Another World

[gimmetoo]

 

In last week's Locher Room, Sharon Gabot spoke of how miserable her time was on Another World.  Her husband eventually demanded that the powers-that-be write her off.  Wonder why her experience was so different from what we heard today ?  

Edited August 13, 2020 by gimmetoo

[Soaplovers]

 

She said the story she played in her 2nd year was an abusive marriage story..and she was pregnant during the time.  She said she liked the people, but having a newborn and becoming pregnant...plus commuting to Brooklyn made it more difficult 

[BetterForgotten]

A lot of actors hated that commute and never got over it. Beverlee McKinsey talked quite a bit about hating that commute and being over it by the time she stopped playing Iris.

 

Edited August 13, 2020 by BetterForgotten

[Melroser]

 

 

Yes, I believe she has also stated she loved the initial concept of Brittany where the character was deaf. She was able to do a story that centered on a deaf person that used sign language and she found that interesting to play. I think the writers changed (as they often did on AW) and then she suddenly had her hearing back and went into that abusive marriage story that she hated. 

[AbcNbc247]

You're right. The character of Brittany was written by three different writing regimes and each one practically completely changed the character.

[Vee]

I don't for the life of me remember Alice Barrett's tiny role (as a doctor) on OLTL which she mentions here. I've loved her any time I've seen her on AW. She still looks great. (I last saw her with Sam Rockwell in the truly bizarre Chuck Palahniuk adaptation Choke, in which she debuts butt naked sitting on an airplane toilet.)

Edited August 13, 2020 by Vee

[John]

I believe she was marty's doctor in 2008-2010

[Efulton]

The Locher Room reunion was great.  It makes me very happy that the cast all really care for each other.  

[DRW50]

 

She also said Brittany had no real characterization. Going from such a rich character as Raven to such a mess was probably very demoralizing.

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

Brittany was a terribly conceived character.  You can't make a deaf woman the bad-girl.  Or at least it would never have worked in the 1980s.  People just don't want to watch that.  A desperate deaf woman scheming against the ingenue, Sally -- it was so weird, and painful to watch.  It made the audience feel guilty for hating a deaf person.   Probably the most awkward villainess in soap-opera history!  

 

There's nothing wrong with casting a deaf character.  That could have been great.  But in the 1980s, making her a villainess just didn't work.  I'm not even sure it would work in 2020.

 

They should have just cast Gabot as Rachel's sister, Pam.  That would have been wonderful.   And if they wanted a bad-girl to interfere with the Sally/Catlin romance, they should have hired someone younger, and not make the mistake of making the character deaf.   

 

[prefab1]

I didn't watch Another World at the time, so I can't weigh in on the character of Brittany (whose storyline sounds terribly executed, at the very least). But I would LOVE to see a soap today introduce a deaf villainess/bad girl (and, of course, cast a deaf actress to play her).

 

I actually think that would work perfectly on Days, and Ron C would be the right writer to execute something like this. They could introduce Benjy Dimera's daughter, who would be deaf like her father. She would appear very sweet, and everyone in Salem would treat her with kindness mixed with pity. But after a few months, the audience would get the reveal that she's actually man-hungry, out for revenge, out to take over Dimera Enterprises, or all of the above. 

[Mitch]

I think a bad deaf girl is kind of cool, as long as they said she just was "bad" and not bitter because of her hearing impairment, but your right, the 80s were a different time.  It was weird watching SG come off such an iconic role to be a lil nobody.  I don't know why GL instead of making the dour and boring Kyle Sampson, have Sky come to town to do biz with Spaulding and fall for Reva, and then Raven comes back to face off. Now that would have made the really boring era of GL memorable.

[watson71]

1985 was a bad year for AW.  Executive Producer Allen Potter retired at end of 1984, and Stephen Schenkel took over at the beginning of 1985.  A writer's strike happened in the Spring of 1985, and the show did not officially have headwriters until August 1985- with Sam Hall and Gillian Spencer who were terrible for the show.   About the only thing that worked well in 1985 was the introduction of Victoria Love, Jake McKinnon, and Bridget Connell.

 

Early in 1985, Carl Hutchins would kidnap Rachel Cory and her sister Nancy McGowan.  This would result in Rachel getting shot and having amnesia.  Rachel had some great scenes with her doctor, Alice Matthews, discussing their past history.  For a brief minute, it looked like the show was going to set up a Rachel/Mac/Alice triangle, then the show fired Jacqueline Courtney in April and Alice left Bay City.

 

Hall and Spencer would introduce a Le Soleil spa storyline with three forgettable characters- Michaud Christophe, Edward Gerard, and Daphne Grimaldi.  Carl Hutchins would kill Daphne, and he framed Cass for her murder.  Edward was the person who transformed Fanny Grady into Felicia Gallant.  This spa storyline was tied to an Egyptian treasure that Carl Hutchins wanted to get his hands on.  Somehow, the treasure wound up in Arizona, and Carl Hutchins would disappear after a fight with Nancy's boyfriend, Dr. Chris Chapin.  Chris would be involved in possibly one of AW's worst storylines- Nancy was going to give Mac and Rachel an Egyptian urn that Carl poisoned with deadly dust from an Egyptian tomb.  The urn got lost and was passed from person to person in Bay City killing Grant Todd, and later hospitalizing Mac and Rachel after they inhaled the dust.  Chris had to come up with anecdote to save MAC and Rachel.

 

Peter Love located Catlin's long dead wife, Brittany Peterson, and she came to Bay City with fisherman Zane Lindquist to stop Catlin's wedding to Sally Frame.  Brittany was miraculously cured of being a deaf mute, and she tried to break up Sally and Catlin's marriage.   The problem with this storyline was that the popular Mary Page Keller left the role of Sally shortly after her wedding to Catlin.   The role was recast with Taylor Miller who was not popular with the viewers.  Then, the Peter Love (Christopher Holder) who originally brought Brittany and Zane to Bay City was recast with Marcus Smythe.   The role of Peter Love was played by three different actors within the course of one year.  With Smythe in the role, Brittany would be involved in the abusive marriage storyline.

 

Several other long term characters were written out of the show- Brian Bancroft disappeared from the canvas.  Perry Hutchins would die when he discovered who Victoria Love was and fell from a hay loft.  Ben McKinnon would leave Bay City never to be seen again.  The most glaring characters written out of the show were Sandy and Blaine Cory and Jamie Frame.  For a majority of 1985, Mac and Rachel had no adult children in Bay City to interact with, as Amanda and Matthew were still small children at this time.

 

[Efulton]

You perfectly summarized 1985!!  I loved November 1982 to February 1985.  It is one of my favourite eras of AW's history.  I will say that with all the garbage storylines in 1985 at least the core of the show was intact.  The dismantling Margaret DePriest did from 1986-87 changed the show forever.

[Mitch]

Agreed..I loved the AW of 82 up to that time in 85...and never understood why it suddenly..sucked. Now I know.