Classic Soaps (I'm Still) Watching Another World

[Daniel Avery]

The early-1980s up to about 1987 are spotty, since home video recorders were still not widely available. When SoapNet aired reruns of the series, they picked up at some time in 1987. This allowed more of that period to end up available for youtube and other places. When SN dropped it, they had been rerunning mid-1993 episodes. If you don't mind watching 'stray episodes' (not binge-watching continuous episodes) there is a lot more available to see, as are some 'fan cuts' where fans of certain characters or stories would edit together scenes from several episodes that only feature that character or storyline. You won't find much of anything prior to 1980, likely partial episodes or audio....but that's the case for most soaps.

 

[Jason73]

The very suggestion of Vince (who becomes this gruff, shouty, overprotective father)

The gruff shouty guy is who I remember mostly. I know there is another Vince between this one and that one and I know I watched when he was on but I can't really remember him.

Am I to assume that Carl is behind Sally's brainwashing/gun play?

I think it's Carl. The episodes for 1984 are so sparse that it's been tricky to figure out exactly what's going on. There's a psychologist who has been hypnotizing Sally and there is this creepy guy who was involved with Cecile's disappearance and Clarice's car explosion and is currently threatening Rachel; but I think they are all connected to Carl. And I think it's all leading to Majorca.

I love the interplay between Carl and Donna, whether he's trying to kill her or get her back into his bed--or whether she is running a con on him to get information. You just never knew what their scenes would end up being.

I've loved the few scenes that I've seen with them but there hasn't been a lot of Carl in the available 1984 eps.

I did tell you that Charles Keating and his wife introduced Anna Stuart to her current husband, James Cromwell, didn't I?

Would it have been around the time that I'm watching that he introduced them, I wonder?

I would love to be taken away to another world. I must look up these episodes. Are they all on YouTube?

There's quite a bit of Another World on youtube. There are a handful of 60's and 70's episodes. And quite a lot of early 80's and late 80's stuff. The mid 80's isn't as well represented but there's enough to make it enjoyable to watch. There are playlists by year if you search on Youtube.

I love that one, but I'm partial to this one because it was the theme when I first started watching.

And I love the bumpers. They seem so quaint now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCaaOT-d3Hw

 

[Jason73]

The early-1980s up to about 1987 are spotty, since home video recorders were still not widely available.

80 and 81 are there almost in their entirety because people have been uploading the AOL episodes, I think. After that it's spotty until 87.

 

[rlr718]

Jason - I will have to look them up. Thank you. I still miss aw I have the final episode to watch on my YouTube because to this day I have not seen it. My vcr decided that day it was not going to record. It too was in denial about aw ending.

 

[Jason73]

I've finally made it to the Majorca episodes! Naturally they are November sweeps episodes. These are episodes I've always wanted to see. I wish they were more complete but I'll take what I can get. Cass, Kathleen, Catlan, Sally, Cecile and the creepy guy are all there. It's an exciting pay off. Everyone has been searching for Cecile for months and she's finally here in the flesh--to wrap up Nancy Frangione's time as Cecile (for now). It's a big climax for Catlan and Sally's story as they get to have some exciting escapades running through the streets of Majorca and romantic moments too.. It's also the beginning of Cass and Kathleen. And it's all playing out with the beautiful Majorca scenery as a backdrop. Man, I miss the days of lavish soap location shoots.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Would it have been around the time that I'm watching that he introduced them, I wonder?

Oh, no...Stuart and Cromwell married in 2014 (at Keating's home!). I think they only started dating in the 2010's, since she had been in a long-standing relationship with some actor whose name I forget (!) for most of the 1990s. AFAIK, this is the only time she's been married.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or worried:

Anne Heche and Jesse Metcalfe Join Dancing with the Stars' 29th Season

Anne Heche (ex-Marley/Vicky, Another World) and Jesse Metcalfe (ex-Miguel, Passions) are gearing up to face off against each other in the upcoming season of

daytimeconfidential.com

Could they stage a scene where Vicky dances with Marley? "Cause she could do it. On Live TV, too.

 

[Jason73]

Halfway through the season they should replace her with Jensen Buchanan.

 

[Daniel Avery]

She could dance to "Jailhouse Rock".

 

[Jason73]

One thing that I've really enjoyed about 1984 is how two big umbrella storylines have pulled in most of the cast--the murder of David Thatcher and Cecile's scheming and disappearance. Donna ends up being arrested and locked up for David's murder right about the time that Cass and Kathleen and Catlan and Sally left for Majorca. Not long after, it's revealed that Peter's girlfriend, Nurse Emily is the actual killer.

