I like that cover. It's so different from most soap covers.

Groom badmouthed being on soaps, so they may not have thought he'd be interested.

Roberts Blossom who played Sven Peterson in AW's last top rating storyline has died aged 87

http://www.nytimes.c...&ref=obituaries

Edited July 13, 201114 yr by Paul Raven

Is Kit the one who died of a brain tumor?

Sad to hear about Roberts Blossom. I have a few photos or items on him somewhere I will try to post when I find them.

No,Eileen(Vicky Dawson)died.Did Joey marry her on her death bed? Kit was revealed as being an heiress(she kept that from Joey). This paved the way for the Holloways to descend on Bay City.

Oh that's right. I get all of them confused. Was it Kit who had the snooty aunt who wanted her niece to stay away from the Perrinis?

January 1979 Digest.

Roberts Blossom also played Burt Ordway,Emma Frames husband. Both Emma and Burt were originally played by actors who returned in other roles.

AW's start in 1964 seems very chaotic to me. Both the original Liz and Jim only lasted the first episode. Why did they drop both Granny and the original Russ so fast?

PS has anyone ever seen the original 1964 opening? I know there's an audio recording on the AWHP and was one on the old WOST site but I don't believe I've seen video of it other than a picture of it.

Edited July 14, 201114 yr by soapfan770

Irna Phillips liked to dump actors very quickly.

Then bev and robert blossoms played husband and wife since bev mckinsely was the original Emma Frame Ordway

Roberts Blossom also played Burt Ordway,Emma Frames husband. Both Emma and Burt were originally played by actors who returned in other roles.

I completely forgot they hooked alice up with Mitch. At this point the character Alice was a very different person since she was the 4th actress at this point to play the role.

quote name='Paul Raven' timestamp='1310274130' post='987155']

A rare shot of Vana Tribbey as Alice.From everything I've read,she was good in the role and was inexplicably replaced by Linda Borgeson,who was universally disliked.

The show hinted at Mitch/Alice,which would have been an interesting twist on the Rachel/Alice rivalry.L Virginia Browne did a good job of retooling the show after Tom King and the the 90 min fiasco,but it went down the drain with the Corinne Jacker reign.

Susan Trustman,the original Pat.

This cast shot would be around 74/75

There is nothing wrong with Pfenning's acting but come on, she is far from Alice. Think of the character Courtney created and Susan Harney inherited. Pfenning is just not fit for the role

quote name='CarlD2' timestamp='1310301882' post='987189']

This is great stuff. Is there a larger version of the cast photo?

I saw a bit of Pfenning in an episode where Sally was in trouble at her boarding school, and she didn't seem that awful to me.

I love that ad with Michael and PSDonna. It's very hot - hotter than the story ever was.

It's kind of funny that they show a white hand with that vase when a black man died...I guess they thought that would give it away.

The Raven ad is great. They put more thought into this ad than they did the writing for her character! I have an interview with her from around the time she was first on AW. I'll post it.

PS has anyone ever seen the original 1964 opening? I know there's an audio recording on the AWHP and was one on the old WOST site but I don't believe I've seen video of it other than a picture of it.

Yes, I have seen it... and you can too! For only $19.95... but seriously, there are some classic episodes at the Paley Center where you can see a kinescoped version of the opening. I bet it looked great in color.

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.

I would say they only bought Courtney back for ratings and really had no storyline written for her. Pathetic. During this time was AW worst

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.