Another World

[Paul Raven]

Blaine was given a lot of story in the Laura Malone years.3 marriages in 5 years wore out the character and she and Sandy were 'true love' characters so there was little for her to do once they married. Her dismissal was the nail in the coffin for that character.

I think Malone went into some sort of legal profession. She was featured in a SOW Where Are They Now? story.

[teplin]

I think Louise (and Brooks the chauffeur) were casualties of the transition from LeMay's sophisticated drawing-room drama to a more traditional, 80s-style soap. There was no more room for idiosyncratic characters who didn't command center stage or move the plot along. Pity, they added such flavor.

And I agree that Vivien didn't fit at the Corys. She was just as wonderful with Iris as Louise had been, in a completely different way. But she just didn't work in the Cory household.

I've always heard that Laura Malone was fired because she was gaining weight, or didn't lose weight quickly enough after a pregnancy or something ...

Kevin Conroy was great as Jerry, his replacement was a snooze. I can't believe they would have fired Conroy, but there were some pretty horrendous casting decisions being made at that time, so who knows.

[DRW50]

What did you think of all the stuff with the Warren Burton character (Jason?) and Elsa, and the death of Tracy? Did you think it made sense to randomly recast a friend of Iris' from 3-4 years earlier?

What did you think of David Bailey as Russ? I wasn't overly fond of him from what I've seen, mostly because I didn't feel the warmth that I think the character would have, but I didn't see that much of him.

[aMLCproduction]

Can any one tell me what was the reason given from JFP when she killed off Frankie Frame?

And does any one remember the vampire storyline they were starting to tell at one point with Thomas and then dropped. There was a mandate from NBC to be more like JER's Days at the time

[LegalGirl82]

I do remember it being reported (or at least speculated) in SOD at the time that Laura Malone was fired because she wasn't losing her pregnancy weight fast enough for the showrunners. Even though I was no longer watching at the time Judi Evans Luciano was on the show and in a public battle with her pregnancy weight, I was glad the showrunners didn't repeat what had happened to Malone.

Last I read, Malone became a copyright attorney and was working as a vice-president and corporate counsel at Getty Images.

While it's true that Blaine had a lot of story in those years, IMO she never ate the show. I would have liked to see more of Sandy and Blaine post-marriage, even if they rested the characters off screen for a time.

I also liked Kevin Conroy's Jerry Grove the best; and I liked David Bailey's Russ Matthews, especially with VW's Rachel.

I don't remember a whole lot about the Jason/Elsa/Tracy story; I didn't hate it, it was just there. I do remember being sad when Tracy was killed.

[DRW50]

I've heard about the vampire story but never seen it. I wish they'd just tried the story. It can't have been any worse than the trash JFP put out.

Supposedly JFP needed to free up money to hire Robert Kelker Kelly. She did a focus group to see reactions to Donna and Paulina. Paulina was more popular with the focus group. JFP began tailoring the story to murder Donna. Fans realized what was going on and complained. JFP then decided to kill Frankie instead.

[soapfan770]

If I recall right they wanted one major character killed off by Fax Newman and originally wanted to kill off Donna but it leaked and got widely unpopular reaction as it should have so they went with Frankie, someone(like Maureen on GL) they saw of lesser importance. Phelps was oddly fired herself shortly afterward when Fitts was fired and MADD took over cleaning house.

EDIT: Looks like we replied at the same time Carl. I forgot about Robert Kelker-Kelly's hiring I've heard they let Grayson McCouch go for the same reason. RKK shouldn't have been expensive except for his bloated ego from his Days run.

Edited July 8, 2011 by soapfan770

[DRW50]

The other rumor was that Margaret DePriest, then headwriter, encouraged Frankie's murder because she wanted Cass to go back to the Cass she'd written for the last time (more of a playboy).

While I totally agree with her on that front, brutally murdering his wife wasn't quite the way to go about it. And, if not for Linda Dano, Cass probably would have been long gone by the time of the finale.

[aMLCproduction]

Oh Wow I had no idea that Donna was up to be killed. Thanks for that info.

The vampire storyline was wierd. They even showed tidbits on screen. I remember patients coming into the hospital with vampire bite like marks

RKK was truly wasted on AW. Re written every time a new HW came on. From Bobby to Shane to God knows who else

[teplin]

I never warmed to David Bailey as Russ. He had some powerhouse actresses to play against -- Vicky Wyndham, Beverlee McKinsey, Laurie Heineman, Anna Holbrook, for instance -- and I thought he was hopelessly outclassed by all of them. He did become a little more palatable to me when they brought on his two teenage daughters, Josie and Olivia, but I think the writing let him down then.

Of course, I was very partial to Sam Grooms' Russ -- even though I was just a kid at the time. I can't remember anything concrete about him all these years later, but I can remember I liked him a lot.

I was bored by the Russ-Tracy-Warren story.

Edited July 8, 2011 by teplin

[DRW50]

Do you remember the actor who replaced Sam Groom? I can't remember his name but he'd been one of those actors who had posed for a lot of muscle magazines in the 50's or 60's.

[teplin]

AWHP lists Groom's replacement as Robert Hover. I don't remember him at all, but he appeared from July '71 to December '72.

[aMLCproduction]

Did any one here watch the 90 minute episodes. How were they? Were they drgged out? Were scenes Longer? Did the cast grow? Did the storylines move faster? WHat were pundits saying about the 90 minute move at the time.

[thelma]

Warren Burton pining over Tracy was boring stuff. It got old fast. His voice grated on me. David Bailey is the only Russ I ever knew. I kind of liked Tracy and Russ as a couple. She made Russ act more human because think Russ was supposed to be kind of cold and unemotional. Especially after being so unlucky in love. That's how I always remembered him. My mom hated him. Especially how he treated Sharlene. I have limited recollections of that storyline other than my mom hating the way Russ, Liz and Willis treated Sharlene.

Edited July 8, 2011 by thelma

[DRW50]

Did she see Sharlene when she returned in 1988?