In Majorca, Cecile finally turns up just as Sally and Kathleen are kidnapped. Cecile helps Cass resuce Kathleen but not Sally. After months of Kathleen assisting Cass in his search for Cecile which included Kathleen dressing up as Cecile multiple times, it was fun to see the two of them finally meet for the first time.

The crazy nurse shows up in Majorca after being fingered as David's killer by Alice's boyfriend Mark, who Emily tried killing too. Emily is determined to kill Cass. (I'm not really sure why.) It's exciting to see the two major stories converge in Majorca. Cass figures out that Emily is David's killer. Emily reveals David figured out she was involved in a baby selling scheme so she shot him. Over the course of the mystery, Sally, Catlan and Donna were all accused of the crime. Emily poisons Cecile, Kathleen and Cass. Catlan and Cass manages to subdue Emily and then Catlan rushes off to the castle where the Creepy Guy is about to escape in a helicopter with Sally. Meanwhile Cass has to rush Cecile and Kathleen to a hospital hoping to counteract their poisoning. Catlan makes it to the castle in time to rescue Sally and ends up in a sword fight with the Creepy Guy. With Sally's help, the Creepy guy ends up tumbling over the side of the castle tower. Catlan catches him just in time. The Creepy guy pulls himself out of Catlan's grasp and plummets to his death rather than admit who is behind everything. (Carl, of course)

The final little bit of Majorca is something I've wanted to see for a long time -- Cecile's exit, which is epic and amazing as she sails out of Cass' life and breaks his heart, with Kathleen standing by his side ready to pick up the pieces. Cecile's goodbye (for now) starts at 4:07, but the entire video is worth a watch if you've never seen it as it shows Kathleen and Cecile's first meeting too.

I'm glad I got to see so much of the Majorca story. I've just a handful of December episodes and then I'll be onto 1985. I think the show tries replicating the success of 1984 with a big umbrella story culminating in a location shoot--only in 85 it's the silly amphora dust story that culminates in Arizona or Montana or something. I remember watching bits of that back in the day. I don't have high hopes for 85, but I'm curious about it. I think that's when I really started watching regularly as a kid.

 

[Jason73]

Also, while Cass has been off in Majorca, Felicia and Wallingford have been dealing with Tony the Tuna. Wallingford just got beat up by Tony's thug as a warning to Cass. I guess Crystal Lake is coming soon, but I don't think there's much if any of that on Youtube. I've enjoyed the scenes of Lily, Felicia and Wallingford. They've been quite funny. It's a shame Jackee left. I'm assuming it was her choice to leave--to do 227?

 

[Jason73]

only in 85 it's the silly amphora dust story that culminates in Arizona

Scrolling through the 85 episodes, I think I have this backwards. I think maybe the dust storyline kicks off after the Arizona location shoot.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The amphora dust story (a little before I started watching) always sounded like the very worst attempt at copying General Hospital's sci-fi storytelling of that period. Unfortunately Jordan Stark managed to show up at the very last minute to knock that amphora right off its pedestal.

I recall Emily ended up pregnant (with Peter's baby) but Carl killed her anyway!

The Arizona story happened before the amphora dust thing--Nancy (now in Arizona) sent Mac that amphora as a gift. Hey, with friends like these...

 

[Jason73]

When does the powder blue sitting room at the Love mansion go away? I don't recall it being there in the later 80's. Did it just stop being used or did they incorporate an on-screen remodel of the mansion into the show? I feel like the Love mansion set ends up looking more like the Corey mansion set, but I can't remember for sure . . .

 

[Daniel Avery]

Reginald had the place remodeled (or at least that was the excuse to update the set) after he returned from the dead and assumed his role as patriarch of the family. In typical Reg fashion, he just barged in and staked claim even though it was technically Donna and Peter's house. I think it was prior to the Halloween costume party and the skeet-shooting event on the estate (where they did some gorgeous remotes at a huge mansion that stood in for the exteriors of the Love mansion).

However, when they flashed back to the night Reginald killed Elizabeth (with Anne Howard playing Elizabeth), they played it out on the then-current Love mansion set rather than recreate the pre-remodel set (I know, I'm probably the only one who noticed).

With all the talk of the poison amphora dust, I was also reminded of a ret-con involving rotten ol' Reggie. In the midst of the amphora story, they do some exposition where Carl says that Reginald (who had been on the treasure-hunt with him) had been the first person exposed to the dust, and that he had "died screaming in agony". I've only heard it described by others who saw it; I would love to see the actual scene, if not just to laugh at how the show later ret-conned the cause of his death, and then retconned that he never died at all.

