May 4, 2014 is the 50th anniversary of the soap opera Another World. The show created by Irna Phillips lasted for 35 years until it was cancelled in 1999. Below are some of my thoughts about the show along with other comments about its history from my memory as I was thinking about the program.
Another World told the story of the denizens of Bay City. The Matthews family were the first family of the program. By the time I started watching in the 80s, they were pretty absent from the show. Josie was a part of the family, but her father Russ was barely around. Matthew was named after the clan, and Aunt Liz came back and Olivia was introduced. That said for the most point, AW by that time was all about the Cory and Hudson families with a a bit of a Frame presence.
What I loved about Another World was the friendships. Unlike most soaps, while family was important friendship drove much of the storytelling. Characters wouldn't only be pals with their relatives, but have actual friendships with people of the opposite sex they weren't sleeping with or shared a direct tie (like Ryan and Frankie).
AW was the first P&G soap I ever watched (that I can recall). When SoapNet aired reruns starting around the time I began watching it, I was thrilled to be able to see full episodes. I only got to see AW on days off from school. Eventually I could see part of the episode in the afternoon, until WNBC out of NYC had the "brilliant" idea to move the show to noon making it impossible again.
AW was filmed out in Brooklyn, which influenced the way the show was produced as everyone was in their own world at the program. The show was supposed to be another "As the World Turns", but obviously by the time I viewed it that wasn't the case. As someone who watched ATWT also (though I started a bit later with that), while I saw them as related, they didn't have much of a similar tone. While both AW and ATWT had farms, the Frames weren't like the Snyder clan. The rich characters in Bay City seemed a lot more approachable except for villain Reginald Love.
Mac and Rachel were the "first couple" of Bay City by the time I started watching, though they had only started a relationship in the 1970s. Rachel had been a bad girl gone good, and Mac was her loving older husband. He brought her respectability, and she brought him happiness. Her son Jamie and his grandson Dennis were best friends as children, and that relationship was mentioned years later when I was viewing the program. Mac's death as the actor who played the role (Doug Watson) passed away in real life is some of the most harrowing I've ever seen on a soap. The grief was just so palpable, and watching it years later on SoapNet reruns made me fall apart with tears.
Another World had character and even after all these years fans of the show miss it. I think that's a normal reaction and at random times I think about it. If I see an actor on another series or hear music that played on the show I remember. That's the best thing any of us can do is remember the feelings and hold on to memories of years gone past.
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