4 hours ago, Bright Eyes said:

happened in 1971.

 

14 minutes ago, j swift said:

Per the wiki, Erica's was legal

 

Yeah I was watching AMC when that aired. Def. 1971.  I remember Erica went to New York for it.

Edited March 28, 20232 yr by janea4old

Rachel Cory going from the bitch of Bay City to leading off a Lee Greenwood montage is something. 

The end of this montage cracks me up.

Not one but two lengthy musical montages in this episode. Not the last padded strike montage or performance we will be getting (I'm looking forward to seeing the one with Merry Clayton again).

Ronnie Lawrence was such a likeable, warm character, one of many black women who were never given a real role by AW.

A very patriotic cherry-popping with Cheryl and Scott right before they leave Bay City. I did not get at the first watch how much Josie is obviously there to fill the ingenue role that Cheryl had never really managed. I do find her much less cold and hollow than I generally found Josie.

The Vicky/Jake/Lisa/Jamie shot in the montage is choreographed just right.

A moment of pity for the actors who had to mimic looking at fireworks and ended up looking vaguely disturbed.

Edited March 29, 20232 yr by DRW50

 

  

On 3/28/2023 at 7:58 PM, janea4old said:

 

 

Yeah I was watching AMC when that aired. Def. 1971.  I remember Erica went to New York for it.

Thanks everyone for the clarifications and corrections.  So Pat's was the first, Erica's in 1971 (in NY, having travelled from PA where it would not have been legal), would be the first legal, and Maude's in 1972, also in NY where she lived, was also legal but both hers and Erica's were pre-Roe. 

2 hours ago, Xanthe said:

Thanks everyone for the clarifications and corrections.  So Pat's was the first, Erica's in 1971 (in NY, having travelled from PA where it would not have been legal), would be the first legal, and Maude's in 1972, also in NY where she lived, was also legal but both hers and Erica's were pre-Roe. 

So Marianne Randolph's abortion in 1975, might have been the first post-Roe abortion. Does anyone recall any others between Erica's and Marianne's?  

Constance Carson on Return To Peyton Place had an abortion in late 73 and am I right in saying that Cathy Phillips on Search for Tomorrow had one maybe in 72??

 

7 minutes ago, te. said:

 

Amazing.

Thanks for posting!

While I'm happy to see them, I'm so bummed about the story quality of the 1988 AW episodes being uploaded because the shift in quality for most of the year is just so disappointing. There was so much potential and then it sort of dissipates shortly before the writer's strike (and thank you for those who pointed that out). Even before that, it felt like the writers were flailing and did not know what to do in early 1988. I still can't get over the number of stories that just fizzled out. Scott and Cheryl are gone which annoys me to no end. The Mary storyline just ended. NuDonna is like another character. They don't seem to know what to do with the character of Jason. Cass is being haunted by Laura Innes (later on ER) and there are all these new characters who just talk and talk and talk.

Edited April 2, 20232 yr by chrisml

1979 was the final year there were more Matthews on AW than any other family. In this cast photo, there are eight members of the Matthews family plus Dan Shearer, who I don't see in the photo. So that makes nine Matthews (counting in-laws) There are eight member of the Cory family in the photo (counting in-laws, but not counting servants). By March 1979, the Matthews family began to diminish rapidly -- starting with John, Dan, Susan, and a few months later Alice and Michael were written off.

On 4/1/2023 at 11:01 AM, te. said:

 

IMHO, Lemay's writing weakened as his tenure went on, but when he was at his peak, AW was exhilarating; everything a soap should be.

13 hours ago, chrisml said:

While I'm happy to see them, I'm so bummed about the story quality of the 1988 AW episodes being uploaded because the shift in quality for most of the year is just so disappointing. There was so much potential and then it sort of dissipates shortly before the writer's strike (and thank you for those who pointed that out). Even before that, it felt like the writers were flailing and did not know what to do in early 1988. I still can't get over the number of stories that just fizzled out. Scott and Cheryl are gone which annoys me to no end. The Mary storyline just ended. NuDonna is like another character. They don't seem to know what to do with the character of Jason. Cass is being haunted by Laura Innes (later on ER) and there are all these new characters who just talk and talk and talk.

