Classic Soaps (I'm Still) Watching Another World

[Canon]

Russell Todd on Instagram: "Truly such a wonderful day at the “Another World” 60th reunion fan luncheon in Tarrytown, NY. It was terrific to meet so many fans of the show but also heartwarming and nostalgic to be reunited with fellow castmates Cali T

358 likes, 33 comments - russelltoddla on May 4, 2024: "Truly such a wonderful day at the “Another World” 60th reunion fan luncheon in Tarrytown, NY. It was terrific to meet so many fans of the show but also heartwarming and nostalgic to be reunited with fellow castmates Cali Timmons, Paul...

www.instagram.com

 

[Daniel Avery]

I never would have recognized Cali Timmins from this photo, but it's nice to see her again. And you really can't blame me for mistaking Nadine S for Amy Carlson.

Lewis Arlt not only played Ken Jordan, but in the early 1980s played David Thatcher, the ill-fated father to Sally's son Kevin. Arlt also wrote for the show for many years. Ariana Munker played Marianne Randolph, I believe. And Geoff Peterson had a role on AW in the early 1990s, a record producer but I can't recall his character's name.

RT mentioned Julie Osborn (who played Kathleen), and if I had to attach that name to a person in the big photo, she would most likely be the woman in the front in the blue, flowing top (seen in profile).

 

[Canon]

RT mentioned Julie Osborn (who played Kathleen), and if I had to attach that name to a person in the big photo, she would most likely be the woman in the front in the blue, flowing top (seen in profile).

Yes! I think you're right.

Full list of those who were due to attend:

Actors:

Judith Barcroft Washam (Lenore Moore 1966-1971)

Jordan Charney (Sam Lucas 1967-1974)

Barbara Rodell (Lee Randolph 1968-1969)

Leonie Norton (Cindy Clark 1970-1972)

Gail Brown (Clarice Hobson Ewing 1975-1986, 1989, 1993)

Ariana Muenker (Marianne Randolph 1975-1977)

Susan Keith (Cecile DePoulignac 1979-1981)

Christopher Marcantel (Pete Shea 1981-1982)

Anita Gillette (Loretta Shea 1982)

Linda Dano (Felicia Gallant 1983-1999)

Anna Stuart (Donna Love 1983-1986, 1989-1999)

Lewis Arlt (David Thatcher 1983-1984, Ken Jordan 1990-1991, Scriptwriter)

Sofia Landon Geier (Jennifer Thatcher 1983, Donna Love 1990-1991, 1993, Scriptwriter 1992-1999)

Julie Osburn (Kathleen McKinnon Winthrop 1984-1986, 1989, 1991, 1993)

Kale Browne (Michael Hudson 1986-1992, 1993, 1995-1998)

Anna Holbrook (Sharlene Frame 1988-1991, 1993-1997, 1999)

Alice Barrett (Frankie Frame 1989-1996, 1999, Ann O’Donnell 1999)

Laurence Lau (Jamie Frame 1986-1990)

Anne Marie Howard (Nicole Love 1987-1989)

James Kiberd (Dustin Trent 1989)

Ricky Paull Goldin (Dean Frame 1990-1993, 1994-1995, 1998)

Russell Todd (Jamie Frame 1990-1993)

Cali Timmins Pierson (Paulina Cory 1990-1991)

Paul Michael Valley (Ryan Harrison 1990-1995, 1996-1997)

Geoffrey Pierson (Roger Jackson 1992-1993)

Diego Serrano (Tomas Rivera 1994-1997)

Joseph Barbara (Joe Carlino 1995-1999)

Stina Nielsen (Dr. Courtney Evans 1995-1996)

Marcia McCabe (Bunny Eberhardt 1995)

Bridget White (Blair Baker 1996)

Michael Rodrick (Cameron Sinclair 1998-1999)

Nadine Stenovitch (Josie Watts Sinclair 1998-1999)

Crew:

Janet Andrews Molicki (Production Coordinator 1983-1986, Production Assistant 1986-1990, Associate Director 1990-1999)

Michele DeVito (Assistant to the Executive Producers 1985-1999)

