Yet more marvelous Midwestern shenanigans

Continued from prior thread

I'll be around......any guys just wanna hang out and do, uh, guy stuff.....I'll be in the trees behind Tops. Looking for one.

Daddy's getting ready for yet ANOTHER trip to Palm Springs!

I thought a little royalty might class up this thread.

R3 Hiya Iris!

How many husbands did Ada go through?

Which Hudson was best in the sack?

Nick, R7.

John Hudson has serious sizemeat. He fucked Sharly silly!

I always wanted to rim Michsel Hudson, though. I bet he’d giggle like a girl.

Michael annoyed me. He was always disapproving of Donna’s antics. You married the bitch, asshole; you knew she wasn’t Pollyanna!

When the show paired him with Stacey Winthrop they were a vortex of dullness.

I started paying attention to AW on Memorial Day, 1986. My mom had it on and Vicky and Marley were having some sort of party. I came in on a scene where Vicky and Nancy got into a brief cat fight because of Jake and Vicky cheating on Marley. I guess it was a wedding shower for Marley

I was weirded out as Vicky had her hair pulled back tight and looked like a literal egghead. And Nancy had a long face so they looked surreal. The full episode is included.

R8 That Mark Mortimer certainly got my juices flowing!

I liked Kevin McClatchy as Nick, but then again I liked him a lot on GL too. That was one that both GL and AW let go....he was very talented.

In R12’s posting Schnetzer’s bare feets git MY juices flowing.

Ellen Wheeler did look a bit like a Conehead, didn't she?

I preferred original Nick (Justin Chambers, CK model and future Dr. Alex Karev)

When they brought in Mark Mortimer, I was like holy fuck. He was a gorgeous, gorgeous man. Kevin McClatchy was an FOJ and resembled Kale Brown in a way, but Mark Mortimer got those gears grinding.

I wonder how far all these Midwestern towns were from one another.

[quote]When they brought in Mark Mortimer, I was like holy fuck. He was a gorgeous, gorgeous man

And a terrible, terrible actor.

[quote]And a terrible, terrible actor.

I never watched soap operas for the acting. There were a few good ones, despite everything being stacked against a good performance, but they were rare. If the "actor" can convince me they're the character, then their job is done. If they're pretty - all the better.

Kevin McClatchy still looks good these days. I think he's a professor now.

He was in a gay short film that was wonderful.

It’s FINALLY summer in Bay City.

Excuse me while I take a dip in Iris’s (above-ground) pool.

There's a cognac called Prince Hubert de Poulignac.

Stop splashing, Elena!

R19, once upon a time it was intimated that Oakdale, Springfield, and Monticello were located near one another. I always thought Bay City had to be relatively close too. Not sure about Henderson. They all seemed pretty far from Houston.

It’s almost summer. Will Andy Dixon be life guarding at the country club again this year?

If the Bauer barbecue is too dull, why not try the Hughes’s Fourth of July party on the patio?

On the Illinois—Michigan border

Kevin McClatchy played a virulent racist on GL.

The Bauer barbecue will not be dull this year. Reva‘s breaking out the red dress and she’s promising to rival the fountain scene.

Would you all like a song?

*clears throat*

[quote] If the Bauer barbecue is too dull, why not try the Hughes’s Fourth of July party on the patio?

Have YOU ever tried to eat a hot dog boiled in vinegar?

Vinegary Nancy spends the entire party critiquing that tramp Kim and her hostessing skills.

I love Kim!

Hi... God. It's uh... me...

R27, tsk tsk… Andy worked at the Oakdale Yacht Club

Did they really have hunky young Douglass in love with grandma Kim? Seriously?

Why not? Kelly Nelson fell for me!

Noler, Mr. McCord told you and Gracie to stay out of that secret room.

India is now the Prime Minister of Andorra? Cool!

All of Iris's swanky New York friends (who fly to Bay City to hang out with her instead of summering in the Hamptons or Newport for some strange reason) will be entertained by Donna and Cecile doing their version of Cole Porter's Friendship. There won't be a dry eye at the overground pool.

Iris is quite concerned about the upcoming hurricane season and fears her balcony hydrangeas in Boca will bear the brunt.

Wasn't the pool originally installed to give Dennis a safe exercise program for his heart condition? For all I know Dr Russ Matthews suggested it. Or maybe it was some other temporary resident of Bay City doctor.