1988 there were a lot of changes behind the scenes at AW. Margaret De Priest left as headwriter in January to be replaced by Sheri Anderson.  Michael Laibson replaced John Whitesell as executive producer.  Right before the writer’s strike it was announced that Harding Lemay was returning as headwriter.  His work would not air until after the writer’s strike.  During the strike, Donna Swajeski, who then worked at NBC was writing the episodes.  Lemay would stay about 10 weeks as headwriter, before Swajeski would take over.  From Lemay’s return until mid-1989, AW is excellent. It has always been said that Swajeski was using Lemay’s bible for the show.  The Who Killed Jason Frame story was a big umbrella story that involves the entire cast, and the 25th Anniversary and Mac’s death are well done.  A lot of what was planned for the show probably had to be scrapped when Douglass Watson died in real life.

7 hours ago, Neil Johnson said:

1979 was the final year there were more Matthews on AW than any other family. In this cast photo, there are eight members of the Matthews family plus Dan Shearer, who I don't see in the photo. So that makes nine Matthews (counting in-laws) There are eight member of the Cory family in the photo (counting in-laws, but not counting servants). By March 1979, the Matthews family began to diminish rapidly -- starting with John, Dan, Susan, and a few months later Alice and Michael were written off.

I don't recognize everyone and/or can't make out all of the faces in the back. How many Frames were there at this point?  I can see Gwen and Janice and maybe the top of Jamie's head. But I suppose Jamie is also being counted as a Cory? Are the 8 Mac, Iris, Rachel, Brian, Ada, Charlie, Jamie, and Blaine? What about Clarice (Charlie's daughter) and Larry (Blaine's brother)?  As I write that out it seems as if none of the Cory set have any close connection with the Matthews set. When did Pat and Liz start working for Cory Publishing?

Matthews: John, Dan, Susan, Alice, Michael, Liz, Pat, and ... Sally?

1 hour ago, watson71 said:

1988 there were a lot of changes behind the scenes at AW. Margaret De Priest left as headwriter in January to be replaced by Sheri Anderson.  Michael Laibson replaced John Whitesell as executive producer.  Right before the writer’s strike it was announced that Harding Lemay was returning as headwriter.  His work would not air until after the writer’s strike.  During the strike, Donna Swajeski, who then worked at NBC was writing the episodes.  Lemay would stay about 10 weeks as headwriter, before Swajeski would take over.  From Lemay’s return until mid-1989, AW is excellent. It has always been said that Swajeski was using Lemay’s bible for the show.  The Who Killed Jason Frame story was a big umbrella story that involves the entire cast, and the 25th Anniversary and Mac’s death are well done.  A lot of what was planned for the show probably had to be scrapped when Douglass Watson died in real life.

Thank you for all of the information. I watched the show from 1986 on, but I didn't remember a lot of the stories during most of 1988. I now understand why. I could definitely tell while watching it that there was upheaval behind the scenes as there's a lot of chaos on the screen. It's a frustrating experience because there was much good material, but more often than not, it wasn't followed through on. I agree that AW was on fire and I'd even extend it into 1990.

1 hour ago, Xanthe said:

I don't recognize everyone and/or can't make out all of the faces in the back. How many Frames were there at this point?  I can see Gwen and Janice and maybe the top of Jamie's head. But I suppose Jamie is also being counted as a Cory? Are the 8 Mac, Iris, Rachel, Brian, Ada, Charlie, Jamie, and Blaine? What about Clarice (Charlie's daughter) and Larry (Blaine's brother)?  As I write that out it seems as if none of the Cory set have any close connection with the Matthews set. When did Pat and Liz start working for Cory Publishing?

Matthews: John, Dan, Susan, Alice, Michael, Liz, Pat, and ... Sally?

The Matthews family is on the left side of the photo: Pat, John, Marianne, Liz, Michael, Jim, Alice, and Susan. As Neil said, Dan Shearer doesn't seem to be in the photo. Sally wasn't around at this point. She returned in April 1979.