Another World Discussion Thread

[SFK]

Isn't it great? God, I miss John Candy. I loved his movies, critics be damned. This is from SCTV, Canada's answer to SNL.

[SFK]

And you got everyone right except that's Joe Flaherty as Dennis Rocco.

[Khan]

"The Days of the Week" was definitely inspired by ANOTHER WORLD and SEARCH FOR TOMORROW. ;-)

[Sapounopera]

I have question... Who came first? Kay Chancellor and Esther or Iris and her maid?

[shadow]

Iris and Vivian started in 78, Kay and Ester started in the mid 50s

[Khan]

Iris and Vivien definitely came before Kay & Esther. In fact, did anyone come before Iris and Vivien? Because, it seems to me they might've been one of the first, if not THE first, maid-employer relationships of its kind.

[DRW50]

In archive.org there are some Secret Storm episodes from sometime in the 50s and there's a...bizarre maid/employer relationship in those. I'm not sure how to direct link but it's the 1955 episode.

http://www.archive.org/details/TheSecretStorm

Do any of you who are "in the know" know if Hillary Edson left AW because she had her GL job lined up? Or was that a while after? I am still bewildered by that story, that basically had Donna being degraded while Michael and Stacey were loved up. Then Donna started going after Stacey for her lack of ethics and this was supposed to be wrong (I thought she was justified), and then suddenly Stacey had enough and was ashamed of her actions and she left town. Then Michael raged at Donna. By this time Donna had decided she didn't want Michael anyway. Was this because Kale Brown had announced he was leaving? Or did he leave after this?

Still hate what this Frankie/Cass/Kathleen story is doing to Cass. The only one I feel sympathy for is Kathleen.

It didn't take me too long to get used to Judi Evans, although I still miss Cali. A lot of the later Judi trademarks are already there, like her chemistry with Victoria Wyndham and Tom Eplin. You guys weren't kidding about how wrong that wardrobe looks on Judi -- I wonder how long they made her wear Cali's clothes. The episode where she was wearing that that tight, short, red/orange minidress, with smeared red/orange lipstick...yikes!

[Sapounopera]

Is it true that there were plans for another AW spin-off in the late eighties, which would be created by Margaret DePriest and focus on the Loves, the Hudsons and the McKinnons? Perhaps that's the reason they turned Donna into a tortured heroine, in order to headline the new soap.

That's the reason they hired Denise Alexander, in order to play the McKinnon matriarch on the new soap. I have no idea what would be left for AW if they took three of the show's prominent families at the time.

[Cat]

I was going to say... what would AW talk about?! I thought AW in the late 80s *was* about the Loves, Hudsons and McKinnons! LOL.

I am in January 1992 now! Woohoo! Today is prob the final day I can check these out so perhaps I should start weaning myself off these.

A few random observations:

Grant (as played by Mark Pinter) comes across as so sinister and manipulative. There was a point where he confronted Paulina about her past and he was borderline emotionally abusive. I am not likeing him at all, don't understand how Spencer could ever have idiolized this cold, nasty individual, don't understand why Paulina moons over him or why Vicky is so loyal and possessive of him.

Sam and Amanda have a love montage every. Single. DAY. All they do is shag. Not that I'm complaining as I miss these love scenes from our soaps today! And AW seems to have specialized in building up its romantic pairings, drawing out the romantic tension and choreographing superlative love scenes. HOWEVA! The Samanda stuff seems forced. Like I said, they seem to be at it all the time. As a couple, I find them a bit meh. Amanda comes across as a bit of a smug bimbo whenever she confronts Olivia. I'm curious about Amanda's affair with some guy when she first married Grant. Where they a hot couple? Why did it end? Why did Amanda start sniffing around Sam again?

It is a blessed relief to have Carl off the show for a little while. He certainly hammed his ass off in the Hallowe'en scenes.

Constance Ford is just... awesomeness.

And so is Carmen Duncan as Iris.

And so is Sofia Coppola as Lorna. She's so clever and defensive and she swings that long curtain of black hair about like a witch. I really like her character -- and her name!

Even wearing dresses and business suits and big jewelery, Paulina comes across as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks playing dress-up. That's a good thing because that is exactly what she is. Her hair has been looking fab lately.

[DRW50]

I'm not going to get anywhere near the end by tonight, although I have managed to get out of July 1991, so that's something. Near the end of this there's some flirting with Grant and Kathleen. Too bad that didn't go anywhere.

Did Julie Osburn only return for a limited run or did they let her go? If it's the latter, what a huge waste.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpZwL9UWcAI&feature=channel

[juniorz1]

Cat, I ya, but it's been irking me- Sofia Coppola is the famous director of "Lost in Translation." Alicia Coppola plays Lorna.

