watson71

The character of Paulina was another unnecessary illegitimate child of Mac Cory. When Cali Timmins and Judi Evans were on the show, they should have been cast as Nancy .McGowan rather than Paulina. Nancy always had a crush on Jake- Paulina was involved with Jake, Nancy hated Vicky- Paulina and Vicky fought over Grant, when Joe Carlino was introduced on the show they even stated that he dated Nancy in high school- before he became involved with Paulina, and both Nancy and Paulina became addicted to drugs. The Paulina storylines in the 90s would have worked if the character was Nancy. Bringing up Carl's son Perry, I always wondered why the writers ignored the fact that Vicky indirectly caused Perry's death when he discovered that Vicky was a twin to Marley and he fell from the hayloft in the Love stable. Surely a vengeful Carl would not want another son, Ryan, becoming involved with the woman who caused Perry's death. Ironically, Ryan's death would also be tied to Vicky when he was shot by Grant on the train trestle after Justine kidnaped Kirkland. So Vicky had ties to the deaths of both of Carl's sons.

I like the wink and nod to Another World in the For Richer, For Poorer opening with the interlocking Os in Poorer similar to AW's interlocking rings in their opening.

And she was Miss Ellie's best friend, Mavis Anderson, on Dallas. Episodes of Dallas are available to stream on the IMDB Freedrive app. Wish episodes of AW and the other P&G soaps would show up on a streaming service!

Thanks for the info!

Quick question- Rachel's half sister, Pammy Davis, was played by Pamela Toll on Somerset. Was her mother, Marsha Davis, ever seen on Another World or Somerset? If she was seen onscreen, who played the part of Marsha?

There were so many missed opportunities on AW: in 1986, Sally and Kevin should have left town with Aunt Liz to visit Alice after finding out that Catlin slept with Brittany and was the father of Brittany's baby. Sally should have never been killed off. Sally, a SORASED Kevin, and Alice could have returned with Liz in late 1987. Adam was unnecessary. Larry should have remained as Bay City's police officer who later could have played off of Ryan Harrison. If a character had to die in the car crash that killed Sally, Clarice could have been sacrificed, or she could have been a victim of the Sin Stalker. Making Larry a widower with two children, Cory and Jeanne, had plenty of storyline possibilities. Larry could have then been paired with MJ. Cory and Jeanne could have been SORASED, and technically Ada was their step-grandmother. Two teenagers to deal with could have given Ada plenty to do, especially after Nancy left town in 1987. A Cory/ Josie/ Matthew triangle would have caused turmoil between Ada and Rachel. Reginald should have been a long term character. At least the character of Carl Hutchins should have been brought back to see them interact together. Killing Quinn was a mistake and while she was paired with Zack it was too brief. Thomasina and Carter still had story left . Thomasina was going to med school. As a med intern, she could have spent too much time at Bay City General, causing Carter to get involved with Zack's sister Julie Ann. Rhonda Lewin and Lauri Landry as Vicky and Nicole were gone before they really got a storyline. You have to wonder why they even cast them in the first place. i also think that the Peggy Lazarus character that was introduced in late 1986 should have turned out to be Pammy Davis, Rachel's half-sister. The show went so far as to say that Peggy Lazarus was an assumed name, but they dropped the character in 1987. This could have brought Gerald Davis back to the show, as well.

In 1986, John Whitesell and Margaret DePriest introduced the following characters: Adam Cory, Julie Ann Edwards, Zack Edwards, Scott LaSalle, Reginald Love, Cheryl McKinnon, Mary McKinnon, and Chad Rollo They returned the character of Mitch Blake to the show and SORASED Matthew Cory to a tween. Cecile DePoulignac returned to AW for four months. They recast the following characters: Jamie Frame, Vicky Hudson, Nicole Love, M.J. McKinnon, and Vince McKinnon The following characters left AW in 1986 while Whitesell and DePriest were EP and headwriters: Chris Chapin, Neal Cory, Dee Evans, Clarice Ewing, Larry Ewing, Sally Frame, Marley Hudson, Zane Lindquist, Donna Love, Lily Mason, Liz Matthews, Jake McKinnon, Kathleen McKinnon, Kevin Thatcher, Carter Todd, Thomasina Todd, and Cass Winthrop. Catlin Ewing and Brittany Peterson would leave AW in early January 1987.

David Hedison who played Spencer Harrison on Another World from 1991-95 has passed away. RIP Mr. Hedison 🙏🏼 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/david-hedison-dead-voyage-bottom-sea-actor-was-92-1226038

Thanks for the info. Definitely would be interesting to read the Daytime TV article about Texas. I suspect that NBC played a big part in the Texas spin-off. When Texas debuted, Fred Silverman was running NBC after he had successful stints at CBS and ABC. On all three networks, he always liked creating spin-offs of successful series. While at CBS, All in the Family spun-off Maude and Maude spun-off Good Times. Mary Tyler Moore spun-off Rhoda. While at ABC, Happy Days spun-off Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. Three's Company spun-off The Ropers. When Silverman arrived at NBC, the network had few prime time hits. Immediately, Silverman spun-off The Facts of Life and Hello Larry from Different Strokes. Then, NBC put a Sanford & Son spin-off Sanford on the air that even Redd Foxx could not save from cancellation. Also, NBC lost a considerable amount of cash because of the US boycott of the Summer Olympics that was to air on NBC. Another World, while no longer the highest rated soap on the air, was still the highest rated on NBC. AW was probably still turning a nice profit for the low rated network, so Silverman and the other NBC executives saw the spin-off Texas as a solution to part of NBC's ratings problem without clearly thinking out the soap before putting it on the air.

