2 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

Over the decades, folks have come to accept the idea that Harding Lemay's era of AW was the show's best written period. While I give HL all the credit in the world for his work, Agnes Nixon really helped the show take off and (to me), her material on a par with Lemay's. I wish all fans of the soap had had the privilege of watching her stories play out.

As much as I loved Lemay's AW, it was far from perfect. So I'd suggest that Agnes Nixon's era was probably better. Lemay's AW was wonderful and full of character driven material, but Lemay's plots were infrequent and fairly weak. As I've mentioned before, Lemay's AW was almost plotless -- nearly to the point of being experimental television. Don't misunderstand, I was completely addicted to Lemay's AW. But it was because of his characters, not his plots. Watching AW everyday from 1971 to 1979, I was often frustrated by the lack of the distinct storylines played out on other soaps of that period. But I could not stop watching because Lemay's characters were so believable and compelling.

On the other hand, Nixon's work on AW was also character-driven, but did include normal soap opera plots with a beginning, a middle, and an end. So I will suggest Another World's golden age began when Agnes Nixon was hired as head-writer, continued through the Robert Cenadella era, and then the golden age ended in 1979, when Harding Lemay resigned as head-writer.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Tisy-Lish

52 minutes ago, Tisy-Lish said:

As much as I loved Lemay's AW, it was far from perfect. So I'd suggest that Agnes Nixon's era was probably better. Lemay's AW was wonderful and full of character driven material, but Lemay's plots were infrequent and fairly weak. As I've mentioned before, Lemay's AW was almost plotless -- nearly to the point of being experimental television. Don't misunderstand, I was completely addicted to Lemay's AW. But it was because of his characters, not his plots. Watching AW everyday from 1971 to 1979, I was often frustrated by the lack of the distinct storylines played out on other soaps of that period. But I could not stop watching because Lemay's characters were so believable and compelling.

On the other hand, Nixon's work on AW was also character-driven, but did include normal soap opera plots with a beginning, a middle, and an end. So I will suggest Another World's golden age began when Agnes Nixon was hired as head-writer, continued through the Robert Cenadella era, and then the golden age ended in 1979, when Harding Lemay resigned as head-writer.

Other than Rachel, who seems a little too one-note to me compared to Lemay's take on her, most of Nixon's run sounds more compelling to me just because I'm more drawn to many of those characters, especially that era of Liz, and Lahoma, and tragic Lee, etc.

4 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Other than Rachel, who seems a little too one-note to me compared to Lemay's take on her, most of Nixon's run sounds more compelling to me just because I'm more drawn to many of those characters, especially that era of Liz, and Lahoma, and tragic Lee, etc.

You are probably correct. Nixon wrote for Missy and Bill, then created the Alice and Steve love story. Two of AW's greatest romances. Lemay toned-down Liz, so she could essentially replace Mary (huge mistake). Clarice was Lemay's version of Lahoma.

1 minute ago, Tisy-Lish said:

You are probably correct. Nixon wrote for Missy and Bill, then created the Alice and Steve love story. Two of AW's greatest romances. Lemay toned-down Liz, so she could essentially replace Mary (huge mistake). Clarice was Lemay's version of Lahoma.

Missy and Bill is another story I'd be fascinated to actually watch, along with Susan's stories.

I can see the Clarice and Lahoma link, even if Clarice seemed to be more of a B-character compared to her.

Another thing about Lahoma is I think Lahoma Vane Lucas is one of the best soap names of all time.