not only that, it was marketed as a gay comedy released only on DVD, but there wasn't a lot of comedy going on there. Very amateur low-budget Christmas film with mostly awful acting and directing, but for some reason it's still in circulation 27 years after it was shot and 24 years after it's release in 2001. Edye Byrde died shortly after shooting ended. You wouldn't believe the lines coming out of her mouth while MaryJean pretty much had a big cross to bear and not just figuratively...you'll see for yourself. Edye's first scene starts at 00:15:01 while MaryJean's at 00:16:23. You really don't have to waste your time on this other than on their scenes... Visions of Sugarplums (2001) - a gay comedy film by Edward J. Fasulo - Gay Themed Movies https://share.google/wJIIXuyLKQToEeHIe

That's right, between 1988-2006. And it just so happens that the entire movie is on Youtube!...but with French voiceover and that is because it was released in France in 1991 under the name Aux Portes De L'enfer. In the States it was released with an alternative title: 'The Ungodly'. I saw at least one seller on Ebay who has the official VHS released cassette in good condition (so he claims), but I can count on the French I took at uni... https://youtu.be/WvT195Z6RQ8?si=rbErEbmZpMSkPESu ...and just in case you're looking for a very elaborate synopsis with screen shots going over all the themes and inside jokes in the film, you can Google Translate the following page and have a good read: https://share.google/61p3gWosN0MecnIqB

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0332942/ I remember his son wrote a few times on the private AL Facebook group which wasn't really active for the past decade or so, but can't add anything relating to his time on the soap. However, he brought up this idea about setting up a reunion to mark 30 years to AL, but eventually it never took off the ground. The mini-biography he wrote for his Imdb page is pretty extensive, but it doesn't mention the exact years he played short term supporting roles on a few network soaps back in the late Seventies and after his contract with CBN ended. Pay very close attention to this B-Movie from 1989 where he was credited as 'Robert Elarton' in his only leading role to date...this will shock you in so many ways I don't even want to add another word about it. Just read the plot, the reviews, take a look at some of the screen shots and ask yourself what was that all about? https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0102965/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Tom McGowan who played the late Carolyn Collings' (Lenz) husband has been into real estate for the past few decades, mainly in restoration. He's 77. https://share.google/kqhC6eH3iKnQ8TwGu https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-mcgowan-77899923?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

I remember Michelle Seidman (Jill) reflecting on the AL Facebook group over a decade ago about how she and Carolyn felt at some point that their scripts became repetitive , that it felt like they were echoing the same talking points. Michelle Seidman left the show quite abruptly, but the scriptwriters had to mention her character as if she were still around for a while to explain why her relationship with Peter came to an end. Anyway, after that ship had sailed, The Cummings were pretty much left with nothing to sink their teeth in and I recall both were practically absent for about 30-35 episodes until their send off episode at the Davidsons which was very emotional and truly felt like an end of an era. I never really understood why Carolyn came back a few months later...perhaps it was to give Terry some emotional support after Lori's hospitalization, but it didn't amount to anything other than a friendly gesture on and off set because I know she and MaryJean Feton remained close friends almost till the day she passed away. I appreciated Carolyn's input when she struggled with Jeff's adultery and domestic abuse. Some very compelling scenes from both actors there. The problem is that once two characters are reformed, there's little left to work with. So Jeff got caught with drugs at the book store and subsequently put in jail...at least that incident introduced us the first incarnation of Dave Philipps, who was never meant to be a permanent character and was only brought back a year later because Read Morgan who played Jason Prescott failed to fit into the leading man role as was originally planned. Michelle Seidman left for NYC while filming in Virginia Beach and there seemed to have been some disagreement about her filming schedule (she would commute to Virginia once a week to film her scenes) so she was eventually let go.

l've just learned completely by chance that unfortunately the actress who played Liz Cummings, Carolyn Lenz (whose married name became Collings in 1983) passed away earlier this year on May 18th at 77. https://www.facebook.com/share/1ApuNESTmE/ She was married to Cliff Collings whom she met on the set of the show. He played 'Dom Cavalaris' whose daughter Donna found shelter at the Cummings' household for a while when one day Dom barged in and viciously attacked the family while violently grabbing Donna with force in a very powerful and violent scene. There is an obituary on legacy.com if you google her full name.