Does anyone know the specific date that NBC and P&G decided to end the 90 minute episodes of AW and spin off Beverlee McKinsey's Iris on Texas? Based on these ratings, the 90 minute episodes of AW were not working. I'm just curious as to when they decided to create Texas. I assume it had to be sometime in the winter of 1980, as the Texas characters started appearing on AW in June/July 1980- some like Reena and Kevin even earlier than that.

47 years ago, on July 21, 1972, Victoria Wyndham made her debut as Rachel Davis. VW's 25th Anniversary episode in 1997 was probably the last time that AW paid attention to or honored its past history.

Grant Todd was the maître'd at the North Woods Inn. Somehow the Egyptian urn was left at the North Woods Inn, and Grant inhaled the dust causing a heart attack that killed him right before Christmas. Nancy found the urn at the North Woods Inn and gave it to Mac and Rachel as a Christmas gift. I'd like to know who at NBC and P&G green lighted this storyline, going so far as to take out a whole page ad in the TV Guide- definitely SMH.

AW was all over the place in the Summer of 1985. The show had recently lost Mary Page Keller (Sally), Jacqueline Courtney (Alice), and David Oliver (Perry). Rachel still had amnesia from a story that began in early March. Larry was involved in the Miami Vice ripoff story which featured Chris Noth (Law & Order and Sex in the City) and Roxann Caballero (Star Trek Voyager) as two of the "bad guys" that were involved with the drug dealers. Nancy had become hooked on Ecstasy after Perry's death. Cass, Felicia, and the new Sally (Taylor Miller) became involved in the Le Soleil spa story with Michaud, Daphne, and Daniel. None of these stories were really working, and things would only get worse in the fall with the urn that Carl Hutchins filled with poisonous dust from an Egyptian tomb in an attempt to kill Mac and Rachel. This storyline was horrible! The only story that was really working at this time was Victoria's introduction as Marley's twin. Looking at the credits from the episode below, there were 46 credited actors in the crawl- way too many forgettable characters in a short period of time.

In looking at the ratings from Spring 1979, here is some information to see what was going on at the three networks as NBC and CBS made changes to their lineups at this time. Another World expanded from 1 hour to 90 minutes on March 5, 1979. The Price is Right moved to 11:00 AM time slot on April 23, 1979. Also on this same date, CBS moved Love of Life to the 4:00 PM slot that had opened when Match Game was canceled. While Another World was not the ratings powerhouse it once was, at the time of these ratings, it was still NBC's top rated soap and was holding its own against the other P&G soaps. The Edge of Night, The Doctors, and Love of Life are not on the ratings charts at all. The switch to 4:00 PM was clearly the nail in Love of Life's coffin. Surpised to see how low As the World Turns and Days of our Lives are in the ratings. On the May 1979 ratings chart, As the World Turns is the lowest rated P&G soap, other than The Edge of Night. Was this the time when Days of our Lives went through numerous headwriters, because something clearly was not working.

The storylines TPTB gave Felicia were definitely mediocre compared to the alcoholism storyline. First, Felicia shot and killed Lorna's rapist, Kyle Barkley, in self-defense. It also didn't help that Alicia Coppola left the show during this time and was replaced by Robin Christopher who looked nothing like Coppola. Coppola looked enough like Linda Dano that they could have been real-life mother and daughter. Christopher was a good actress, but not suited for the role of Lorna. Next, TPTB hired Randy Brooks to be Felicia's editor, Marshall Kramer, at Cory Publishing. I'm not sure who got cold feet on pairing Felicia with Marshall. Was it P&G, NBC, or both? Was America not ready to see an African-American man paired with a white woman on TV in 1994? Dano and Brooks were both likeable and charismatic enough to make storyline work. Once TPTB got cold feet on a romantic pairing, they saddled Felicia and Marshall with the Misery copycat storyline involving Walter Trask. I would have much rather seen the Felicia/ Marshall storyline play out then watch the Felicia/ John/ Sharlene play out the next year. I think fans disliked the storyline because Felicia was portrayed as a desperate "other woman" trying to steal John away from Sharlene. That was so out of character for Felicia.

