|
Scoops for March 1, 1999
Scoops Section #1:
All Foam, No Beer
Amanda gets her heart-broken when Cameron tells her he’s leaving town, and has some surprising news for the Moron
-- it looks like these two might stand a chance at reconciliation, but Sparky isn’t willing to give up. He has
just discovered the Cory garden, which seems to be the key to unlocking his past with Amalie. As David, he continues
to share those heartfelt moments with Amanda, but his plans could be in trouble when Zak finds out what he’s doing,
and challenges him.
 Cindy and Dozie meet, but Dozie has an
attack of conscience and realises she can’t give Cindy the tape. We have the makings of an excellent catfight,
but then the tape decides it wants to take a swim in the water off the docks, and Dozie’s shoes decide THEY want
to take a swim when her water breaks. Like any good manipulator, Cindy lets Dozie sweat a bit while she tries to
figure out what’s more important -- diving after the tape, or helping save the life of Dozie’s baby. Rather than
ruin her clothes in the water, Cindy takes Dozie to the hospital.
 Dozie’s troubles aren’t over there. Not only
does she have to explain to her distraught husband, who is under the impression that she’s got more than half of
the pregnancy left to go, that it is possible to give birth to a healthy child when you’re barely four-and-a-half
months pregnant (*SIGH* have the writers been forgetting to take their happy pills lately?), she has to explain
away the baby’s blood infection, and why Gary’s blood just won’t work for the transfusion. But even then she’s
not willing to reveal the truth, and puts her premature son’s life at risk by going all out to make sure that Gary
has no clue what’s going on. (Shouldn’t be hard.)
Luckily, Gary is preoccupied. He’s trying to get a call in to Sharlene, who most likely didn’t even know Dozie
was pregnant. He convinces her that her daughter needs her. He then turns to Amanda for support (she and Moron
have both rushed to the hospital), because despite her own pain, Amanda is there for both Moron and Gary in their
hour of need. Gary will REALLY need her once he learns that he can’t possibly be the baby’s daddy. Hopefully he’ll
unburden his sorrows on her, rather than in a bottle. When Cameron, in his pain, lashes out at "David",
Sparky’s mask almost slips and reveals his true self.
Scoops Section #2:
Dazed and Confused
MarLie has skipped ceramics class and is wandering around Willowdale looking for Jake when she runs into Dr. Shelly
Clarke. She unburdens herself to the good doctor, who has some advice for MarLie. When Shelly goes off the deep-end
and MarLie realises that she’s a patient, not a doctor, MarLie is amazed -- that crazy lady had just given her
the best advice she’s ever received. She decides that she’s going to be the Soul of Helpfulness, and do everything
she can to make sure that Jake and Vicky see that she’s changed. Vicky figures out that Grant is making plans for
the two of them to run away together, and indirectly instigates a fight between Grant and Jake. Not willing to
give up her tenuous hold on her ex, Vicky takes Grant’s side in the deal, and an incarcerated Jake is left hurt
and angry.
Scoops Section #3:
Dear Frasier...I’m Seeing my Dead Wife Again
Matt tells Lila that he can’t hold her to their marriage, and says he’s willing to get a divorce. She rushes over
to tell Loverboy, but he’s a little distracted -- he keeps seeing his dead wife everywhere he turns. He thinks
about it, but decides it would be better to NOT share that information with his beloved -- how do you tell the
woman you’re sleeping with that you just came face to face with your dead wife? While Cass is debating on whether
not to tell Lila, "Frankie" is in his office, checking out a picture of Cass and Frankie. Cass isn’t
the only one in a state of turmoil though -- after offering comfort to a frightened Lila during a storm, Matt realises
that he has real feelings for his wife. Later, Cass and Matt resolve their differences, and the Winthrops and the
Corys vow to bring Jordan Stark down by any means necessary.
Casting News
David Hedison,
who played Grant Harrison's father Spencer on AW for many years, will be making a brief appearance on the show
in late March (about the 23rd) as a part of Grant's storyline. Last time I recall seeing Spencer, Justine was still
alive. Isn't it great how AW remembers these folks at Christmas? I hope Spencer will at least get a chance to see
Kirkland.
