16 hours ago, chrisml said:

The Alice Barrett-Mitchell interview did not reveal too much behind the scenes info on AW. She did reveal she's a bit bitter about being fired to pay for Robert Kelker Kelly's salary especially after the way he left the show.

Agreed. I was hoping for a bit more backstage stuff, but I suppose it's been decades and time to move on. 

I did think it was sweet that "Charlotte (Charlie)" was named for her real life grandmother who was a big AW fan. It was nice they did that. 

I remember thinking that AW was finally turning a corner for the better right before it ended. Fairly recent returns of Sandi Ferguson, Matt Crane after fumbles in casting for Rachel's kids. Ellen Wheeler returned as Marley and then Alice returned as the lookalike for "Frankie". I was excited for the Anne/Cass/Lila triangle, the complexity of Marley/Jake/Vicky, and enjoyed the Josie/Cameron/Amanda story. I'm sure a little more time wouldn't have helped the show at this point, but it's great to imagine what might have been for that summer/fall. 

1 minute ago, Melroser said:

Agreed. I was hoping for a bit more backstage stuff, but I suppose it's been decades and time to move on. 

I did think it was sweet that "Charlotte (Charlie)" was named for her real life grandmother who was a big AW fan. It was nice they did that. 

I remember thinking that AW was finally turning a corner for the better right before it ended. Fairly recent returns of Sandi Ferguson, Matt Crane after fumbles in casting for Rachel's kids. Ellen Wheeler returned as Marley and then Alice returned as the lookalike for "Frankie". I was excited for the Anne/Cass/Lila triangle, the complexity of Marley/Jake/Vicky, and enjoyed the Josie/Cameron/Amanda story. I'm sure a little more time wouldn't have helped the show at this point, but it's great to imagine what might have been for that summer/fall. 

Well, you know me. That the Dobsons wanted to write AW in Jan. 1993, makes all the "what if" difference it is possible to make. 

17 hours ago, chrisml said:

The Alice Barrett-Mitchell interview did not reveal too much behind the scenes info on AW. She did reveal she's a bit bitter about being fired to pay for Robert Kelker Kelly's salary especially after the way he left the show.

One thing I found interesting was that she describes RKK's leaving the rôle of Sam suddenly as his decision. Maybe I am mixing up all of the stories of his bad on-set behaviour but I thought that AW had eventually fired him ... or did they just move Sam out of Amanda's orbit when Sandra Ferguson refused to put up with his chair-throwing, and then he quit of his own accord?

It was nice to hear that Alice has been friends with Anna Holbrook for a long time. I don't think I realised that she had also known Brent Collins before she was on AW.

I assume the Amy she mentioned in passing who was at the same play where they ran into Alan would have been Amy Carlson. 

She mentioned that she had filmed an episode of Doc with Molly Parker, I assume upcoming in season 2. I haven't watched the series but will look out for it.

I was very confused when they started talking about The Handmaid's Tale and Madeline. I don't know Madeline Brewer and have no idea how or why Alice or Alan know her.

I also don't remember having heard the story about Julia Roberts recognizing her as Frankie when they met on the Murphy Brown set.

A nice interview, sometimes could have used a bit more background explanation but somewhat less painful than other Locher Rooms I have watched.

 

1 hour ago, Melroser said:

I did think it was sweet that "Charlotte (Charlie)" was named for her real life grandmother who was a big AW fan. It was nice they did that. 

Yes, that was lovely. And funny not only that Alice paid absolutely no attention to the story but also was able to calculate that Constance Ford might have been the only actor who would have been on when her grandmother watched who was still there when Alice was hired.

1 hour ago, Xanthe said:

I assume the Amy she mentioned in passing who was at the same play where they ran into Alan would have been Amy Carlson.

I also don't remember having heard the story about Julia Roberts recognizing her as Frankie when they met on the Murphy Brown se

Yes, it was Amy Carlson. Anna Holbrook has said in interviews as well that the three are close. 

I wonder if Julia Roberts began watching AW when her brother, Eric, was on and got hooked. This would have been many, many years later when Frankie was killed off. 

1 hour ago, Xanthe said:

I also don't remember having heard the story about Julia Roberts recognizing her as Frankie when they met on the Murphy Brown set.

Now I know I've read that.

Haven't done this yet. I went over but I was too early. 

1 hour ago, Xanthe said:

One thing I found interesting was that she describes RKK's leaving the rôle of Sam suddenly as his decision. Maybe I am mixing up all of the stories of his bad on-set behaviour but I thought that AW had eventually fired him ... or did they just move Sam out of Amanda's orbit when Sandra Ferguson refused to put up with his chair-throwing, and then he quit of his own accord?

It was nice to hear that Alice has been friends with Anna Holbrook for a long time. I don't think I realised that she had also known Brent Collins before she was on AW.

I assume the Amy she mentioned in passing who was at the same play where they ran into Alan would have been Amy Carlson. 

She mentioned that she had filmed an episode of Doc with Molly Parker, I assume upcoming in season 2. I haven't watched the series but will look out for it.

