1 minute ago, j swift said:

Does anyone know the story of why they fired and then rehired Mr Littlefield?  He left in May 1999, and SOD wrote that he was going to be replaced, then he returned a month later and stayed until the finale.

It depends on when NBC announced that they were cancelling AW.  If the announcement was made after the show had fired Littlefield, then the show probably realized it wouldn't make sense to recast, knowing they had only so much time left before the finale, so they effectively re-hired him.  Anyway, that's my guess.

10 minutes ago, j swift said:

Josie also really suffers in the final recast.  Nadine Stenovitch may have shared Amy Carlson's haircut, but she had none of the charisma or sexual chemistry. 

It also didn't help when they recast Gary with John Littlefield.  I know that they wound up together IRL, but it is a bummer when both characters in a couple get recast.

Does anyone know the story of why they fired and then rehired Mr Littlefield?  He left in May 1999, and SOD wrote that he was going to be replaced, then he returned a month later and stayed until the finale.

John Littlefield is leaving Another World this spring Littlefield Joined the show in April 1998 replacing Tim Gibbs(Now Kevin on one life to live}The departure is storyline dicated this was reported from Sod

Speaking of Nadine Stenovitch and John Littlefield, did anyone catch them on a couple of episodes of Escape to the Chateau about three years ago?  They are close friends of the family that owns the chateau, so they came for a visit or two. 

11 minutes ago, j swift said:

Josie also really suffers in the final recast.  Nadine Stenovitch may have shared Amy Carlson's haircut, but she had none of the charisma or sexual chemistry. 

The casting people really struck gold as far as the physical appearance of the two actresses is concerned and I think it could have worked out if Mr. Gibbs was still in the role of Gary. No offense to Mr. Littlefield, but he lacked the charisma and sex appeal of Gibbs.  

By the way, who left first? I can't remember if Stenovitch shared scenes with Gibbs or was Carlson still there when Gibbs left?

 

13 minutes ago, Khan said:

It depends on when NBC announced that they were cancelling AW.  If the announcement was made after the show had fired Littlefield, then the show probably realized it wouldn't make sense to recast, knowing they had only so much time left before the finale, so they effectively re-hired him.  Anyway, that's my guess.

Yeah, probably -  According to AWHP, he was fired in April, last aired in May, then returns in June two weeks before the finale.

7 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Speaking of Nadine Stenovitch and John Littlefield, did anyone catch them on a couple of episodes of Escape to the Chateau

Honestly, I had never heard of the show, but reading about the ending was a fun rabbit hole.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/angel-strawbridge-leaked-audio-escape-to-the-chateau-b2347548.html

2 minutes ago, China Jones said:

By the way, who left first? I can't remember if Stenovitch shared scenes with Gibbs or was Carlson still there when Gibbs left?

Gibbs left first and got cast on OLTL

Edited November 29, 20231 yr by j swift

37 minutes ago, China Jones said:

I also agree! Definitely add Robin Scorpio to the list!

While having unprotected sex with Stone certainly wasn't a good move, I don't think this qualifies Robin as not a good girl. Rather, I believe Robin's actions exemplify the behavior of an ingenue: it was the naïveté characteristic of an ingenue that caused trusting young Robin to sleep with Stone. It was the mistake made by Robin the teenaged ingenue that allowed her to grow into Robin the bright young medical student who studied in Paris and finally become Robin the adult, a surgeon who saves lives.

 

I can buy that. The reason I say Robin is an aberration is of course because they allowed Kimberly McCullough to age in real time & then, of course, she was handled very carefully. Robin was a real treasure & I don't think writers would have done some things to Robin that they did do to other girls. Although don't get me wrong, Robin had very real challenges. In case you can't tell I'm a huge fan. I remove my objection to Robin as an ingenue as long as she is one who successfully matures out of it & is not trapped in it as a strait jacket! So, what is the count up to now? 3 true ingenues? And, you speak well for our Robin! 

On 11/25/2023 at 7:36 PM, j swift said:

@Mona Kane Croft I also wonder why Amanda doesn't fit the brief?  Especially because when she was aged in 1987, she filled the gap created by the exit of Marley.  And she was a lead character for a long time who was contrasted by Vicky and Paulina.

Despite being the right age, it seems like Amanda Cory wasn't given enough time to become an ingenue. IIRC, the SORASed Amanda hadn't been back in Bay City very long before she was saddled with a pregnancy, a shotgun wedding and teenaged motherhood.

And during her brief time on the show before her marriage, we never got to see Amanda involved in co-ed hijinks and romances with frat boys because she never attended college.

1 minute ago, China Jones said:

Despite being the right age, it seems like Amanda Cory wasn't given enough time to become an ingenue. IIRC, the SORASed Amanda hadn't been back in Bay City very long before she was saddled with a pregnancy, a shotgun wedding and teenaged motherhood.

And during her brief time on the show before her marriage, we never got to see Amanda involved in co-ed hijinks and romances with frat boys because she never attended college.

We had the very brief rebellious Mandy & they they ran her so quickly into being in love with Sam! Married & baby lockstep timing, even precision. As you say. 

2 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

The reason I say Robin is an aberration is of course because they allowed Kimberly McCullough to age in real time

Oh, sorry Donna L. Bridges, I misunderstood what you meant. Robin certainly was an "aberration" in terms of her being one of the few soap opera children allowed to age in real time. I've always heard about how Secret Storm's Amy Ames grew up in real time on that show. 