I don't remember how Dennis's heart issues were resolved, unless one counts his sexual relationship with Countess Elena, still played by Pickles. She'd opened an art gallery and had hired the "geeky Dennis with glasses" for a summer job. I love that actress. Maeve Maguire ticked all the right boxes but was more bland and fragile.

Shortly after, the handsome new Dennis arrived. Jim Poyner I think.

I'll look him up. I remember him as short. Recast again, can't remember who - oh yeah the actor who played gay on AMC.

Must be sentimental youth speaking but Poyner was my favorite Dennis.

Me again...

My brief research rabbit hole led me back to The Another World Homepage. Every soap needs a site like that one.

Cool quote from Mike Hammett, the original Dennis. I'm guessing many of you have already seen it. I know I have but so long ago I'd forgotten.

I was delighted to have Dennis Carrington back on screen. I always liked his character.

Chris Bruno was certainly lovely to look at. But he was not Dennis Carrington Wheeler.

And Dennis' friendship with Jamie was largely ignored.

Russell Todd was never really Jamie for me, though he was also nice eye candy.

I’ve told this story before but so be it…it fits this thread.

I was around 12 and auditioning for stuff. I screentested for ATWT as Lisa’s doomed kid Chuckie Shea-Fulton later said on The David Susskind Show he was known on the set as “Upchuckie.” They went with an adorable towhead blond child who was gone within months. I also had an audition for AW. I went to the ad agency which is where the auditions for the P&G soaps were usually held. Benton & Bowles, maybe? I walked into a room and was greeted with a warm handshake by Constance Ford. I had watched the show with my mom so I knew what she looked like. I remember she wore a man’s button down shirt. I remember her saying “Hiya” exactly like Ada would say to other characters on TV. The rest is a blur. I do remember walking out of that room with the very nice feeling that Ford had treated me like a fellow actor, not a kid. I thought maybe I got the job. I was told it was for a quickie replacement. The next day my mom told me she got a call from my agent-the agent for the kid playing Dennis was playing hardball in contract negotiations and so they were using that popular tactic of calling in actors to replace him. Oh well. But that memory of Constance Ford looking me dead in the eye and saying “Hiya” is a pretty nice souvenir.

R46 Wow! That's amazing.

If I remember correctly, Chris Bruno had tested for the role of Sam originally (they went with Danny Markel). They liked him so they brought him on as Dennis. He was too young to be Dennis.

So cool r46!

[quote] Constance Ford. I had watched the show with my mom so I knew what she looked like. I remember she wore a man’s button down shirt.

My friend's Mom, actually a family friend, named Peggy was a highly successful and respected local real estate agent. She looked and dressed like Ada. Had the same no nonsense attitude but was warm as well. AW was immensely popular then and people joked her success was owed to being like Ada.

Lots of hot men on AW (including a few of the Jamies and, dare I say it, even Mac) but I think two of my favorites were Tom Eplin and Richard Burgi. Both captured the hot bad boy thing quite well.

Espy was my masturbation episodes.

R46, I was recently at the Paley Center and was watching the episode of ATWT surrounding Chuckie's paternity and Claire finding out and falling off the wagon. They shouldn't have killed off that character. Lisa could have used another son.

It’s odd that they killed Chuckie off, I don’t think it really fueled any story-he died and that was the extent of it .

r30 Pack up all your cares and woes, Therèse.

R5, I swear I remember her as a kid saying that line.

Lemay wrote in 8 Years that she stole the scene with that one line; he was right.

R46 did you ever get any roles? Won’t ask which in respect to your privacy.

R56, no principal roles on the soaps but a lot of commercials and theater work (one play on Broadway and several regional theater productions). I did a lot of bg work as a Pine Valley HS student on AMC in the early 1980s and a few days on ATWT as an Oakdale High student. I remember Christian LeBlanc comparing himself to Michael E. Knight and me and a fellow bg friend looked away and rolled our eyes.

I do remember one day on GL doing bg in Central Park when Beth was doing a clown routine. It was a really cold day out there and a little bg girl was upset because it was so cold and she had to stand outside for a long time. That sucked. I vaguely remember Grant Aleksander being there, too. His pendulous dong was no doubt covered by underwear, long johns and jeans that day, sorry.

Heavy duty Carhartt pants, no doubt. That pendulousness needed protection and support!!