Brittany Finamore
has been cast as the new Charlie Winthrop. This isn't Finamore's first go-around on AW -- in 1998, she played Vicky
as a child in flashbacks. She made her television debut in the 1998 mini-series "A Will of Their Own,"
playing the 7-yr-old Amanda (the adult Amanda was played by actress Lea
Thompson). Reportly Lauren Pratt (the former Charlie) was
replaced to age the character. By what, three days? Brittany is give or take the same age. This makes four Charlies
in five years. (Note: I can't find any two spellings that agree on Finamore's name [Finnemore, Finnamore, Finemore,
Finamore] -- since her major credit is under "Finamore", that's what I used.)
There's a little more news now on the departure of John
Littlefield. Since Gary will soon be finding out about his wife's
infidelity, it's anyone's guess what his reaction will be, but according to the current buzz, JL's departure is
"storyline dictated", and Gary won't be recast.
Make sure you set your VCRs! Kimberlin Brown (ex-Sheila Carter on Y&R and B&B) is on AW this week (supposed to be
the 2nd and the 3rd) playing Shelly Clarke. At first Marley thinks she's a doctor, but it turns out she's really
a mental patient! As well, Anna Kathryn Holbrook (Sharlene) will be showing up in town at Gary's request the week of March 9th
to help Dozie handle the whole after-birth trauma.
Fact or Fiction?
Hot on the heels of the exit of the character of Gary Sinclair, rumor has it that AW is looking to cast a young,
teenage male character -- Tucker Sinclair, the long-lost brother of Gary and Cameron. (So long-lost that Gary and
Cameron never even knew he existed, unless they change history again.) No word on a foreseeable first air date,
but chances are the character will be involved with Alli. It appears that the writers are remembering something
that was alluded to when Gary first appeared in town -- the existance of his younger sister and brother, neither
of whom have even been mentioned since Cameron came to town and they established that he and Gary were the only
Sinclair children -- I assumed they'd been erased.
Another World: The Book?
Another World will follow the latest trend in publishing and have coffee table book commemorating the show's 35th.
Written by Julie Poll, the book (entitled "ANOTHER WORLD: The 35th Anniversary Celebration") is scheduled
to be available as of April 28th. According to Barnes & Noble, the book is available from them as of April
19th. The cover price is $30 for this 288 page hard-bound book, but they say they’ll sell it for $21. (Try this URL for more specific info.
If it doesn’t work, click here to do a search.)
AW in the Ratings
For the week of February 15th to 19th, AW was sitting nicely in the ratings at 2.5, up .1 from last week’s 2.4.
The ratings have stayed pretty much the same for the last few weeks, sticking mainly to 2.4 and 2.5. Not much of
a rise, but we’re not dropping either.
While we're on the topic of ratings, NBC has put up a special soap poll at their site. You can access the poll
itself at http://anotherworld.nbc.com/, but if that address gives you trouble, go to NBC's homepage at http://www.nbc.com. Towards the bottom of the page, there's a link for the poll. Look carefully though
-- it's so small, it's really easy to miss.
Quotable Quotes
Amanda won this week, both for quotes on Monday. The first was something she said to Rachel about putting her wedding
behind her, the second the first line she said to Dozie in what could have been a FABULOUS catfight.
Amanda (to Rachel): And I figured that now that
I've got the flowers all taken care of that I'll just take a lot of gasoline and then set the place on fire. How's
that for closure?
Amanda (to Dozie): First of all, I have to thank
you for the wedding gift that you gave us. And Cameron and I are going to have to have you and Gary over for fondue
as soon as we get back from the honeymoon. Oh, but there's not going to be a honeymoon. As a matter of fact, there's
not even going to be a wedding, you see, because, well, the groom knocked up one of the bridesmaids and then the
bride found out right before she went down the aisle. So I guess we're not going to have that fondue night after
all.
Dead Hamster Award of the Week
 This week’s dead hamster award goes to...BCPD
captain Joe Carlino! Congratulations, Mr. Carlino, for proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that while the wheel
may be turning, the hamster is most definitely dead. For months now he has been ignoring the not-so-subtle signs
that Dozie’s been hiding a few secrets, and even when he walks in to find her behind his desk in his office and
the tape turns up missing, he STILL doesn’t suspect her. It’s bad enough he thinks that she’s one of his best cops,
without even wondering why she’s ALWAYS around when evidence goes missing.
