Another World Discussion Thread

[katie_9918]

The only time I really care about from what I’ve seen so far is when he was with Paulina.

 

Jensen Buchanan’s Vicky, to me, was a complete villain protagonist and I just can’t get behind Jake and Ellen Wheeler’s Marley in 1999 because of the history there. And unfortunately the writers post-Jensen thought Jake was useless without Vicky. 

 

I liked Jake with Molly on ATWT, part of the good things Hogan Sheffer did with that show (along with what should have been a crack pairing but wound up pretty good as long as it lasted Hal and Emily).

 

But I’m really sorry I can’t find that 1984 episode. It really was cute. 

 

Of course, I’m also sorry there’s so little of Paul Stevens’ work as Brian Bancroft before 1981. 

[Contessa Donatella]

To me ENDGAME was Jake & Paulina. not Paulina with Ian Raines, not Paulina with Joe which is where she ended up. And, again to me, ENDGAME for Jake was Paulina not Vicky. However, Jake with Molly actually did work. JB's Vicky only worked with Ryan and that's why Vicky in heaven with Ryan worked so well! Michael Malone wrote Vicky and Jake as if they were living in their past. The show spent too much money and resources on JB! Tom Eplin had a real romance going with Lesli Kay, not the first time that had happened between him and a co-star. Tom took advantage of fan content, too. He got into trouble for being with a 16-year-old fan in Toronto. thinking she was 25.

[AbcNbc247]

I think I may have said this before, but it's like the character of Brittany underwent a complete change under every writer. It was like they didn't know what to do with her.

 

Thanks for posting! Always great to see rediscovered episodes.

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Maybe that's why I so disliked Brittany. Who is her #2 man? And, yes, thanks for posting. Who uploaded it? AW 12-17-85 in 3 parts. 

[Xanthe]

 

Peter was her second string if she couldn't get Catlin. Catlin was her first choice but he wanted to stay with Sally (as we see in this episode) even though he had cheated on her with Brittany.

Zane had been in love with her but fortunately she never tried to trick him into thinking he could be the father of her baby.

[Contessa Donatella]

Thanks.

[Xanthe]

 

I'm not sure where the blame falls. I think in this specific episode there should have been an undercurrent of the scheming that was going on but she seems to be playing it straight. I'd blame the actor and director before the writer.

Was there any writer who depicted her as having any scruples about what she was willing to do to get what she wanted?

The character was always given sympathetic hooks:

• Lost everything (husband, baby, voice, hearing) in an accident;

• Zane liked her;

• Sally's son Kevin liked her and she rescued him from some danger;
• Donna was a snob to her;
• Peter became monstrously abusive to her, physically and psychologically;
• Rachel became her confidante during her marriage to Peter;
• Widowed Catlin became her protector.

 

Maybe once Sally died and Peter started abusing Britt they stopped treating her as a villain and made her a victim, because of course she had to protect herself and her baby and there was no longer any reason why she couldn't have Catlin.

Edited October 7, 2019 by Xanthe
Bullet points

[chrisml]

I heard a recent-ish interview with Sharon Gabet where she complained about the same thing--Brittany's personality and motives changed episode to episode. She never knew who she was meant to be playing.

[DRW50]

Gabet leans into the hints of scheming and the sparring with Donna - these are Raven moments. The irony being that I think she took the role in part because she didn't want to play Raven all over again. 

 

I guess they got rid of Chris Holder to make Peter more of a clearcut villain, but, while I had no real problem with Smythe, Holder was a very good fit for the show - likeable and charismatic, with a bit of an edge. Their loss. 

 

The standouts for me were the scenes with Nancy, Ada and Rachel. Nancy is a bit insufferable, but Jane Cameron works so well with Constance Ford and Vicky Wyndham. There's something very natural and very special about Wyndham's interactions with Rachel's loved ones that she never really got credit for. Her scene with Nancy is so natural I almost wonder if parts were ad-libbed. And Ford is just amazing, as always. AW was so lucky to have her and I'm glad, for all the huge upheaval over the years, they always seemed to know that. 

 

Petronia Paley was incredibly moving when speaking about Grant. The guy who played Grant also did a good job in those scenes. Hopefully the second half will pop up somewhere someday. Grant feels like more wasted potential, which happened over and over and over with AW and their black cast in the '80s and early '90s.

 

It's a bit sobering watching those scenes in the hallway and remembering how many of the characters were killed off.

 

Acting-wise, Taylor Miller is very good in the marital drama with Catlin, but I can see why viewers wouldn't connect to her. As for Catlin himself - something in the acting and writing has always felt a bit shaky to me about him, to be honest, although I can see why he was so popular.

Edited October 7, 2019 by DRW50

[Contessa Donatella]

Completely agree with you about Rachel, Ada & Nancy in all of this. Also about AW wasting black characters. Taylor, no, I don't see good acting in her. And, Ian, well, I always thought he was very talented. I'm not at all surprised that he still finds work.

[Xanthe]

 

Since we've been discussing Brittany and Sharon Gabet again . . . when she started on Another World she had just had her first child. While she was on Another World she got pregnant with her second and left. It was actually her third child who was born later (during or after her stint on OLTL) who had special needs.

 

https://www.serialscoop.com/2014/11/the-sharon-gabet-interview-journey-from.html

 

[Xanthe]

 

That's funny -- I always thought of Chris Holder's Peter as a bigger jerk because he was interfering in Sally's life for no reason other than selfishness. However Marcus Smythe's Peter was behaving badly because he wanted the approval of his villainous father Reginald. It was one of the few areas where I thought Reginald actually made a valuable and interesting contribution to the canvas.

[DRW50]

 

I mostly remember Smythe's Peter as a boo hiss baddie. Holder I think was probably a bigger villain, instead of just being under his father's thumb, but I think Holder was able to balance it off with his looks and charisma. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, this is going to sound tacky, but he just had such an enormous head!

[amybrickwallace]

 

Yeah, Taylor Miller had two strikes against her going in - she wasn't Mary Page Keller, and she was too closely identified with AMC's Nina Cortlandt Warner.