Which soap operas have you watched?

[ronboy]

Another World was one of those shows like ATWT and GL...It should have never been cancelled. I think that Procter & Gamble gave up on them.

I followed the story on and off through the years. It was always on opposite either "ATWT" or "GL" but I thought it was a good story too.

Here is the evolution of the Another World theme....

Another World, created by Irna Phillips, was supposed to be the "sister" show to "As The World Turns." Notice the play in words "Another" World? But CBS already has a full (and very successful) line-up. So Procter and Gamble, Irna's co-horts, sold the show to NBC, which didn't have much success with previous soaps. Another World was known for its firsts...first soap to go to 60 minutes, first soap to go to 90 minutes, and first soap to spawn two spin-off soaps ("Somerset" and "Texas"). It had memorable characters, and a great storyline.

1973 YouTube doesn't have the very first opening to the show. It has one from 1968, but the sound and video is very poor quality. Here is one from 1973, in color, and features the first act of a show where Steve Frame (George Reinholt) and Alice matthews (Jacqueline Courtney) share a tender and smewhat tragic moment.




1981 still pretty much the same...



Circa 1984 New theme, new graphics. This particular cut is from 1987.




Late 1980's-Early 1990's new theme with words... there are several versions of trhis out there with different pictures to reflect changes in storyline. This cut is from 1991



1996...The last opening theme. Very "modern" looking. it lasted until the show's cancellation on 25 June 1999. Again, there a couple of versions out there to reflect casting changes...

 

[JOHN B]

That show just got better and better in it's last years. But I think that the producers/cast knew the show was closing before it "went public", I remember seeing/hearing quite a few flubbed lines, and mistakes in scenes, that no one bothered to fix, during the shows last year. I especially loved the "evil Rachel look-a-like" Justine.......V.W. seemed to really get a kick out of playing her. LOL...she went SO over the top.
It's weird to say, but the best thing that happened to the show (storyline wise) was when Mac died (the actor playing him had a heart attack and died while on vacation). The Rachel/Carl love story that ensued, was the BEST one I had ever seen! They did a great job of turning him from a horrible villain, into a heartfelt leading man for Rachel. Though, I do remember hearing (from soap opera gossip) the Charles Keating was terrible to work with because he would not play a scene, or say his lines as written,....and that this taught everyone how to improvise on-the-spot as time when on. V.W. and C.K. though, became good friends in real life, and even did a Broadway play together.

 

[ronboy]

Victoria Wyndham is such a class act!

When she came to AW in the early 1970s, she was already an expert at playing "the bad girl." She had played 'Charlotte Waring" on The Guiding Light.

She had one strike against her...She wasn't Robin Strasser, who has originated the role of Rachel. Strasser, the One Life to Live legendary bitch, Dorian, had already cut her soap diva teeth playing Rachel as an "always hungry for more" girl. Following Strasser, for a short while, Margaret Impert played Rachel. Impert was "too nice" and the viewers were not buying it.

Wyndham had the right combination of beauty, brashness, and vulnerability to make Rachel a tough adversary for the sweet-as-sugar Alice Matthews, played with diginity and class by Jaqueline Courtney. She also had a chemistry with George Reinholt, who played the man that Rachel and Alice struggled for, Steven Frame.

Over the years, Rachel transformed from bad girl to soap heroine and the show's matriarch. Her multi- marriages to Mackenzie Cory (Douglass Watson) , being involved with her children, and then the relationship with Carl were all brilliantly acted. She was the glue that held Bay City together in those last years.

Just think what she could have done if she had returned to GL or appeared on ATWT....

Here are some pics...

First pic is a young Robin Strasser as Rachel (circa late 1960's).

Second pic is Wyndham with George Reinholt (as Steven Frame)

Third pic is Wyndham with Douglass Watson (as Mac Cory)

Fourth pic is Wyndham with Charles Keating (as Carl Hutchins)

Last pic is Wyndham as she appears today.

 

[SilverSurfer]

I grew up watching CBS soaps with my mom: Young and the Restless, As the World Turns and Guiding Light.

GL was my favortie... until Holden, then Caleb showed up on ATWT.

 

[willsboy84]

That was my favorite AW opening!

Very dramatic music, great action shots, and they showed just about the entire cast. Good times...

Isn't that Cass at :07 in? I had such a crush on him...

This theme always make me want to cry...sucks that they canceled the show.

Cass didn't really do it for me, but I'm STILL crushing on Grayson McCouch(Morgan)

Show was never the same after that dumb stalker storyline, where they wrote out Frankie!!!

