Another World

[Paul Raven]

AW was facing cancellation as early as 1987

To continue growth in the afternoon, Frons said NBC has signed writer Sally Sussman, who spent the past five years with CBS's The Young and the Restless, to develop a new serial for NBC. "Sally expects to deliver a bible [treatment) to us by January and, if we push the button, we could have a new NBC -produced serial on the air by the second half of 1988," he said. "We would schedule this show as a half -hour or as an hour. This should motivate Procter & Gamble to continue to improve and invest in Another World. P &G has gotten the message that they must meet a higher standard (since the cancellation of Search for Tomorrow)."

The weak Another World lead -in has hurt Santa Barbara's share, as affiliates are painfully aware. The network has "taken a hard look" at Another World and completely refocused the story by getting back to basics and adding new talent, said Susan Lee, vice president of daytime drama. "Our goals in daytime drama are to continue the growth of Days of Our Lives and Santa Barbara and to drastically improve Another World by year's end, or replace [it] with a new NBC produced drama," she said.

Edited May 27, 2020 by Paul Raven

[BetterForgotten]

Very frank comment from Susan Lee - they were almost canceled again in 1993. I guess it was a miracle NBC kept it on until 1999. 

Edited May 27, 2020 by BetterForgotten

[Khan]

AW always seemed to be caught in a tug-of-war between P&G and NBC, with neither entity really having the show's best interests at heart.

[Wendy]

It seems like once Days went from reality based in the 1960s and 1970s to the larger than life/super couple juggernaut show in the '80s and just plain-out WEIRD in the 1990s and Santa Barbara was also very quirky even in the midst of more real stories, that Another World seemed to become the "odd soap out" even though, of the three, it was first on the air.

 

By the 1980s, it may have fit better as a CBS or even ABC soap.

[AbcNbc247]

Yeah, it was AW’s fault that SB did poorly and nothing to do with the fact that SB was up against GH, and had a rocky start. 

 

I would have loved to have seen the looks on Frons’ and Susan Lee’s faces when they realized that their pet project was a flop and all their bs threats to AW were for nothing. 

[BetterForgotten]

AW was never quite able to get out of the ratings basement in its last 20 years or so, and I have to guess it was a hell of a lot more expensive to produce than say Loving.

 

I also don’t know that P&G treated the show with the same respect and attention they gave ATWT and GL (which was misguided at times, but they definitely had a more sound relationship with CBS than NBC).

[Soaplovers]

Another world was more a CBS soap than a NBC.soap...SB and Days seemed brighter and sunnier in the 80s than AW..which always had a more theatre vibe even as they tried to glam up in the 80s.   

[BetterForgotten]

WTF? lol

 

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[DRW50]

Much as I love and miss AW, I do agree it was a miracle they made it through 20 years of low ratings. The serial killer story in 1987, disgusting as it is to me, seems to have goosed their numbers at a crucial period. 

[GLATWT88]

That's true that the ratings weren't great, but considering there's been little success with new soaps since the 70s with the exception of LOV, AMC, Y&R and BB - none have lasted more than a decade (SB months shy of making it) and Loving wasn't exactly a ratings success. 

 

NBC's issues started in the 80s (actually a bit sooner in the late 70s) when its once strong lineup completely collapsed. Another World, The Doctors, Days of Our Lives all performing solidly for most of the 70s start seeing decreases in the late 70s and then big dips in the early 80s. NBC trying to stay competitive for the next two decades tried new soaps none with much success and unfortunately usually at the hindrance of its established soaps. NBC would have done better doing more to save its failing lineup than with the new soaps. SuBe was an expensive failure that I'm surprised didn't scare off NBC from ever trying a new soap again. While Passions performed well in the younger demos (it wasn't exactly doing as amazingly as some claim), it was far from a ratings success and never did surpass AW in season averages in total viewers even AWs lowest rating last season. Either way, by the mid 90s it may have been too late to save AW anyway. Even the success of Days' possession storyline did little to help AW. I guess all this to say, if NBC spent more time trying to fix its lineup as it did trying to replace it to be competitive with the other two networks, it may have faired better in the end.

Edited May 27, 2020 by GLATWT88

[Xanthe]

 

Maybe it's because I was accustomed to it, but I never thought of that theme as dated or corny. Nothing sentimental about it. I had to double check to make sure you weren't referring to the Crystal Gayle theme which I will admit I never cared for.

 

Just out of curiosity, when did AW start using that end theme (answering my own question: the Another World home page has a Music section that says it was first used July 26 1988) and what era did it sound like if not the 80s?

Edited May 30, 2020 by Xanthe
Added date

[BetterForgotten]

Was this the only two-hander in American soaps?

 

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[DRW50]

 

I'd think some of the 15-minute soaps had two-handers, out of budget, but I'm not sure. 

 

I just loved Cali Timmins.

[Paul Raven]

 

[John]

I like Judi Evans but why was Cali Timmins replaced. Its too bad she never graced Daytime since especially since she auditioned for OLTL's twice in 1994 (Krista Tesreau got it) & 2003 along with Cynthia Preston & Sarah Buxton (OLTL decided not to bring Tina back after all)