And I too LOVE her. Thank GOD they brought her on as Heche was leaving. Lorna was the new Vicky for me. It's part of the reason I never could get into Robin Christopher as an actress until I saw her on OLTL- she was a terrible, inept recast for Coppola as Lorna. I understood the producers thinking, considering her work as Skye, but it just didn't work. IMO, Coppola was downright iconic in the role.

I have no idea what happened with Osburn but for the life of me, I'll never understand why they let her go. She was such a gem as Kathleen & a real bright spot on the show at the time. Was Frankie & Frankie/Cass really that popular?

Oh and by the way, it's 12:06 AM and I'm watching an AW episode on youtube.

***fingers crossed***

[DRW50]

I guess they felt Frankie was more established and Kathleen could easily go (if it wasn't Osburn's choice) but I think it was a big mistake (especially since AW had lost so many actresses), and that type of isolation is one of the reasons Cass was almost written out after Frankie was murdered.

I was reading an SOD from 1990 and they criticized AW for not killing off Jamie, because they felt that when a character was recast that many times, death made more sense than another new actor. Do you think they were right? I think Jamie was still a viable character, with a proper recast, but it never seemed to happen, so perhaps they were right...

While the episodes are still up, here's the start of an episode where Rachel was hit in the head. It kind of makes me laugh, mostly because it has that dated music video look. I wonder if Vicky Wyndham was involved in the direction of the scene, as she had said before this that she thought soaps should become more like MTV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QpPziZuTJk&feature=channel

Edited October 21, 2010 by CarlD2

[teplin]

Have you seen any clips from the onset of the Cass-Kathleen romance? Those two were pure magic in their first go-round. The show even ponied up some big on-location bucks for them, sending them to St. Thomas (with Cecile) and Majorca (with Sally & Catlin). They even had their own big-time theme song (essential for supercouples back then): "If You Say My Eyes are Beautiful" by Whitney Houston & Jermaine Jackson.

I can't say for sure, but I dimly recall that Julie Osburn only agreed to a limited run for her return. So the show deliberately stacked the deck in favor of Frankie.

[DRW50]

I've seen some of Kathleen/Cass. What I saw I loved, like the scene where they were arrested in a foreign country and had to translate through a French man who spoke the native language (Kathleen spoke French), and then some of the Majorca stuff. And a very beautiful remote at Coney Island or somewhere when Kathleen was paralyzed and they went around the abandoned park as "Your Love is Lifting Me Higher" played. And then when she appeared to Cass for a few days after he had a breakdown over Nicole. They had such a natural chemistry. I don't see that with Cass/Frankie. I see it more with Frankie/Ryan.

It just makes me feel sad seeing Kathleen so isolated and so lost, clinging to a man who is constantly running off.

If it had been me I would have split up Kathleen/Cass again by saying she had to go into hiding, and then have them deal with that and have him go back to Frankie in time, after they both deal with everything that happened.

Edited October 21, 2010 by CarlD2

[Cat]

Duh! Alicia, of course.

And ITA. She just shines as Lorna. She is so fierce. And she looks like a Native American! I'm still wondering why they are wasting her on that teenybopper Matt when it is so obvious how Woman she is next to his Boy. It's crazy how much chemistry she has been able to spark with the chemistry-free piece of wood masquerading as Jamie. LOL, actually Jamie and his portrayer are totally growing on me now that

I also love her scenes of confrontation with Felicia. I think I know where this is heading here (!) but thus far they absolutely despise one another.

I'm not sure what to expect from Robin Christopher as Lorna (if I ever get that far). I have always *heard* rather than *seen for myself* Ms. Christopher's apparent brilliance. Right now I can't get past how much I love AC in the role.

You guys -- I've actually seen an episode where Frankie & Cass were not so annoying! It's the 2/12/1992 one which is entirely film noir. Cass plays a private dectective called Cass A. Nova (LOL sheilaforever). It is a great episode. However, they soon returned to Kooky Frankie and her granola life with John and Baby Gregory and Cass pining for her badly-dressed ass. Alice Barrett constantly sounds bunged-up, like she has a permanent cold. Or snorts coke (which I doubt -- though I hear Eplin and Wheeler were into it in the AW bathrooms back in the day).

Frankie just went off on Donna because Donna offered to pay for all of Baby Gregory's private schooling. Frankie thinks Baby Gregory is a free-spirit who will chafe at the restrictions of an expensive private school. I'm like "Baby Gregory is one year old. He can't even speak." But obviously Mother Earth Frankie knows better! If AW were still around today and John took Frankie's advice, poor Gregory would probably be at community college desperately looking for a job in today's economy. Nice work, FF!

On the other hand, they are trying to make Frankie look less crunchy and more Cass's soulmate by having her dress up from time to time and mentioning how much she loves caviar omelettes. OK then.

Jake's backstory is fascinating. We are back in Lassiter for a few episodes. And Paulina and Jake just need to break down and kiss again.