 

[scrapple]

Wow, just shows how people have different takes on the same thing they are watching. Robin Strasser was FANTASTIC as Rachel on AW. She was such a great social-climbing bitch. Wictoria Wyndham never captured that "edge" in my opinion. To be honest, I don't think she was that good an actress. For instance, when you think of some of the great performers doing dual soap roles, you think of David Canary, Martha Byrne, Julianne Moore, etc. I NEVER think of VW doing that over-the-top Justine , any more than I would Adrienne Frantz's awful Amber/April.

BTW, I think the Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle is the best in soap history.

 

[ronboy]

Wow, just shows how people have different takes on the same thing they are watching. Robin Strasser was FANTASTIC as Rachel on AW. She was such a great social-climbing bitch. Wictoria Wyndham never captured that "edge" in my opinion. To be honest, I don't think she was that good an actress. For instance, when you think of some of the great performers doing dual soap roles, you think of David Canary, Martha Byrne, Julianne Moore, etc. I NEVER think of VW doing that over-the-top Justine , any more than I would Adrienne Frantz's awful Amber/April.

BTW, I think the Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle is the best in soap history.

Scrapple, you must be older than me. I do not remember Robin Strasser as Rachel on AW. I've only seen her as "Dorian" on "One Life to Live." Victoria Wyndham is the only Rachel I've even known. And I did think that she was great when she was on The Guiding Light. I have read many soap history books, and that was how I learned about Robin Strasser's Rachel. So did you remember Margaret Impert too? I'd like to know your take on her performance as Rachel, since she only played the part a short time.

 

[ChickenGuy]

Thanks for all the info, ronboy! Never expected anyone to be so enthusiastic about my thread.

I was looking on YouTube to see if they had the first episodes of some of these older soaps archived. I remember watching online the very first episode of Coronation Street in 1960. It celebrates it's 50th anniversary later this year. I've never watched the show at all, actually, but it was interesting to see how it started way back.

I didn't find the first episodes of Guiding Light or As The World Turns, but there were some 1960's episodes. Can't believe how much time was taken up advertising kitchen and bathroom products. Did they actually use the actors of the show and the existing standing sets to make these commercials?

 

[ronboy]

Okay, I am going to delve into unknown territory here...

This is the evolution of a soap theme for Home and Away, the prime time soap shown on Australia's Channel 7 Network.

I saw the opening themes and an episode or two on the now defunct site "The World of Soap Themes"

Home and Away debuted in 1988.

1988 The first opening....



1990 YouTube listed this as a "rare" opening



1994



1995 Song was slightly re-orchestrated...



1996-1999 montage showing whole cast during theis period, with long version of the song.



2000 New millenium, new opening. Sung by The Robertson Brothers. Thois cut comes from 2001...



2004-2006 another montage opening...



2007 another duo singing the song..Lots of "frames"



2009 Shorter opening featuring only Ray Meagher who plays Alf...



2009 Longer version...almost looks like a throwback to simpler times...



2010..The current opening...I really like this one!




I wish that they would broadcast this show in the US. It looks like something that I would try to get into....

 

[SilverSurfer]

Hey ronboy, I'm trying to remember what filled the time slot between Y&R and ATWT before Capitol, then later the Bold and the Beautiful. Was it Search for Tomorrow?

 

[ronboy]

ChickenGuy, I love the soaps. They are a unique entertainment format. They were originally conceived in radio days to sell soap products to housewives. In the USA, Procter & Gamble, the largest US soap manufacturer, created many of the radio soap operas to sell their products. Then they discovered the medium of television. Another big sponsor of these shows was P&G's rival, The Colgate-Palmolive Company. I could probably make a huge list of all the ptoducts that sponsored the shows, but I think that you will discover quickly that even such products as Pampers Diapers, Pantene Shampoo, and Crest Toothpaste were all brands belonging to Procter & Gamble.

At one time P&G produced the bulk of the soap operas produced in the US, including "The Edge of Night," "The Guiding Light," "As The World Turns," and "Another World." With the cancellation of "As the World Turns" this September, P&G will be totally out of the soap opera business.

The remaining soaps have different producers.

"The Young and The Restless" and "The Bold and The Beautiful" are produced by William Bell and Lee Phillip Bell. They were former soap writers who broke off and started their own company. Their children also produce the shows too. Their shows air on CBS.

"Days of Our Lives" is produced by Corday Productions. The founder, Ted Corday, was a long time director and producer for Procter & Gamble (directly responisble for "Guiding Light") For many years following his death , his wife, Betty, who continued to produce the show, simply listed herself in the credits as Mrs. Ted Corday. Their son, ken is the current producer. This show airs on NBC.

"All My Children," "One Life to Live," and "General Hospital," are direct products of the ABC Television Network. ABC owns the shows and has direct control over all aspects of them. They claim that despite dwindling ratings, they are not cancelling any of their shows.

