Another World

[Contessa Donatella]

Another thing we have not touched on that pertains is that NBC very aggressively dictated story, specifically & generally. Probably the most famous example which I'm sure you all know is dictating that Jake would rape Marley. Swajeski refused. They insisted. Finally they pressured her to the point that she wrote it & then she quit. I believe the words were ... wrote the damned story & quit & walked out. So, they easily could have dictated crime stories, piece of cake, right? 

[Efulton]

Jake raped Marley on October 25, 1990 and Donna Swajeski was head writer until November 1992. When was she supposed to have quit?

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, I got that from her, in print. I feel a laugh bubbling up inside of me. I can't imagine how she fits that together. Maybe a juicy rationalization. Maybe she worked the rest of her contract & then quit but made the decision that night. I suppose that one could be sued for quitting before your contact was out. Hey, that's my best off the top of the head. I mean it's a perfectly good story without the dramatic "I quit!" 

[Vee]

Another proud moment where when Donna states a BTS fact I need a minimum of three other primary sources to back it up.

[Franko]

A promo I'd never seen before. Now I know where Matthew and Josie's vignette in the opening credits came from. I'll bet good money that RKK got kicked in the shin (or worse) after the cameras stopped rolling. Also, the music's quite pretty.

Please register in order to view this content

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Franko

[Mona Kane Croft]

Had actor Brent Collins lived another 7 or 8 months, Wallingford would still have been in AW's cast when Harding Lemay returned as head-writer in 1988.  I can't imagine what Lemay would have done with a character like Wallingford, or an actor like Collins. Wallingford did not have the understated sense of realism (or believability) that most of Lemay's characters had. I feel certain Lemay would have wanted to write-off Wallingford as quickly as possible, but i'm not sure he would have been permitted to do that.  On the other hand, I will admit I felt the same way about Felicia Gallant and Lemay -- but Lemay wrote very good material for her, in my opinion. I remember back in 1988, being surprised that Lemay did so well with Felicia.  

Does anyone else have an opinion about what Lemay might have done with Wallingford?  Any speculation about what he might have written for the character?  Could Lemay have brought the character down to earth, and made him work in a more believable world?

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Neil Johnson

[Contessa Donatella]

Of course, Wally was written in the Cass-Felicia-Wally highjinks. Remember Felicia driving the truck, out of control, flying down the hill, she & Wally screaming, headed straight for ... Tall Boys, I believe. But, then he was written very human, too. Remember he slept on the floor across Felicia's threshold one night because of some fear. I think Lemay would have written more of the latter & less of the former. 

[victoria foxton]

@Neil Johnson I think he could've done a nice job with him. That said i don't think LeMay could have written zany misadventures for Cass/Felicia/Wally like Tomlin and Culliton did.

[Contessa Donatella]

And, Samuel D. Ratcliffe. He was big into the comedic writing including their zaniness. Unfortunately he is one we lost to far too early death. Damned plague. 

[Mona Kane Croft]

Oh, I don't think Lemay would have written ANY highjinks for Wallingford, just as he didn't for Felicia or Cass.  I just can't imagine anything Lemay could have done.  He liked to find something in each character's past that was that character's Achilles' heel.  For Felicia it was her past with her father, for Lenore it was her knowledge of Walter being a murderer, for Pat it was her abortion and murder trial, for Rachel it was her past as a bad-girl, for Mac is was his past as a promiscuous playboy who ignored Iris as a child, etc, etc, etc.  Maybe Lemay would have dug up something in Wallingford's past that would have made the character more introspective and fearful.   I guess we will never know.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, when you put it that way Wally could have grown up in a bad situation, carney, or foster parents aka the system & have been deathly afraid of losing his hard-fought independence. 

[Mona Kane Croft]

Good point.  I've been wondering how Lemay might have written for a little-person in a play.  He might have been able to write for Wallingford from that angle.  But I'm sure Lemay would have ditched the comedy, and done serious drama with Wallingford, if he could.   

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, I had never thought of this before, but since you brought it up, I believe Pete could've written it & I am sure Brent could've played it. I used to know a fan who was a personal friend of Brent's. She had cocktails with him on his patio balcony weekly & sometimes they'd have outings. She sat with his family at the funeral & from the stories she told, in many ways he was just a regular fella! Plus acting chops. She still grieves for him, as you might imagine or do if you've lost a really close friend. 

[victoria foxton]

@Tonksadora@Neil JohnsonDid Wally have Marfan syndrome? Like Brent had in real life. Maybe Lemay would've used that.

[Contessa Donatella]

I do not remember. But, he sure could have had it written in. That's an excellent idea.