Another World

[DRW50]

AW seemed to already be doing that anyway, so she may have been successful, but I am not actually sure I'd say her run at ATWT was better than AW in that period, it's just AW was in a worse position than ATWT. 

AW did make some questionable hirings and firings in 1985, so if she had not made those (like the waste of Jacquie Courtney, casting Taylor Miller as Sally, the exits of Ben and Perry, etc.) then it would have been an improvement. 

They should have realized Nancy wasn't likely to return for long anyway. The way they behaved toward Laura (allegedly) has put me off ever since I read about it here a few years ago, but clearly this was a decision many were involved with.

If only they'd had a Gloria Monty-type producer who would have just recast Sandy if Rich got too big for his boots. While Rich carved out a good career playing goofs on sitcoms, nothing I've seen of his AW work is that special.

That's shameful, especially for Clarice, who'd been on the show a decade. I wonder where they said Clarice and Larry were living when they made brief returns in '89 and '93.

@watson71 Thanks for the newspaper article. The bit about Robert Sedgwick caught my eye (looking up his photo he looks a lot like Kyra). He has an autobiography. I wonder if he wrote about AW in it.

Bob Sedgwick, brother of Kyra, dishonored family as 'drug kingpin' (nypost.com)

Edited August 18, 2024 by DRW50

[Mona Kane Croft]

Didn't Nancy McGowan date a rich blonde preppy character played by Kyra Sedgwick's brother?  Was this drug dealer the same guy?  It sure looks like the same guy OMG!

And if I'm not mistaken, Kyra's father was also a well known soap opera director or producer.  Wasn't his name also Bob Sedgwick?   

[DRW50]

That was him, I think, yes. 

Her father was a venture capitalist. 

[watson71]

 

Allen Potter had gotten the show into shape in 1983-84, but Stephen Schenkel dismantled most of it in 1985.  The only characters introduced with any longevity were Jake, Vicky, and Bridget.  

The following characters were introduced but did not stay in Bay City long- Chris Chapin, Neal Cory, Dee Evans, Daniel Gabriel, Edward Gerard, Daphne Grimaldi, and Zane Lindquist.

The introduction of Sharon Gabet was all over the place when Brittney Peterson arrived in Bay City.  Things were not helped when they recast Sally with Taylor Miller.

After John Hutton left the role of Peter Love, the role was recast twice in 1985 with Christopher Holder and Marcus Smythe.

The character of Carl Hutchins was not shown on a consistent basis in 1985.  When he did return in the Fall, Carl was involved in that crazy Egyptian treasure storyline that was hidden in Arizona.

These long term AW characters exited Bay City with little fanfare in 1985- Brian Bancroft, Sandy and recast Blaine Cory, Jamie Frame, Alice Matthews, Perry Hutchins, Grant Todd, Ben and Vince McKinnon, and Mark Singleton.

 

[DRW50]

Thanks for the memory jog. Some real mistakes there, although I know Brian was likely for health reasons.

I'd forgotten about how he bungled Sharon Gabet. 

New characters did seem to be a big problem in this timeframe - of those listed I think Zane and Chris could have worked if they'd stayed on, but that might be generous. I like what I've seen of Dee but she would never have lasted. Neal just seems ill-conceived.

[Xanthe]

They put a lot of effort into setting up a whole Chapin backstory with a local Chapin Estate (which became the headquarters of Le Soleil USA) and some kind of criminal/business association between Chris' father, Carl, and Donna's father. Daphne Grimaldi had been Chris' father's very young mistress and in 1985 was involved with Edward Gerard's son Albert who was running Le Soleil under the name Michaud Christophe. 

Edward Gerard had his own backstory as the great love of Felicia’s life and the one who had changed her name from Fanny Grady. Michaud became obsessed with Sally, hired her as a spokesmodel, and then suddenly left town, leaving Daniel Gabriel to pick up where he left off trying to break up Sally and Catlin.

It was just so bizarre that all of these strangers descended on Bay City at once and also had such deep connections even though they had never been heard of before and were also so quickly wiped out never to be relevant again.

 

 

[Xanthe]

Nancy never dated Hunter Bradshaw. Her preppy boyfriend was Greg Houston played by Chris Cousins. Chris Chapin [Don Scardino] and Tony Carlisle [John H Brennan] were both blond. 

Hunter Bradshaw was the one that Donna tried to get Marley to date. Hunt was racist toward Thomasina and I think it was Nancy who tricked him into believing the Halloween party was a costume party. He got drunk and got into a car accident with Marley.

 

[Mona Kane Croft]

The problem with Brittney was her role as an antagonist to the Sally/Catlin romance.  Brittney was introduced as deaf, and in the 1980s deafness was considered a disability. So nobody wanted to watch a disabled character be the bad-girl (or bad-guy). The entire situation was just off-putting to the fans. "Are we supposed to hate this deaf girl?"  "Are we supposed to hate this disabled woman?"  As I said, it was just off-putting and awkward.    

Sharon Gabet was a wonderful actor and potentially a great addition to AW.  But the character of Brittney was poorly conceived.   In the 1980s, the audience simply could not accept a deaf character as a villain.    And Sharon Gabet was terribly miscast.  

Edited August 18, 2024 by Mona Kane Croft

[DRW50]

I wonder if any also had bad deja vu from GL having a deaf antagonist a few years earlier (well, fake deaf).

@Xanthe As someone who hasn't watched a ton of that period and finds some details exhausting, I appreciate the detailed info.

[Jdee43]

For me, Laura Malone was one of the main reasons to watch the mostly boring Another World episodes from 1980 and 1981 that were posted years ago on the AOL soap channel. She was such a spitfire; she brought so much life and energy! Sad that her run on the show ended the way it did -- apparently stabbed in the back by co-stars and producers who had no appreciation of what she had brought to the show for so many years.

Edited August 18, 2024 by Jdee43

[NothinButAttitude]

Don't know if this has been posted: 

 

[DRW50]

I hadn't heard. A shame. He was very good as Lucas - the part wouldn't have worked without his charm or his chemistry with Linda Dano. Linda's lost so many people. I hope she is doing OK right now.

[NothinButAttitude]

I thinking of her and Alicia tonight as I know they three of them were extremely close. 

[DRW50]

Oh yes. Poor Alicia too.

I am not sure how that story would have played out if not for how terrific Linda, John and Alicia were together. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Very true. Those three were so intense but so good. You bought them as a family. I remember Alicia saying that it was hard for her to film Lucas' death scenes as her own father had recently passed when doing those scenes. 

Again, I hope she, Linda, and Alla are doing well during this time.