Another World

[Contessa Donatella]

I recall reading that Frankie was an imitation of Luna Moody on OLTL. Of course, I have no memory of who said it, so who knows if they knew what they were talking about. But, I believe that both Frankie & Luna were linked to all sorts of New Age trappings, which is not true of either Lisa or Remy. 

Now, I completely bought Lisa as a genuine psychic. And, I am sure she had the abilities from the get-go. Didn't she experience things that were proven? 

[DRW50]

Frankie was created over two years before Luna. I do see the similarities but I think Malone based Luna more on his own Southern Gothic touch. 

@Neil Johnson @Xanthe @AbcNbc247 Thanks for answering my question. I guess we were meant to believe she got the powers through abuse and trauma...? If so it makes sense they faded out after she started a healing process. I can't remember what her last bout of visions were. Maybe Vicky's car accident.

Edited February 20, 2023 by DRW50

[Mona Kane Croft]

Yes.  But I still didn't find it believable.  I wasn't crazy about Frankie being a psychic either.  

I don't mind psychics on soaps, but I prefer they be supporting characters (rather than major characters), and somewhat exotic -- giving the audience a chance to either believe them, or write it all-off as hocus-pokus.  My three favorite soap opera psychics were Magda on Dark Shadows, Tante Helene on Search for Tomorrow (two complete stereotypes, I admit), and the lady on Y&R who helped Katherine remember she had done something nutty with Jill's son Phillip when he was an infant.  That lady was a REAL psychic, fairly well known at the time.  So she was no stereotype.   

[Contessa Donatella]

Excellent! I always resisted that because Frankie seemed like such an original, not a rip-off of anyone. And, no matter how whoo-whoo Frankie would seem at times, at other times she was solid Frame, salt-of-the-earth, grounded in reality!! At least that is what I saw in her. 

Okay. I see. I was already leaning toward believing that Lisa had this ability & then proved things just brought it all the way home, to me. I was a big Lisa fan & I was the only Lisa fan I knew! My girlfriend of 21 years & I would find ourselves squaring off over Vicky versus Lisa at times & we never once had any other argument over anything! It was hilarious. 

That is so cool that Y&R used a real known psychic! I don't guess you recall her name? 

[Xanthe]

I don't remember any of Frankie's psychic episodes, just that she was some kind of new age flake with crystals. Did she sense or predict anything? Or how did her psychicness manifest? 

[Contessa Donatella]

I never thought Frankie was a psychic. 

[DRW50]

Frankie was new age, but she did have psychic abilities as well. This came into play again in her final episodes, IIRC.

[Mona Kane Croft]

Sorry, I do not.  She was so well known at the time.  She had a deep voice, and was aging.  She died a few years later.  Her name is on the tip of my tongue, but not coming out. Delores, Doris, Phyllis, none of those . . .

 

Just looked it up.  Sylvia Browne -- that's her.   

[DRW50]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Browne#False_predictions

[Contessa Donatella]

Oh, yes, I remember her! Excellent. Very interesting little tidbit. So, was she really giving a reading in the scene?

[Mona Kane Croft]

It was all scripted and fictional on the show, of course. But Sylvia played herself. She made several appearances during that storyline.    

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, that is just clever, the kind of "stunt" shows that soaps should do!

Eddie is a very good, long time friend of mine & I sent him a "settle an argument" email: Frankie: Psychic or not? And, I am willing to abide by his reply!!! Which was, ... yes, but not as much as Lisa. So, I stand corrected! 🫵🫰

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[Mona Kane Croft]

Who was the boy-toy who lived with Millie Marbury in St Tropez, when Iris visited a couple of times in the late '70s?   Wasn't he related to the Matthews family back in Bay City?   All I remember is, he was tall with dark hair. And in every scene, he wore either a Speedo or a towel.    

[Jdee43]

It's amazing how hollowed out the show had become by 1987. The only thing left from the Agnes Nixon years was Ada/ Rachel,  while the only thing left from the Harding Lemay years was Mac/Rachel. 

[Contessa Donatella]

It seems to me that most soaps were very different in the 80s than they had been in the 70s. Like the whole genre & lineup went through stuff from clothes to music to montages to supercouples, although AW didn't do that so much. I think culturally we went through changes & I think pop culture influenced soaps & soaps were themselves a big part of pop culture for once. When I think about the shoulder pads we wore I sorta cringe. Although musical montages became very popular, I think, and I have always enjoyed them.