Another World

[DRW50]

You did it right. Great job. Thanks for telling us about this.

I didn't see the story from the start, but I think one problem was they had to quickly change the backstory of Scott being Donna's son, due to Philece Sampler's age.

Denise Alexander is wonderful but putting her in the role of Mary McKinnon when the only McKinnons on the show were two helpless and needy daughters never made sense to me. Why put her in that role when Kathleen (the heart of the family) and Jake were leaving, and Vince was being recast?

I also hated Reginald. I don't mean love to hate, I just mean hate. He was so one-note, and he had no one to play off of, because Michael was too smug to be a hero, and Donna was so extremely weak, she could barely even walk half the time.

[KMan101]

I wonder why they never brought Nancy back? Lots of potential there. Didn't they age her pretty quickly from a kid to an adult?

[DRW50]

I think Nancy was rarely seen onscreen and then was aged to her late teens.

I can only imagine that not bringing Nancy back was another typical network or P&G move away from core families and always chasing after something new or fresh. There was plenty of story in Nancy returning, especially since she was there when Carl was raising hell and I seriously doubt she would have supported Rachel marrying him. I also don't understand why they killed Chris Chapin offscreen and never had Nancy involved in any of this, aside from a phone call.

[thelma]

Thanks Carl.

I agree about Reginald. He was a mustache twirler for sure! Besides Mary, he had no romantic interest or any storyline beyond being everyone's enemy.

I always thought during this period, AW never thought ahead or was proactive. When they hired Denise, they knew Jake and Marley were leaving, but I'm not so sure about Kathleen. Also, from what I recall, wasn't Anna Stuarts departure kind of a surprise? That's why Scott's story had to be so quickly adjusted. Also due to the fact her recast was so much younger.

As for Vince, the actor in these scenes is not a romantic lead at all. There's a scene where Denise is sitting between Reginald and Vince, and if I were her, I would have run!

I think the bottom line was they hired THE DENISE ALEXANDER who was so popular that they were going to fit her in anywhere. She and the actress who played Kathleen looked so much alike, she was a perfect fit for the McKinnon matriarch. As messy as it all was, I loved her character and this was my first exposure to Denise and I fell in love with her portrayal.

[DRW50]

I thought they must have known Julie Osburn was leaving, but perhaps you're right.

I never really understood why Scott had to be Donna's son in the first place, but if they had started the story I would have finished it. It made more sense than her thinking John was the father of her children, none of which was ever hinted at during Michael's return.

I think Denise did a great job with what she had. I just felt like the character never found a place. I wish they'd done more with her social work and her job with Michael.

There was a scene when she returned briefly for Kathleen, in 1991, and she couldn't stomach being around Jake. Denise did a fantastic job and it showed what the character could have been. I wish they'd kept her on in a recurring capacity during Kathleen's return. Kathleen was so isolated and it was tough to watch.

[juniorz1]

I rather liked Cheryl, but I see your point. I agree that MJ was needy and helpless though, at least with Sally Spencer playing the part and she was by then. MJ was not at all a victim when Kathleen Layman played her- she was much stronger and a very good cop. I loved Layman and have often wondered why AW let her go and replaced her with Spencer. Was she fired? Did she quit? Does anyone have any idea? I honestly don't believe I've posed that question before so if anyone is able to enlighten us with the answer (paging all lurkers or maybe thelma or denzo30

I'm not sure they were 100% sure that Julie Osburn wasn't coming back as Kathleen either. I believe that it was always the plan for Cass to return in 6 months- wasn't it Schnetzer's choice to take a break from the show? I think they may have thought they worked out the same thing with Osburn as well and that she'd return in 6 months with Schnetzer.

I'm not certain about this though. I think it was always the plan for Schnetzer to come back (and Osburn to join him) but if anyone has any information or online sources for this information, please post it!

I sort of agree with this and sort of don't. I think that Denise was given a thankless and pointless character who was virtually isolated from most of the the characters in the cast. I'm pretty sure her main interactions were with the Loves, Michael, her own family, and a sprinkle of Cass & Felicia.

I don't remember her interacting with Rachel & Mac at all, at least on a one-on-one basis. I'm sure they shared scenes in party sequences or if Mac & Rachel ever came into Mary's Place but not much else. The storyline with Reginald, Vince, Mary's amnesia, and Scott's real parents was a muddled, convuluted mess and it's the only real story Denise/Mary McKinnon was given. After that was over, she didn't do much except work for Michael and dispense advice to Cheryl (her last remaining biological child) and Scott. I don't even think she had much interaction with Jake when Tom Eplin returned to the show!

I'm sure Denise is a fine, talented actress (my mother raves about her portrayal of Susan Hunter(Martin?) on DAYS) but I did not care for her on AW and haven't seen her work on any other soap (I've never really been a GH fan and the few times over the years that I've watched, I haven't ever caught Leslie Webber).

Shoot, I don't believe I ever got to see this. Did it make it to air on SoapNet? I can't remember- I just know they were getting to the meat of the Kathleen/Cass/Frankie triangle when it went off.

I know she was at Mac's funeral in 1989, but did she make an appearance for Ada's funeral when Connie Ford died in 1993? I know they brought some characters back for that (Larry & Clarice came back, didn't they? Or am I confusing that with Mac's funeral? I know there were some characters who returned for both but I can't remember who exactly.

