Another World Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

IMHO, while Brown was okay as Michael Randolph, Johnston was more gregarious, affable, and appealing.

And Eric Roberts showed little spark as Ted Bancroft. He just didn't click in the role.

I don't recall Pat ever getting a degree. She got sidetracked by an accidental pregnancy, an abortion, shooting her ne'er-do-well boyfriend, and then going on trial for murder.

No, as characters go, Chris Pierson was a minor component of Bay City history. He was gone by the end of 1975, and popped up on TGL in early 1976.

I can't wait to see them all.

[DRW50]

Thanks. That helps explain about Roberts.

I can definitely see Johnston having more of a core appeal. 

I didn't realize until now that Brown played in The Ritz after this - presumably his character was gay. Ironic...

He's another Michael who has few credits post-AW.

@Paul Raven You'd think some future writer would have seen that there was so much potential in bringing back Pat and her kids. I guess the further they could go with AW history was bringing back direct ties to the Frames. And Iris. And even those were likely only due to Lemay's brief return.

[Jdee43]

The domesticity in these scenes from 1975 are amazing. There's a real family feel, a sister, a brother, a mother, a father. You wouldn't see this sort of thing on this show again. It became about best friends creating artificial families: Cass, Felicia, Donna; and whatever families there were, were damaged in some way.

To see Pat in these clips and then what she is in the 1980 shows --  wow, they really did a number on her. And Aunt Liz has dignity here, not the joke she was in the later decades.

[DRW50]

In some ways I think that shift is what kept AW on for its last 15 years, but when I see these clips I remember they only got that way because of how degraded and bland the show's family units were by the early '80s. By the '80s the main family unit left wasp probably the Corys, but even with likeable performers, they were still a rich family who didn't have the more believable bonds and history we might have had with an extended Matthews history.

[DRW50]

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This must be the oldest surviving footage of Jacquie Courtney in her first run as Alice. Considering how fed-up Courtney was by this point I have to respect how professional she still is even here. 

I must say that everyone seems so casual knowing that Mary Matthews died not too long before this. I don't expect weeping and wailing, but aside from Pat mentioning Jim possibly moving in, there is little grief or reflection. I wonder if this is down to Lemay's issues with character and actress. 

I really do enjoy the way Marianne and Michael snap at each other in these clips. Very believable. I can see why both were recast for more serious stories, but these types of moments are what make soaps seem more real. I do wonder how Munker would have done with the story of Pat killing her boyfriend - it doesn't seem out of her range. 

Sometimes I forget that Michael and Marianne were only born onscreen five years before these clips. That Irna rapid aging strikes again. I wonder if that is another reason they didn't have the longevity they could have - even Matt and Amanda had longer periods as kids than that.

[AbcNbc247]

And, this is why I’m always saying that there’s always a chance that something “new” will be discovered and get posted.

These clips are amazing. And in such good condition too. Plus, it’s always nice to see scenes from years that were covered in Lemay’s book. 

I always said that they should have done that in 1982, instead of writing Pat out. It could have worked, especially considering how new character-crazy AW was at the time. 

Edited June 24, 2024 by AbcNbc247

[Contessa Donatella]

Possibly you are speaking of Lance Jackson. He is in my forum & he is a close personal friend of hers. He is a professional organist & since he is also a soap fan he recreated all of the themes of organ music & has them on a YouTube channel. Somehow years ago Ms. Prinz discovered his organ music & loved it & got in touch with him & their friendship grew quite naturally from there. 

https://www.youtube.com/@LanceJacksonOrgnplyr

[NothinButAttitude]

That's what I recall reading, but I just wanted confirmation. That now makes sense as to why Pat was stressing college to Marianne; she probably saw so much of herself in Marianne and worried about her making the same mistakes. 

Do you think that had they kept Pat around she could've been a good matriarch for the McKinnons (via Vince) early on? And as many pointed out, AW flopped by not bringing Michael and Marianne back in later years. Michael could've easily been an opposition for Cass in the legal realm. Marianne would've provided another personality at Bay City GH. That would've given Jamie more peers and Josie more family. It would've probably enticed the show to keep Dennis around longer than he sadly was too. 

Thank you!

[Matt]

Having watched all of this wonderful clips, what I'm most taken with is exactly how much I'm enjoying Ariana as Marianne.  IMO, she's quite strong and has a fantastic screen presence.  The brief appearance by Alice & the dialog tells me that this is near the end of Jacquie's run considering the mention of Steve already being in Australia and his plan to fly back so that Alice can discuss adopting Sally, at which point she'll go to Australia with him.  I'm betting this flight back is the one that crashes, killing Steve (which happens in May 1975 after George Reinholdt left in March. Jacquie is gone in July).

[teplin]

Weirdly, I don't remember Christopher J. Brown as Michael at all, though I recall liking Arianne Bunker's Marianne very much, and being upset when they recast her.

