I don’t think Ada and Rachel were original cast members.

 

The talk about Jerry Grove reminded me of something I still find amusing while watching these 1981 episodes and having read the 1979 synopses. Ted Bancroft, Brian’s son, apparently got pistol-whipped over the head after trying out journalism got him in trouble with gangsters. The brain damage apparently led to strange behavior that culminated in Ted kidnapping a woman and taking her to a yacht, and Ted ended up committed.

 

Now forward a few years later and Jerry Grove was now a surrogate son to Brian. Both he and Brian acknowledged at least once, with Brian actually literally telling Jerry about Ted. 
 

Then Jerry got knocked over the head, started exhibiting strange behavior, raped Clarice, and ended up committed.

 

There were other similarities, providing my information is accurate, but I thought “... the fudge?” the first time I put it together. It was literally the same story, though Jerry had a solid six or so months of hell before he even got knocked on the head.

AW debuted in 1964. Ada and Rachel (CF and RS) came on in 1967.

Constance Ford was not an original cast member. 

 

The characters of Ada and Robin Strasser's Rachel Davis first premiered in 1967 by Agnes Nixon. 

 

Agnes had used her template over the years i.e. Headstrong vixens on the make and their single mothers who try to keep them grounded. 

 

Mona and Erica-AMC 

Kate and Ava- Loving 

33 minutes ago, Forever8 said:

 

Agnes had used her template over the years i.e. Headstrong vixens on the make and their single mothers who try to keep them grounded. 

 

I just need to sit and admire your phrasing for a moment. 

 

When I first saw photos of Robin Strasser's Rachel I was amazed by how much she reminded me of Erica Kane. 

This also reminds me of the SCTV soap parody "The Days of the Week" with blonde socialite Mrs McKay and her half-witted maid Mojo. I always thought they were Iris and Vivian but then I found out about Kay and Esther on Y&R.

2 hours ago, Donna B said:

No. She was very acclimated to RS and Mary and pretty much the whole cast. Robin was a good Rachel. When VW first came over Connie wasn't too keen on her. After just a little time, though, Connie & Vicky formed a close bond. Robin is in this clip. Unfortunately the visual acuity is not as great as it could be. It's 1968, July.

 

 

2 hours ago, rlj said:

 

 

I would've loved to see the dynamics between her Ada and RS's Rachel!

Some of us have spoken of this as a parralelism & some of us were disappointed that Aggie didn't bring these pairs of "dames" up in her memoir. I thought Aggie would mention them. So did some others. 🎵 Ada & Rachel; Mona & Erica; Carla & Sadie; Ava & Kate; who am I leaving out? There's another pair. Aggie had them down pat!

 

 

13 hours ago, katie_9918 said:

The talk about Jerry Grove reminded me of something I still find amusing while watching these 1981 episodes and having read the 1979 synopses. Ted Bancroft, Brian’s son, apparently got pistol-whipped over the head after trying out journalism got him in trouble with gangsters. The brain damage apparently led to strange behavior that culminated in Ted kidnapping a woman and taking her to a yacht, and Ted ended up committed.

 

Didn't Ted return to town in the mid 80's?  Wasn't he and Nicole (the model) Love doing drugs in the Love Mansion?

54 minutes ago, ScottyBman said:

 

Didn't Ted return to town in the mid 80's?  Wasn't he and Nicole (the model) Love doing drugs in the Love Mansion?

I think that’s what happened. Ted wasn’t around for long around the winter of 1983-1984?

1 hour ago, ScottyBman said:

 

Didn't Ted return to town in the mid 80's?  Wasn't he and Nicole (the model) Love doing drugs in the Love Mansion?

 

5 minutes ago, katie_9918 said:

I think that’s what happened. Ted wasn’t around for long around the winter of 1983-1984?

From what I've read, Ted got out of a mental hospital and got recovering addict Nicole hooked on cocaine again. Jamie was dating Nicole at the time and tried to stop him, so Ted planted drugs on him and Jamie was arrested. Perry was pulled into it too somehow and ended up getting shot by Ted. Eventually, Ted's schemes were exposed and he was sent back to the mental hospital. This all lasted for like 5-6 months. 

 

I think Ted was another missed opportunity for the show. He could've driven story for years.

4 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

 

From what I've read, Ted got out of a mental hospital and got recovering addict Nicole hooked on cocaine again. Jamie was dating Nicole at the time and tried to stop him, so Ted planted drugs on him and Jamie was arrested. Perry was pulled into it too somehow and ended up getting shot by Ted. Eventually, Ted's schemes were exposed and he was sent back to the mental hospital. This all lasted for like 5-6 months. 

 

I think Ted was another missed opportunity for the show. He could've driven story for years.

it's always puzzling how writers randomly cherrypick a character or event from the past eg Ted's return, when other events and characters from the past are ignored eg Nancy returning, Rachel's father/half sister etc

7 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

it's always puzzling how writers randomly cherrypick a character or event from the past eg Ted's return, when other events and characters from the past are ignored eg Nancy returning, Rachel's father/half sister etc

Very puzzling. I chalk it up to writers wanting to mine the history of a soap but not knowing enough about it to mine it.

 

And the way so many characters came and went on AW, it was almost like the show sometimes did story arcs, like what was done on Port Charles or on telenovelas.

Edited October 24, 20196 yr by AbcNbc247

1 minute ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Very puzzling. I chalk it up to wanting to mine the history of a soap but not knowing enough about it to mine it.

 

And the way so many characters came and went on AW, it was almost like the show sometimes did story arcs, like what was done on Port Charles or on telenovelas.

The character of Ted was such a minor one in AW history. Obviously with Brian still around, somebody thought of Ted. Yet all those years went by before anybody thought Dennis might be worth reviving.

1 minute ago, Paul Raven said:

Yet all those years went by before anybody thought Dennis might be worth reviving.

Wasn't that only because they wanted Chris Bruno on the show after he auditioned for Sam and didn't get it?

I think that's right. Really Dennis should have been a priority character, not an afterthought.

He was in the right age group, related and linked to the Cory's etc.

18 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

I think that's right. Really Dennis should have been a priority character, not an afterthought.

He was in the right age group, related and linked to the Cory's etc.

 

I'm not surprised they waited until after they had Iris back on the canvas to bring Dennis back though. They could have created any old part for Chris Bruno if they wanted him. Adding Dennis without Iris would have left everyone wanting Iris.

 

Beverlee McKinsey was such a powerhouse I never really got used to Carmen Duncan as Iris and thought of her as a different person. If they had recast Iris sooner though we might never have had Donna Love, which would have been sad. 

20 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

 

I'm not surprised they waited until after they had Iris back on the canvas to bring Dennis back though. They could have created any old part for Chris Bruno if they wanted him. Adding Dennis without Iris would have left everyone wanting Iris.

 

Beverlee McKinsey was such a powerhouse I never really got used to Carmen Duncan as Iris and thought of her as a different person. If they had recast Iris sooner though we might never have had Donna Love, which would have been sad. 

 

 

I got accustomed to Carmen Duncan in one way only --- and that was as "The Chief". She got a solid handle on that aspect of Iris.

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Wasn't that only because they wanted Chris Bruno on the show after he auditioned for Sam and didn't get it?

Now I'm turned around about that. What was Chris Bruno doing that kept him from playing Sam?

 

And, when did they bring Mitch Longley on? I saw him give a demonstration of how he used his lower torso to make it seem could could walk --- and it was brilliant. He constantly picked up his legs & repositioned them to give the illusion of being able to move them. It worked, too!