Either way, I do agree that Alexander should have been kept around in a recurring capacity in 1991 when Kathleen returned. Hell, I think that Robert Hogan's Vince should have been recurring for that as well.

Did Vince return with Mary to reunite with Kathleen? It only seems fitting that he would.

Edited July 5, 2011 by juniorz1

[DRW50]

Denise didn't return for Ada's funeral.

Mary and Vince interacted with Marley and Jake a fair amount in mid 1988 to early 1989, as Marley and Jake lived with them.

Larry returned only for Mac's funeral. I believe Clarice was at Ada's funeral, but not Mac's. Nancy was at Ada's but I don't think she was at Mac's. Nancy returned for the anniversary party before Mac died.

I must say Jane Cameron's work in this clip is very tricky and interesting and weird. You can finally buy her as Rachel's sister. I wish the show had brought her back more often.

And I like Sandra Ferguson with the darker hair (perhaps they were paving the way for Christine Tucci).

I thought Cheryl was just a weak character by nature, because she was superfluous. "When will I lose it?" stories are never good when in a vacuum. I thought the idea of pairing her with John was interesting, but this was dropped and Cheryl was soon written out.

MJ was a whiny and sniveling character with Sally Spencer in the role, but I have to admit I had a soft spot for her performance and I thought she managed to break through the degrading and disgusting material she was given.

I believe Layman was fired.

Vince returned for one day when Kathleen was still officially in the witness protection program. He visited her when she was in hiding. Either that or he visited Cass. I can't remember now. Mary returned for one day, with MJ, for Kathleen's welcome home party. I wish they'd had more scenes together, but they had a few nice moments, and MJ sang a beautiful version of "Kathleen." This was also the Mary/Jake encounter. They give a reason for why Vince couldn't be there (he had to stay with the restaurant), so perhaps Robert Hogan had a prior commitment.

I love Kathleen so much

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCH5s9ixS9A&feature=sh_e_sl&list=SL

Edited July 5, 2011 by CarlD2

[Paul Raven]

The whole Love/McKinnon story was a bust from the outset.The premise of Mary back from the dead and an amnesiac and married to Reg was a stretch .The we had Vince having to be recast to fit the story,the creation of Cheryl,complete ignorance of the viable character of Ben.It was almost like DePriest came up with the story and twisted things around to fit it.

Then you had Jamie recast and now a doctor,bad recasts for Nicole and Vicky.

I remember reading in SOD that by the end of 86 they had only 6 characters left from the start of the year.

I think Eplin and Wheeler asked to be released from their contracts.Did Stuart,Schnetzer and Osburn all leave when their contracts were up?

[DRW50]

I think they all left when their contracts were up, yes. As juniorz1 said, Schnetzer may have asked more for a 6 month leave but told them he might return, which he did.

I hated, hated, hated, hated, hated what I have seen of the writing for Anna Stuart's Donna once the Reginald story started, and I wonder if she felt the same way.

I wish the show had recast Ben at some point. I get the feeling they thought that would be a threat to Jake.

Of course these days he would return and reveal himself as a psycho, and a "bad" rapist to Jake's "good" rapist.

[JackPeyton]

what year did soapnet start reruns at? i found it very boring but within months found it turn around slowly and then quickly was addicted.

[DRW50]

They started in July 1987. They said they wanted to start after the big Sin Stalker mystery because that was a clean slate. Frankly I think they should have started before the mystery, as it would have been something to get viewers hooked. I was startled at how barren Bay City was when the reruns began, and while I did grow to care for Sally Spencer's work, I'm not sure if weeks of episodes of MJ calling herself a whore was a way to lure in the viewers.

Edited July 5, 2011 by CarlD2

[JackPeyton]

Yeah, MJ and that guy she was getting married to... i just didnt care. I did find him interesting and wished he wasnt gone so quickly, but her i was just annoyd by even though i did feel bad for her.

It was the arrival of Amanda that really got me watching daily in the reruns, and i came to quickly like most of the cast, namely cass first and then really became addicted. I was totally obsessed during amanda/evan affair and then when carl was targeting amanda.

the only things that turned me off from caring much was when a lot of focus was on sharleene because i found her highly annoying.

[DRW50]

I liked Sharlene, although I liked her more when she was more downtrodden and tougher - after she got together with John it wasn't quite the same.

It was Felicia/Mitch/Wally who got me early on, although I also loved the dynamics with Amanda, Rachel, Mac, Ada, and Amanda/Sam was very fresh and not at all cloying, which is pretty amazing, considering how cliched the story was.

[JackPeyton]

It was TOTALLY a cliched story that everyone has seen a million times, but it was so well done. They were not trying to make it bigger than it was or something it wasnt. And RKK/SF totally sold it. Loved it, rooted for them, and then when Evan was brought in i was so torn.

[thelma]

Just from the top of my head, and I could be wrong about some, by the end of 1986, the show had lost...Carl, Larry, Clarice, Sally, Caitlin, Brittany, Zane, Kathleen, Cass, Nicole(?), Jake, Marley. They also recast Vicky, Vince and Donna. That's a huge change in the cast and so many of them were fan favorites.

I also agree about the writers twisting the story to make it fit. It was messy. The good thing was the Vince recast. He had great chemistry with Denise Alexander. I also liked Mary's friendship with Felicia which was dropped when they isolated Denise's character in her final years.

I just finished watching the first set of clips and one stand out for me is Gomez. I forgot about her and I love her.