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ANOTHER LIFE


Sedrick

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That was the thing about this soap, it still had some great soap opera stories even with the religious angle.  In some ways, it heighten the soap opera trope of conflict and temptation... and showing the fallout of choices made.

@dc11786The good stuff really gets going in the middle section of episodes (around episode 300 to 600).. though there are some interesting elements/stories that play out in the final batch of episodes that are cut short by the cancellation.

Apparently, the announcement the soap was canceled came out in late August 1984 and were given only a few weeks to tie everything up.  The cause of cancellation for this soap was the same thing that caused Edge of Night/Ryan's Hope/Search for tomorrow to be canceled... Affiliates.

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Posted (edited)

@dc11786 Thanks again for your recaps/analyses. I remember some of the story about Gene and whether he was seen as being proud enough or assimilated or what have you. That type of story could go haywire but the actor who played Gene always managed to give some dignity to the character and I never felt like the show saw him or Ione as tokens. 

The Jeff story does sound interesting. This was still an era when some Christian-based entertainment was trying to teach difficult lessons and not just focused on trying to get people to vote for despots and employ Hollywood has-beens in slick vessels.

You're right in that I can't see Tony ever actually arriving on the show. 

On the same Youtube channel that recently put up a 5 hour bloc of Y&R/B&B/ATWT, I stumbled onto an episode of a Pittsburgh-based show called His Place. The channel that made the show billed it as a "Christian soap opera," but to me it is more like Houseparty or The Lives We Live - people/characters we know sitting in one location (in this case, a diner). They have a little bit of storyline but mostly talk to a faith figure and then have a Christian musical guest. They might also talk to local people involved in charity work.

You have about what you would expect in many cases (Jews for Jesus, the gay agenda, later tweaked to the '10s version). Some of the material is not what you'd expect and would never be allowed today; one of the other few available episodes, from 1996, has a guy who talks about the Crusades being wrong and about how unfair treatment of Muslims, and has another guy who has a conversation with a regular about racism and how the regular character feels guilty over thinking some black men were going to hurt him, but still, I wouldn't call it a soap. Maybe if more episodes were around I would. (about 70 or so episodes of the early '10s revival are on Youtube but I'm more interested in seeing the original, which ran from the late '80s to 2004).

 

Edited by DRW50
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Credits based on what we have available:

Defacto Headwriters

Roy Winsor (credited as Storyline Consultant)    Monday, June 1, 1981 (#001) - Monday, October 12, 1981 (#096) 

with scripts by: Steve Sylvester (18), Bro Herrod (18), John Cloyse (11), Peter Cloyse (6), Jeff Dane (1)

 

Dallas & Joanne Barnes (credited as Story By)    Tuesday, October 13, 1981 (#097) - Monday, October 26, 1981 (#106)

with scripts by: Dallas & Joanne Barnes (2), Steve Sylvester (2), Linda Carol Culpepper (2), John Jenny (1), Laura Eastman (1)

 

No creative lead listed                                            Tuesday, October 27, 1981 (#107)-  Friday, December 25, 1981 (#150)

with scripts by: Steve Sylvester (10), Linda Culpepper (7), Cheryl Chisholm (5), John Jenny (3), John Faulk (3),Peter Andrews (1)

 

Dallas & Joanne Barnes (credited as Creative Supervisors) Wednesday, December 30, 1981 (#153) - Tuesday, August 10 , 1982 (#312)

with scripts by (as of episode #200): Cheryl Chisholm (8), Steve Sylvester (7), Linda Culpepper (6), Susan McBride (5), John Faulk (4), Ted O'Hara (1)

 

Jason Vinley (credited as Special/Program Consultant)      Wednesday, August 11, 1982 (#313) - Friday, October 5, 1984 (#875) 

Executive Producers

Robert Aaron                      Monday, June 1, 1981 (#001) - Friday, October 16, 1981 (#100)

John Cardoza                     Monday, October 19, 1981 (#101) - Thursday, December 3, 1981 (#134) 

David M. Hummel               Tuesday, December 8, 1981  (#137) - Friday, October 5, 1984 (#875) 

Edited by dc11786
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I wonder if that was the same Peter Andrews who had worked for years as a producer and director on GL.

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The really good stuff alligns with the arrival of Jason Vinley as the "creative consultant" which is basically the headwriter role at that point. I think he's behind Miriam's kidnapping, the Amber / Gil / Stacey triangle, the Kate Phillips Carrouthers murder mystery, and some other stories during that period. 

The final year is intriguing because the show starts to lose the premier cast (the original Carpenter clan is replaced by Charles' brother Preston, his occasionally seen wife Phyllis, and their complicated daughter Courtney) and Peter leaves shortly before the show is cancelled. The DOMI plot seems insanely delicious and the Assassination Game plot sounds intriguing. I don't think the more domestic stuff from that era is as strong such as Courtney and Vaughn, but I like Susan Carey Lamm so we will see.  

What I am watching now is on the edge of the Barnes' fulltime arrival so its in a headwriter less era with network executive John Cardoza overseeing production because of Bob Aaron's departure. The material is very topical (abortion, pornography, homosexuality, white flight) that I think are replaced by Dallas and Joanne Barnes' heavy action driven approach after knocking off Nora and Scott by the end of their first week. I am not sure if the topicality will remain, but I'll be curious. 

The content is intriguing and the execution is tighter than the early episodes. Only Steve Sylvester is still around from the first episodes on YouTube. I think the topicality feels like early Wendy Riche "General Hospital" when she was guiding things and not a whole lot is actually happening but the material is generally well written and interesting ideas are approached. With the way they are burning through material, I can't see it lasting long but its been a fun two months. 

The Jeff story is insane. He ends up in prison where his cellmate is an alcoholic, Dave Phillips played by John Cardoza, former executive producer and CBN executive. I believe this character is eventually the man Terry marries, but it may just be an odd coincidence of reusing the name. 

The Russ / Carrie / Becky / Vince material is probably elevated because the actors are rather strong. Even Marty McGraw (Russ' mother Carrie Weaver) overplays her part in a way that is very compelling. On "The Catlins," Bea Swanson plays a similar sorta role in a way that makes her stand out as a local actress paired with more traditional New York talent. 

The big plot movement has Russ and Becky now married as well since Russ has learned about the baby and is frustrated by Becky's attention due to joining Summerwind. It's a beautifully disastrous move that is replayed by Sue Scannell on "Search for Tomorrow" in about a year's time when Kristen Carter marries Brian Emerson. It's a shame that "Search" didn't utilize Scanell as well in the material I've seen as she has been here.  

The Hollister Square story is moving along. Doug Hughes is being written out, but pops back in the story apparently several times over the years. He's a fun recurring character. Samantha Marshall and the zoning office has made it clear to Harold Webster and Charles Carpenter that they are on to them and Charles has decided to build the mall for real; I guess the initial plan was fraudulent. 

I only have about 2 weeks left of the original configuration of the Davidson clan and they have been sorta dragging for a bit. I wasn't keeping episode to episode notes, but they started fading after the wedding which is when David M Hummel becomes executive producer. Nancy remains my favorite though I like Terry and Lori well enough. Nora is an interesting concept but I'm not sure they nailed all the elements of the character.  

Peter Andrews is also the casting director on "Another Life." Thanks Soapslover for adding some more. 

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