Thanks R46. Fascinating to learn how many moving pieces there are (or were) to an episode.

Pine Valley HS…

Did you ever make it to Pine Manor?

That koo koo Tim Will who always called Anna Stuart Anna Banana is a nut. He auditioned for roles and never got them.

Remember the name Edward Trach, the executive in charge of production for all the P&G shows? He must have seen some things.

Ariana, The Early Years

She’s posted some cool clips from her time in Oakdale and Bay City.

Was on the AW website (which is very good and very complete) and happened to see this from L. Virginia Browne (not sure if she's still around or not). L. Virginia Browne was headwriter of AW from 11/80 to 11/82.

"I was replaced by Bob Soderberg in 11/82. Even though I had already left to do Guiding Light with Doug Marland in late 81 or early 82 (can't recall) AW continued to use my story lines & bible and so continued my headwriting credit until 11/82.

Christopher Schemering wrote a book called the "Soap Opera Encyclopedia" and, in it, he says that I took over Guiding Light and it then went into a "slump." I was pretty darned surprised as, within four months of becoming head writer, I had raised the ratings by two full points and our position from 8th to 3rd. In fact, the folks at P&G filled my office with flowers to congratulate me. Ken Fitts (a P&G exec) said he hoped we'd be working together for years. The VERY NEXT DAY, Allen Potter, the executive producer, announced he was leaving to be replaced by Gail Kobe and she fired me -- the very next day after receiving all those flowers and wishes for years and years of working together. And then they continued to use my bible for 9 more months and kept my name on the credits as headwriter for that long.

That story, i.e. the flowers and the firing the next day, has become part of soap folklore. I've even had individuals tell it to me but ascribe it to various different writers. I sent Chris a note (along with copies of the network ratings sheets) and he wrote back and apologized, saying he would update and correct the info in his revised edition. Sadly, Chris then suddenly passed away and never did make the revision, so that mis-information stands in what is considered by many to be a very reliable book.

As for AW, I was supposed to write Texas and was shifted, at the very last minute, to AW, which I had never once seen before being handed the assignment. I spent a week-end in a NYC hotel watching old tapes (those old, huge Beta tapes, I think), boxes of them, to catch up. And, as I posed your question to my former assistant head writer Linda Hamner (with whom I still am friends and still write with from time to time), she reminded me of one story. I guess AW must have gotten a great deal on a crate of baby-crap colored brown mugs. And, as a result, they installed them in EVERY kitchen. Ada had them; so did Mac and Rachel. When Jamie married Cecile, they had them. Even Joey and Sandy had them in their decidedly down-scale apt. You could never do a "cup-to-cup" scene cut (made famous by Gloria Monty of GH) because everyone had the very same cups. Years later I tuned in and there they were, those same cursed mugs. I swear, they must have bought a thousand.

I've kept up with some of the folks from AW. Warren Burton (Jason) has carved out a great career doing voices for video games. Richard Bekins (Jamie) is much in demand on Broadway (He was in "Love, Valor, Compassion" the year it won the Tony) and regional theater as well as regular and frequent performances in the "Law and Order" shows. I ran into Chris Rich a few weeks ago at the mall and met his new wife and twin babies, as well as his daughter with Nancy Frangione (the second Cecile). He's doing well on "Reba," as you probably know. James Horan (Denny) lives nearby and produces local theater as well as acts in them. For a bit of trivia, in the film "Gods and Generals," Richard Bekins, James Horan and Warren Burton all had roles.

And, again, great work on your site. I know the Soap Net cable network is running AW (or will be soon) but decided to start in 1987 which I think is doing the show a great disservice as it will miss all the wonderful shows written by Harding LeMay, whom I believe was the show's best writer ever.

Take care, Virginia."

[quote]L. Virginia Browne was headwriter of AW from 11/80 to 11/82.

L Virginia was headwriter until November 1981, Then playwright Corine Jacker took over as HW for a year -- November 1981 to November1982.

Harding Lemay wanted to break up Pat and John Randolph's marriage in 1975.

He originally planned to do that by having Pat keep the secret that their son Michael was gay. However, P&G and/or NBC nixed that idea.

So, Lemay changed the plot and had Pat keep the secret that their daughter Marianne had had an abortion. The keeping of that secret is what led to the end of Pat and John's marriage and John eventually marrying Olive Gordon.