Cindy Flood Jacobsen (Stage Manager 1987-1997)

Meg Beliveau (Producer 1987-1995)

Susan Strickler (Producer: 1987–1991, Director 1991–1993)

Janet Iacobuzio (Scriptwriter 1989-1992, Associate Head Writer 1994-1995)

Steven Bergman (Set Photographer 1990-1999)

Chris Reilly (Stage Manager/Associate Director 1991-1998)

Jim Semmelman (Stage Manager 1996-1999)

Christopher Goutman (Executive Producer 1998-1999)

Family Members:

David & Honor Heath, representing their Mother, Liza Chapman (Janet Matthews)

Elizabeth Penberthy, representing her Mother, Beverly Penberthy (Pat Randolph)

Alice Ulm & Darcy Kaye, representing their Mother and Grandmother, Audra Lindley (Liz Matthews)

Taylor Watson Seupel, representing his Grandfather. Douglass Watson)

 

[Daniel Avery]

Silly me...I thought Gail Brown was no longer with us, when in fact I remember it was her sister Karen Black who died. So Gail Brown would most likely be the woman with curly blond hair, half-obscured by a woman standing in front of her (near Ricky Paull Goldin).

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that's Diego Serrano in the pink/peach blazer.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I wasn't sure if I ought to post this in the AW thread or in the Dallas forum. Ultimately I decided to claim Dack Rambo as our own.
'Dallas' star Dack Rambo’s 'deathbed interview' was author’s biggest regret: 'Moral bankruptcy' (msn.com)

His Grant was more of a John Kennedy-esque lothario/politician, flaky but likeable. After the Mark Pinter recast, Grant went full-tilt villain and it seemed totally incomprehensible that Paulina or Sharlene had fallen in love with him. Granted, Sharlene was having some mental health problems, but still...

 

[Jason73]

The anonymous caller who disclosed his condition at the hospital and even his room number is disgusting. How do people live with themselves? Sheree Wilson's statement was lovely. I haven't watched those years of Dallas since they originally aired and didn't remember those two characters overlapped.

His Grant was more of a John Kennedy-esque lothario/politician, flaky but likeable. After the Mark Pinter recast, Grant went full-tilt villain and it seemed totally incomprehensible that Paulina or Sharlene had fallen in love with him. Granted, Sharlene was having some mental health problems, but still...

I liked Dack's more nuanced version of Grant a lot. It took me a while to warm up to Pinter's version. I don't see them going the full on villain route with Grant if Dack had stayed on. I actually liked him with Sharlene more than I liked her with John sometimes but then I was never a big John fan.

Wasn't one of the pictures in that article actually Casey Stevens and not Dack?

Thank you for posting it here @Daniel Avery . I never would have seen it in the Dallas forum.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Wasn't one of the pictures in that article actually Casey Stevens and not Dack?

Another reason I did not post it to the Dallas forum. The entire conversation would have been "That's not DR in that photo! How could they make such a mistake?" and no one would even speak of anything else.

 

[tommie]

I have no idea what I literally just watched:

 

[Daniel Avery]

That was pretty bad! From the faces in the crowd, this was produced in the final year the show was on the air. They were probably so desperate to keep the show from getting axed that they would green-light just about anything to "help" promote the show. Spoiler alert: that would NOT help.

 

[Jason73]

I can't remember if I had seen this commercial before and if it has ever been posted here, but when I saw it on Instagram today, it felt like a clip I hadn't seen before.

I'm definitely not going to mention for the one thousandth time how sad it makes me that I'll never get to watch this era.

 

[Jason73]

Another World B 1970s in Chronological Order

Welcome to my online collection of "Another World." There are approximately 1,868 total videos in this soapy anthology, which starts with A and goes to U. Th...

www.youtube.com

I thought I had watched pretty much everything on Youtube regarding AW a few years ago when I watched everything I could find in chronological order. This playlist contains a run of clips I hadn't seen before. It all revolves around the dissolution of Mac and Rachel's marriage and their battle over Amanda. Iris, Jamie, Blaine and Janice all figure into the drama in one way or another. Lots of good stuff from Victoria Wyndham, Douglas Watson and Richard Beakins (who makes his debut as Jamie during this run of clips). The clips start in March of 1979 and go all the way to the end of the year. I'm only in June but am enjoying having some "new" Another World scenes to watch.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I had seen the "aging playboy" fight scene previously, but this clip provides a lot more of the necessary build-up that makes their lost tempers make a lot more sense. Lemay was really good at build-up like that---knowing that having characters just randomly getting mad and having a fight was not satisfying in a long scene format like this. And yes, the longer scenes! I so wish soaps would do longer scenes like that today.