Yes they definitely had mother/ daughter chemistry together. Below are more scenes from the alcoholism storyline. Alicia Coppola should have earned a younger actress Emmy nomination for the death of Lucas and the fallout in the alcoholism storyline. Linda Dano justifiably thanked Stephen Schnetzer, Vicky Wyndham, Alicia Coppola, and Alla Korot in her Emmy speech for helping her win the Emmy. All of them brought their best to the alcoholism storyline. Makes me wonder if Vicky Wyndham could have received a supporting actress Emmy nomination and/or win for her work in the alcoholism storyline if they would have placed her in that category? Her work as Rachel was worthy of recognition during the storyline as well. The alcoholism storyline was occurring right at the time when Constance Ford became to ill to appear on the show anymore shortly before she passed away. I imagine TPTB would have included Ada in scenes with Felicia as well confronting her about her drinking.

Below is a cover of AW's 1981-87 theme:

I agree with you that when Another World left the air, it was the beginning of the end of the soap genre, because AW was truly an innovator in the genre. When it began, AW was not like the other P&G soaps. The first major story on the show penned by Irna Phillips and Bill Bell was Pat's abortion and her murdering Tom Baxter. This was truly a controversial subject for a 1964 soap opera. While Agnes Nixon was writing the show, she created the first cross-network crossover, with the character of Mike Bauer coming from Springfield to Bay City. Producer Paul Rauch and writer Harding Lemay turned AW into a critical and commercial success winning Emmys and high ratings. These high ratings were no easy feat considering that CBS aired reruns of prime time's number 1 show, All in the Family, and moved The Price is Right from the morning to compete with AW when it was the first soap to expand to one hour in 1975. AW was the first soap to launch two spin-offs Somerset in 1970 and Texas in 1980, as well as an indirect one, Lovers and Friends in 1977, which would be renamed For Richer, For Poorer. Another World was also the second soap opera, besides The Young and the Restless, with a theme song to chart on the Billboard record charts. All true innovations that no other soap can ever say they did while they were on the air. AW's trouble would begin when NBC expanded the show to ninety minutes in 1979, and then back to an hour in 1980. The expansion of the series to 90 minutes moved AW out of its 3 PM timeslot for the first time in its 15 year history with a 2:30 PM start time. Adding an additional 30 minutes of time to the series required AW to add more characters to an already crowded show, then when the decision was made to spin the character of Iris off on her own soap Texas required an additional influx of characters who would appear on Texas. NBC should have placed Texas in the 2 PM timeslot following Days of our Lives and moved AW back to its 3 PM timeslot. AW was in far better shape to compete with General Hospital and Guiding Light. After Texas was cancelled, AW waited 7 years to bring Iris back to AW played by a different actress. From 1980-99, AW would never regain its footing at the top of the daytime ratings, despite the work of many producers and writers. The show had many flashes of brilliance during this time- reuniting Mac and Rachel, introducing characters like Cass, Felicia, Carl, and Wallingford, the love stories of Sally and Catlin and Kathleen and Cass, the Marley/ Jake/ Vicky triangle, the introduction of Grant and Ryan Harrison, and Felicia's alcoholism- and when the show was firing on all cylinders during this time, it was the best on daytime and did not warrant the low ratings it was receiving. But one can safely say that for 35 years, Another World was an innovative program and its last episode 20 years ago today was truly the start of the end of the daytime soap genre.

This week marks the 30th Anniversary of the passing of Mac Cory on AW, after the real life passing of Douglass Watson. There were so many outstanding performances during this week as the actors mourned Watson's death when Mac died. His unexpected passing was a tremendous loss to AW.

Allen Potter (The Doctors and Guiding Light) did a great job at stabilizing and improving AW from Spring 83 to the end of 1984. 1980-1982 was a rocky time for AW in terms of storylines and characters coming and going. Potter quickly improved the stories and had a nice balance of characters on the show. I think AW would have continued to improve if Potter had not retired and left the show at the end of 1984. The only thing I would really fault Potter with during this time was the return of Jacqueline Courtney as Alice. She was brought back on AW's 20th anniversary with much fanfare, but she was not given a storyline of her own. They used Alice as a supporting character in Sally's storyline.

YouTube has a few episodes of Another World, know in Italy as Destini

I agree- Somerset probably wasn't cancelled because it was a P&G show. When it was cancelled it was replaced by another P&G show Lovers & Friends which would later become For Richer For Poorer.

Once Edward Trach retired and Kenneth Fitts became the Executive in Charge of Production for P&G is when the trouble started for the P&G soaps in 1995 with the great EP swap in the Spring of 1995. JFP at Another World, John Valente at As the World Turns, and Michael Laibson at Guiding Light. While this might have looked like a good idea on paper, it would hurt all three P&G shows in the long run.

Schnetzer was nominated for the reveal that Nicole lied about killing Jason Frame on the eve of their wedding, his vision of supposedly dead ex- wife Kathleen, and the start of his relationship with Frankie. He probably should have earned another nomination for when Kathleen turned up alive, and the manic depression, and the aftermath of Frankie's death. The writing for both Cass and Felicia was really hit or miss after Felicia's alcoholism storyline in 1993-94.

How is it that Constance Ford (Ada, Another World) was never nominated for a supporting actress Emmy?