The person who got Marianne pregnant was a college student named Chris Pierson, who was played by a young Stephen Yates. After the six-month gig as Chris Pierson was over, Yates moved to GL to play good guy Ben McFarren for six years. After he left GL, he returned to AW, this time playing Jamie Frame for two years.

R64 I took what I posted at R63 directly from this page at the AW website - it was confusingly written.

Was Jacker the one who wrote the Pie Lady?

r63/r66 Thanks for posting that link.

The header for her entry, written by the AW HomePage site owners, has the correct information:

[quote]Virginia Browne (Headwriter, 1980-1981), September 2005

But the body of the text has incorrect information, which means that Browne who got the dates wrong in her letter .

[quote]With a period where Corrine Jacker filled in as temporary writer during the writer s strike, using Browne s bible], L. Virginia Browne was headwriter from 11/80 to 11/82. I was replaced by Bob Soderberg in 11/82. Even though I had already left to do Guiding Light with Doug Marland in late 81 or early 82 (can't recall) AW continued to use my story lines & bible and so continued my headwriting credit until 11/82.

Show may very well have used some of Browne's story projects and given her some sort of credit onscreen. Corine Jacker was listed onscreen as HW.

[quote]With a period where Corrine Jacker filled in as temporary writer during the writer s strike, using Browne s bible],

Ahh, interesting. There was a 3 month writers strike in 1981. The is the first time I've ever heard that Corine Jacker was the scab who HW the show during the 1981 strike. Apparently, she did a good enough job, they brought her back as HW when the strike was over.

Never knew that before.

So odd that P&G would hire L Virginia Browne for Guiding Light. Another World collapsed in the ratings during her tenure -granted, this was at the peak of Luke and Laura, but Guiding Light held its own against GH during this time, unlike Another World.

And her writing was not exactly critically acclaimed, either. Then again, her scripts were a masterpiece when compared to Corinne Jacker.

[quote]And her writing was not exactly critically acclaimed, either. Then again, her scripts were a masterpiece when compared to Corinne Jacker.

Browne left the show in decent shape with the return of Steve Frame and relaunching the Steve-Alice-Rachel triangle, adding Mac to the mix. She had Cecile marry Jamie and later start an affair with Sandy Cory.

But yes, Brown was infinitely better than Corine Jacker

And yes to r67, Jacker introduced the character of Henrietta Morgan who was baking pecan pies.

GL was seen as a hipper show. GL was also left with a better foundation. Plus, GH was very bad in many aspects. GL benefited from channel switching because it was good.

What was the Pie Lady story?

R68 Thanks for the clarification.

I can totally understand why AW hired Corinne Jacker, hoping that lightning would strike twice by hiring someone outside of the soap world. They paired her with Robert Cenedella, but I guess he wasn't enough to help her navigate writing a soap opera full-time.

I do wonder if PG ever approached Marland about writing AW, since he had written the show with Lemay, especially right after he left GH. Which PG show was in worse shape in the 80-82 timeframe? AW, GL, or ATWT?

AW was in the worst shape.

GL was in great shape, the Dobsons had modernized it, and you can see why P&G wanted to move them to stodgy ATWT-they wanted them to do to Oakdale what they did to Springfield.

80-82 saw GL in the middle of one of its golden eras.

I can’t see Doug Marland and Paul Rauch working well together on AW in the early 80s.

Who killed Carolyn Crawford? I was home from school in the summer of 1992 but had to go back and the last episode I saw was Darryl pursuing blonde a terrified Frannie on a ski gondola.

Didn’t that story run extra long as Marland was hospitalized for a period in 1992 before dying in early 1993?

I don't think Marland's gay sensibilities and Rauch's quasi-soft porn 70s sensibilities would have mixed at all.

According to Soap Central:

"Carolyn was killed by George Jessup. Murder was ordered by Anthony Harper and Gavin Krueger."

The plan had been to make Darryl the killer, but somewhere about 2/3rds of the way through either Marland, P&G or CBS decided to change their mind as they didn't want to ruin a popular character.

Unfortunately, the audience was bored shitless by the end and it kinda ruined interest in his character anyway. Plus there were rumors that Smith was a pain in the ass and didn't get along with several costars, but it wasn't much longer after that when both Smith and Mary Ellen Stuart were off canvas.

Smith?

