Another World

[Mona Kane Croft]

Alice lost a baby because of an injury, about 18-months before the scene you described.  After the injury, it was not expressed definitively, but was implied that Alice could not carry a baby to birth. So that was probably the motivation behind Rachel's cruel line of dialogue. And likely also contributed to Alice's willingness to adopt Sally.   

And for God's sake, Jamie was not conceived out of love! Steve could barely stand the sight of Robin Strasser's Rachel.  He saw her as a working-class tramp, who he could screw once, and forget. Too bad Rachel was also Steve's sister-in-law, so she did not go away as easily as he had hoped.   LOL.   

[Contessa Donatella]

I'm glad you said this. I was thinking that Rachel was more an itch that Steve would allow himself to scratch on occasion. Of course, if he had not done so & kept it in his pants he'd have saved himself a world of trouble but there'd have been no soap!

Edited March 28, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
typo

[j swift]

The question then becomes did Rachel delude herself to believe that Steve loved her, or was she just being cruel to Alice during a fight?

I'm inclined to believe that as much as Rachel craved Steve's affection, she was aware of the truth.  Which is why it was easier for her to move on after he died.

Edited March 28, 2024 by j swift

[Contessa Donatella]

Both! Definitely.

[DRW50]

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=966028288221418&set=pb.100044427678547.-2207520000

[Contessa Donatella]

Thank you SO much!

[teplin]

From We Love Soaps:

John Randolph had ended his long-term marriage to Pat (Beverly Penberthy) and wed duplicitous Olive Gordon (Jennifer Leak) in March 1977. At Olive's insistence, the couple began building an elaborate new house designed by slithery architect Evan Webster. Soon Evan and Olive were having a torrid, adulterous affair. The Dec.16-19 shooting took place at the newly-finished house. John was in shock after the event; it was only after Olive arrived home and discovered Evan's body that John realized his wife's deception. Her hysterical reaction ("You killed him!" "Evan..") pushing her husband away in rage & disgust) told John the truth. 

John had a breakdown, became mute and was psychiatrically hospitalized. Eventually, he recovered and was cleared of charges. He and Olive divorced, but she ironically would cause his death in March 1979 (when he became trapped in a fire she set to kill Alice). 

Jennifer Leak was an outstanding (and since unsung) soap villainess in 1977. Long-term AW viewers will remember her doe-eyed act with John and tormenting Alice (by denying Ray a divorce) and blackmailing Molly Ordway to do her bidding ("Do you want to go back to the cows & pigs in Chadwell?") Olive came to Bay City as Raymond Gordon's (Ted Shackelford) estranged wife. The neglectful mother of two sons, Olive enticed her way in to John Randolph's office and life. She drove the final nail into the Randolph marriage by ingratiating herself with John's daughter, Marianne. All niceties stopped on her wedding day to John.

[jam6242]

Jennifer Leak's obituary.

https://www.easthamptonstar.com/obituaries/2024328/jennifer-leak-dauria

[Contessa Donatella]

Bless you! 

[adrnyc]

I loved the Donna Swajeski period. That was "my" Another World. (It began with Margaret de Priest and the Sin Stalker.) I actually thought the show went down in quality with Swajeski stopped writing.

I've gotten the sense from my years on this board that people don't like Swajeski because she was a "scab writer" who wrote during the 1988 strike and then stayed on. That has always fascinated me in that I wonder how people know that she was writing in '88. 

A friend of mine writes for General Hospital, and during this latest strike I asked him who writes the show when it's on strike. This person told me that it gets farmed out to a private business that has writers on staff. So they're just generic people with no connection to the show and no connection to show business necessarily. They may be people who write short stories for magazines and the like. They're just given a breakdown and they write the script. 

But, I'm with you. I adore the entire Swajeski time and all the characters she created. Frankie, Ryan, Grant, Taylor (CRAZY therapist,) and how she wrote for Carmen Duncan's Iris, Matt and Josie, Vicky and Marley...I could go on and on. Easily the best period of the show to rewatch for me.

[Contessa Donatella]

I love & adore Donna Swajeski! Both at AW & later at GL. The thing about her writing AW during the strike & yes technically that made her a scab but she crossed over from the network, where she was a producer, and many many times producers write shows during strikes. 

A friend of mine wrote for AW & also for ATWT. But then he left NY, went back to school, got his PhD & taught soaps & drama at the college level. So, he dropped his WGA membership of course. Then when the next strike came Goutman would FedEx him the outline & he'd FedEx back the next day a week of scripts to Goutman. He picked up some extra change. Goutman had someone very good writing his show, who knew the show. But technically he was a scab. 

Anyone who "crosses the picket line to work" is technically a scab. 

Anyway, so nice to make the acquaintance of another Swajeski fan!!! I'm still mad at NBC for making her so mad that she quit. 

[chrisml]

I wonder how much time they had to craft the finale. Also, many of the people might not have wanted to come back. Since they had Frankie there as a ghost, it feels obvious they were working towards something but it got cut short by the cancellation. 

re: Petronia Paley and Amelia Marshall. It was so wonderful to see them both on The Locher Room, but it again reinforces what I've always said: actors are not reliable when it comes to their characters or what happened while they were on the shows. 

I think 1987-1991 AW was quite good, and I miss it. It wasn't not perfect as I wish the missed opportunities hadn't happened. We've talked about the sin stalker story ad nauseam (and my contention that Maisie and especially Quinn should not have been killed), but the character of Scott baffles me. In rewatching the show, it feels as if there were big plans for his character that just never got plotted (more than just the nature of his parentage). I wonder what kept the different stories from going forward. Ed Fry's Adam was another charming actor/character who didn't do much after they did the retcon on MJ. I think he had more chemistry with Anne Heche than Laurence Lau (who is one of the few actors who does not play well on rewatches).

[Contessa Donatella]

They found out they were canceled on April 12th, 1999, I believe. 

Their last real work day was May 25th, 1999. I know some people were at the studio for several days after that but nothing like the full cast or crew. A friend says he was the last person at the studio & that day was Memorial Day.

So, they had a month & a half. Goutman asked for 2 full months. They said no. I believe he told them they couldn't do it in that amount of time. No idea what they said but they did not relent. They had their eye on PSSN's first day being the Monday after the break for Wimbledon. AW's last air date had to be June 25.

What I didn't see was why they couldn't have been generous & let them work for 2 more weeks! Between last tape day May 25th & last broadcast, or air day, June 25th, wasn't that just lost time?

But perhaps that time was spent getting rid of stuff & moving out of the studio. Wardrobe, sets, props, etc. ATWT was set to move into that studio, so I know there would've been deadlines that I don't know when they were. 

Total and complete agreement about Maisie & Quinn! 

I think that not only did AW waste Ed Fry but then ATWT underused him too. 

[AbcNbc247]

I always wondered why they never introduced Ray and Olive's sons

The rumor I've always heard was that Scott was going to be revealed to be Vicky and Marley's brother and that Donna actually had triplets. But when Anna Stuart left and Philece Sampler was brought on, the storyline got cut because people thought she looked too young to be his mother.

[Contessa Donatella]

I heard that, too, but later I heard that it had only been a rumor & not something that had actually been considered. But, I have zero idea which is true. Supposedly the "clue" on screen was Donna holding 2 pillows & reaching out her hand to get a third one. ???