Contessa Donatella

On 7/21/2025 at 6:27 PM, Taoboi said:

As much as I would love to see Viki...I can accept her as Monica's sister for just that very reason. 

Okay, but that is not definite. What is definite is NOT Victoria Lord or like her & she does have some kind of history that we don't know about with Monica. (I'm kind of rubbing my hands together with glee thinking about this idea of Erica Slezak soon playing a whole new, I hope, challenging role, even if short arc.)

21 minutes ago, Planet Soap said:

It's been argued that a couple of these women (Hannah, Sam) were Brenda replacements.

Brenda doppelgangers! Brenda bots!

21 minutes ago, Planet Soap said:

Drew today brining up Michael talking Willow from Chase? How did that down again?...because it would be karma if Michael cheated with Willow against Chase.

Michael & Willow were definitely carrying on while she was pretending to be with Chase because she thought he might be dying. But, I don't see either karma or irony. Michael & Willow were both clear that they wanted to be with each other & would be as soon as they finished this pity pretending when Chase died. 

12 hours ago, P.J. said:

But he didn't need to be behind a mask. He and Alex weren't onscreen at the same time, and per established history, before she came back, she'd been out of town for twenty years. 

Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise to the audience (ala James Stenbeck's "Hello, Barbara" return) but I kinda doubt it. Sometimes you just have to honor your history. Later, when Vanessa returns, she doesn't recognize Holly. 

Why in the world would Van not recognize Holly?

Well, just d'oh. What can I say? I had her filed in my head as a Frame & I was just gloriously wrong. 

16 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

LOL.  Oh, I forgot to ask about everyone's favorite Jamie.  That will be the next episode.  

And Gwen was an architect, not a lawyer. But I agree, she was cool.   

I didn't really buy into Ada's romance with Charlie Hobson.  But the others all worked for me.  Especially Gerald Davis.  

 

Gwen is a Frame. 

42 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

Which actor playing Russ Matthews was the best? And why?

Which of Ada's four husbands did you prefer? And why?

Which of the original Frame siblings was your favorite? (Original meaning Steve's generation of siblings). And why?

Who was your favorite of Bay City's many attorneys -- John Randolph, Walter Curtain, Cass Winthrop, Brian Bancroft, Michael Randolph, Mike Bauer, Mitchell Dru, etc.  And  why?   

 

I wanted to be able to choose either Richard Bekins or Stephen Yates. What does a girl have to do around this joint to get a question asked that she actually wants to answer!!!

Oh, crap, Cass, of course.

Gwen was kinda cool. 

Did anyone really buy those romances with Ada?

You & EFulton have the situation well in hand. 

I have been meaning for a few days to make this post. I know that some of you know but maybe not everyone does. 

In 1999, 2000 & 2001, some of us, AW fans, raised money to get a Central Park Bench. The fan who spearheaded this effort put it this way. To provide a permanent memorial site that could be visited. It took us that long to come up with $5000 & that next year when we got together, which we did in June 2000 & 2001. We held a dedication ceremony. 

There is a plaque. There are step by step directions. People go & while there, they take a picture & send it to me.

But, my friend Barry even made an appt with Lemay. They met at his apartment & he signed some books. Then they walked to a nearby restaurant, ate., more talk, went back & stayed just a little longer. 

B

4 hours ago, Efulton said:

How is it unfair?  He wrote the birth of Amanda so therefore he is the original creator of the character.  Sure subsequent writers developed her personality and in some cases changed it. 

I didn't understand the unfairness idea, either. I was hoping Xanthe might expand. I just thought it was pretty much a yes or no thing, either a certain writer created that character or they did not, because presumably someone else already did. Is there a grey area? 

 "My memories say hello. They ask about you all the time."

28 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

... Yes! The original goodbye scenes of 85 have Nola relunctantly leaving, and Quint really pressuring her to go. Henry says he will send her his typewriter (God knows many a mash note and letters attached to hush money was typed out on that from Henry to the waiters, bartenders and pool boys at the Lakeland CC.) and Nola says, "Yes, maybe I will write a series of Nola Adventures." So I would have her do it, imaging herself as the flamboyant heroine of each, and she becomes successful. Maybe her latest is a prequel, "Boardinghouse Blues" where the plucky heroine goes up against the town snob who doesnt want her to marry into the family. Van sees Bridget reading it (no one knows it Nola) and says, "I didnt know you read trash like that...its like it was written by a moron!"

