Another World Discussion Thread

[Melroser]

That's heartbreaking for Tom. As well as all the others that have lost their homes. No one deserves that kind of loss. 

Now...back to our program...

You can count me in the camp of those that thought AW totally blew their chance at having an actress of Denise Alexander's caliber long-term. As a soap viewer, I knew how important she was to daytime and was giddy when I realized she was coming to my show. A show that desperately needed a ratings boost. I think maybe the concept on paper of her being the McKinnon matriarch tied in with Reginald was a good one, however, the execution faltered badly. It's too bad the backstory got so messy and Reginald became the cartoon villain. I wish the show would have focused more on Mary and her lost time with her children and how that traumatized her. The whole McKinnon clan was never given proper stories, except Jake. Things with them changed so often (Ben replaced with Jake, Vince being replaced constantly, MJ replaced with a different actress and being turned into a hooker, Kathleen "abruptly" leaving). 

Mary and Mac would have been interesting, but I'm curious how Mary and Lucas would have faired. Lucas with his not-so-good reputation and Mary falling for another "bad guy" to upset her family. Denise vs Linda Dano. There could have been so many layers to that. Who knows? 

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, you have a point. It is called "self-referential" as often as it's called "referential". Hmm. Yeah. But, I do think they mean well. 

[Xanthe]

The whole improbable backstory of amnesia and Paraguay wasn't treated as meaningful within the story. Mary pretty quickly dropped the name Marissa and adapted to being Mary McKinnon. Maybe if the writing had treated that disconnection from her "real" life in a more grounded way it could have been better, but I tend to agree with the suggestions that Denise Alexander should just have been cast as a different character. But any of those more grounded options would have depended on different writing. 

 

[Mona Kane Croft]

I really think back from the dead storylines seldom really worked on AW.  AW didn't even have its first BFTD plot until the show was 16 years old!!  Later, Steve Frame's BFTD plot didn't work.  And then Denise Alexander's character was introduced with a plot that featured TWO returns from the dead in the same storyline!  On a show that didn't have a good track record with that type of nonsense. WTF?? I really think the entire idea was poorly conceived, and seemed more like a plot that might have been accepted on DOOL.   Denise deserved far better writing.  And the audience deserved to have Denise playing an important vital role, more fitting the actress. All this is just my opinion.   

Edited January 11 by Mona Kane Croft

[AbcNbc247]

I noticed that when I was watching for the first time; it did seem like Margaret DePriest's run was influenced a lot by Days. 

[chrisml]

Sadly, I think Denise Alexander was better served than Sharon Gabet. From what little I've seen of Gabet's time on the show, Gabet really got terrible material. I think the Marissa/Mary stuff could have worked with tweaks, but there did not seem to be any long-term plan. If Mary was Reginald's one weakness and Mary stayed with him, that one change would have been more interesting than what we got. That's even before the ickiness with Sally Spencer's storyline, and the wasting of Hank Cheyne or Cheryl Marie. To this day, I will never understand how you have someone as sexy as Hank Cheyne who has chemistry with everyone and you saddle him with a tangential character. He should have been a leading man on AW for years to come. 

[Contessa Donatella]

I've got something stuck in my head & I want to see if anyone here can confirm, or deny, either one. And, that is that Michael Malone loved actors & liked to be around them & so even though most HWs did not & do not, he kept an office at the studio. Next, did I dream this, or make this up, but he interviewed actors about what had happened to their characters to get at show history?

[Mona Kane Croft]

I believe you are correct about Malone having an office in the studio. I think I remember reading that in the soap press when he was at AW.  That seems to be something actors might really respect and respond positively to.  

I have not heard about him interviewing actors. But it is certainly possible, since he was so often at the studio.   

When Malone started writing AW, I remember having such high hopes for the show and what he would do with it.  And then his work started appearing, and it was abysmal and not at all what I expected from him.  I sincerely did not enjoy even one of his plots, and found most of them silly, uninspired, and some were "over the top" almost James Riley-esque.  Such a disappointment, after he had such success at OLTL.  I could not believe that Michael Malone was pounding another nail into the coffin of Another World.  What in the world happened with him???