I was very confused when they started talking about The Handmaid's Tale and Madeline. I don't know Madeline Brewer and have no idea how or why Alice or Alan know her.

I also don't remember having heard the story about Julia Roberts recognizing her as Frankie when they met on the Murphy Brown set.

A nice interview, sometimes could have used a bit more background explanation but somewhat less painful than other Locher Rooms I have watched.

I missed part of the interview but I saw the last half...I never knew she had been close with Brent either.

I'd heard the Julia story once, I think, but still, fun to hear again.

I wonder how much she even remembers. She was asked about an old interview she'd given over trying to get the show not to kill Frankie's baby and she said she had no memory of it.

I noticed some commenter seemed upset at her and Stephen Schnetzer not being in contact - don't know what that was fully about though. 

Probably the best part was the interaction with fans. You could tell how many still love her now. One said she realized she was a lesbian because of watching Frankie, and another got Alan to show a collage she had made of Frankie and Cass years earlier. 

Alice also said that she was raising a young child at the time so didn't pay attention to whether Frankie and Cass were popular, but did start to notice when they were asked to do photo shoots for soap magazines.

On 7/2/2025 at 2:11 PM, Contessa Donatella said:

What a hoot! I will have to listen for that. 

I was thinking it was later in the episode, but it happens at about the 1:55 mark that the pilot "Skip" called Vicky "Miss Heche". 

 

31 minutes ago, Melroser said:

Yes, it was Amy Carlson. Anna Holbrook has said in interviews as well that the three are close. 

I wonder if Julia Roberts began watching AW when her brother, Eric, was on and got hooked. This would have been many, many years later when Frankie was killed off. 

I wonder if she was closer to Eric at that time...

It was said years back that she was a big fan of DAYS. Sometimes I assume that's just PR material with high profile stars, but when I heard the Frankie story I realized it must be true.

I think Julia also auditioned for Santa Barbara.

31 minutes ago, Melroser said:

I was thinking it was later in the episode, but it happens at about the 1:55 mark that the pilot "Skip" called Vicky "Miss Heche". 

 

I can't tell whether he is saying, "He's right, Miss H."

Or, "He's right, Miss Heche."

But immediately after, she gets tickled!!!

16 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I wonder if she was closer to Eric at that time...

He was on in 1977 so she would have been only 9 or 10 years old.

@DRW50 ABM said that she and Stephen Schnetzer did not remain close after she was fired even though they had been close friends while she was on the show. It seemed to upset her.  She at least confirmed she was fired pay to  for RKK. While she was still irked by that, she didn't go the extra step and comment on what a disaster that was. In her shoes, I probably would have made a snarky comment to that effect. 

She did have some interesting tidbits about her time on The Catlins show 90% of her scenes were shot on a horse stable set. 

 

Edited July 4Jul 4 by chrisml

Here's a [mis]take I have never heard before, from an October 1999 column:

Quote

‘Another King Kong story first told on Ryan's Hope’

By Seli Groves

Q: Was there a soap that featured a King Kong character? My sister says she remembers seeing a story iike this many years ago but isn't sure which soap it was on. Micki H.

A: "Ryan's Hope” had a storyline in which a Central Park gorilla named Prince Albert feli in love with one of the characters and carried her off. She was later rescued. A spoof of that story line was played out on the last airing of "Another World" when an ape interrupted Cass’ (Stephen Schnetzer) wedding.

 

Edited July 4Jul 4 by Xanthe
Spelling

OH dead @XantheThe amount of soap misinformation is immense. 

I'd forgotten that on the Locher Room interview from five year ago, Alicia Coppola, Christine Tucci and Alice Barrett-Mitchell all agreed they had worked with one as*hole on AW. They didn't mention the person or give many clues. 

 

36 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

Here's a [mis]take I have never heard before, from an October 1999 column:

What exactly is the error? They're talking about the storyline with Delia & the gorilla in Central Park. I mean, sure King Kong is wrong, but what else? BTW, there's a thread for these errors. Although I would understand if you didn't post it there. Someone tried to destroy the topic.

Never mind! I only saw the top lines of the post. Now I see the bottom half & I get it. 

Edited July 4Jul 4 by Contessa Donatella

6 minutes ago, chrisml said:

OH dead @XantheThe amount of soap misinformation is immense. 

😅

This article jumped out at me because of the reference to Alexis Carrington where I normally think of Krystle for obvious reasons. Not actually misinformation in context but it made me laugh.

Beaver County Times

Dec 6 1984 • Beaver, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, USA

 

A Day at Soaps is life at "Another World"

By DIANE WERTS

Dallas Morning News

NEW YORK- It's not exactly like "Tootsie." This soap opera set isn't in a cramped city studio. It's on a huge soundstage that holds nearly a dozen sets from a hospital hallway to a lavishly appointed drawing room. The actors aren't reading their lines from cue cards. They have to have them memorized. And there are none of the hijinks that made Dustin Hoffman's soap experience so lively. The mood here is businesslike. But wait a minute. There is a strange-looking woman getting comfortable in that airplane set. She's tall and big, and her voice is awfully low. She fumbles with her compact, she's uncomfortable in that slinky dress - and now someone is calling her Steve. Actor Stephen Schnetzer is doing his "Tootsie" act. Today's plot twist has the publishing executive dressing like Alexis Carrington to sneak away to the woman he loves -- thus, a 6-foot hunk becomes a vision of loveliness in crisp red gown, black lace stockings and delicate feather boa. Of course we knew that daytime drama thrives on clandestine affairs, malicious backstabbing, intrigue, vengeance and murder. But sometimes, the soaps get really outrageous. In its two decades on NBC, "Another World" has been a trendsetter, a disappointment, a bore and a sensation.

