Another World

[Darn]

Sylvia Browne was a charlatan, like all psychics.

I'd love to know why this show kept throwing story after story at Jensen Buchanan's Vicky when according to the ratings she didn't move the needle. It's weird that they never did a real radical change to the show given it stayed at the bottom of the ratings for so long, other soaps fluctuated at two positions or more at least but AW stayed in the basement.

[Contessa Donatella]

Not only story but perks, perks that it was questionable whether the show could afford. It was very strange. Jensen did not want to come back. She wanted to stay at home with her very young children, a desire many woman have at one point, but most can't afford it but she could. And, she could have gotten back into soap work later. Meanwhile Ellen Wheeler was available & interested in coming back as Vicky/Marley. But, someone was just intent that they HAD to have JB. I never understood it myself. 

[Xanthe]

To each their own. I had never been able to warm up to Sandra Ferguson and didn't feel like her Amanda was a fully fleshed-out character. Her flaws seemed plot-contrived rather than character-based.

I didn't buy the theoretical class conflict when the rich debutante fell in love with the struggling artist and I thought Robert Kelker Kelly did the heavy emotional lifting in their scenes. 

Christine Tucci was a stronger actress and I felt like I could understand her motivations day to day.

[Contessa Donatella]

From Another World Memories on #SoapTwitter

On 2-21-1985 Richard Steen played his last day as Ben McKinnon. 

Now, I'm just using this to jump off, ... why did they get rid of Ben McKinnon? I thought he was a perfectly useful young adult, good enough actor, good looks, great family, ... I never understood. Was it either/or where we could have Jake OR Ben but not both?

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[AbcNbc247]

They tried.

A new writer and new producer were brought on in 1986, and they sent literally half the cast packing and brought new characters in. But unfortunately, it didn’t do much for the ratings 

[Melroser]

I agree with the 1986 transition as trying.

Also, they tried with JFP. The revamped opening/sets. She cut out older characters and went with the younger set like Maggie/Nick/Sofia. I didn't like much of anything that she did. Starting with Frankie's death, Bridget's death, the seemingly sudden John/Felicia pairing, the Joe/Paulina pairing instead of Paulina/Jake. 

I think it was an attempt to change. An ill-fated one, but an attempt. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, we believe that they told her specifically, go younger & cut the size of the cast, it's too big. And, I'm sure they told her more but the set was her doing, I believe. She stated that she didn't understand who people were or where they were. So, she conceived of 4 locales - cop shop, hospital, newspaper & Carlino's Restaurant & made a block of them & spent a million dollars on it & then it drastically changed the writing because most stories had to take place in one of those locales. The studio had very little  room & the show probably didn't have the money that was spent on it. It was like everything she did had a cascade effect from it. Early on she fired 3 people & one of them was Christine Tucci & Paul Michael Valley was her fella & it made him mad so he quit & she said if he was gonna quit she would just kill off the character, and so forth & so on. Her whole tenure it was as if she'd do one thing & it would have 4 results. I believe she ended up firing 11 people. And, Anna Holbrook & Charles Keating both got Emmies but were both fired after they won them. When going by history & story Paulina should have been with Jake, well, they needed to justify the restaurant being important, ... oops. But, this was at a time when just about anytime a new exec was hired, they'd be given a mandate for change. But, change just for the sake of change is rather random, as opposed to change that was to solve some specific problem. 

 

[chrisml]

I rewatched some of the 1987 episodes, and I was reminded how much I enjoyed them. I've said it before, but I think 1987 AW was quite good (even if some of the storylines did not not pan out for various reasons). IT had its faults, but it was going in the right direction. I applaud the show for trying to do something with Dawn, but it's the one false note in the scenes because it felt more like a message than an actual storyline. Even now, I resent her screen time.

As for changes, I don't know if those ever work when it's done in a drastic way. As a viewer, I loathe when an EP comes in and changes everything. I think a lot of viewers want consistency and comfort. They want to know that when they turn into their show that they are going to get the characters they love. The constant changes drive viewers away. I drifted away from AW in 1988 because of the immense changes because the new EP would inevitable get rid of the characters I cared most about. I came back but that pattern would repeat itself until Frankie's death when I just gave up AW and kept up via soap summaries.

[Contessa Donatella]

Well said. 

[BetterForgotten]

It goes back to P&G and NBC hiring mid or downright disastrous HW’s and EP’s for this show for most of the post-Lemay years. 

P&G made plenty of mistakes with ATWT and GL as well, but there was at least a sense they were invested in those shows and would try to salvage them (often in failure). After Allen Potter, they seemed to just hire bottom of the barrel talent to steer AW. AW desperately needed a Marland or Curlee level talent, but P&G/NBC insisted on a rotating roaster of people with shoddy track records. 

[Melroser]

If AW had made it to 2000 when Hogan Sheffer was brought in by P&G, I wonder if he would have been interested in AW. Didn't he get the option to pick between the P&G shows, ATWT and GL at the time? I wonder if he could have gained some traction if given the chance for AW.

All the what-ifs...

I have never been an ATWT viewer. I thought he was fairly well received at ATWT. 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, MADD & Goutman kind of scouted Sheffer & then kinda recruited him & MADD just thought she'd offer him the option, pick one. He picked ATWT even though he said none of the men seemed to have their manhood intact, or something like that. That's a polite paraphrase. Many people call Hogie's time at ATWT a Renaissance. 

[BetterForgotten]

Sheffer’s ATWT was mostly smoke and mirrors - unfortunately, the soap press never saw beyond the Emmy’s and the damage he had done and would take to other shows later on.  Sheffer said he picked ATWT over GL because he found ATWT the more “boring” of the two and yeah, he felt he could give the male characters their “dicks” back.

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Edited February 21, 2023 by BetterForgotten

[Contessa Donatella]

This past weekend was the BAFTAs & in their In Memorium Anne Heche & Ray Liotta are included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpxv4dRJcmE

[victoria foxton]

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An interview with Petronia Paley.