Another World

[Xanthe]

Michael bought the stables from Donna for $250k that summer. He told her it was for sentimental reasons but really it was because he somehow knew it was key to the plans of the mysterious man known as "the Vulture" who naturally turned out to be Reginald.

I am surprised that Reginald's piano playing sounded just as loud in the stables as in the rest of the house. 

It's so weird and clunky that he addressed Rachel as if he had been aware of her back in the day and not as Mac's or Steve's or even Russ' wife.  At first I assumed that what you were describing was Reginald knowing Rachel as a sculptor.  She normally used Davis as her professional sculpting name. But I see they had a poster board in the gallery that said Rachel Cory on it as if she were showing under her married name. And Reginald talked about her looks and nothing to do with her artistic fame at all. Typical Margaret DePriest if you ask me. 

[j swift]

I just re-read 1986-1988 on AWHP and it struck me that in addition to poor writing, there were casting issues that plagued the Reginald story.  Donna, Nicole, Vince, Vicky, and Gomez were all recast within the first year of the story which must have affected the pacing of any planned plotlines.

Sexual assault during this period is treated very poorly.  For example, Donna lies that she was sexually assaulted by a stranger on the docks in order to cover for the fact that she innocently fell asleep on John's boat, because she is afraid that Michael will leave her if he finds out that his brother raped her as a teenager.  Just as Adam dumped MJ when he found out that she was forced to do a porno film as a young woman and was too guilty to tell him, so she leaves town without an exit scene.  Also, just for good measure, Lisa and Felicia are also victims of childhood sexual trauma which causes them to be apprehensive about intimacy, and is all the excuse that their boyfriends need to cheat on them with other women. 

Dawn's HIV story seems written very deliberately to be a palatable social message, and yet is actually very offensive in retrospect.  Not only does Jamey (who didn't wear a condom when he cheated on his girlfriend, but is never tested for HIV or other STI's) disclose Dawn's status to her boyfriend and her brother without her consent, but they are constantly reminding us that she is an innocent victim because she contracted the virus from a blood transfusion from her drug addicted mother; not by sex or intravenous drug use.  She is filled with self-pity, despite marrying one of the wealthiest and most handsome guys in town, and then dying on her honeymoon in Venice, after experiencing barely a cough before her elaborate wedding.

And if people hate the number of masks on DAYS recently, try Cass, Vince, and Reginald all having doppelgangers within the same year.

Edited April 7, 2022 by j swift

[AbcNbc247]

You know, in retrospect, maybe Margaret DePriest was the first person who tried to turn AW into a Days clone 

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Edited April 7, 2022 by AbcNbc247

[Xanthe]

OMG, I had never made the connection between the Vulture and the Phoenix before. 

[AbcNbc247]

Haha

Between that, the uptick in violence, evil dopplegangers, etc., maybe MD wanted to make it more like Days because she felt it worked. Unfortunately for AW, it didn't. From what I've seen, the Swajeski era was better than the DePriest era

[victoria foxton]

I do to think MD did try. Unlike her second run. I liked Swajeski. She wasn't perfect but i did enjoy a lot of her stuff. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by victoria foxton

[FrenchBug82]

I obviously didn't know AW in its heyday but most of Swajeski 88-92 AW stint is in my top five of best soap runs ever.
Not the most spectacular but so much of it clicked for me - including cast-wise.

[Melroser]

I enjoyed that era as well, but I have to say it had a lot to do with Anne Heche and the arrival of Alicia Coppola. Two of my faves of the show. 

[denzo30]

Well MD's last months as early head writer in 1988 were different than her previous years.  The dialogue changed and it because all about the families again but not sure if that was due to Michael Liabson coming in as new EP.  The show was gearing up for its 25th anniversary one year away and his intent was to bring the focus back on the Frames and the Cory's and that is what MD started to lay out.  Introducing Jason Frame and whispers from the past about the former characters who would soon come back to Bay City or part of the family structure.  I thought she did a relatively good job at it as well.  Then the writers strike hit and Lemay was supposed to step in so much of the premise got shelved again until the strike was over and Lemay started up in the fall of 88 and then of course we know the clash between he and Swajeski..  

[j swift]

Iris asThe Boss is a masterpiece in comparison to Reginald as The Vulture. 

First of all there was foreshadowing and a buildup to Iris's return once Amanda was SORASed and had a child who would inherit the Cory estate.  Reginald randomly appeared one day, and nobody ever explained why his name was not Brandon (as Donna and Peter called him when they were introduced).

Then, the idea of tying in the reveal of Iris's secret to the murder trial of Jason Frame was a brilliant way to involve the entire cast (and seems very Lemay to me, but who knows?).  Reginald immediately told Mary that he was using the name LaSalle to escape his enemies, and the secret that he killed Elizabeth wasn't revealed until right before his death and had no impact at all.

Iris's return faced the enormous obstacle of the death of Douglass Watson within eight months of the start of the plot.  Yet, they were able to pivot and work the loss into the story.  Reginald's return was met with huge cast shifts including the recasting of key roles like Donna, Vicky, Vince, and Nicole which halted advancements in the plot and necessitated breaks like Reginald's heart attack or the search for Donna when she escaped the asylum.

Iris's return revitalized Rachel and the Frames who had been sidelined by the Loves.  Reginald's return was tied into the McKinnons who were not as popular, and most of those characters left before the end of the story.  By the time Mary and Vince pack up to visit MJ, Kathleen was dead, Cheryl went off the college, and Ben had disappeared, they had no kids left.

Edited April 7, 2022 by j swift

[Xanthe]

I will grant you Rex Allingham, but Vince didn't have a doppelganger as much as Reginald paid a guy to pretend to attempt to murder him so he could blame Vince for it. And it should have been more affecting that Reginald, after creating this dastardly plan to incriminate Vince, at the last minute had to leap between the assailant's knife and his granddaughter Victoria and wound up injured. 

I don't recall Reginald having any double. 

[FrenchBug82]

Yep. That's why I mention the cast; it is a big part of why the chemistry was right for me but it really was.

[Soaplovers]

I think Swajeski managed to make the Iris/Rachel duo more complex after Mac's death.  Both were devastated by Mac's death and it bonded them in an odd way.  

 

[Xanthe]

At the time an actor who shall remain nameless shared with me the bitchy quip "he may have been Harding Lemay then,  but he's hardly Lemay now."

[Melroser]

The recent mentions of all the recasts during the mid-late 80's makes me wonder if AW suffered more than most soaps from constant recasts. Thoughts?

For examples, over time:

3 Rachel Davis Cory

2 Mackenzie Cory

2 Steve Frame

5 Alice Matthews Frame

(At least 10) Jamie Frame

6 Sally Frame

2 Sharlene Frame

3 Josie Watts Sinclair

3 (adult) Amanda Cory

3 (adult) Matthew Cory 

2 Paulina Cory

2 Sandy Cory

2 Cecile Cory

2 Blaine Ewing

2 Iris Cory Wheeler

2 Donna Love

3 Nicole Love

3 Peter Love

4 Vicky Love

3 Marley Love 

3 Vince McKinnon

2 MJ McKinnon

2 Grant Harrison