So we have 6 US soaps left. They are the leftovers of a different time and place, when women stood home and raised their families instead of opting for a career, or because of financial difficulties had to go out to work. At their peak in the 1970's I believe that there were about 16 soaps on each day.

Because I associate the CBS soaps with my late mother, who watched them faithfully, it saddens me to see another one get cancelled. It's like I am losing another part of my conncetion to her...

Thanks for all the info, ronboy! Never expected anyone to be so enthusiastic about my thread.

I was looking on YouTube to see if they had the first episodes of some of these older soaps archived. I remember watching online the very first episode of Coronation Street in 1960. It celebrates it's 50th anniversary later this year. I've never watched the show at all, actually, but it was interesting to see how it started way back.

I didn't find the first episodes of Guiding Light or As The World Turns, but there were some 1960's episodes. Can't believe how much time was taken up advertising kitchen and bathroom products. Did they actually use the actors of the show and the existing standing sets to make these commercials?

 

[ronboy]

Hey ronboy, I'm trying to remember what filled the time slot between Y&R and ATWT before Capitol, then later the Bold and the Beautiful. Was it Search for Tomorrow?

What I remember from the late-1970's.....

12:30 Search for Tomorrow (it was on at this time from 1951)

1:00 Young & The Restless

2:00 As The World Turns

3:00 Guiding Light


1980-1981

12:30 Young & The Restless (CBS put its strongest show on first)

1:30 As The World Turns

2:30 Search for Tomorrow (CBS moved the show here with the argument that sandwiching it between both ATWT and GL, both strong in the ratings at that time, would strengthen it. It continued to do poorly.

3:00 Guiding Light

March 1982

12:30 Young & The Restless

1:30 As The World Turns

2:30 Capitol (CBS cancelled Search for Tomorrow to make room for this show. Search moved to NBC, back to its original 12:30 timeslot, but it couldn't compete well against Young & The Restless. Capitol was a great show, but it too, would be cancelled in March 1987 to make room for The Bold and The Beautiful, and the shows would get re-aligned again)

3:00 Guiding Light

March 1987

12:30 Young & The Restless

1:30 The Bold and the Beautiful (so that the "sister" shows would be back to back)

2:00 As The World Turns

3:00 Guiding Light

and it would remain that way until 18 September 2009 (over 22 years) when CBS pulled the plug on Guiding Light.

 

[SilverSurfer]

Because I associate the CBS soaps with my late mother, who watched them faithfully, it saddens me to see another one get cancelled. It's like I am losing another part of my conncetion to her...

It is exactly the same for me. While I have some unresolved issues with my late mother, my fondest memories of her will always be me curled up next to her on the couch from 12:30 - 4 p.m. every day watch "her programs."

 

[ronboy]

It is exactly the same for me. While I have some unresolved issues with my late mother, my fondest memories of her will always be me curled up next to her on the couch from 12:30 - 4 p.m. every day watch "her programs."

My mother always referred to them as her "stories."

 

[SilverSurfer]

I had forgotten that BB was a Lauren Fenmore Y&R spinoff.

 

[Sausy]

I watched em more regularly when I was younger though do catch up occasionally with Soapnet(which unfortunately ABC is shutting down in January,2012)with Days of Our Lives,One Life to Live and General Hospital.

When I did earlier I loved Another World,Days,Edge of Night,Guiding Light...great characters and memories.Sad to see daytime soap operas becoming an endangered species getting cancelled all over the place.Much more fun and involving than most of the "reality"shit and tiresome controversial talk shows that dot the landcape on TV today.

 

[ronboy]

I had forgotten that BB was a Lauren Fenmore Y&R spinoff.

Through the years, B&B and Y&R have had many character cross-overs., including Lauren Fenmore, Amber, crazy Sheila, and I even think that Victor Newman had business with the Forresters at one time.

That was very rare in the soap world. Did you know that, in 1960's, GL's Mike Bauer (then-Gary Pillar) spent a few years in Bay City on AW? He and daughter Hope were there, until the character returned to GL (with Don Stewart in the role) around 1968.

 

[Lumière]

The only soap I remember following was the telenovela called Yo soy Betty, la fea. It's the original Ugly Betty from Colombia.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrrIbnAbZ6Y[/ame]​

 

[ronboy]

The only soap I remember following was the telenovela called Yo soy Betty, la fea. It's the original Ugly Betty from Colombia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrrIbnAbZ6Y​

That was so neat to see Lumiere. My sister-in-law, who is from Puerto Rico, told me about this show when I started watching Ugly Betty. It was neat to see the original! Gracias!

 

[Lumière]

That was so neat to see Lumiere. My sister-in-law, who is from Puerto Rico, told me about this show when I started watching Ugly Betty. It was neat to see the original! Gracias!

Ha ha, no prob. I remember I was in the in the 3rd or 4th grade when it first aired here in PR.