Another World Discussion Thread

[Contessa Donatella]

Mona, I disagree. I see similarities in Rachel & Erica just as I do Ada & Mona. Agnes wrote the troublesome daughter & her put upon mother 4 times. To me, it is clearly a trope. Agnes even talked about similarities/differences in Rachel & Erica.

This is the editor of the AW trivia book talking about Rachel & Erica.

Hordes of soap opera vixens through the years have been based to some degree on Erica Kane, played so deftly on “All My Children” for almost thirty years by Susan Lucci. Rachel Cory n`ee Davis, who started off on “Another World” as a scheming gold-digger is one of them. What separates Rachel from daytime’s other Erica Klones is the fact that Rachel Davis was introduced to viewers three years before Erica. In 1965, writer Agnes Nixon had completed the bible for “All My Children.” After Procter & Gamble optioned the project but passed on it, the bible went into a drawer. Nixon was asked, however, to take on head-writing duties at “Another World.” One of the first characters she introduced was Rachel Davis, a scheming model whose destructive relationships with men and obsession with material gain could be traced back to being abandoned by her father.

Edited March 24 by Contessa Donatella

[Mona Kane Croft]

Oh yes, it is definitely an Agnes Nixon trope. No doubt. And that daughter/mother dynamic never disappeared between Rachel and Ada. But I was talking more about differences in acting style between Strasser and Wyndham.  

[Contessa Donatella]

And, this is Agnes in her autobiography, I think in some appendix. 

“On ERICA versus RACHEL, Erica was a very unique character. Rachel on Another World was her precursor to the public, but in fact I created Erica first, since I had written the bible for All My Children before I started head writing Another World. Rachel was a lower-class Erica, her mother was a cleaning woman, and her goals were not nearly stratostrepheric as Erica’s. Rachel just wanted to marry Russ or somebody with money. What Erica and Rachel have in common is they thought if they could get their dream, they’d be satisfied. But that dream has been very elusive.”– Agnes Nixon, Creator, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ALL MY CHILDREN, and LOVING

Oh, okay. I will re-read what you said then. Sorry. 

[watson71]

Please don’t be so fast to correct everyone on the board. Check the credits of the June 23, 1999 episode.  The zookeeper played by Chet Carlin was indeed named Sam Ratcliffe

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[Mona Kane Croft]

Ridiculous that they would choose to honor Sam Ratcliffe, when he was no more important than any of the directors during AW's golden age (1965 through 1979).  If they were going to honor directors (which is unusual to begin with), why choose him?   How about honoring some characters, or actors, or head-writers??  No, no, no!!  Goutman insisted, "There will be no returns and no reflection on the past."  But we did get a gorilla and a nod to Sam Ratcliffe.  Why must everything be a joke??   

I mean no disrespect to Mr Ratcliffe, but just because he was a favorite of Linda Dano and Stephen Schnetzer doesn't seem like a very good reason to honor him.  Just my opinion, of course.

Edited March 24 by Mona Kane Croft

[Contessa Donatella]

How cool that they listed him in the credits!!! But, still, I do not believe they said it in the show. Do you? That is, of course, what I was speaking of.  And as far as the other goes, we tend to get on rather well here & sometimes one person has the best info, sometimes someone else, a third person, a new person, it all mostly comes out in the wash. Given how much bad info is out there, being a fan of good info just seems like a good thing to me. 

I got the biggest kick out of tweeting with Carolyn Culliton about her namesake & with Jean Passanante about Lumina. And, Patrick Mulcahey about early Texas/AW. Twi/X is so degraded now that it would never happen again. 

Mona, Sam was a writer not a director. I'm not sure if you were confused on that point or not. If I misunderstood, skip it. 

 

Edited March 24 by Contessa Donatella

[Mona Kane Croft]

I was just mistaken.  I thought he had been a director.  But I stand corrected (as my 10th grade history teacher used to say).   I've always loved that phrase.  It's a polite way to admit one was wrong.   

But writer or director, my point still stands. 

Edited March 25 by Mona Kane Croft

[Contessa Donatella]

As to Goutman saying over & over we are not going to chase nostalgia. We have stories & we intend to tell them. Then what does he do, a gorilla harkening back to the zany comedy of the 80s. Which I hasten to say I loved but what is it if not nostalgic?

I get it that he tried to bring back Beverlee but when that fell through why not Carmen?

[DRW50]

I also did not know why they didn't bring Anna Holbrook back, as she'd already returned earlier in the year. 

[Mona Kane Croft]

I love that you and I are coming from two different perspectives, yet we more or less agree. And I thank you for that.   

And of course -- why not Carmen?  For God's sake, Carmen was damned good as Iris.

And finally -- why go to the trouble of finding Sam Groom and flying him all the way from California, if he wasn't going to play Russ?? Especially since Russ's daughter (Josie) was still a major character.  Something has always been very fishy about all that.  I'll speculate that the intent was for Groom to return as Russ, but at the last minute someone at NBC or P&G said NO!  So Groom was given a day-player role.  Again, just speculation on my part.  

[robbwolff]

Yes, the gorilla keeper was referenced on air as Sam Ratcliffe. Cass mentions his name as he and Felicia are walking to the gorilla pit on the June 23rd episode. I watched the episode recently and remember the scene as they were talking about Wallingford. Richard and Carolyn are mentioned by name in the same scene.

[Contessa Donatella]

I stand corrected. I'm surprised because he is a favorite of mine.

[chrisml]

The gorilla stuff was nonsense and a waste of time. It was an insult to waste the previous few minutes of a show on that idiocy. I hated it. I don't care if it was a tribute to a good writer or not. I appreciate the accurate information though, and it's nice when people confirm information so thank you Watson.

I'm also glad Beverlee McKinsey did not return as Iris because she was not my Iris. Carmen Duncan was. I understand this is not true for everyone, but McKinsey was Alexandra and Duncan was Iris because I was not old enough to see McKinsey on AW or Texas. While I had given up AW yrs before it's end, I would have been angered if Iris had returned with McKinsey playing her. 

[watson71]

Wonder if Groom was supposed to return in the Summer of 99 as Russ as the show was cancelled?  Maybe the show gave him the part of the minister because of that?  Goutman kept saying that the show would not celebrate the 35th anniversary in May, but they had the summer to celebrate.

The gorilla stuff could have been skipped to give Rachel a few more minutes at the end of the show to reminisce and show some flashbacks as she swept through the Cory living room one last time.

[Khan]

Anything to spare us the sight of the AW cast singing a James Brown song to soothe a savage gorilla, lol!