1 hour ago, juniorz1 said:

Thank you for posting these 1984 eps!  So happy to see Kathleen Layman's MJ.  She was one of my favorite heroines at the time.  And good to know I didn't imagine the flirtation she had with Rick Porter's Larry.   Chemistry in spades.  Maybe some posters will better understand why I could never accept Sally Spencer in the part

 

She seemed more confident and possessing of a backbone.  I often wonder how she would have played the story of MJ being a former hooker.

7 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

 

She seemed more confident and possessing of a backbone.  I often wonder how she would have played the story of MJ being a former hooker.

 

Kathleen Layman was a good actress, and she was believable as a sister to Julie Osburn's (Kathleen) sister on the show. Layman was certainly a stronger actress than Sally Spencer as MJ.  The writers always toyed with the idea of pairing her with Larry but never did.  It also would have been interesting to see how Layman would have done with the return of her mother, Mary McKinnon, in 1986.

 

On a sad note, I had no idea that Layman had passed away in 2014  until I searched her name on Google:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=173152925

 

 

I bought Kathleen Layman as a cop from the get-go but I always felt like Sally Spencer was playing dress-up. It wasn't just the way Spencer played MJ, the writers also had a hand in weakening the character. As with Carmen Duncan's Iris, I pretty much pretended the actress and her predecessor were playing completely different roles. 

3 hours ago, teplin said:

I bought Kathleen Layman as a cop from the get-go but I always felt like Sally Spencer was playing dress-up. It wasn't just the way Spencer played MJ, the writers also had a hand in weakening the character. As with Carmen Duncan's Iris, I pretty much pretended the actress and her predecessor were playing completely different roles. 

 

But do you think the writers changed the character based on the actress?  Sometimes a writer will shift a character based on how a new performer plays the scenes written.

I can't see the writers doing the backstory of MJ having been a hooker if Kathleen Layman was still playing the part. Adam and MJ would probably never have been a couple either. She probably would have gone in a totally different direction. I actually enjoyed Adam and MJ (Sally Spencer) very much and were upset when they destroyed them with Chad's arrival. 

5 minutes ago, Melroser said:

I can't see the writers doing the backstory of MJ having been a hooker if Kathleen Layman was still playing the part. Adam and MJ would probably never have been a couple either. She probably would have gone in a totally different direction. I actually enjoyed Adam and MJ (Sally Spencer) very much and were upset when they destroyed them with Chad's arrival. 

I can't imagine KL with Adam or having a past as a hooker either. I liked Sally Spencer she had chemistry with both Adam and her sexy former pimp Chad. I couldn't stand all the crying she did. People in Bay City had done a whole lot worst than turn tricks. Margaret DePriest created so much build up only to abort the story.  Once Kathleen fled Bay City. Adam and Chad didn't have much to do. Until they both left Bay City.

 

41 years ago today- August 11, 1978-  the character of Amanda Cory was born.  This episode of AW included the revelation that Iris was Mac's adopted daughter.  Future writers- including Harding Lemay in 1988- would switch this by explaining that Iris, now played by Carmen Duncan, was Mac's daughter by Sylvie Kosloff, a knock-off clothes designer.  Iris returned to Bay City in 1988 right after Sylvie had died off-screen.

 

 