I'd forgotten Ted Bancroft entirely. He sure has Iris's number in this clip. And once again I go into a scene wanting to rip Aunt Liz a new one, only to end up feeling so terrible for her. Irene Dailey was a treasure.

 

[Jason73]

And yes, the longer scenes! I so wish soaps would do longer scenes like that today.

The longer scenes feel so luxurious--so much room for character development.

I'd forgotten Ted Bancroft entirely.

In these clips I'm watching, it looked for a minute like they were toying with putting Ted and Rachel together. But now she is spending time with a married man named Kirk. Rachel just got dressed down by Kirk's wife.

I'm into July 1979 and these scenes all continue to be ones I've never seen before. It's been heavenly. I'm impressed with Christine Jones. I've really only seen her in a handful of the St. Croix scenes that this is all leading to. Janice is somewhat sympathetic currently. I'm hoping these scenes show when Janice starts going off the deep end.

The scenes are all Mac and Rachel focused, but I get little glimpses of what's going on elsewhere in Bay City. For example, Iris is currently scheming to get Dennis romantically involved with Cecile. That's going to turn out great, no doubt.

 

[Jason73]

Dennis in 1979 is the same age as Dennis in 1991.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The main reason the show's 90-minute period failed was the explosion of General Hospital, a timeslot competitor, but it also failed because AW viewers wanted Mac/Rachel/Iris action all day, every day. That was impossible; doing 7.5 hours of soap per week meant the scenes had to be divided up between more actors. In order to get enough of that triangle to satisfy demand, they had to have a lot of scenes with Mac and others, Rachel and others, and Iris with others, overlapping Mac and Rachel some, Mac and Iris some, etc. If each was working a max of three days a week (which would have been grueling enough given the longer episodes), then the writers would have been spending more time on logistics (how to move the characters around and engineer scenes that explained them being apart) than on organic plotting. And of course Lemay jumped ship due to overwork/exhaustion, which didn't help.

 

[Jason73]

That was impossible; doing 7.5 hours of soap per week meant the scenes had to be divided up between more actors. In order to get enough of that triangle to satisfy demand, they had to have a lot of scenes with Mac and others, Rachel and others, and Iris with others, overlapping Mac and Rachel some, Mac and Iris some, etc.

Which would explain scenes like the one I watched a few episodes back where Rachel talks to her doctor about renewing her blood pressure medication which she had quit taking because she never refilled her prescription. Not to mention scene after scene after scene of Rachel talking to Louise--which I'm not going to lie is more interesting than what I'm watching on Days these days.

I'm really curious where these scenes I'm watching have come from. They were uploaded about three years ago which was after I had gone year by year through the episodes I could find. Someone painstakingly saved all the Mac and Rachel stuff from 1979. It's impressively complete. Rachael is now seeing some guy named Frank Lansing who is living in the apartment above the studio and is writing a book.

I'm really enjoying Rachel in this period. She is so different from the polished matriarch of the late 80's and beyond. She's much closer to her bad girl days--stubborn and feisty.

Rachel is having dizzy spells and blurred vision. I can't remember where this story is going. What ever the cause is, it's led to an inordinate amount of high blood pressure talk. It's like being at one of my doctor's appointments. (I'll allow their lack of access to Google in 1979 as an excuse for the writers not knowing it is actually typically LOW blood pressure that causes dizziness.)

Janice Frame created Brava magazine! I had no idea! It was such a staple of the business stories in the 80's and 90's--who knew it was created by a Frame?

