Another World Discussion Thread

[~bl~]

Considering people really didn't have VHS or even Betamax machines moving a show could cause fans to leave out of no choice of their own. If you were an AW fan and got home at 2:30, you were okay when the 90 minute expansion happened as at least you were home when it was on, but if you only got home closer to three or after 3 pm, you were screwed once it moved to 2:00 pm. Not everyone watching AW were stay-at-home parents, and even if they were depending on the schedules of children, having the show on a different time may not have been convenient.

[vetsoapfan]

Well, I got my first Betamax in 1976, and my first VHS a few years later, so some die-hard soap addicts did have the ability to timeshift way back then.

Before buying my first VCRs, I used to set up audiotape recorders to record the sound of my favorite soaps, so I could listen to them later, as if they were radio plays. I still have several audiotapes of material from the 1960s and '70s.

I generally managed to keep up with all my shows, but it was REALLY annoying when the networks shifted timeslots around, putting two favorites on different networks in competition with each other.

[~bl~]

Vetsoapfan I think you were the exception to the rule, which is a good thing. I know they were available by the mid-late 1970s, but not that many people had machines until much later, so while available they weren't persuasive like they became in the 1980/1990s. How many hours could you tape on your machine a day? It sounds like your machine allowed you to record things from different channels, which is even better. (Not everyone could do that, I say that as the machine my babysitters had in the 80s the channel didn't automatically change and you could only watch the show that was being taped.)

[amybrickwallace]

vetsoapfan, do you still have any AW episodes from your old Betamax?

[vetsoapfan]

Most people I knew back then did not buy a VCR right away because the machines were so expensive. My first Sony Beta, if I recall correctly, cost $1,600.00 Blank tapes were $27.00 each. The only reason I splurged on this extravagance was because I was fiercely addicted to my soaps, and hated missing them. When I first heard about the advent of home VCRs, however, I immediately started saving up every extra dollar I could, in order to afford one. Audiotaping the shows was good enough when only audiotape recorders were available, but once I knew I could SEE and HEAR the soaps on a Betamax machine, I could not resist the thought.

Of course, back then, the shows were in their glory days and worth watching and preserving. Nowadays, I would never spend $1,600.00 on a machine to videotape Chuck Pratt's Y&R, Dena Higley's DAYS, or Ron's GH.

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, although because I had tape-traded for so many years, almost all of my vintage material has been in general circulation among other fans for years now, and the most technology-savvy among the fans have uploaded "my" episodes to youtube.

[amybrickwallace]

Cool!!

[vetsoapfan]

On tape, I have AW's tenth anniversary episode, centering on the remarriage of Alice and Steven Frame, and that does not seem to be on the internet anywhere. Also on tape, I have a couple of episodes from Y&R dealing with Jennifer Brooks' death, including her daughters finding out about her passing, and her husband reading a farewell letter from her. That hasn't shown up anywhere else, either. Most of my material is now widely circulated, however.

[DRW50]

That's great. I hope we may be able to see some of that someday.

[amybrickwallace]

Me, too! Jacquie's daughter, especially, would love to see the wedding episodes. According to Jennifer, her mother kept many issues of the soap magazines of the day - Afternoon TV, TV By Day, early SOD, etc. I think she said they are all in her attic somewhere now.

[vetsoapfan]

Were you able to ask Courtney's daughter if the family has the kinescopes of early AW episodes, which Courtney once said in a magazine article that she had had made? If the magazine report was accurate, those kinescopes would be like the holy grail to AW fans.

[amybrickwallace]

I was going to but forgot. I'll send her a message sometime this weekend and see what she says.

[vetsoapfan]

I would be surprised if any kinescopes did remain after all these decades, and even if they did, who knows what condition they might be in, or even if Courtney's daughter had the interest in copying them or making them available to die-hard fans. Certainly she doesn't owe the public anything, but it would at least be nice if some vintage AW episodes were still out there, even in the attics of former stars' family members.

[denzo30]

People would kill too see that episode, including myself. Can you copy to DVR? I would be willing to pay to see that. 10 anniversary is a classic. I have never seen it since I was prob in first grade at the time.

[vetsoapfan]

Although I no longer have the ability to copy from one format to another, one of my friends has told me that he has seen the AW 10th anniversary advertised on another site, from another soap opera collector. I'll find out the specifics from my friend, and get back to you.