I never knew her father played the minister. That was so nice of AW to do.

Thanks for these.

The gangs all here - Steve, Rachel,Russ and Alice enjoying a night out.

Edited May 16, 201114 yr by Paul Raven

I've seen the first two 90-minute episodes featuring Olive burning down Alice's house and killing John in the process and they weren't bad, but in a way they felt more like 90-minute specials. I know the St. Croix story was critically acclaimed and got some ratings but I've heard the subsequent Mitch Blake "murder" and Rachel's trial was horribly written and so unwatchable it was one of the reasons so many tuned off AW in droves in 1980.

I wasn't reading any soap magazines back then so I can't confirm that this is true. (Anybody else?) I know that the St. Croix sequence still stands as an AW high point for me. The show definitely felt different after that to me -- the only thing I was interested in was the Mitch Blake murder and trial, and Rachel's subsequent escape. I thought all of that, including Doug Watson's Emmy-winning portrayal of Mac on the witness stand was VERY watchable. But the rest of the show was so blah, I understand why people left in droves.

When they paired Rachel with a "resurrected" Mitch, a union I found completely devoid of logic and chemistry (largely because Wyndham had to carry all the weight in the relationship -- it's not easy acting with a tree stump, attractive though the stump may have been), even I started tuning out more and more.

Had Rachel/Mitch/Mac been played against other strong stories with familiar characters,maybe things might have been different.Maybe Pat gets involved with Taylor Holloway,thus integrating a new family with known characters.

Mike returns (recast) saying he and Karen decided against marriage. He can become embroiled in things.Sam Lucas' daughter turns up to stay with Aunt Ada and proves to be a handful etc etc

Instead we got a whole bunch of newbies without any ties to the past.

25th Anniversary photos

Nice!

Seeing Jane Cameron there reminds me that Nancy was another viable character completely forgotten. And Cory Ewing should have turned up in the late 80's as a new teen.

Nice cover, although that one shot looks like fun in the pool with Rachel, not drama.

Was the Slaughterhouse about DAYS and their firings?

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.

I agree. AW was fantastic in the 70's since the Frame's and Matthews were all in play and the introduction of the Corys. After 1980, the offspring characters of those families were in play and in the middle 80's completely gone. Harding Lemay returned back in late 1988 bringing back the characters he created. Iris came back to Bay City, The Frame family started to come back, Russ Matthews returned to town. Donna Swejeski did a great job crafting the familes again but I think it was Harding Lemays stuff she was scrpiting from. He did not stay long after his return. After the 25th anniversary special, that was the death of the show for me. All the familes back out of the picture again and silly characters created

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.

I agree. AW was fantastic in the 70's since the Frame's and Matthews were all in play and the introduction of the Corys. After 1980, the offspring characters of those families were in play and in the middle 80's completely gone. Harding Lemay returned back in late 1988 bringing back the characters he created. Iris came back to Bay City, The Frame family started to come back, Russ Matthews returned to town. Donna Swejeski did a great job crafting the familes again but I think it was Harding Lemays stuff she was scrpiting from. He did not stay long after his return. After the 25th anniversary special, that was the death of the show for me. All the familes back out of the picture again and silly characters created

Oh I just love the bolded part so much that I had to quote it. SO true.

Lemay and Rauch were long gone by this time

I've heard that a few times (the story I mean). VW always seemed to have some craziness in her performance so I wasn't too surprised if that translated to real life, although I don't think we ever heard about any bad behavior onset or with other actors.

I remember on the old Jump the Shark site, the entry for My Three Sons, the woman who played Dody came on to try to say something about all the attacks against her.

This isn't the same thing but in one of the old magazines I was reading that they initially did not plan to kill off John Randolph, and it was only the delay in the debut of the 90 minute episodes that they decided to kill him, because they wanted to shock viewers. This cavalier attitude towards veteran characters is a good reason why ratings fell so hard at that time...

Something else I have always wondered about with AW is Lahoma. Ann Wedgworth is so unlike most who were ever on AW (although she might have worked as a Frame) and was so unique to soaps in general. I've always wondered how she became so popular, if it was gradual. Did she start out as a small player?

I wish I could see more of Lucas too. Jordan Charney seemed to struggle outside of that role. I wonder if the show made enough of an effort when they brought him back after Somerset.

At least if they mentioned these characters from time to time. Goes to show you how when a new writer producer comes in, history is lost. Dont think they kept tight records back then and i constantly used to see their screw ups with regards to characters history. making statments about this person or that person that were not true. They should have bought Jordan Charney back for Ada's death. Afer all, he was her brother

I would have brought back Missy (not sure what Carol Roux was doing by then but they could have recast), that character Doris Belack played (Madge?), Ada's brother Lucas, and other ties to the past, as it seems like AW moving so far away from that by the late 70's is probably what hurt the most. Or bring in some Somerset characters, like Ellen Grant and her daughter. Or India Delaney. Bring back Robert.

I thought missy died in the early 70's? i am sure i am wrong. i agree, i hated this about soaps. as much as i cant stand days of our lives, they do continusly bring back the hortons all the time. I know in the late 80's Michael Liabson the producer, said "back to the basics". The frames and corys and matthews but it did not last long. Does anyone know if the ratings slightly increased that time? I know I tuned back in

I think this ep is on YouTube, but there's a great one where nasty saucer-eyed Rachel is trying to kick Alissss out of *Steven's* house that Rachel believes he would have wanted Jamie to be raised in. She spits to Alice, "We had a kind of love you'll never know... What son did you ever give him?" Then Liz makes this CLASSIC pained face like "I could just rip tis bitch's face off" and Alice LUNNNGES for Rachel... great stuff.

That was the year they hired Irene Daily to take over the role of Liz. Harding Lemay wanted to get rid of Virgina Dywer who was playing Mary Matthews, alice's mother. Funny how they change characters after different actors take over as early years, Liz Matthews could not stand Jim and Marys children. Audra lindlay (mrs roper) imoratlized the role and Daily ended it fantastic

I had heard Iris became nicer when she went on Texas. Did she have the 'daddy' issues on Texas that she had on AW?

Do you think when Iris came back from 1988-1994 that she gradually got rid of the 'daddy' thing? Do you think Mac's death caused Iris to evolve since daddy wasn't around anymore?

Again, different writers. I really like Carmen Duncan and she had some big shoes to fill to replace Bev Mckinsey but I still think they could have found another actress who was more like Bev. Harding Lemay was back writing at this time but he has no say as to who was hired to be the new Iris. At least when Donna Swajeski was writing for Iris, she had history from Lemay. Once she was gone, Iris was a completly different person

JTS was a website that has definitely jumped the shark to where it is now...owned by TV Guide and yes that is very LOL worthy. Oddly enough SFK it was one of your posts that reminded me of it. Go back to the RIP Jacqueline Courtney thread in the DTS section. I had recanted a WOST poster's anecdote of a reaction to Wesley Ann Pfenning taking over from Susan Harney. When you said Kelly, all of those fascinating tales of soaps in the 70s and 80s came flowing back.

I nver understood the hiring of Wesley Ann, no disrespect to the actress. She lasted only a few months. Harding Lemay and Paul Rauch were in charge at this time. The dream team of AW. How did they make such a bad decision to hire her as Alice? At this point, ALice was a completely different person and brunette. I remember Susan Harney most as Alice and I have to say, I thought she was great. I never understood why, when they recast the role, the character becomes someone completely different. When Wesley showed up as Alice, it was like WTF are they thinking!