Rex Smith (Darryl)

Henrietta was played by Michele Shay who I gather was a great theater actress. I remember her work on AW, however, as being embarrassingly theatrical. She spoke reeeeaaaaslllly slowly, dragging out every word. She played her like a space alien who was just getting used to the language.

Henrietta Morgan was the wife of police officer Bob Morgan.

When AW introduced Henrietta, she was trying to start a business selling pecan pies and other pies.

For a while there, AW mentioned pecan pies so often, I found myself buying a pecan pie on several occasions in the grocery story.

In addition to being very slow moving, the Carolyn Crawford story added a bunch of minor characters who were suspects-in addition to the three listed in r81, there was Dana, Darryl and Carolyn’s surrogate, and her husband; Vicki Harper, Anthony Harper’s wife, who looked like Carolyn; Arthur Claiborne, Carolyn’s attorney; etc.

All of these characters were added to a very bloated cast, a year after ATWT had done another mob story (Brock Lombard).

Gavin Kruger had been talked about for months, the show was setting him up to be a new villain, but he was bland and it went nowhere.

Mary Ellen Stuart was also lacking in charisma, and she couldn’t anchor this story as a result.

I think that was also a problem at GL during this time-many stars lacked something and couldn’t anchor a story like Rusty, Rose (who ironically went on to have a very successful career), Samantha, Beth Chamberlin (though she had charisma out of ass when she returned in the late 90s.

Did they ever explain why Darryl changed his name from Harry to the infinitely dorkier Darryl?

Yeah, the 2nd Pam Long regime was very bad at writing for, casting, whatever.....compelling new characters. Sonni was pretty much it.

Beth C had a tremendous amount of expectations aimed toward her the first time around as everyone wanted her to be Judi Evans II. I think later on she was able to make Beth more her own. Of course some of the later Beth stories were truly terrible but I never had an issue with Beth C.

[quote]AW was in the worst shape.

Harry Must Die and the fallout from that story, Rachel sleeping with and getting pregnant by Mitch and the Mitch "murder" was good, but they couldn't sustain it.

I think the biggest mistake was bringing Steve Frame back from the dead and trying to redo that triangle. The Hathaway family didn't seem to catch on. I think this was also during the time when someone gave Rachel that awful haircut that aged her 20 years.

[quote]The Hathaway family

Halloway family

I forgot about Merideth and Blake (first one). Just blah actresses. I think they just got lucky with Michelle Forbes. She seemed ehhh at first. Can you imagine if they’d cast a subpar or average actress against Kim? The story would’ve flopped.

Pam was very smart bringing back Roger/Holly and making Blake their daughter, then recasting. Was Betty Rhea out for a year or two? Starting in 89 the casting for Guiding Light really got superb. We actually lucked into Roger coming back because they had originally asked him to come back as Alan and he said no, but he would come back as Roger. So I guess it wasn’t Pam‘s idea.

Beth Chamberlin was ok at first, but she needed a new haircut and stylist. Her hair needed to be blonder. She was more compelling in the later half of her first run. Her reading Roger for filth at her wedding to Phillip was the Beth we needed. She delivered. I’m not sure why they didn’t have Beth confront Roger more. They had chemistry and Beth WAS smack in between Alex and Mindy. It is a shame her stories largely sucked and they de-Beth’d her upon her return. Beth Chamberlin really shone then. She was much more beautiful, a very good actress, and had charisma.

[quote]Halloway family

Thanks Nancy

Getting rid of the Halloways was a good thing. I didn't mind First Aid Kit though.

I liked Kit and adored Miranda.

Rest of them did little for me.

Wish both Kit and Miranda had stayed longer.

In 1987, Soap Opera Digest did one of their regularly featured show critiques and this time it was AW. They gave a short summary of what had been right and wrong with the show in the present and the past. They mentioned a new family that was written in and discontinued within three weeks, maybe early 80s. The last name was Wylie.

Okay, Miranda as well. She had unrealized potential.

But the rest of them ate the show. I'd spent time in Europe and when I returned it didn't feel like AW anymore. I want to say they were part of the 90 minute expansion but I'm not sure.

According to the Another World homepage, there was a hristine Wylie character on for about 6 months in 1982. She dated Jamie Frame.

Her mother Patricia Wylie was on for about 2 months during that time too.

There's also a seemingly unrelated minor character named Douglas Wylie who was an assistant at an art gallery for about two years, 1977-79.

Wasn't Miranda suppused to be the new Iris?