And, next I suppose you're going to tell us that Van does stand-up.

9 minutes ago, MontyB said:

Rory Gibson is phenomenal. 

Emmy-winning casting director, Mark T. hit another home run!!

49 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

... I think you were the one who said she should be a romance writer. That is PERFECT. She could have her fantasies again, only now they would be from her books (and would be WAY more entertaining than that dull novel Phillip wrote).

Wouldn't it be wild if she was successful? And that the problem in her marriage wasn't infidelity, but that Quint disparaged her work?

So many possibilities...

Truly, Nola, as a successful romance novelist would have been a dream vehicle for that character!!! And, actually, even if she were struggling, to get established, if she had writer's block, hey, it would all be great story fodder. 

I think sometimes that our soaps came to be failing from impoverished imaginations. So many characters in tiny, bland boxes & only able to do or not do certain painfully proscribed things & not anything other. 

1 minute ago, Mitch64 said:

... I always wished they made Cassie dislike Reva from the start and be the one person in town to tell her to go to hell.

That would have been fabulous. Mitch's AlternaLight continues to grow ... 

1 minute ago, Mitch64 said:

... I love Nola and the Reardons so I think she was needed, especially with Van marrying her nephew and sharing Peter with Bridget,(and who couldn't love the small bit of sniping between Van and Nola, Van had become St. Van at that time so it was nice to have someone ring her beads)  

Personally loved Nola, Bridget, sharing of Peter, Van ... 

13 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

I think Pilon is head and shoulders above Raines..I don't get that people on Facebook GL pages seem to love Raines, but I think if they put a hot turd on their TVs some people would love that hot turd, not that I think Raines is a turd...I think Pilon looked like he could have been the father of the guy playing AM at that time, and he had a least an air of gothic mystery to him, Raines had NO mystery to him..he practically had thought bubbles over his head with "Creating EVIL plan"

Off topic on Xanadu..it didn't help the ONJ can only play herself, which could have worked if she only had a leading man who could have sang and dance, and acted.

Hmm, agree to disagree. I put Pilon way down below many bars. 

I understand the critique of Raines, although I personally think he suffers as badly as he does among so many fans because he followed someone who was so dayum good!!! I find the same to be true of Marj. Bernau & Bev, superlatives, beyond the best that one could be, etc. I know I'm biased but to me GL's Best & Brightest were, in no particular order: Bernau, McKinsey, Zaslow, Garrett & Kinkead. (Apropos of nothing in particular.)

18 minutes ago, bossruen said:

Tell me you didn’t grow up around a lot of Italian Americans without telling me you didn’t grow up around a lot of Italian Americans. 

If I understand correctly Jean Passanante did so in the midwest & created Janet Ciccone on ATWT as a representation of herself. Wait, this is the reverse of what you asked. She did grow up around ... Oops. 

35 minutes ago, Efulton said:

Lemay created more characters.  They are listed by year of introduction on The Another World Homepage.

ANOTHER WORLD: ANNUAL STATUS CHARTS

 

THANKS!!! I'll catch this up. 

15 minutes ago, chrisml said:

I also adore Xanadu when they are singing and dancing. How do you create that fantastic rock/40's mishmash and then direct those painful dialogue scenes? When the dancing and singing stops, it's not good. I know Xanadu is not GL related, but it does remind me of how a soap can have something that works beautifully and then everything else is just a mess (GL 1986-1988). 

XANADU is marvelous beyond compare! Or alternately, me, three!

15 minutes ago, chrisml said:

I would agree the Sonni story was dragged on for a long time, but it was the only story that had any life to it especially (as you note) compared to other stories. I think they knew the viewers loved Michelle Forbes and just kept playing that up. It would have been interesting to see what Long would have done with the character, but she may have just turned Sonni into a supporting character for Reva's upcoming stories. 

That's where I was. Loved Forbes!!!! 

15 minutes ago, chrisml said:

I remember when Alan Locher asked Dennehy about her favorite stories, and she looked at him like he couldn't possibly be serious. 

I love it!!! Alan is only on firm ground when he has some real life reason to KNOW THAT MATERIAL. He'd do so much better if he really did research when he doesn't already have intel on a who or a what!