Mac: "It doesn't matter, as long as I got home for the birth of my first baby. [IRIS STARES AT HIM, BLANKLY, BUT MAC DOESN'T NOTICE] All these years I've dreamed of having a child and now here she is."
Iris: "[WHISPERING] What are you saying?"
Mac: "Oh, Iris, I'm sorry... I'm just rambling on... [HE TURNS AWAY]" 
Iris: "Oh, no, you're not. [SHE TURNS HIM AROUND] I want to know what you're telling me."
Mac: "Darling, I don't know what I'm saying."
Iris: "You said that this is your first child."
Mac: "Did I say that?"
Iris: "Daddy, tell me what you meant!"
Mac: "I promised your mother-- [HE STOPS]"
Iris: "Go on, please."
Mac: "Oh, Iris, I'm so exhausted from that flight from Paris and then from New York, I wasn't thinking. Your mother couldn't have children... I mean my wife couldn't have children, so we adopted you. [IRIS SHAKES HER HEAD IN MUTE DENIAL. MAC GOES TO HER] You were three weeks old, so it was like having our own baby."
Iris: "I'm not your child."
Mac: "But then, your mother died."
Iris: "[SHOUTING] I'm not your child?"
Mac: "Iris, listen to me."
Iris: "No, no... never again. [SHE TURNS AND GOES OUT QUICKLY]"

On August 11, 1986, the character of Zane Lindquist,  died in the hospital after being shot  in the crossfire between the Bay City PD and  hired hitman Herman Ludwig who has holding Cass, Kathleen, and Cecile hostage.  Ludwig was working for Reginald Love who makes his first appearance at the end of this episode. After marrying Felicia Gallant, in February, 1986, Zane would be shot twice that year.  Once in March, while trying to track down the thugs who had stolen an Egyptian treasure that was on display from a local art gallery and again in August.  At the 12:00 minute mark, begins a great scene where Mac Cory leads a community prayer in the hospital waiting room.  This type of scene would never appear on a soap today.

 

On a side note, shooting Zane twice in one year, is a prime example of the problem AW had with constant switches in headwriters.  Zane being shot by the thugs who had stolen the Egyptian treasure was fallout from probably one of AW's worst storylines ever- Carl Hutchins tricking Nancy McGowan into giving Mac and Rachel an amphora as a gift that contained poisonous dust from an Egyptian pyramid.  Anyone who opened the amphora and breathed the dust would die.  The amphora was passed around Bay City- only killing Grant Todd- but left both Mac and Rachel near death and in the hospital in early 1986, only to be saved by Dr. Chris Chaplin. 

 

 

I have been rewatching episodes from 1983 and they are even better than I remembered.  Felicia / Cass / Cecile. The introduction of the Love family.  The Alma Rudder murder.  Nasty Jeanne Ewing.  Faith Ford and Mary Page Keller as recasts for Julia Shearer and Sally Frame. 2 characters that never should have been killed off.  Mac and Rachel reunited.  Liz, Brian, Vivien, Larry, Clarice and Ada silll being featured. Maisie, Lily, Quinn and Gil.   So entertaining and fun!

On Friday, September 4, 1981, Another World would air the interlocking ring opening/closing theme for the last time.  The closing credits would feature the entire theme song:

 

 

 

On Monday, September 7, 1981, Another World would debut a new theme and opening/closing

 

 

Why would someone replace this beautiful, classy music theme. It was the last thing that needed to be fixed. 

3 hours ago, Elsa said:

Why would someone replace this beautiful, classy music theme. It was the last thing that needed to be fixed. 

 

In 1980-81, Procter and Gamble replaced / remixed the theme music for 6 of its soaps that were currently on the air- AW, TEXAS, SFT, ATWT, GL, and EON.  This included new new title sequences and graphics as well.  I believe that P&G thought that the change in themes would "modernize" their soaps to compete with the ABC soaps.  Anyone have any background information  regarding the change in the themes?  Was a big deal made about it in the soap press?

I recall Afternoon TV had a story about it

 

Search was the least changed in that the font and visuals were similar.

 

AW just needed to modernize the concentric circle visual.The silhouettes and new title font weren't necessary.

13 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

I recall Afternoon TV had a story about it

 

Search was the least changed in that the font and visuals were similar.

 

AW just needed to modernize the concentric circle visual.The silhouettes and new title font weren't necessary.

 

Of all the P & G shows I would venture a guess that Guiding Light's theme was the biggest change going from the romantic light through the leaves opening to the fast paced disco opening theme.