When it premiered in 1964, the latest creation of radio and TV soap veteran Irna Phillips, it centered on two related Matthews families -- one rich, one poor. The psychological games they played to gain social position in Bay City added a fascinating slant to the usual pregnancies, murders, et al. By the late '60s, "AW" was a smash, thanks largely to the epic Rachel-Steve-Alice triangle, which went through all kinds of permutations for eight years. The show's leads were daytime's biggest stars, and AW's popularity inspired a spinoff, Somerset. Somerset folded after several years, and in 1975, AW became daytime's first hour-long soap. In 1979, it went to a bloated 90 mintes. Then another spinoff was created, the short-lived Texas. AW went back to an hour. The ratings went up and down and up. And down. The late '70s saw the show's biggest crisis. ABC revived its General Hospital and One Life to Live with lively new performers and an irreverent attitude, while AW was lacking in strong characters and moving at a snail's pace. Now AW is struggling back again, having armed itself with young actors and writers. Its rebuilding is typical of the contemporary world of "daytime," the term preferred these days over "soap opera." Daytime has changed drastically since the days of 15-minute soaps that centered on housewives discussing their marital problems while they sipped coffee. You don't see many scenes in kitchens any more. Today's hour-long soaps move at a quicker pace and feature more and younger characters, liberal doses of humor, adventure storylines and exotic locations. AW did a week of location shooting last month in Majorca. Today's soaps take up more hours of network air than primetime shows do. And soaps have no reruns. An hour-long soap such as AW requires the production of 42 minutes of tape every working day, or 3½ hours a week. Those who work in the new world of daytime must throw themselves into a unique mindset and a demanding lifestyle -- some can take it, some don't last. Life in the soaps is truly another... well, you know. The afternoon moves slowly on the airplane set. Stephen Schnetzer, as Cass, sits in his "Lady in Red " get-up while Julie Osburn, who plays his cohort Kathleen, pretends to be a stewardess so that she can speak to him. The actors quietly rehearse their lines while the cameramen determine their movements and the prop people figure out exactly how to mix a glass of "champagne" for Julie to throw into Steve's face. Steve wants them to cut it with water; the effervescence bothers him. After 13 minutes of preparation, AW has 20 seconds of air-quality video. Bill Ludell, one of AW's three directors, sketches out a work schedule that begins at 6:30 a.m. with a crew meeting. At 7 a.m. Ludell leads a dry run of the script's first half, which is taped from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then it's a dry run of the second half, and another taping session from 3:15 to whenever. The grueling pace doesn't faze stage manager Dick Purus. He has worked on the soaps for a decade, and remembers the days when AW, the first soap to go to an hour, was briefly 90 minutes in 1979. The show grew from one studio to two, and work days stretched past 10 p.m. But even that's nothing. Purus boasts during a break in taping. When AW spawned the Somerset spinoff in the early '70s, both shows were taped in the one studio. A curtain down the middle of the vast room was all that separated the sets. AW would shoot scenes while the upcoming Somerset scenes were prepared very quietly. Then Somerset would tape while the AW crew worked. It was, Purus admits, quite a juggling experience. Another juggling act is taking place across the East River, on Manhattan's Upper West Side. In a 14th floor apartment near Central Park, Gary Tomlin is at home with his electric typewriter and his personal computer. Physically, he's an hour away from the taping session in Brooklyn. Mentally, he's five weeks away. As AW's story writer (other writers complete the dialogue), he's trying to figure out where his 30 characters will be six weeks from now. Dressed in a T-shirt and sneakers, a lean man in his 30s, Tomlin once was an actor on AW and did character parts on several soaps. One day he decided that he knew what sounded good coming out of an actor's mouth and that he could write it as well as anyone else. So he found out where the writer of Days of Our Lives Ilved, showed up at her house with flowers and proposed himself as a colleague. Tomlin says she let him write a sample script over the weekend, and by Monday, he was a daytime writer. "When I first started writing, I'd just say' OK, this could happen to anybody. You've just got to use some imagination and think about how to write the story. The key is to weave it so it all comes together. You don't want to have a story about just two people." Considering that the number of continuing characters on a soap is in the 20-30 range -- not counting the temporaries or the ones who've been banished or "killed" but can be resurrected when the mood strikes the writer faces a daunting task. Tomlin says, "When I go onto a show, I usually sit down and make little lists. I put people into age groups, and I look and see who's in each family and put 'em into family groups, and I look at the women, and I look at the men, and all that stuff."