Another World Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

That's a big part of it. 

I think Charles is a better fit for Evan than Jack Wagner would have been. 

Mary and Thomas would have been fine, but then Catlin and Sally had their own writing issues. 

I agree there was no need for Amanda to get pregnant so early. Clearly Amanda had a hugely charmed life compared to most young women who have a baby, but there was always a certain air of absurdity knowing she was a highly successful businesswoman and a mother to a young child...and this was after finishing school, no college, IIRC. Even Lily Walsh had a slower path to the top.

[Xanthe]

Maybe if they had leaned into actual characterization instead of letting plot drive the whole story they could have made something actually interesting out of a spoiled princess too young to have a baby, but it seems to me transparent that they wanted to drive conflict by first of all making Amanda's lover Mitch (Mac's worst enemy!)'s brother and then forcing her into a shotgun marriage ... but of love. It would have been more interesting if she had had the abortion, or put the burden of raising the baby on Ada, or with or without the baby become estranged from Mac and Rachel in order to be with Sam. Amanda never had to really reckon with being spoiled and privileged -- she just took it for granted and built herself an implausible career at Brava.

I liked Christine Tucci as well because she was a stronger performer and I thought the writing was more willing to make Amanda look less than perfect.  

[Paul Raven]

The Amanda pregnancy was a blunder.

Amanda and Sam were AW's best bet for a starcrossed supercouple. Young love destined to be turn apart by outside forces and misunderstandings .

Battling for years to finally get together.

Instead AW had them married and pregnant within a year.

 

[Maxim]

Amanda is not my cup of tea. That's all I'm gonna say. She's repetitive and childish. She acts like a brat with her parents and has this constant "I'm not satisfied or happy" look on her face. The actress is okay in my opinion. I'm not impressed by anything I've seen her do so far. But she's okay. 

BUT Amanda's repetitive scenes with Sam are the ones that I want to fast-forward the most. They just have 2  topics they like to talk about... and it's always "You are infringing on my right to be a powerful career woman! I need to be outside dating men for a job, so I can WORK and prove I'M NOT A RICH GIRL ONLY!" and he's like "You and your family are buying me a career and I don't want it! I WANT TO BE ABLE TO STRUGGLE and be poor and you guys ARE denying me the opportunity by giving it all on a silver platter"

This is their main storyline for me... and it's just annoying when it's the same every single episode. It's a fake struggle that I don't buy. These people are so spoiled by this point and have everything... don't make me suffer listening to them bicker how amazing their life is, so they are unhappy about that.

Just a personal view. I'm not saying THIS IS the situation. My view is also restricted, since I'm only 4-5 months into the episodes. 

[j swift]

Don't forget, ”I want to struggle, but I also want to live in this huge, fabulous loft, in a town with one art gallery, and allow my wife and child's fortune to be controlled by her wicked stepsister!” wa wa wa

Besides, what was Sam going to do to protect her?  Throw crayons at the guy?

The actual daughter of Rachel and Mac would've told him to go throw on his cutoff shorts, paint a masterpiece, and leave the business stuff to people who own at least two pairs of trousers. 

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Seriously, though, at what point does Iris learn that Evan is Janice's son?

Edited May 7 by j swift

[Maxim]

I decided to do something like a resume post where I will state some positive and negatives from the episodes I've seen so far. Don't hate me. It's just a very primitive overall feel of things. You guys know I love this show, but now... I can also compare it to other shows I've gotten into and make some notes.

POSITIVES 

1. The writing. When it's good - it's AMAZING. The dialogue makes you bond with the characters. There is development and nothing happens JUST LIKE THAT. We see the glimpses of emotion, then we see it evolve and grow into something big. Love is not written like a fast-cheap-meal like most soaps these days... but a struggle, a path, a learning process. Example - Sharlene and John's emerging relationship is the pearl in the show for me. It's done perfectly for my taste. The writers really LOVE to write for them. They give them dark and light. Beautiful and troubling moments. They make them grow together, but also put distance between them. It helps that the actors are so damn good.