A Rachel rival for sure.

Yes, with Iris headed off to Texas, Miranda Bishop was set up to become the show's new Iris. They even had Miranda living in Iris' house.

Bev left AW because it was a new show or quit?

Bev originally was planning to leave Another World when her contract was up. P&G threw a lot of money at her (along with the promise of shorter hours) to go to Texas.

and it started as... TEXAS starring BEVERLEE MCKINSEY

I love you Donna…

So, did PG keep the $ flowing for Bev at GL?

Didn’t she join GL for health insurance, her husband was dying?

Beth Chamberlain had a far deeper speaking voice than Judi Evans and it took me a long time to get used to that.

According to the Texas book, Beverlee got a sweet deal because Rauch and the Corringtons wrote her into the show (Texas) without negotiating first. They came to her after the fact, and she had them over a barrel and worked out a great deal for herself with star billing. Good for her. Apparently, she was planning to leave Another World at the end of her current contract.

Beverlee was an intelligent lady and read her contracts. It seems that she was quite professional. I heard that she and Michael Zaslow had some issues dating back to "Love is a Many Splendored Thing," but they managed to work together on "GL" despite whatever those past problems were.

I wish there were tape available of her playing Emma Ordway.

Idk go back and watch some of Judi’s scenes. She could have a low sultry voice.

They should have made Beth C’s hair shorter and more blond.

Chris Robinson is DEAD to me!

Chris Robinson's story is kinda sad. He had 9 kids but I'm not sure ANY of them were talking to him at the time he died.

Didn’t he go broke trying to speculate on Beanie Babies?

R113 Yes.

Julianne talking about Kathryn Hays......❤️ 😭 ❤️

Sounds like AW botched its 20th anniversary. They got Jacqui Courtney back as Alice, they poached Taylor Miller … and they did nothing with them. Courtney said Alice was now relegated to saying, “You look tired, you should go to bed.”

Wasn’t AW negotiating to get Beverlee back in time for the anniversary ,but she went to Guiding Light , so they pivoted to bringing Jacqui Courtney back?

They never should have recast Sally with Taylor Miller. They should have tried to convince Mary Page Keller to at least stay until Thomas Ian Griffith’s contract ended and had Catlin and Sally leave together.

AW also botched up Sharon Gabet’s character, Brittany, by pulling a huge bait and switch. Brittany was supposed to be a deaf mute and then she became a man hungry vamp who spoke and heard everything - how did they even explain that? Gabet was unhappy and left when she was able

AW didn't do anything that I can remember for its 20th, but they marked the 25th on air in 1989.

Beverlee was already back at GL for several years when they did the 25th anniversary, so her participation was never an option. I believe they already had Carmen Duncan in as Iris by then.

Douglass Watson died just before the anniversary, I believe? Or right after? Aunt Liz will know specific dates better than I.

[quote] Didn’t she join GL for health insurance, her husband was dying?

That seems to be as good an explanation as any. In that 1982 Canadian interview she was done with daytime and wanted to do other things. But her longtime partner/husband was dying and she went back to daytime on GL. He died in her first year at GL (her scenes were played by Lydia Bruce for a few weeks.)

AW observed its 20th anniversary in May 1984 by bringing Jacqueline Courtney back as Alice and then giving her nothing to do. Reportedly, the show had been trying to lure Beverlee back, but then she went to GL in February 1984, so they pivoted to Jacqueline who had been fired from OLTL when Paul Rauch joined as a producer in August 1983. (Reportedly, Rauch demanded she be fired before he would start the job).

Taylor Miller didn't come onto AW as Sally until July 1985, about a month after Mary Page Keller departed. By the time she got there, Jacqueline Courtney had already left again.

For the 25th anniversary in 1989, AW did the Bravo 25th anniversary party, bringing back past cast members for a visit. Yes, Douglas Watson died about a week before they were to film the 25th anniversary shows. They were mysterious about his absence from the Bravo party, but then about three weeks later killed Mac off and did his funeral, again bringing back past cast members.

Carmen Duncan joined the show as Iris in October 1988, so she was already there when they did the Bravo 25th anniversary party.

Incidentally, it was Cecile (Susan Keith) who first pitched Cory Publishing doing a magazine called Bravo. That was in summer 1980. I got a chuckle out of them retconning show history to make Bravo to be 25 years old in 1989. But it was a good excuse for the show's 25th anniversary party.