Edited January 12 by Mona Kane Croft

[Sapounopera]

I adore Denise Alexander. They could have rebuild the Matthews family around her during that period. The McKinnons ended up being another family that lasted only a few years. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Wasn't it awful?!!! Somewhere I read an account from a writer who worked with him & he said that everything that Malone pitched they shot down. (Of course, we've heard that sad tale before.)

Then, of course, he took the basic framework of BOURBON STREET 13 & very awkwardly pasted it onto Bay City. That was a soap that was supposed to have been greenlit & even a pilot was shot but then, for some reason it didn't go forward. So, that's where Shane & Lila came from. It was a Malone/Griffith/Gottlieb project.

I remember there was an article, maybe in DIGEST, where Malone being interviewed, listed the 10 things he'd done at AW that he was proud of & I was flabbergasted that I hated every single thing listed. I was particularly appalled that he seemed to have the idea that Jake was some kind of fancy gentleman instead of a blue collar dude with a chip on his shoulder. Malone was only at AW for 6 months & I felt like he did 3 years' worth of damage. And, was it under him that they moved that swingset?

 

Edited January 12 by Contessa Donatella
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[Maxim]

Another World, January 9th 1989

Oops, I fell down the stairs...

Let's begin, shall we?!

We get back to where we were with the horrible engagement party, now officially hijacked by Lisa's arrival. All of Donna Hudson's attempts to get rid of her are fruitless and in the end we have Jamie once again focusing more on her than on Vicky. He even went to talk to her, making Vicky lose her mind once again. We also had Mathew feeling sympathy for Lisa and looking at her with a little more interest that I'm used to. That boy is starting to focus on Lisa way too much. Is there trouble in paradise for Josie and Mathew? Hmm... Wanting to sleep with your brother's ex is a soap opera staple... so I would not be surprised!

Cass, with motives that are quite unclear to me, offered to help and defend Reuben. He even agreed to take responsibility for him while he is working on the case. Well, well, well... Mary did it first, now Cass is following in her footsteps... inviting trouble into his life. I do not believe if redemption storylines and... Reuben is an abuser and a thief. PERIOD. I have no empathy for him. None. I do not wish to see him change his ways in 2-3 episodes. I won't believe it. Once a wife-beater... always a wife-beater!!!!!!!!!!!

Iris was visually devouring Michael Hudson who continued ignoring her. Then she got a call in the last minute about some serious issue she had to attend to... We saw the same sinister hand holding Felicia Gallant's photograph yet again and got a sense of impeding doom.

In a bitchy scene between Lisa and Vicky... we had the usual back and forth between the two girls, but this time... the conflict climaxed in Vicky losing her step and falling down the stairs. Pregnant. By who know who's child. This always happens in soap operas. You can't not be pregnant and NOT fall down stairs. It's a must...

Overall - 9/10!

Best moment - Vicky vs Lisa 

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[Contessa Donatella]

Good god a mighty I do love this show!!!! Vicky & Lisa going at it in the ladies' room at TOPS, who could ask for anything more sublime on a random Sunday morning?!! And, Vicky's hair! Someone really outdid themselves today with curls upon curls. What fun they had in Hair & Makeup.

I don't remember Lisa becoming a problem for Matt & Josie. I definitely DO remember Matt getting more interested in Lisa but I believe it stays safely tucked into the Friend Zone. I don't think that is a spoiler.

[Maxim]

Thank God.  I was beginning to get worried... Because Mathew and Lisa don't look alright... She is taller than him I think. And... His brother's ex. 

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[Contessa Donatella]

Yeah, I even think that Rachel would intervene if Matt, at this point in his life, took too much interest in an older woman, any older woman. So I don't think this is something that you need to worry over much about.

 

[Maxim]

Aaand I kinda spoiled it a bit for myself by accidentally seeing that the actress is off the show by next month. For a moment I was thinking they recast, but... I guess not. For some reason I won't miss her. 

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