DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[carolineg]

 

It's kinda sad because Mary was a long running character.  It's a shame she went out like that.  Melinda Fee just looked too old to be Mary and was very unlikable.  And her obsession with Alex/Marie was weird after everything Alex did to her.  Why did you dislike Fee as Mary?

[te.]

The Andersons always have fascinated me because obviously they seemed like such a presence in the 70s, even down to having a large company which would've supposedly kept a lot of Salem's population employed. For them to just go out on a complete whimper is odd. That they never tried to resurrect them was also odd. Maybe someone should tell Ron to throw in a Anderson manufacturing reference lol.

[carolineg]

 

Ron would do that.  Didn't they kill most of the Anderson's off?  Casualties of writing regime changes I guess.  I think if they found a different actress to play Mary she would have lasted longer.  They always could have given her a long lost child, but by 1982 all traces of Anderson Manufacturing were gone.  How would you have resurrected them?  They don't seem like a terribly popular family or anything.

[te.]

I would've (re-)introduced them via Anderson Manufactoring - hell, I just realised that I don't even know what they were manufactoring, but I guess Basic Black, Gabi Chic or any of the various businesses in Salem etc could've had stuff manufactured by them. Whatever that may be in the land of soap opera vagueness (not saying I necessarily want them to revive the Anderson family, but with returns being popular...).

[carolineg]

 

Didn't Chris have a patent for something that was super important for Anderson?  I thought it was more of an engineering/technology manufacturing company not textiles lol, but I am sure that could easily be changed.  Who would you bring back?  Melissa?  Who would run Anderson?  Some long lost Bob Anderson kid/grand kid?  It's so obscure that I don't think anyone would care, but it could be a nice nod to the past.

[AbcNbc247]

What ever happened to Anderson? Did the company just suddenly stop being mentioned or did Stefano or somebody get their hands on it?

He developed a solar generator

[carolineg]

Lol.  Thanks.  I knew it was technology based.  How did Chris become a lawyer then?  Didn't he own Shenanigans too?

[AbcNbc247]

Now that I think about it, I have no idea lol I'll have to go back and look. And yeah, he did own Shenanigans, I guess, after Anderson was phased out

[victoria foxton]

Would love to see those episodes. Don't like MF Mary either. I like BS Mary more.

[j swift]

At first Anderson seemed to be a construction firm, but then it morphed into a manufacturing industry.

 

Kellam Chandler,  (Liz's father, Marlena's rapist), took over the company after Bob's death when Mary struggled to maintain the company with Chris from the intrusion of her stepmother.  Chris developed a solar energy thing-a-ma-jig, Kellam tried to steal it.  Chris stole it back.  I think Chris was always a lawyer, but he was more interested in entrepreneurship, like owning the gym and later Shenanigans.

 

Kellam was backing Don's political career in order to get him out of town and leave Marlena vulnerable.  Soon afterward he was shot by his son Todd.  Presumably,  Todd and Liz inherited the company.  Given Todd's drug addiction and Liz's singing career neither was interested in running the company.  Not to mention that the terrible head writer of that story was fired.

 

However, given the takeover, Bob's family inherited the profits from the sale of Anderson, (which is why Alex tried to marry Mary), but they no longer owned the plant.  Mary's death at the hands of the Salem strangler ended that line of inheritance, with the exception of Melissa.  So, it would seem that there is not much left of the company to be brought back.

 

The real shame is loss of Bob Anderson's house set.  It was mid century perfection.  Micky lived there for a while while raising Melissa.  Then the set went unused.  But, I still recall that cantilevered staircase and the horizontal wood paneling.  So cool!

Edited March 30, 2021 by j swift

[DRW50]

I find Melinda Fee's take on Mary violently offputting. I can't imagine what actual viewers felt at the time. It's a world away from the more thoughtful take on Mary I've seen with Barbara Stanger. It's like Brenda Dickson circa 1987 was put in the role.

[jam6242]

Hated Melinda Fee.  I wasn't a big Mary fan in the first place but Melinda's version was awful.  Very one-note.  So I wasn't sad when she was murdered.  Karin Wolfe was actually my favorite Mary.

[Titus Andronicus]

I want to say I heard later references to Anderson. It was possibly during Roman on the run in 1983-84. Or maybe Jennifer holed up there as a runaway. My memory may also be totally off.

[Bright Eyes]

 

Alex Marshall burned Anderson down in '87 and his exit story was being arrested for it. I think.

[Franko]

Quick rundown of what happened to Anderson Manufacturing, courtesy of Tune in Tomorrow (and @JAS0N47's site):

 

April 1982:

Linda told Alex she wouldn't let the DiMeras get Melissa's share of Anderson Manufacturing.

Phyllis considered selling her share of Anderson Manufacturing to Stefano.

 

May 1982:

Stefano bought Phyllis' half of Anderson Manufacturing.

 

June 1982:

Mickey introduced Melissa to Tony, her Anderson Mfg. partner.

To keep tabs on Melissa's interests, Chris took a plant manager job at Anderson Mfg.

 

October 1983:

Alex bought up Anderson Manufacturing stock.

With help from lady executive Kate, Alex tricked Tony into selling Anderson Manufacturing.

 

May 1984:

Max made an offer to buy Alex's shares of Anderson Mfg.

 

December 1984:

Linda and Alex paid Speed's father, Paul, who blew up Anderson Manufacturing.

 

March 1985:

Under the threat of arrest, Alex stopped an insurance claim he had made after Anderson Manufacturing burned down.

 

April 1985:

Alex hired Speed, who had tried to blackmail Linda over the torching of Anderson Manufacturing.

 

As for Alex, 

July 1987:

Anjelica tricked Alex into investing in a bad real estate deal that later caused him to lose everything he owns.

Alex was sent off to jail after he set his hotel on fire in hopes of collecting the insurance money.

 

Talking about Chris becoming a lawyer reminds me of the supposed Calliope line, "Chris is a great lawyer. We've never seen him in court, but he's great."

 

June 1985:

Ivy's skeptical that Pete's share of Chris' new disco, Jump, is going to make Pete rich.

December 1985:

Chris sold Shenanigans to Pete and Tod, who's out of jail.

May 1986:

Chris passed his bar exams.

January 1987:

Chris is intrigued by lady district attorney, Leslie Landman.

March 1987:

Leslie and Chris talked about becoming partners in a law firm.

 

Sorry for the info. dump, but hopefully that answered a few questions.