R121 Thank you for the specifics, Liz! I knew your eavesdropping would come in handy!

BRAVA

If Beverlee came back to AW in 1984, I could see them phasing out Donna or making her into more of a heroine. Donna was very much like Iris in those days.

Yikes! Thanks for catching that Nancy. And you're not even a P&G star!

Brava was SORASed. I thought it was Janice who came up with Brava. What kind of magazine was Brava, anyway? Was it like Vanity Fair?

Yes, apparently Janice did pitch the idea of Brava when she got a job at Cory Publishing. That allowed her to interact with Mac regularly and eventually lure him into marriage.

Soon after, Cecile (Susan Keith) took over as editor of Brava. During this time period, Cecile was working with Pat Randolph and routinely taunting Pat about her age and being single since the divorce from John. This taunting contributed to Pat's drinking problem as well as Phillip Lyons (Robert Gentry) defending Pat against Cecile.

Brava was discussed as being a woman's aspirational magazine aimed at upscale women and upscale wannabes.

Iris was a socialite when played by Beverlee McKinsey. When Iris returned to Bay City in the form of Carmen Duncan, she was a corporate executive -- something Bev's Iris would never have done.

Duncan's Iris started a companion magazine to Brava called Sophisticate.

Wasn't Cecile also spiking Pat's drinks with vodka?

[quote]Wasn't Cecile also spiking Pat's drinks with vodka?

I'm sure that was just a misunderstanding. Like, how she "supposedly" got Jamie hooked on drugs.

I really liked Chris Robinson as Jack Hamilton on B&B. Stephanie definitely made the wrong choice there.

McKinsey truly was a cunt! Poor Vivian. And the GL actors who lost income because Bev chose to be a cunt.

Jack Hamilton enjoyed motorboarding with Sally Spectra.

I loved how these shows took place in small towns in the beginning but later were supposed to be these huge cities by the 80s The view of Oakdale from Lucinda’s office in Walsh Towers looked more impressive than Manhattan. Yet just down the road was rural Luther’s Corners.

Same with Springfield, which was all rustic looking with the lighthouse and then suddenly had huge towers and skyscrapers.

AMC was the worst offender. This picturesque, Peyton Place-ish little town in Pennsylvania had a fucking skyline by 2000.

Yes. AMC was my second thought when reading r134's post. My first was of AW in the 1980s when Steve Frame returns and comments about how Bay City has grown.

And early in Marland’s reign on ATWT, Lisa and Frannie are visiting the soon to be opened Caroline’s and Lisa comments on how Oakdale has really changed.

Springfield got big but then shrunk down again.

Why, it reminded me of a little town in New Jersey.......

Why did Oakdale have a yacht club? Where were these yachts cruising?

This is pretty much what I pictured Oakdale being like while Lisa was causing havoc.

As a very young child I remember getting ATWT confused with reruns of Father Knows Best.

If I had noticed that Father Knows Best took place in a town called Springfield I might have confused it with The Guiding Light.

While I understand that the shows were just keeping up with the times, I think they lost something special when the model became Dallas/Dynasty instead of Peyton Place.

I didn't know Beverlee hosted the Daytime Emmys....or maybe I did but I forgot it.

From the people listed as nominees, that would have been the 1980 Daytime Emmy awards.

Wikipedia has a write up of the 1980 awards and mentions Susan Seaforth Hayes and Ed McMahon as hosts. Does not mention Bev.

So many lesbians in Supporting Actress that year!

Did anyone watch GL when Murray Bartlett was on? He played Cyrus Foley from 2006-cancellation. Didn’t he end up getting thrown off a cliff by Phillip? And did anyone think he’d hit the big time ( he won a Primetime Emmy)? I’m watching him on Nine Perfect Strangers now so I thought I’d post about him.

"While I understand that the shows were just keeping up with the times, I think they lost something special when the model became Dallas/Dynasty instead of Peyton Place."

I think Marland's ATWT did the best job of keeping a foot in both camps, slowly integrating the Snyder family while simultaneously turning up the glamour for beloved female vets. How I loved to watch Kim, Lisa, Barbara, and Lucinda swan around in their furs and jewels!

Maybe r148. To me it felt like a device, an escape hatch. Other soap writers do it. One day those two realities are extreme ends of the same community. Then they are not the same community. Then they are even farther apart. Then someone can walk bnetween the two.