I believe this represents the Harding "Pete" Lemay Character Creation: 

Amanda, Sharlene, Josie, Sally, Willis, Sven, Janice, Emma, Iris, Elliot, Dennis, Olive, Brian, Robert, Tracy, Gil, David, Larry, Clarice, Gwen, Louise, Beatrice, Vivienne, Angie, Joey, Rose, Eileen, and Blaine

(If you have corrections or additions, lemme have 'em. Thanks.)

According to Schemering 1977-1978 AW was 2nd with an 8.6/28 share where ATWT was 1st with an 8.6/31 share. The Lemay years were known for good ratings.

72-73 3rd 9.7/33

73-74 2nd 9.7/32

74-75 2nd 9.7/31

75-76 2nd 8.9/30

76-77 2nd 9.0/29

77-78 2nd 8.6/28

78-79 8th 7.5/25 Mar. 5th '79 1st 90 min. show. 

March 5th, 1979 was really a remarkable day for soaps. 

NBC - AW - 1st 90 min. show & death of John Randolph

CBS - GL - Roger raped Holly

ABC - OLTL - Karen Wolek took the witness stand in a trial. 

The Wonderful World of TV Soap Operas by Robert LaGuardia. Ballantine Books: New York. ©1974 by Random House, Inc.

It took Harding “Pete” Lemay, however, a skilled playwright who thoroughly believed in the heretofore unexplained psychological potential of the daytime serial, to transform Mrs. Nixon’s love-triangle subplot into a balanced story contrasting realistic human behavior and that “other world of fantasy and striving. He found story devices no longer necessary.” For example, Lemay said, “I didn’t feel it was necessary to keep Rachel a black-and-white character. I didn’t see her as a villainess… I saw her instead as a human being who had always had bad breaks and who defeats herself because she is so used to failure. When she lost Steve this last time, I wanted the audience to feel her pain as I felt it. I wanted them to feel her tears.

Mr. Lemay, along with his producer, Paul Rauch, should be given an Award for the Greatest Contribution to Daytime Serials, for completely eliminating melodramatic cliche’s in a daytime drama, and for their invaluable demonstration that, what viewers really want is drama based on psychology rather than on escapist melodrama. Under Lemay and Rauch “Another World”, which had previously used many tried-and-true soap opera devices (although fewer than most other shows), got rid of them, employed inward writing, and became one of the top two or three daytime television shows.

About the only happy event in “Another World” was the birth of Ada’s daughter, Nancy, named after Ada’s dear friend on her deathbed Nancy Wickwire.

I've always found this quote about Mary Matthews interesting but also perhaps perplexing.

Quote

The tortured hero, the scheming villainess, etc. One of the biggest changes in soaps was to the view of what is feminine & what the average woman does & is like. More women with jobs, or even careers (HER STORIES 128-129). Specifically in the '60s & mid-60s Bell & Irna considered attitudes toward working women. They imagined Mary Matthews reading THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE, etc.

1 hour ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

he was my first celebrity crush. from the same era (late 60s), also found robert gentry (ed bause) dishy. 

That pic is not bad. Maybe this one from the AW Home Page is slightly better. He did so many roles & then went behind the camera, what a career! And, he never seemed to lose that wonderful smile!

BTW, I never heard, or read, or thought that Dwyer hated Lemay. Maybe it's been said & I missed it. 

Anyway, this is my very most favorite Mary Matthews/Virginia Dwyer anecdote. I've posted this before, so  sorry if it is repetitive to you but we have some new folk, so, ... 

The Wonderful World of TV Soap Operas by Robert LaGuardia. Ballantine Books: New York. ©1974 by Random House, Inc.

“Another World’s” Virginia Dwyer tells an incredible but true story: “I had been playing Mary Matthews for a couple of years. One afternoon I returned home from the studio and began poking around in my clothes closet. Suddenly I reeled from the shock. Every article of clothing in that closet was Mary’s, not mine. Every dress and every coat was exactly her — ultraconservative. I panicked! I scooped all the clothes up in my arms and threw them out! I had forgotten who I was. I had become Mary Matthews.”

