On June 25, 1999, Another World aired its final episode on NBC.
The show premiered on May 4, 1964, and was the brainchild of the legendary Irna Phillips, who also created Guiding Light and As The World Turns, and William J. Bell, who would go on to create Young and Restless and Bold and Beautiful.
Over the years, the show helped to launch the careers of actors including Amy Carlson (ex-Josie, 1993-98), Morgan Freeman (ex-Roy, 1982-84), Kelsey Grammer (ex-Dr. Canard, 1984), Jackée Harry (ex-Lily, 1983-86; Paulina, Days of Our Lives), Anne Heche (ex-Vicky/Marley, 1987-91), Ray Liotta (ex-Joey, 1978-81), Lindsay Lohan (ex-Alli, 1996-97), William H. Macy (ex-Frank, 1982), Rue McClanahan (ex-Caroline, 1970-71), Brad Pitt (ex-Chris, 1987), Ving Rhames (ex-Czaja, 1986) and Kyra Sedgwick (ex-Julia, 1982-83).
Set in the Midwestern town of Bay City, AW’s narrative kicked off in the wake of the death of William Matthews, husband to Liz, father to Susan and Bill, brother to Jim, brother-in-law to Mary, and uncle to Jim and Mary’s kids, Alice, Pat and Russ. Pat had a particularly dramatic year as the show got off the ground (a pregnancy, an abortion and standing trial for the murder of Tom Baxter).
In 1965, former soap actor James Lipton (ex-Dick Grant, GL) — who would later best be known as the host of Inside The Actors Studio — was tapped to head-write the show, and he shifted the focus away from the Matthews family and introduced the short-lived Gregory family, which had a negative impact on the show’s already floundering ratings. By year’s end, he had been replaced by Agnes Nixon, who remained through early 1969. In that time, she also launched One Life To Live (1968), and her All My Children premiered in 1970.
AW was the first show to incorporate crossover characters from another show, with GL’s Mike and Hope Bauer putting down roots in Bay City from 1966-67.
The show truly began to catch on with fans via one of the most popular and storied love triangles in soap history, that of Alice, Steve and Rachel. Rachel (played first by Robin Strasser, who would go on to play Dorian on OLTL, and then by Victoria Wyndham, who joined the show in 1972 and remained there through to its cancellation). Agnes Nixon marveled to Digest in 2010, “Another World was very low in the ratings and it became the most popular show in daytime.”
The Look Of Love: Steve (George Reinholt) and Alice (Jacqueline Courtney) were one of the show’s most beloved duos.
Though Rachel began as a vixen, she evolved from bad girl to heroine over the years and fell in love with wealthy Mackenzie Cory, much to the chagrin of his scheming daughter, Iris (Beverlee McKinsey). The Corys became a mainstay family after their introduction in 1973. Robert Emhardt played the role for a year; Douglass Watson took over in 1974 and remained until his real-life death in 1989. He won back-to-back Daytime Emmys as Lead Actor in 1980 and 1981.
Over the course of its run, AW won one Daytime Emmy for Drama Series (1976), one for Writing (1975), and nine acting awards.
From 1971 through 1979, Harding “Pete” Lemay served as AW’s head writer, and he oversaw what is widely regarded as the show’s creative heyday. During his tenure, on January 6, 1975, AW expanded from 30 to 60 minutes, becoming the first soap with regular hour-long episodes. On March 5, 1979, it expanded to 90 minutes, the first soap to do so; on August 4, 1980, it reverted back to 60 minutes.
AW spawned two spin-off series, Somerset (1970-76) and Texas (1980-82). Somerset incorporated the AW characters of Sam, Lahoma, Missy and Ricky, and during its run, AW’s title changed to Another World: Bay City. Texas was the first soap to debut at 60 minutes in length, featuring AW characters Dennis, Kevin, Reena, Striker and Victoria in addition to McKinsey’s Iris, the show’s centerpiece. Its ratings tanked following McKinsey’s departure in 1981.
In the 1980s, the show introduced a slew of popular characters, including lovebirds Sally and Catlin (played by Thomas Ian Griffith and Mary Page Keller, who fell in love on the set and have been married in real life since 1991), the flamboyant novelist Felicia Gallant (played by Daytime Emmy-winner Linda Dano) and her BFF Cass Winthrop (Stephen Schnetzer) and twins Marley and Vicky, played first by Daytime Emmy-winner Ellen Wheeler, then by Daytime Emmy-winner Anne Heche. The roles were recast with Jensen Buchanan in 1991.
AW’s 25th anniversary was celebrated by Digest in 1989.
In the mid-1990s, the show scripted one of the most controversial character deaths ever on soaps when spunky heroine Frankie Frame (Alice Barrett Mitchell) was brutally, graphically murdered by serial killer Fax Newman.
After several years of ratings decline, and with NBC looking to add a new soap, Passions, to its daytime lineup, among other factors, the show’s cancellation was announced on April 12, 1999.
On AW’s final episode, Cass and Lila tied the knot; Jake and Vicky celebrated the news that they were expecting twins; and villain Grant Harrison (thought to have been murdered in March 1999) was revealed to be alive and living the good life on an island. The final scene featured Rachel and her newly back-from-the-dead husband, Carl, in the Cory mansion living room. Rachel gazed at a collection of family photos before walking away with Carl. The camera lingered on the photos, then froze on a still image of the late Douglas Watson lifting his glass in a toast.
Jim Antonucci/Televest
Fond Farwell: Victoria Wyndham as Rachel in the show’s final episode.
