Another World Discussion Thread

[jfung79]

Hmm, that would have been a neat idea to use a globe!

For the latest on Another World Today twitter version, see this promo on a fan-produced website (not mine), linked below ... On October 31, "Who Really Killed Sally Frame?" will be revealed:

http://www.anotherworldroleplay.com

Daily synopses of the twitter action and excerpts from Sally Frame's diary can also be found at the above website. Don't miss as the first big umbrella story of AW Today Twitter comes to a head!

Meanwhile from the text episodes ...

- Jenna was revealed to be Donna and Carl's daughter but died from preeclampsia.

- Cass found out that Lucas is alive.

- Jamie and Marley got married to keep custody of Kirkland.

- Alice Matthews is flirting with Spencer Harrison, saying he reminds her of Steve Frame.

- Grant's lawyer Kevin Fowler is really Kevin Thatcher, bounced around from family to family after his mother Sally Frame died and seeking revenge on Alice as well as the other Matthewses/Frames/Corys.

- And much more!

Edited October 3, 2009 by jfung79

[vetsoapfan]

This show was such a class act during the Agnes Nixon and (first several) Harding Lemay years. Viewers of 1960s-70s soaps didn't realize how lucky we were to have watched the master writers at play. 1966-75 was definitely AW's halycon period, with the great Alice/Steven/Rachel saga of 1968-75 being the highlight!

[DRW50]

I just wish more of that era were available. I would especially love to see some of the era with Strasser's Rachel. And Lahoma. And John Randolph's daughter.

[SFK]

Carl, have you seen any of Strasser's Rachel? There's some of it out there, I'll try to get what I have up on YouTube ONE of these days.

[DRW50]

I've seen a bit. I think Rachel and her poor schlub husband Russ were at a wedding...Lenore and Walter? And Steve had recently arrived, and Rachel and Alice were both falling in love with him.

I wish more of that were out there. I'd love to see Rue Machlanan as the crazy nanny who slowly poisoned Pat. I remember Rue said she got nothing but positive response from fans, including one letter which said, "You aren't doing this right. Here's how I did it!"

[SFK]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've seen. I'd love to see that Rue stuff too, and apparently some of it still exists in color kinescope form as seen in a short clip on her Intimate Portrait.

[Paul Raven]

Jack Parrish,who played Brad Garrick in 1980, passed away in October at age 56.

[UKBoi]

Very random request here but would anyone happen to have the full mp3 of the final version of AW's closing theme tune? It was on WOST but I couldn't join because they didn't accept PayPal and now it's too late. I'd hate for this to be gone forever, it was a lovely piece of music.

[chuck89]

Are you talking about the 1996-99 version? Here you are:

http://www.mediafire.com/?tmuntrnwtgm

http://download399.mediafire.com/xhgrtxzjcx2g/tmuntrnwtgm/Another+World+%28Full+Closing+Theme%2C+1996-1999%29.mp3

Also,here's the full announcer free versions of the 1981-87 open and closing:

http://tvpmm.com/musicA/AnotherWorld1981Open.mp3

http://tvpmm.com/musicA/AnotherWorld1981Close.mp3

[soapfan770]

I saw this opinion on another board and was wondering what other people thought of it:

I have to say I might agree with some of the premise of this opinion/statement, which I'll explain why later when I have more time to.

[DRW50]

The main problem with AW of the 80s and 90s was how many different people were in charge of the show. Considering how many people were, I'm actually surprised at how well the show held up. Just look at the insanity of things like Grant Harrison being in prison or near prison for various crimes, then a year later, he was mayor.

I do think the last 3-4 years were not good, but even then, the acting was generally quite strong, and I enjoyed Culliton's stint, especially for Cass/Lila, and for a break from Grant as the evil schemer.

Edited January 2, 2010 by CarlD2

[SFK]

I had friends and relatives who watched AW and I of course knew who Felicia was, but I never really got into it. And as a matter of fact, I remember thinking that it was cheap-looking and lit with fluorescents whenever I flipped past it in the early '90s. I remember watching during the Justine period, I *sorta* got into it then, but honestly, I think I really picked the show up once I knew it was being cancelled. I have to agree that the cast and characters were this show's strong suit, I got a real OLTL (the show I did watch at 2pm) vibe from the show, I thought the characters would work very well on OLTL, and I'd later realize the various cast connections between shows (even before Rae Cummings and assorted FOJ hit Llanview). I really am more of a retroactive AW fan, through tape trade, YouTube, message boards et cetera, I really got into the show's '70s and early '80s history, and I don't have to tell you how the show boasted some of the finest writing and acting of the genre during its Golden Age.

[Max]

With all due respect, I think that it's way off base to proclaim AW as one of the worst soaps of the 80's & 90's (in terms of its storylines). While I do concede that that the show's quality had fallen quite a bit from its 70's zenith, the 80's & 90's brought about many good storylines including:

*Janice Frame's attempt to kill Mac Cory

*The return of Steve Frame to Bay City (after being presumed dead)

*The many different schemes of Cecile DePoulignac

*The Sin Stalker storyline

*Cass' relationships with Cecile, Kathleen McKinnon, and Frankie Frame

*The "Who Shot Jake McKinnon" storyline

*Felicia Gallant's alcoholism storyline

*The redemption of Carl Hutchins as he fell in love with Rachel Cory

Of course, AW had its fair share of clunker storylines as well. And, in all objectivity, I do feel that ATWT was of a higher quality than AW during the 80's & 90's; the same goes for GL during some--but not all--of that period (specifically GL's golden years of the early 80's and early 90's).

Yet, there were soaps with far worse storylines than what AW served up in the 80's & 90's: What about the endless campy and/or sci-fi storylines served up by GH, DOOL, and both SBs? Or, how about the trash that was (and still is) B&B? Do you honestly mean to tell me that AW had worse storylines than all of these shows?

Edited January 2, 2010 by Max

[soapfan770]

I have to say this was what I was thinking as well. The thing that bugs me is the constant turnover and inconsistent writing between 1981-1987 and 1995-1999. Characters constantly came and went except a select few ie Rachel, Cass, Felicia etc. Both the Matthews and Frame families were completely to obliterated to the point where there was only a single Matthews related character on the show, Josie. Up and coming characters like Julia Shearer and Sally Frame killed off for no good reason while other vets wasted and forgotten. The had no real sense of identity.

No matter what you think, the Swajeski years were a saving grace for the show and at least gave show a small period of stability and good writing. On the other hand, what AW really needed was a Douglas Marland type writer over a long period of time.

Alas that why I would also disagree with the opinion I had posted. Aside from the Britney Peterson stuff and Justine junk, AW certainly was never the worst soap on the air during this period (hello Generations!). I also agree with all of your story highlights except for one--The Steve Frame is back from the dead story was a spectacular failure. It failed because two actors from the original Rachel/Steve/Alice triangle were long gone and the fact there wasn't much chemistry nor interest. Yet when AW brought back Courtney in the role of Alice, she was quickly sidelined and then written out not long after. Go figure.

[DRW50]

One problem for AW was that they always struggled to keep young talent. This is a problem for all soaps but it seemed to really hit AW. This started in the 70s and it left an empty canvas.

Lemay and Rauch decimated the Matthews family to replace them with the Frames, yet by the end of Lemay's run, the only Frames left were Willis, who was gone by 1981, and Janice, who was made into a psycho.