I was trying to find out what 2 episodes DAYS won the 1976 Best Writing Emmy for & Jason47 came through for me, fast & in a big way, with what seems to me to be VERY interesting info - and, as always I thank him!! Apparently this year they had a choice to make, an option, they could submit one episode or they could submit themselves for the entire year.
First the qualifying period of time ran from March to March, 1975 to 1976. It will be many years before the Academy (NATAS) switches to a calendar year for eligibility.
Now, the exact wording of the category at this time.
"Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, for a single episode of a series; or for the entire series."
So, I think we should look at all of the nominees:
The Edge of Night (series) Henry Slesar
The Guiding Light (episode February 3, 1976) Jerome Dobson, Bridget Dobson, Jean Rouverol
Days of Our Lives (series) William J. Bell, Kay Lenard, Pat Falken Smith, Bill Rega, Margaret Stewart, Sheri Anderson, Wanda Coleman
The Young and the Restless (episode September 5, 1975) William J. Bell, Kay Alden
All My Children (series) Agnes Nixon
So, GL and Y&R both submitted one specific episode, while EON, DAYS & AMC went all in.

Now, we need to talk a bit about the stories that Bell, Sr/PFS explored.

First up, the real biggie, the reveal of Mike Horton's true biological paternity! Wesley Eure was playing Mike & as such he was the first young adult Mike, no longer a child. Of course he was SORAS'd but it's difficult to be sure when or by how many years & that complicates the natural question: How long was this secret kept? I've seen 8 years, 12 years & 16 years. I'm confident that it was the longest a 'known by the audience secret' had been kept on DAYS. So, the audience knew all along. Tom & Laura knew all along. Bill knew if not all along, well, pretty close. Kitty found out but Kitty died. Mickey did not know, either that Bill raped Laura or that he himself was sterile.
After Mike was injured and needed a blood transfusion, it was revealed that Mickey Horton wasn’t his biological father - Bill Horton was. The fallout was intense: Mickey shot Bill, disowned Mike, and suffered a breakdown. To put it another way, one day all of a sudden Mike learned that his uncle was his dad. Mickey went & got a gun & shot Bill when he learned about the rape. When Mickey had his nervous breakdown, he also vanished. No one in Salem had any idea where he had gone. We the audience learned that he had amnesia, remembered literally nothing, saw 'MH' on his belt buckle & began to call himself Marty Hanson. He also ended up on a nearby farm & became a laborer there for Maggie.

Other stories, 1975: Doug & Julie's romance, complicated by Addie becoming a third, although Julie was involved with other men, also. They had a pattern where one would be available but the other would not. Then, they'd switch those positions.
Laura Horton became psychologically shaky. 
Dr. Neil Curtis made his debut in 1974, but by 1975–76, he was becoming a fixture in Salem’s medical and romantic scenes. 
Melissa, Linda Patterson’s daughter, & Linda herself, were complications for a few people. 
Bob Anderson, at Anderson Mfg. led to many business moves, power plays, possibly chicanery. He also complicated Julie's romantic life.

Just as I would love to see AW's Pete Lemay years over again, I would dearly love to see DAYS Bill Bell Sr. & Pat Falken Smith over again.

8 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

Oh I actually love a beard and think most guys look better with a beard or some scruff. But, I think it's the 80s mop on his head that's too much for me. The 80s style for men, for me, usually isn't my thing. Although Riker in ST:TNG was perfect, much better with the beard, but still tidy up top  

Who is your type in Springfield?  

Currently on GH I want Marty/Martin (Michael E. Knight) to have the facial hair put back on his face where it belongs! Pronto! I didn't know I needed it until he had it & then it vanished. OY! 

27 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

The book is a wonderful look back at the Golden Age of Another World.  And yes, Lemay is very opinionated and more than a little egotistical.  But I would not go so far as to suggest he lied in the book.  But the book is a memoire -- one man's thoughts, opinions, and experiences of a particular period in his life.  Had the opinions of others been included, we might be reading a very different book.  But aren't all memoirs like this?  

I don't think he outright lied, either. He's not perfect, not by a long shot. And, there is no doubt in my mind that at the time he left & then when he was writing this that he was suffering from a classic case of burnout, so we might want to take that into account. I'm not saying he was out of his mind, but he sure wasn't IN his best version of his mind. 

2 minutes ago, Efulton said:

“But I was also taught a great lesson the first month I was at ANOTHER WORLD by Connie Ford, who played Ada. I had written a final tag speech in one of the crucial scenes. And when I got to the rehearsal, Connie cut the entire speech and did just one line from it. Now she was a wonderful actress, a very laconic actress, and didn’t need a lot of language. And I realized something: you write to what the actor does. And I never overwrote a scene for her again.”

I would consider this changing her lines.  He wrote to what the actor does unless he did not like the actor. 

We Love Soaps: Harding Lemay Interview: Part Two

I stand corrected. Thanks for the heads up.