3 minutes ago, China Jones said:

Oh, sorry Donna L. Bridges, I misunderstood what you meant. Robin certainly was an "aberration" in terms of her being one of the few soap opera children allowed to age in real time. I've always heard about how Secret Storm's Amy Ames grew up in real time on that show. 

I wasn't clear enough! It's fine now. And that's what matters. I didn't know about Secret Storm's Amy Ames. I'll look it up. Just for fun. Well, and because I love research. Thanks for the heads up! 

2 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

I wasn't clear enough! It's fine now. And that's what matters. I didn't know about Secret Storm's Amy Ames. I'll look it up. Just for fun. Well, and because I love research. Thanks for the heads up! 

Sure, it's all good, LOL!

You'll probably enjoy learning about Amy Ames as played by Jada Rowland. I was pretty young when Secret Storm ended, so I barely remember it. But when I started watching The Doctors years later, I recognized the actress who played Carolee Aldrich as being the same actress who played Amy, so she must have left an impression!

27 minutes ago, China Jones said:

Sure, it's all good, LOL!

You'll probably enjoy learning about Amy Ames as played by Jada Rowland. I was pretty young when Secret Storm ended, so I barely remember it. But when I started watching The Doctors years later, I recognized the actress who played Carolee Aldrich as being the same actress who played Amy, so she must have left an impression!

Oh, yes, loved Jada Rowland. Watched The Doctors as a teen & have just started watching it again!! Found out I can watch it through my Roku with an app called The It's Good TV app which includes Retro TV! 

I've been revisiting 87 and 88 and I still think it's so much better than its rep indicates. The casting decisions are what let it down. Getting rid of Petronia Paley was a huge mistake. It still baffles me that was allowed to happen and then Jane Cameron decides to leave which is another huge mistake. They turn MJ into a prostitute which belies belief and is so shortsighted.  I wish the writers (and the strike writers) had not written off Cheryl and Scott. Two characters with so much potential, and they saddled Scott with the Dawn storyline that was never going anywhere. Poor Cheryl just seemed like an afterthought after a certain point. I wish the writers had done more to keep the McKinnons more connected to other storylines. It really does feel that there was no plan for Mary or the McKinnons so they had Reginald turn into a one-note villain. It would have been more interesting if Mary realizes who she was, and still felt more connected to Reginald. All of the mistakes just seem idiotic decisions that don't take long-term story into consideration--something that would be a major problem with Swajeski's tenure as well. 

5 hours ago, chrisml said:

I've been revisiting 87 and 88 and I still think it's so much better than its rep indicates. The casting decisions are what let it down. Getting rid of Petronia Paley was a huge mistake. It still baffles me that was allowed to happen and then Jane Cameron decides to leave which is another huge mistake. They turn MJ into a prostitute which belies belief and is so shortsighted.  I wish the writers (and the strike writers) had not written off Cheryl and Scott. Two characters with so much potential, and they saddled Scott with the Dawn storyline that was never going anywhere. Poor Cheryl just seemed like an afterthought after a certain point. I wish the writers had done more to keep the McKinnons more connected to other storylines. It really does feel that there was no plan for Mary or the McKinnons so they had Reginald turn into a one-note villain. It would have been more interesting if Mary realizes who she was, and still felt more connected to Reginald. All of the mistakes just seem idiotic decisions that don't take long-term story into consideration--something that would be a major problem with Swajeski's tenure as well. 

It seemed to me during that era, TPTB were trying hard to make AW more similar to DOOL.  Making MJ a former prostitute for instance, was similar to Kimberly Brady's past issues on DOOL. Even MJ's personality changed from a confident police officer to a damaged somewhat vulnerable damsel -- again more similar to the personality of Kimberly Brady. In fact, it seemed TPTB were transitioning the McKinnons into AW's version of the Bradys on DOOL. The mother being formerly involved with a wealthy bad-guy, Mary and Vince opening a pub/restaurant, etc.  And some of the other storylines at this time seemed a better fit for DOOL than AW -- Reginald being a moustache-twirling super-villian (not unlike DOOL's Stefano) is one example.  

14 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

It seemed to me during that era, TPTB were trying hard to make AW more similar to DOOL.  Making MJ a former prostitute for instance, was similar to Kimberly Brady's past issues on DOOL. Even MJ's personality changed from a confident police officer to a damaged somewhat vulnerable damsel -- again more similar to the personality of Kimberly Brady. In fact, it seemed TPTB were transitioning the McKinnons into AW's version of the Bradys on DOOL. The mother being formerly involved with a wealthy bad-guy, Mary and Vince opening a pub/restaurant, etc.  And some of the other storylines at this time seemed a better fit for DOOL than AW -- Reginald being a moustache-twirling super-villian (not unlike DOOL's Stefano) is one example.  

It makes sense because we know that NBC was asking them to do exactly that.

48 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

It makes sense because we know that NBC was asking them to do exactly that.

Yes, you are right.  And what is rather amazing is -- TPTB must have had a complete turn-around, because they hired Harding Lemay as head-writer in 1988 (just before the strike), and they HAD TO KNOW Lemay would never write anything over the top or similar to DOOL in any way.  So somehow some attitudes at the top were changed, even if briefly.