Another World Discussion Thread

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

I purchased several of Lemay's published plays about a decade ago.  They are wonderful and character-driven, just like Another World, during his tenure there.  Although I didn't recognize any plots or characters shared on AW from his plays, there are similarities -- slightly dysfunctional families, resentments, returning family members with an ax to grind, meddling relatives, and lots of subtext in the dialogue.  While reading his plays, it is easy to imagine which actor from AW could be cast in each role, and hear their voices as you read.   

 

Although I haven't found any characters even remotely similar to Iris, Rachel, or Mac; there is some vague similarity to conflicts within the Matthews and Frame families.  

Edited January 23, 2021 by Neil Johnson

[j swift]

Every time someone mentions Eight Year in Another World, I recall the anachronistically funny scene when he meets with Henry Sleasar and Lemay is so impressed that Sleasar has his own mimeograph machine.  As well as the interesting discussion that before the writer's guild had domain over daytime, a head writer was given a budget that he could either use to hire a staff or keep it all and try to do most of the work on his own.

 

It is a reminder of how difficult it must have been to produce a soap script in the 1970's.  It makes the idea of re-writing seem so much more onerous.  Which is another reason that his phone calls with Irna Phillips must have been so annoying.  I still recall writing papers for school, before we all had personal computers, and paying a fortune to get someone to do my typing.  Crafting five scripts a week for an entire cast and crew must have taken exponentially more manpower than is required today.   

Edited January 24, 2021 by j swift

[AbcNbc247]

He often said that was his goal with the Frame family; to represent a poor, ambitious family like his own on daytime TV. And that Pat and John reminded him of himself and his wife in some ways.

[Xanthe]

I finished The Odyssey and The Idiocy and there were no AW cast or crew mentioned (unless disguised by pseudonyms). However if you are interested in Nicolas Coster's early career and his boat it might be worth looking at. 

 

Now reading Sometimes You Have to Lie and was surprised to learn that Constance Ford was in a relationship with Louise Fitzhugh (Harriet the Spy)when she was cast on AW. No backstage insight into the show here either but brief mentions of how Connie kept Louise on a more even keel until they broke up.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Xanthe

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

I understand that Connie Ford and Nancy Wickwire (AW's Liz Matthews from 1969-71) were involved for several years.  

[jam6242]

AW 5th anniversary party.  From August 1969 Afternoon TV.

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[Khan]

Carol Roux and her "boyfriend" look like two of Meathead's hippie friends on "All in the Family."

[DRW50]

 

Or a cult leader. 

 

Thank you for these @jam6242. Very kind of you.

 

I am always fascinated by this period of the time where styles (especially for men) are still clinging to the more traditional look but are about to pop. 

 

Poor Joe Gallison looks as sickly as I've ever seen him. Bad angle.

[jam6242]

I think Carol had a "type" back then.  She was once involved with Rick Coonce, who was the drummer for The Grass Roots (if you know who they are, lol).

[DRW50]

I noticed that AWHP now just has Ray Liotta as playing Joey Perrini. Didn't Paul Perri initially play him (and did so again briefly in 1981)?

[AbcNbc247]

Paul Perri is still listed in the Temporary Replacements page, but it only says he played Joey in 1981.

[John]

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[Efulton]

Man do I love Linda Dano!  I cannot believe that I still miss Another World after almost 22 years.  Seeing her back on my tv makes me so happy.  

[Paul Raven]

First thing I've ever come across about Stephen Schenkel. i remember when he was appointed EP and had never heard of him. He went on to EP AMC.

 

SOAP SCOOP By Connie Passalacqua Syndicated Columnist

For the most part, dictators of South American banana republics enjoy better reputations than executive producers of daytime soap operas. Total authority is vested in these producers, who can kill off a character (thus firing an actor) with a stroke of a pen, or completely change life in his or her soap opera dominion (both in its fictional locale and backstage at the studio) on any kind of whim. Most rule despotically, inspiring fear in their actors and writers, which inevitably surfaces on the screen and subtracts from a show's quality. Then there's Stephen Schenkel, who became executive producer of "Another World" last fall. He's been described by one of his actresses as a "teddy bear."

 

He has noticeably improved the show, mostly because his natural warmth encourages backstage cohesiveness, and he believes in personalty nurturing his staff and cast. "I like to be supportive," he says. "I like to generate a certain amount of enthusiasm. I love actors and writers and technical people. And I like to laugh." Schenkel says that most of the factors that have led to the show's improved ratings existed before he took over. "There were well-defined characters, outstanding writers and excellent production values," he explains. "These things were in place but needed to be stimulated. There wasn't a lot of excitement. What really was missing was an adequate story. We added Gillian Spencer as a writer (she also plays Daisy on "All My Children"), who's wonderful, and it just coalesced. The writers' energy and commitment to the show began to give it an emotional intensity and some real passion within the characters."

 

Schenkel, a former ABC programming executive who helped develop "Ryan's Hope," is a strong believer in stressing romantic and comedy elements in soap operas. "AW" is also one of the only soaps with an established group of comic characters, including Wallingford (Brent Collins) and Lily Mason (Jackee Harry). Schenkel raves about the talents of all his actors, and even has something good to say about the Brooklyn location of the show's studio, which most of his Manhattan-oriented staff loathe. "I like the people here. I like to walk down the street and feel their energies," he says. He also violated a soap opera no-no, inviting actors and writers to the same party. "Everyone got to know one another," he says. "And I didn't get any complaints about actors begging for story lines,' he says.

[SoapDope]

LOL @ The Grass Roots. I do know who they are even though they were a bit before my time. Carol came across as a true 60's hippie chick in those old articles. I remember that early 2000's interview she to with WOST and seemed a bit....out of it and a recluse. She said looking back she did not realize how good looking Joe Gallison was and was kicking herself for it.

 

I don't think she did any more acting after Somerset in 1970. There was that video of on youtube where it is supposedly her playing a nun, but some say it's not her.