Another World Discussion Thread

[Mona Kane Croft]

Thank you for doing the research and finding verification which can finally clear up this error among soap opera historians.  I sincerely appreciate it.  Can you please post this in the TEXAS discussion page too?

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by Neil Johnson

[Contessa Donatella]

Sure. Will do! 

Just found out that the IMDb page's correction has been approved!

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Edited August 20, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
approved!

[Soaplovers]

With the writer strike ongoing, I was glad to see that a majority of the 1988 writer strike episodes were still on YT for AW.

On an episode to episode basis, I think the scenes and dialogue are not too bad.  There seems to be more of a focus on smaller moments/filler then having actual ongoing plots.. other then the Jamie/Lisa/Vicky situation.. and the start of the Drew Marston arc.

I just finished watching the June 1st episode and it the perfect example of this smaller/filler moments.  You have newlywed scenes with Sam/Amanda, the high school graduation scenes involving Matt, Ada/Jamie scene, Lisa/Cheryl hanging out at Tops, and the introduction of Chris.

I'm intrigued with the Chris character only because she was randomly introduced during the strike.. and I wondered if she was a planned character pre-strike or if the scab writers needed to fill up time so they created the Chris character. 

In her debut episode, she seems over wrought.. yet demanding an equal chance of working in construction.  I'm not sure if the writing intended to show this clashing of first impressions, or if it was an acting choice.

[DRW50]

The Chris character did seem very overwrought, which made the weaving in and out of how much we were meant to see her as sincere or a psycho more confusing. I think the actress wasn't a good fit.

I remember the strike material as being decent, with the character beats you mention. The most blatant filler was the Cass/Nicole ghosts stuff. I'm trying to remember if they were still in strike mode when we got to stuff like Felicia going to Vegas and being hypnotized. 

I also remember some very padded musical performances that were probably strike-related but still enjoyable, like the DIrty Dancing dancers. 

 

[Mona Kane Croft]

There has always been speculation that the scab writers were using Harding Lemay's plot projections as a basis for their day to day scripts, since he had been hired and had submitted his plan before the strike began.  If you are familiar with Lemay's writing style, you may be able to recognize things that may have originated from his ideas. And you may also be able to notice things that were certainly not his ideas -- the Nicole/Cass ghost story, for example.   

I would suggest the focus on smaller moments between characters you mention probably originated with Lemay, as he preferred to write character development, rather than strong plots.  Also, the Drew Marston story may have been his idea, since it flowed so well into the introduction of Iris (after the strike).  But the way the scab writers plotted the details of the Marston tale probably diverted from Lemay's intent quite a bit.   Also, Chris may have been a Lemay creation since she was a character with a lot of internal emotional problems -- a favorite Lemay character device.  Additionally, taking Lisa/Jamie/Vicki in the same direction as Alice/Steve/Rachel (years earlier) likely was one of  Lemay's contributions.

On the other hand, anything overly dramatic, over the top, or overly "soapy" was probably concocted by the scabs, who were under no obligation to follow Lemay's projections, if they decided not to.  

I'd enjoy hearing more of your thoughts on the 1988 strike era.   

If my memory is correct, the Felicia's hypnotism stuff occurred after the strike and was written by Lemay -- believe it or not!!  It certainly didn't seem like something he would write, but I think perhaps he was trying to loosen up a bit, and not be so stubborn about what he was and was not willing to write, this second time around.   

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Neil Johnson

[DRW50]

Thanks. That makes sense, I guess, as it does kind of tie into her later being hypnotized when she's being stalked several months later.

[Xanthe]

John's trauma from Vietnam was a key piece of his opening up to Sharlene. Since the Depriest era had only really used Vietnam as an explanation for John's absence, and focused his emotional problems on his lust for Donna rather than the war, it makes sense that Chris, whose emotional problems were related to Vietnam, was introduced both to open up Vietnam as a part of John's history and also as an obstacle to delay the John/Sharlene romance.

Chris was overwrought, and I was confused about why initially she said that her brother was MIA in Vietnam and then it turned out that it wasn't her brother it was her husband. I couldn't tell whether there was supposed to be a real deep psychological reason why she lied or if they just decided to raise the stakes of the story and figured it could be made to work. I actually liked Mary Layne but either the rôle or her portrayal was too intense to be sustained for long. 

[Contessa Donatella]

So, both Sharlene #1 and Sharlene #2 won a Daytime Emmy but according to SOD 6-25-1991, in 1978 when Laurie Heineman won Best Actress she had actually played the part an embarrassingly small amount of time. AWHP sez 9-22-1975 to 3-23-1977. That's not embarrassing. Oh, I see, the question was how much time in the eligibility period. Okay. But, further, people thought she was a dark horse win where 7 others split most of the vote. Those others: From her show, AW's Beverlee & Victoria; AMC's Mary Fickett who won first of anyone & Lucci who won last of anyone?? Anyway it was Lucci's first nod of 19; DAYS' SSH & OLTL's Jennifer Harmon. 

This may be the year Bev & VW went drinking together after & the year the camera operator couldn't find the winner & just showed the AW folks they knew & the year Bev & VW figured they canceled each other out & not the Irene Dailey win. 

 

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[Contessa Donatella]

I am sorry to have to tell you that Nancy Frangione has died. Aug. 18, 2023. She was 70.

I remember her this way. 

 

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Edited August 22, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges

[DRW50]

I'm very sorry to hear about Nancy passing away. I first saw her in the compilation tapes Eddie Drueding made, immediately drawn into the humor and zaniness of Cecile and the group with Cass, Felicia and Wallingford (and later Kathleen). Nancy could have been right at home in the '30s screwball era. She was a great example of what made AW survive in the early/mid '80s in spite of so many things going against it - personality, style, humor, and the narrative of a found family.

When I got to see more of her work, like her scheming to win Peter, I was even more impressed with how Nancy managed to take a character that had been so different when she arrived and make it her own. 

Cecile's returns were never quite the same, as Cass had become a more serious (and, when with Frankie, much drearier) character, but her 1989 run still has some spark, perfectly timed given the sorrow backstage. 

So many AW actors have left us recently, and so many of them from one era of the show. It's a reminder of how important is for whatever is left of the show, on screen or on the page, to be archived, and why I'm sorry so many cast and crew of those years were never given proper interviews when we had the chance. 

[watson71]

RIP She was a great actress and added so much to AW every time she visited Bay City.  Nancy was yet another overlooked AW actress at Emmy time.  She certainly at least deserved an Emmy nomination.  Linda Dano and Stephen Schnetzer discussed Nancy on her podcast.  I’m just sorry that they never got her on that podcast or any other podcast/interview since she was an important part of AW history.

[Efulton]

I will have to listen to Stephen’s episode of Linda’s podcast again because I do not recall them discussing Nancy.  What did they say?

[Jdee43]

Really sad. Nancy was great. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Yeah. I don't recall it either. Darn. 

[watson71]

Go to the 11 minute mark- Stephen discusses how Paul Rauch hired him to play Cass and his screen test with the brilliant Nancy Frangione.  He says that Nancy was a cheerleader for him when he started on AW.