Another World

[zanereed]

I 100% agree. Actually, I wish that Jamie had eventually found that he, like his father, had a natural affinity for business versus going to medical school. So maybe he starts out in the arts, for instance, but soon realizes he's better at "doing deals" than creating art? Or, he could have started in medical school and left for the same reason.

This motivates him to get active in Frame Enterprises, deciding that he is going to both embrace and enhance Steve Frame's legacy. Rachel, of course, is less-than-pleased, as (in her eyes) Jamie seems to be transforming bit by bit into a version of his father. Happy and outdoing Jamie starts becoming introverted and brooding, and this would include the jealousy and addiction issues as you listed above.

Yep, Sam Groom was always my preferred Russ Matthews, even though I remember David Bailey better because more of his era still exists to view. And Sam Groom could have good chemistry with anyone. So, my fanfic above could have worked very well. Imagine if the audience really got behind a (re)pairing of Rachel and Russ *organically*. Meaning (heaven forbid!) that the writers respect that the love of Rachel's life was gone, and that they were just having a slow build to a *possible* romance. Again, Rachel and Russ had extensive history, so just playing with that part of it and having them interact as old *friends* would have been fun to watch play out. Groom would have likely shined in a storyline like this. Plus, it would also be interesting to see how much chemistry Groom would have had with Anna Kathryn Holbrook - that might have led to some great stuff, as well...

I would have brought Pat back when Iris returned and was making a play for Cory Publishing. Rachel doesn't trust Iris, of course, and asks Pat to come back to Bay City to help deal with Iris (assuming Pat was still associated to Cory Publishing, as she was when they wrote Pat out in 1982). However, Rachel and Pat butt heads (once again), and Pat starts having more in common with Iris than Rachel...

For Alice, I would have brought Alice back as Administrator of Bay City Hospital. This would put her in the orbit of both Russ and Jamie. This would give her ample opportunity to interact with Russ about his ongoing, non-romantic relationship with Rachel 

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Edited October 22, 2021 by zanereed

[Nicholas Blair]

I also believe that Sam Groom would have had chemistry with just about anyone. He had such good big brother/little sister scenes with Jacquie Courtney. These family interactions added to the realism and the appeal of the show.

[Chris 2]

Sam Groom was a charismatic, appealing actor. He should have had a successful career in primetime, but he was never in the right place at the right time, I guess.

I’ve read that he came back for the final episodes of AW as a minister. If this is true, I wonder why they didn’t have him come back as Russ.

[amybrickwallace]

Didn't he go right from AW to Police Surgeon?

[Chris 2]

He did but I’m talking more about a primetime, high-profile series. Police Surgeon was a low budget, poorly-reviewed syndicated show, and co-star Jack Albertson quit after a single season (later publicly disparaging it).

Sam Groom got a chance at a real primetime show in the 80s with Otherworld, but that didn’t last long (though it’s a bit of a cult favorite).

Edited October 23, 2021 by Chris 2

[vetsoapfan]

That show. Was. So. Awful.

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[Xanthe]

 A one day cameo isn't much. If the show had really wanted to make good use of him and he was available they could have had him either instead of David Bailey with Anna Holbrook's Sharlene or after David Bailey left.

[amybrickwallace]

I've actually never seen an episode, but saw previews for it on Retro TV. It looked so CHEAP!!

[vetsoapfan]

It was a cheaply-made and poorly-produced Canadian drama. Trust me: as a Canadian, I can tell you that television dramas and comedies produced here were widely derided as being heinously unwatchable in the 1960s and 1970s. The situation has vastly improved in the last few decades, but back then, everything was done on the cheap, and looked thrown together by high-school students with a home camera shooting in their garage. UGH. Think the first Peapack episodes of The Guiding Light as being Gone with the Wind in comparison.

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One of my earliest memories of a Canadian program was a game show in which contestants vied for prizes. On The Prize is Right, the grand prize winner of the day would win...a new car or an exotic vacation. On the Canadian program, the hard-fought-for gift at the end on the day was...a toaster.

On American game shows, the cash awarded would be huge, too. In Canada, the equivalent was a $20.00 gift certificate to a hardware store.  "Big woo," as Suzanne Sugarbaker was wont to say.

Here is a complete episode from the first season of Police Surgeon. Endure!

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Here's a clip from 1971's The Trouble with Tracy, another Canadian production (a "comedy") which may be the worst television production of all time. 

 

[victoria foxton]

@vetsoapfan Did Canada make their own soaps? Or did they just air American and British soaps? 

[vetsoapfan]

We tried our own soaps, too, but only a few. They were awful, and came and went quickly, with little notice or fanfare among the audience. The two that lasted the longest (still, not that long) were High Hopes in 1978 (starring Bruce Gray, better known from his stint on The Edge of Night) and Strange Paradise in 1969 (a supernatural rip-off of Dark Shadows). Both these series ran for less than a year, if I recall correctly. There were at least two other soap attempts I am hazily remembering, which only survived for a couple of months, but I cannot recall their titles. One was something like Morning Glory (?), broadcast on our public broadcasting network, the CBC. Being a soap fan, I valiantly tried all these shows, but...no. Just no.

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Strange Paradise is available on youtube. I can't find any other Canadian soap attempts anywhere.

[victoria foxton]

Thanks @vetsoapfan

[Soaplovers]

I watched some made for tv movies from the 80s through now..and you could tell if it was filmed in Canada vs in the US based on the quality.

1st tv movie I saw made in Canada that had great quality was Anne of Green Gables.  Before that not as much.

Why was the quality lower pre 1980s in Canada vs the US @vetsoapfan?

[AbcNbc247]

That's the one that Lemay wrote. He said it was a good thing that it was never shown in the U.S

[Xanthe]

Don't forget the short-lived Moment of Truth, which starred Douglass Watson. It apparently aired on NBC in 1965 as well but it was made and set in Canada and aired on the CBC.

There was a racy made-for-cable serial in the early 80s called Loving Friends and Perfect Couples that Cali Timmins (AW's original Paulina) and Lisa Howard (later on Days as April) were in.