2. The acting. This show impressed me the most in the beginning by how realistic and NOT over the top the performances are. Vicky... Sharlene... Iris... I can go on and on. Even Rachel has some amazing moments. Even though I think they are yet to give Rachel some more powerful stuff. She doesn't have a storyline other than defending her family and being a hawk that watches over them.  Few exceptions - Donna Love - the recast actress. Not the real deal. Not my cup of tea, although I know she is good in other shows. Here... I find her incredibly 1 note.

3. The production values. The show is just beautiful. Yes, there are some moments where things are a bit cartoonish, especially when they are in costumes or having a ball, but overall Another World in this era (1988-1989) feels posh and sophisticated. The lighting is so flattering. So cinematic. If you don't know... you'll think you are watching a Hollywood movie at times. 

4. The music. I'm very drawn to the soundtrack of this show. I like how the dramatic moments have this drippy, slow, building suspense music, that is so 80s... but still tasteful and powerful. Music if very important for me. It can make or break scenes. 

5. The overall magic. It's just a symbiosis of things that make it work... Not all the time, don't get me wrong. The show has it's irritating and lacking moments. And that is something I'm going to delve in right now.

NEGATIVES

1. Slow pace in some episodes. Especially since Swajeski replaced Lemay. There are episodes that nothing moves. Nothing happens in terms of plot or action. It's just beautiful dialogue and that's it. That becomes a problem at times, especially for my husband who is prone to fall asleep when he is bored. He loves the show, but I've also woken him up plenty of times. He really starts drifting off at the 5th minute of Vicky and Jamie talking about how Jamie still loves another woman. I like slow pace. But compared to All My Children, where every episode something really interesting happens... AW is really slow at times. Again I'm talking about the particular period I'm watching.

2. Not good enough cliffhangers. The episodes regularly end on a positive note... and then the next episode has NOTHING to do with the ending of the last episode. I am not a fan of this technique. Some may like it. I'm not one of these people. I like a shocking ending or an ending that makes me want to tune in next time. People watching from a window happily in love is not cutting it most of the time. 

3. Too much LOVEY-DOVEY moments between couples. NOW... if there is a reason I desert this show in the future - this may be IT. I can't stomach seeing all these people constantly kiss and be happy together. It seems the show has this non-stop cycle of bickering and making up of couples. Of course, this is typical soap opera. But here in AW, compared to all the other shows I've seen - it's too much. Maybe the writers don't know what to do with some couples and that's why they write the same stuff every day. I get extremely bored seeing Amanda and Sam tell each other how much they love one another... when I know they will bicker in the next episode and then REPEAT that same stuff about love and caring again. At times the show is like a commercial for a dating service. Everyone seems so happy and merry, I get reflux. 

4. The show seems confused at times at where is going. That's a storyline-plotting critique. There are periods where I've felt that not only the pacing is wrong... but overall the storylines are not going anywhere. There are positives in this - you can build characters, write fascinating dialogue... but still. My husband starts asking - so... when is Iris going to do something. She's just talking about it and nothing is happening episode after episode. I always tell him - TRUST THE SLOW BURN. But still... sometimes it doesn't feel like a slow burn, but just... confusion. Still I consider it a slow burn and trust it. 

5. Felicia Gallant. The more and more I watch... the more I struggle to see how this character fits in the show. She's just like an odd man out... I'm not saying you can't have a character like this, but she is really out of place for me. Her storylines are not connected to the other characters as much... and she seems like an All My Children character that got lost in sea... and ended up in Bay City. I still love her... but... still - she feels like she doesn't belong in the show. Maybe that will change in the future. Maybe not. We'll see. And I'm also struggling to understand why her Joan Crawford wardrobe is always worn in kitchens and these incredibly domestic settings. I swear I remember seeing Felicia have breakfast in a MET Gala gown. It's cute... but I'm also... split about it. Can't decide how I feel. 

 

 

[j swift]

Unfortunately, as the 90s wore on, Felicia started wearing as many gray and neutral tones as Giorgio Armani and Donna Karan could produce, and the shoulder pads deflated to a drop sleeve.