Rants & Raves
Rants: Would
someone please just shoot Gary and get it over with? Am I the only one here who thinks that there are smarter individuals
in the tank at "Magical Mary's World of Wild Sea Monkeys"? I never realised that it was possible for
a soap to make a character that dumb. Of course, they came really close with Amanda -- thankfully she’s finally
started keeping all her cornflakes in one box. And what on earth did Dozie think she was doing? Boca Lynda was
Amanda's fault? Someone help refresh my memory -- I have no recollection of Amanda forcing Dozie to sleep with
Moron. Of course, I admit that my recollection of those events is rather hazy -- I did my best to forget. Joe!
You lame-brained idiot! Dozie is standing there in your office. The tape is missing. Dozie has been playing best
buds with Cindy for ages. Like, DUH! Last but not least, the writers of AW should be drawn and quartered. I remember
the eighties. An 18-yr-old Amanda slept with Sam, getting pregnant with her only child to date, the illegitimate
Alli. She then wed Sam shortly before Alli's birth. Now they expect us to believe that all that happened when Amanda
was 16? Gee, pity Amanda never had the chance to graduate from school...not having that high-school diploma must
be a nag when she's publishing The Bay City Herald.
 Raves: Matt gets a rave this week. Not for any real reason, but just because I’ve finally
taken to Matt Crane as Matt. Oh, I admit, I still miss Jeff Phillips (so shoot me, I LIKED him), but Crane is actually
growing on me. It’s nice to see that it looks like Matt’s brain has finally returned from vacation. I’m thinking
he should just wash his hands of Lila. You’d think that one cheating, older, dark-haired woman would be enough
from him. Amazing how much Dozie and Lila have in common -- they've both slept with Matt, and neither one understands
the meaning of the word "fidelity". Once again, I was extremely impressed with Amanda this week. The
writing for her dialogue has been truly excellent lately (does this have anything to do with the addition of Eleanor
Mancusi to the writing staff, I wonder?), and she got some excellent jabs in at Dozie. I loved Etta Mae's own dig
at Timo's choice of music for the Lucky Lady. About time she noticed that there was something going on there. Of
course, she still seems to think that Timo's a good employee. Come to think of it, he is! He's one of a very few
Bay City citizens who actually shows up for work occasionally (sad thing is, the others are Dozie, Joe, and Paulina).
I may complain about Vic not having a job from time to time, but at least she has an excuse for never being at
work.
Special Section: 15th Annual SOD Awards
On Friday, February 26th, NBC (and CTV) aired the Soap Opera Digest awards. (I missed them -- my network has never
aired them before, and I was off at "Saving Private Ryan".) From SOD's online site, here is the list
of winners. (For those wondering, the picture is of Canadian actor Cameron Mathison, who won for outstanding male
newcomer for AMC. They ignored AW, but I'm happy that they at least had a Canadian on their winners list.) None
of Proctor & Gambles shows (ATWT, AW, GL) received ANY awards this time around -- all the awards went to one
of six shows (GH, AMC, DOOL, PC, B&B, and Y&R).
 Hottest Male Star: Steve Burton (Jason
Morgan, GH)
Hottest Female Star: Kristian Alfonso (Hope Williams, DOOL)
Outstanding Villainess: Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady, DOOL)
Outstanding Villain: Vincent Irizarry (David Hayward, AMC)
Outstanding Male Scene Stealer: Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin, PC)
Outstanding Female Scene Stealer: Louise Sorel (Vivian Alamain, DOOL)
Outstanding Younger Lead Actor: Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer, GH)
Outstanding Younger Lead Actress: Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth Webber, GH)
Outstanding Female Newcomer: Patrika Darbo (Nancy Wesley, DOOL)
Outstanding Male Newcomer: Cameron Mathison (Ryan Lavery, AMC)
Favorite Veteran: Stuart Damon (Alan Quartermaine, GH)
Favorite Return: Cady McClain (Dixie Cooney, AMC)
Favorite Couple: Stuart & Marian (David Canary & Jennifer Bassey,
AMC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress: Lauralee Bell (Christine Blair Williams,
Y&R)
Outstanding Supporting Actor: Ian Buchanan (James Warwick, B&B)
Outstanding Lead Actor: Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer, GH)
Outstanding Lead Actress: Lynn Herring (Lucy Coe, PC)
Favorite Show: General Hospital (ABC)
Editor's Choice Award: Michael Zaslow
|