I loved Beverly Penberthy, though I don't think the show ever really did her character justice. The family feel of these scenes was great -- that kind of everyday, intergenerational interaction is what I've missed about soaps for the last 30 years or so. I was struck by how different Liz was -- almost a more subdued Auntie Mame rather than the kind of sad, lonely woman she was in later years. (I guess time can do that to you.) 

[vetsoapfan]

I presume you mean surviving footage from closest to her exit date. (I know that you are aware of the 1964, 1968, 1973 and 1974 material available on Youtube.)

This is from April or May, 1975, and Courtney was fired a few months later. She was gone by the end of July.

We had one episode with the majority of the characters hearing about Mary's passing. The next day, Pat told Ada and Rachel the news. A third episode had folks talking about Mary's (unseen) funeral. And that was it. I think Lemay wanted it all over and done with, ASAP.

What strikes me is that these quiet, naturalistic scenes about family issues (which we could all identify with) are infinitely more engrossing that gimmicky scenes of devil possessions, clones, brain implants, gang shoot-outs and time travel. These people could be our neighbors or families, not the stick-figure caricatures soaps have often featured in recent decades.

When asked to do "heavy lifting" acting, Mu(e)nker struck me at the time as being somewhat wispy and inconsequential, although she was fine with lighter, more naturalistic drama.

I'll always contend that one of the most egregious cases of SORASing was Leah Bauer on TGL. She was born in 2004, and morphed into a teenager by 2006.

Very possible.

I would have liked to see Pat become romantically involved with Mike Bauer from TGL, with whom she was linked briefly in the 1960s.  This would have given Pat a storyline with an established and popular leading man AND strengthened the foolishly-decimated Bauer family.

Linking the Matthews and the Bauer clans would have been poetic!

I think TPTB in latter years of many soaps simply did not know or did not care about history or trying to use it.

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, that clip comes from either April or May, 1975.

(Eddie Drueding, founder of the Another World Home Page, has just written in the video's commentary section that the clip is from May 22.)

Steve died in a helicopter crash while in Australia, so it could not have been when he was flying home to see Alice.

 

When she had to do extremely heavy, emotional scenes, I found her to be less effective, but she was much better in quieter scenes, and she had good chemistry with the actors playing her family. I'd say she's the best-remembered and most-liked Marianne.

Edited June 24, 2024 by vetsoapfan

[DRW50]

That's what I meant, yes. Thanks.

I do remember Munker being more of a day-to-day mood actress on ATWT (that role still could have gone so many places). 

The family conversations hold up so much better than scenes of people worrying about a serial killer.

I'd forgotten about Leah. By that point I wasn't even watching the show. And this at the same time as Daisy had not aged in a decade.

Mike and Pat being reunited is a great idea. Remembering how Michael Malone had to give an interview saying they weren't interested in writing for older characters (which was clearly NBC/P&G mandated), and older meant Sharlene or John, if someone had asked about bringing back Pat, an executive might have keeled over.

 

[mikeaw1978]

Hello everyone. This is Mike, the co-site administrator and chief researcher for the Another World Home Page. It's great to see discussion of Another World despite the being off the air for so many years.

No, Pat never finished college. Due to the murder trial and acquittal, Pat becoming difficult and reclusive at home, running away to Bedfordtown, and coming to terms with everything, Pat chose marriage to John over getting a college degree (she originally was pursuing a degree in education and considered becoming a teacher).

A question was asked some time ago about Will and Liz's marriage. Originally, they were very much in love and Will tolerated Liz's not so admirable qualities because he loved her unconditionally. However, Janet and Susan hinted that Liz had the terrible habit of emasculating men, including Will and Fred Douglas. Otherwise, Lemay must've established Will and Liz's marriage as loveless because, before that time, the marriage wasn't described that way.

Another question was about Rachel's hometown. Prior to Lemay, it was never clearly established whether Rachel was born and grew up in Bay City or elsewhere. The only real hint was that Ada had worked at Pierre's as a hairdresser and had Liz as a long-time client. So, it could've been safely assumed that Rachel grew up in Bay City from 1967-1975. But, it was Lemay who was the first to firmly establish Rachel as growing up in Bay City. 

No kidding about the rapid aging. Michael and Marianne seemed to be the characters who started off as newborns that were aged the most rapidly. Even Jamie's age progression wasn't as fast!

Ariana's clips seem to be from May-June 1975, though properly dating them is in progress. 

Edited June 24, 2024 by mikeaw1978
Spelling errors

[vetsoapfan]

I figured.

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I was surprised they killed her off ATWT, rather than just writing her out, if they wanted to drop the character at the time. There was potential storyline fodder for her, if not at that exact moment, then down the line.

They really do. And they are more alluring because we can all relate to conversations like those from our own lives. I have never once sat around with family or friends to debate the latest actions of our local serial killer.

Leah's SORASing really threw history and other characters' ages out of whack. It was ridiculous. Incompetent, really.

There have been certain PTB over the years whose keeling over...might have been quite satisfying, LOL.

Edited June 24, 2024 by vetsoapfan