[Maxim]

Oh no! The shoulder pads! I will mourn them when they're gone. Please tell me the head pieces and hats remained!?

[Maxim]

"And I also want to flirt with every woman that comes my way... but then beat up anyone who talks to my wife. BECAUSE I'M A MAAAAAAAAAAAN."

Give me a break with your ugly baby paintings... You're in the same category of the hacks that sell paintings with a single dot for thousands or even millions of dollars.   

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[Xanthe]

I enjoyed Sally's story from her engagement to Peter all the way through to right before Majorca, so I would have a hard time giving that up for the sake of trying to make Amanda and Sam theoretically better.

I thought the escalation of Sally's troubles from Donna's interference, secret love child, engagement to David for the wrong reasons, falling for Catlin, jilting David, trying to take Kevin from David leading to David's murder and Catlin's absolutely stupid confession to take the blame for her, and then Catlin's trial and aftermath all kept the story moving in directions you wouldn't necessarily expect but all made sense. 

Full disclosure: I don't really care for location shoots on soaps where most of the time outdoor scenes are clearly in studio. It feels weird to see the cast in natural light under real trees and sometimes the destination doesn't make any sense. And although obviously it was good to get a resolution to the murder mystery and get Catlin off death row (probably too harsh a sentence for the crime), the motive and the criminal were not very satisfying. Even though she had started dating Peter, Emily Benson still had minor character written all over her. But also the transition into a lower key daily life, the introduction of Brittany and the recasting of Sally were all less effective. Catlin was limited to occasional private detection work and being protective of Brittany, but he didn't have much else to do once Blaine and Larry had left. (He should at least have been dealing with raising Kevin but Kevin and Liz had also been written out. He could have interacted with Donna more over Brittany but his fling with Donna was mostly ignored once Sally was gone.)

[Contessa Donatella]

Now, you are just not being grateful for the right things!!! There was not even ONE Elvis on velvet!!!!

I want to say how magnificent I think it was that we are so unified in our condemnation of the show giving little Ally to Sam & Amanda, so quickly & relatively young & so newly married. Paul, here, I love your description of a different couple that they could have been. 

Xanthe, I similarly love your suggestion here, a GREAT one, of how if they simply MUST do the bambino thing how they could have made it better by giving Amanda a very realistic struggle with becoming a mom, etc. 

 

So, I'm sorry that most of us would put Sandra Feguson/Robinson smack in the middle of any pack, as average, but it's nice that some of us saw more, substance, when we got to Brunette Amanda!! 

FAST FUN FACT, gleaned from a Locher room: Tucci is not only lucky enough to be Stanley Tucci's baby sister but she & Lorna #1, Alicia Coppola are besties & godparents to each others kiddos & talk on the phone every day. 

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

A lot of very interesting commentary, thanks! Thoughtful, considered, etc. 

I found myself chuckling since as a current fan of GH one thing we lack is romance. Here, you're complaining about too much. I sure get it when it manifests as Fight about G, make up, Fight About G again. That's a stuck couple, right? Who needs it?!!! 

Wrong Donna, yeah, sorry, it has to be survived. The Right Donna DOES return. 

Criticisms of Felicia Gallant .... No comment. 

[Xanthe]

I'm trying to think whether AW had anything remotely resembling that once Steve was killed off and Alice left a widow. So many young love stories were wrapped up either by marrying and leaving town or marrying and killing off one party. Maybe they acted in the final year as if Vicky and Jake had been that couple all along, but they both had better other mates along the way and also Jake was actively hostile to Vicky at too many points without any subtext of caring about her. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Vicky's best was Ryan. Heck they even got together in heaven.

Jake's best was Paulina.

Carter & Thomasina. 

Sally & Catlin.

Marley and ?

 

[Xanthe]

Carter & Thomasina were also stuck with a baby almost immediately and didn't get much to do after they finished high school. Carter's father was killed off and Marley drifted out of their friend group because of Jake. They left town after Carter's father died (of tomb dust!) and before Quinn died (unreasonably murdered by the Sin Stalker for dating Zack Edwards).