Not complaining. Just saying Marland wasn't above using soapland clichés. We would not be faithful viewers if we didn't expect them.

Lemay was the better writer.

R147 It was Cyrus Foley's foster brother, Grady Foley, who got pushed off a cliff to his death by Phillip.

As for Murray Bartlett's acting, I don't think he really got much notice until he did the HBO series "Looking" in 2014, In between GL and that series, I happened to see him in a gay indie film called "August" (2011) and saw quite a bit of potential ;-).

R150 Ahh thank you. I’ve seen him in a few things before Guiding Light like Sex And The City, which has had quite a few GL stars on it. Murray didn’t get the notice his GL colleague Tom Pelphry received, but Murray has more Primetime Emmy noms and an actual Primetime Emmy.

Speaking of SATC, it was fun to see Scott Bryce (in the opening scene of episode 1), James Goodwin, and John Bolger in their appearances.

Poor Goodwin being known as the guy with a small dick.

Murray was front and center in the Last Of Us episode many critics say is one of the best TV episodes of all time. It earned him an Emmy win.

Murray was pleasant on GL but nothing that would really make you think he had it in him to deliver some of his later award winning performances.

He was somewhat effectively paired with Marj Dusay's Alexandra as her younger escort - I believe they were married for a short time, and then Cyrus got involved with Harley before Beth Ehlers left the show.

At the end I think the writers were just plugging Cyrus in anywhere and everywhere.

This was a hot scene, though - the fun starts after 5:00......

They obviously made "Remy" (LSV) wear another pair of briefs under those green boxers, so his BBC wouldn't be flopping around or visible when wet. boo hiss

[quote]They obviously made "Remy" (LSV) wear another pair of briefs under those green boxers, so his BBC wouldn't be flopping around or visible when wet. boo hiss

Maybe if they let his BBC fly free, the show would still be on the air today.

They should have had Remy's big BBC slam Cyrus....it would have been far more entertaining......

Oh, if only I'd thought to protest in Cincinnati: "P&G, Show Us the BBC!"

Those who go way back- what were the reactions to the P&G makeovers of the opening credits for all the shows in 1981?

I got my tambourine and booty shorts and shook what the good lord gave me to our new theme!

Ah, the divine disco version of GL theme songs!

I liked AW’s 1981 credits.

I always found the music and the announcement in ATWT’s 1981 credits to be a little creepy.

The GL disco theme was appropriate for the show at the time, but I much prefer the revised version from 1983.

That Henry Chamberlain sure knew how to pleasure Kelly Nelson!

Most of the updates were crap except for GL which really needed one. But I agree with r162 thathe '83 version was one of its best.

It's cheesy as hell, and didn't happen until 1987, but I've always had a soft spot for "You Take Me Away to Another World."

My favorite soap openings are Guiding Light’s 1991 opening with the lighthouse; Another World with “You Take Me Away to Another World;” and the 1990-95 ALL My Children opening, with the photos of the cast flying onscreen.

I loved all of GL's openings from the Ritournelle one to the lighthouse one that started circa 1990/1991.

Well, I should say I liked the 1983-1985ish version of the GL opening with the dark background and gold lettering. When they went to a faster arrangement of that song.....the blue sky, aerobics bouncy version, I looooathed that version.

[quote]Those who go way back- what were the reactions to the P&G makeovers of the opening credits for all the shows in 1981?

AW should have never moved away from the interlocking rings and their classic theme. One thing I've always respected about Days is they never got away from the hourglass and Mac Carey's intro.

R88, frannie was involved with Larry McDermott around this time and the show had to get away from "Larry" and "Harry" references.

It would sound comedic.

Kim: "Bob, how can Frannie choose between Harry and Larry?"

I get that r168, but why “Darryl?” The character was supposed to be sexy. Darryl is not a sexy name; that’s the name of a fat, bald, unemployed forklift driver.

Another World in the 1970s opening swept me in to well, another world.

All time favorite

I also liked GL disco, Savannah (prime time), GL late 85 early 86 before twangy version.

Y&R and disco Edge of Night

It’s THE Guiding Light.

R172 Don't you start, kiddo.

The disco ATWT theme I loved because the show was so great back then.

The theme change in the early 90s timed with Marland's passing so I never cared for it.

GH's late 70s and 80s theme is a classic b/c the show was so great; especially 1978 - 1983.