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'm really curious where these scenes I'm watching have come from. They were uploaded about three years ago which was after I had gone year by year through the episodes I could find. Someone painstakingly saved all the Mac and Rachel stuff from 1979. It's impressively complete.

The uploader might have worked on it back then but kept it private out of fear that P&G might shut them down or sue them or something. The greedy person in me wonders if they have the entire episodes and might someday release them in their entirety and not just the MacRac portions. Even if (I'm sure) these are the best parts.

Not to mention scene after scene after scene of Rachel talking to Louise--which I'm not going to lie is more interesting than what I'm watching on Days these days.

In the clip above, there does seem to be a lot of Louise and Brooks trying to cater to Rachel in a way that started to wear thin, as if they were padding out the scene. But like you say, it beats a lot of modern stuff, probably because we have grown to care about the (1979) characters.

Rachel is having dizzy spells and blurred vision. I can't remember where this story is going. What ever the cause is, it's led to an inordinate amount of high blood pressure talk. It's like being at one of my doctor's appointments.

Yeah, but there is a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing continuity, whether purposeful or not. A few years later she has that bout of blindness after that accident that killed Steve Frame (permanently). The blurry vision and dizzy spells come back when Carl Hutchins returns from the dead (which could be rather stressful), culminating in those rather thrilling Labor Day (1991?) episodes where she is being hunted in the darkened KBAY studio by a hitman that Carl hired. She's outwitting the killer while her vision is wonky and she wants to pass out.

 

[Jason73]

The greedy person in me wonders if they have the entire episodes and might someday release them in their entirety and not just the MacRac portions. Even if (I'm sure) these are the best parts.

That's the dream . . .

Yeah, but there is a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing continuity, whether purposeful or not. A few years later she has that bout of blindness after that accident that killed Steve Frame (permanently). The blurry vision and dizzy spells come back when Carl Hutchins returns from the dead (which could be rather stressful), culminating in those rather thrilling Labor Day (1991?) episodes where she is being hunted in the darkened KBAY studio by a hitman that Carl hired. She's outwitting the killer while her vision is wonky and she wants to pass out.

Oh, I hadn't remembered the dizzy spells in the studio. I like that continuity--even if it was accidental. Rachel's 1979 dizzy spells seem to be over now, so I'm left to assume they were just the result of the stress of her divorce. If that's the case, I actually love that it's something so normal and real. Funny thing, dizzy spells are how I know I'm a few days away from a panic attack, so well done on the accuracy, writers.

After spending 24 hours moping in her bedroom, Rachel is now on the offensive, trying to dig into Janice's past. All the stuff about Howard Battis is starting to come out now. I tried to do the mental math to work Earl/Evan into the details we are getting in 1979 but all I got out of it was a headache.

I loved these scenes between Mac, Rachel and Janice as Rachel sets herself up in an office at the Cory Compound.

I just watched a clip from the 25th anniversary special where Rachel is mentioning how Brava magazine covered the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam in 1971. Whoops. Brava didn't exist until 1979 and it was created as a working woman's magazine. Would have been nice continuity if they had made the celebration, the tenth anniversary celebration of Brava, which it actually was and had Gwen all bent out of shape over Janice and her family not getting any credit or money from the magazine she created.

 

[Jason73]

On the topic of the 25th:

Did they reach out to the actor who played Willis to return for the anniversary? I feel like I read that somewhere but it might have been related to creating the character of Jason. The stuff they gave Gwen to do at the anniversary would have fit Willis so much better. Willis was even in on keeping Janice's secret about Howard back in 1979. They had to twist Gwen's character around so much to make her fill her role in the anniversary.

I wonder if there was ever any thought given to bringing Beverly Penberthy back as Pat? She looks so good in the anniversary special and would have fit in nicely with that period of the show when they were rebuilding the Matthews and Frames a bit.

Having just watched Dennis in 1979 and then seeing the same actor return for the anniversary ten years later, he is barely changed. He looks just as young and handsome as he did in 1979, which makes the later recast not so bad in my eyes now.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I tried to do the mental math to work Earl/Evan into the details we are getting in 1979 but all I got out of it was a headache.

Especially since Amanda is a toddler in 1979 but an adult by 1987.