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This was my favorite soap opera, even surpassing my affection for All My Children (which I stopped watching in the late eighties.) I loved Vicky (Anne Heche) and Ryan (Paul Michael Valley) and then Dean (Ricky Paull Goldin) and Jenna (Alla Korot.) The show also had the wonderful Linda Dano and Stephen Schnetzer (you hear him a lot in commercials.) The show was supposedly set in Illinois, but peppered with with actors with unabashedly New York accents, so it always felt East Coast to me.
And the writing, god! People wonder why the soaps are failing now. Search out Another World on Hulu and watch a few episodes and you'll see stories with actual family and dialogue. A particular treat are any scenes with Ryan Harrison and Carl Hutchens, or Dack Rambo (so pretty and so missed!) as Grant Harrison and David Hedison as his father, Spencer Harrison.
The show jumped the shark when the networks got involved, trying to beef up the show's ratings. Young actors were hired and ridiculous storylines plotted, but for several years this was the best part of my day. The saddest thing ever was when Ryan was shot, or maybe when Frankie Frame was murdered. I was riveted to the screen, bawling my eyes out. That never happens anymore to me, certainly not for Days of Our Lives.
It was awful when Another World was cancelled. And now, Guiding Light is about to see it's last days. And that show has been on over 50 years. Hard to see the soap era end. But the networks have only themselves to blame for trying so desperately to change the demographic of their viewers to the young crowd.
Yeah, not so unfamilair to some of us in fandom. Stargate Atlantis comes right to mind. It had a strong, loyal fanbase and they jacked with that. And Farscape had the same thing happen to it. How many times does this have to happen before these network execs get the message that perhaps they should be damn grateful for the viewers they have and not alienate them?
I look at these old AW episodes (so grateful to Proctor and Gamble for making them available) and I think it's a shame, because this show was such a jewel.
And the writing, god! People wonder why the soaps are failing now. Search out Another World on Hulu and watch a few episodes and you'll see stories with actual family and dialogue. A particular treat are any scenes with Ryan Harrison and Carl Hutchens, or Dack Rambo (so pretty and so missed!) as Grant Harrison and David Hedison as his father, Spencer Harrison.
The show jumped the shark when the networks got involved, trying to beef up the show's ratings. Young actors were hired and ridiculous storylines plotted, but for several years this was the best part of my day. The saddest thing ever was when Ryan was shot, or maybe when Frankie Frame was murdered. I was riveted to the screen, bawling my eyes out. That never happens anymore to me, certainly not for Days of Our Lives.
It was awful when Another World was cancelled. And now, Guiding Light is about to see it's last days. And that show has been on over 50 years. Hard to see the soap era end. But the networks have only themselves to blame for trying so desperately to change the demographic of their viewers to the young crowd.
Yeah, not so unfamilair to some of us in fandom. Stargate Atlantis comes right to mind. It had a strong, loyal fanbase and they jacked with that. And Farscape had the same thing happen to it. How many times does this have to happen before these network execs get the message that perhaps they should be damn grateful for the viewers they have and not alienate them?
I look at these old AW episodes (so grateful to Proctor and Gamble for making them available) and I think it's a shame, because this show was such a jewel.
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I miss Another World with a passion. It was the first soap I watched because my Mom watched it. There was some really great characters and story telling on that show.
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