I loved the Cory library set, which was used much more in the late-1980s, but only seen a few times after Mac died. To a kid living in a one-story ranch house, that spiral staircase fascinated me to no end. I do recall Vicky Wyndham joking about the furniture, though, saying the sofas were full of holes and loose springs...and one of the leather chairs smelled like somebody died in it.

 

[Jason73]

Now that Majorca is over, Carl has really moved front and center as the show's villain. He's been busy tormenting Donna, Marley, Perry, Mac and Rachel. He's figured out that Sandy has been pretending to be loyal to him and has poisoned him. He's also involved in a very boring horse fraud storyline.

Donna is falling to pieces as the truth about Marley comes closer and closer to coming out. Carl just revealed to Donna that he knows Marley is her daughter and Donna came unglued.

Also, these December 84 episodes have featured a bit of Krystal Lake, which is stuff I've never seen before. It's VERY Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie.

In the midst of the amphora story, they do some exposition where Carl says that Reginald (who had been on the treasure-hunt with him) had been the first person exposed to the dust, and that he had "died screaming in agony". I've only heard it described by others who saw it; I would love to see the actual scene, if not just to laugh at how the show later ret-conned the cause of his death, and then retconned that he never died at all.

I was scrolling through my 1985 playlist and there seems to be quite a bit of Carl stuff that's been preserved on Youtube from that year. If I come across that scene I'll post it here. I've got 4 1984 episodes left.

 

[Daniel Avery]

When Carl announced that he knew Donna's secret about Marley, was this how they revealed the secret to the audience, or had they already revealed it via Donna's squirrel-y behavior about the secret room? Or did they go the more un-original route of having her talking about it to herself while staring at a framed photo of Ellen Wheeler?

I wished so often in the later years of the series that the writers would have re-explored their relationship. Stuart and Keating are so well-matched, and a love triangle (or even just the hint of one) between Carl, Rachel and Donna would have been a much better use of the three actors than some of what eventually happened. Carl had so many secrets (or so much potential for secrets in his past) and Donna knew him during that off-screen period.

 

[Jason73]

When Carl announced that he knew Donna's secret about Marley, was this how they revealed the secret to the audience, or had they already revealed it via Donna's squirrel-y behavior about the secret room? Or did they go the more un-original route of having her talking about it to herself while staring at a framed photo of Ellen Wheeler?

Because of how spread out the available episodes are, I've really had to work to figure out if the audience knows or not. Donna's been a huge mess. She keeps going into the secret room and she's been talking cryptically to Peter, Sally, and a Raggedy Anne doll (rather than a framed photo of Ellen Wheeler). It's been made pretty obvious that the secret, whatever it is, is about Marley. For me, the first time the words were ever spoken out loud were last night by Carl, so it sort of feels like this was when the audience found out. The episode ended with Carl making that announcement--freeze frame on Donna's stricken face. I'm not sure if my next episode is the one that directly follows or if it skips ahead. I'll find out in a few minutes.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Maybe the Raggedy Anne doll was left over from the Alma Rudder/Blaine story.

I'd always assumed that Peter and Nicole never knew Donna's secret, that Reginald had forced his wife to lie to everyone (including Peter and Nicole) about being pregnant before "she and Donna took off for Europe". In reality, of course, Elizabeth did go overseas, but Donna was kept in the Secret Room, and after Donna gave birth Reginald had Elizabeth return to pass Marley off as the baby she gave birth to while in Europe, and forced Donna to keep the whole thing a secret (and I assume pretend to one and all that she had been off in Europe with her mother the entire time).

 

[Jason73]

Maybe the Raggedy Anne doll was left over from the Alma Rudder/Blaine story.

That's exactly where my mind went too!

I'd always assumed that Peter and Nicole never knew Donna's secret, that Reginald had forced his wife to lie to everyone (including Peter and Nicole) about being pregnant before "she and Donna took off for Europe".

I honestly couldn't work out if Peter knew the specifics or if he just knew there was some sort of secret about Marley. It was while Donna was in jail for David's murder and they were talking obliquely about the secret room and it was hard to tell what Peter knew.

I'm moving on to 1985 tonight--the year of Carl stepping up his bad guy game, the Donna is Marley's mother reveal, and Vicki and Jake! We'll see how much of all of that is actually available to watch.