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Scoops for March 22, 1999
Scoops Section #1:Fare Thee Well, Oh Illustrious Mayor!
After Tyrone goes to his office to find Marley waiting for him, the two
get into an argument which quickly turns into passion. Meanwhile, Vicky has turned to Grant for help after Jake
dumped her in that jail cell, calling him to ask her to pick her up. Meanwhile, her mother is in her wheelchair,
fantasizing about what it would be like to kill Grant. (Anyone else bothered by the fact that they're having these
fantasies, and don't seem to be bothered by them?) Afterwards, Grant experiences a little other-worldly experience
when, in a moment of hallucinatity, Grant "sees" Spencer, who acts upon him as his own long-gone conscience,
while Jake continues to do his best to keep Vicky away from Grant.
He ignores the voice in his head (usually a good idea), and heads off to the dinner as planned. When the time comes
for the mayor of Bay City to make a speech, he finally gets his revenge on the people he believes have wronged
him. He stands up in front of the entire city (which is composed of approximately 30 people, all of whom hate Grant),
and publicly denounces Gary, Jake and Cindy, and fires Joe as the police captain. He enjoys revealing the "crimes"
of Bay City's citizens. (All I want to know is if he reveals PAULINA'S crime).
After the speech, the citizens of Bay City are left INCREDIBLY angry, and with more reason than ever to kill him.
On the top of the list is Vicky McKinnon, who has learned (via Cindy) that Grant is planning to take Kirkland.
She goes to confront him in the office at the Harbor Club, and the two get into a fight, which culminates in Vicky
smashing Grant one on the head. Vicky believes she has killed him, and so do Jake and Marley when they find her.
Marley begs her sister to let her take the rap, in an attempt to make up for everything she did to her. They flee
the scene.
At home, Vicky has to have a discussion with Kirkland about Grant. Meanwhile, Donna is shocked to find Grant's
blood on Vicky's clothing. She destroys the evidence to keep her daughter from being arrested, but it doesn't help.
The police show up with an arrest warrant for her daughter, but it's not Vicky who's being arrested -- it's Marley!
She was found standing over Grant's body, and Tyrone, feeling that something isn't kosher, accuses Jake of taking
advantage of her. To save her sister, Vicky goes to the police to turn herself in, while Marley goes on the run,
receiving help from an unlikely source. After revealing a secret about himself, Tyrone grows closer to Marley.
Scoops Section #2:
Non-Harrison/Hudson News
 Agonizing
about how her secret could hurt those she loves, Paulina continues to try her best to get Tito out of town, not
wanting him to find out anything about her past. She offers him money, and Tito decides that it's time for him
to leave, and says his goodbyes to Remy, but Nick stops him from leaving. In the meantime, the tape has been recovered,
but it's not safe for long. Grant orders Paulina to destroy the tape, continuing his threats against her and her
family. Paulina is ready to do as he asks, but Joe stops her in time. Joe then has a flashback, showing us that
he's got a little secret of his own. (Any chance it's that someone FINALLY made a copy of the dang tape? It's probably
the fact that the first thing he did upon finding a dead Grant was search his body for the information he has against
Paulina.)
 On the other Cory front, Matt
realises he just can't put his John Hancock on the divorce papers, while Cass keeps trying to get to know Anne
better, while playing a dangerous game with Jordan Stark. Meanwhile, Rachel searches Stark's book for clues about
his plans for her family. While this is going on, Rachel's almost-son-in-law Cameron finds a drunk and disoriented
Gary (who has been hiding from his family), bringing him to Josie's place in an attempt to reunite the two. While
her ex-fiance is fighting his family demons, Amanda is getting more and more sucked in to Sparky's secret plot
to uncover in her the soul of Amalie Kitteridge Stark.
Casting News
It was nice while it lasted, but Anna
Kathryn Holbrook will be leaving Bay City on March 30th. It was
fabulous seeing her again -- Sharlene was an integral part of the cast for so long, that it was easy to just adjust
to having her back. NOW I have to adjust to her being gone again. *SIGH*
Jerry Lanning,
who played Russ Matthews briefly in 1989, will be returning to "Another World" starting March 22nd. Jerry,
whose other roles include that of Justin Marshall on the short-lived AW spin-off, "Texas", will be playing
Judge Walker. Incidentally, Lanning was in the recent stage production of "1776" with former AW alum
Paul Michael Valley (ex-Ryan Harrison), playing Rev. John Witherspoon. He has also appeared in "My Fair Lady",
"Where's Charley?", and "Anna Karenina". He's been nominated for two Drama Desk Award for Outstanding
Featured Actor in a Musical -- in 1975 for "Where's Charley?", and again in 1993 for "Anna Karenina".
AW viewers, particularly those who frequent the TVGuide soaps site, will be getting a treat starting March 29th.
Actress Courtney Sherman
will be coming to town as the new district attorney, June Reiner, named after the mother of TVGuide's Jonathan
Reiner. Her first case? Prosecuting Grant Harrison's murderer. She's going to immediately get in Joe, Jake, and
Vicky's bad books, but will be behind Toni 100%, actually giving Toni's character a storyline. Sherman has been
on ATWT and AMC, both times playing doctors. Sherman is very familiar with the workings at AW -- she writes for
the show under the name "Courtney Simon".
Actor Michael Bubrick
is playing Grant's private investigator Freeman. He began airing March 15th. Prior to AW, Bubrick played Achilles
in the stage production "The Greeks". This role is very short-term -- basically, it's just a slightly
longer than usual guest appearance.
David Hedison,
who played Grant Harrison's father Spencer on AW for many years, will be making a brief appearance on the show
on March 23rd as part of Grant's storyline. Grant's guilty acts are catching up with them, and Spencer shows up
to him in AW's incarnation of Disney's Jiminy Cricket.
Fact or Fiction?
A new rumor has cropped up about the McKinnon family. Apparently Ben
has an 18-yr-old son that may come to Bay City in the near future. Congratulations, Ben! Either he was born when
you were 14 years old (Ben was last seen in town in school dating Marley Hudson, who was the same age as him),
or there's something funny in the water out there that aged your child! It appears that AW's population of over
35 males is dwindling severely (the only two left are Cass, in his late forties, and Jordan Stark, in his late
two-hundred-and-thirties), their population of over 50 females unchanging (Donna, Etta Mae, Felicia, and Rachel),
and their under 25 of-age-to-date population through the roof (Tito, Remy, Nick, Alli, and the proposed Tucker,
Kineisha, the new Latino girl, and Ben's son). I'm starting to feel like it's "Dallas" meets "Beverly
Hills, 90210". The newest rumor on the two Latino characters in the works is that the young woman will soon
rock Jake's world -- anyone else reminded of B&B, with Claudia Cortez (a beautiful young Latino woman) who
caused trouble in Thorne and Macy's marriage, and her older (protective) brother, Lucien?
In a recent on-line interview, Alice Barrett-Mitchell revealed a few tidbits about her character, Anne O'Donnell.
While she had to keep a lid on the truly juicy stuff, she did reveal that Anne was NOT Frankie. She also revealed
that Anne, who knows no one in Bay City, is there trying to forget something, and trying to pull her life back
together. She never expected to end up in the one town on earth where it would be impossible for people to just
ignore her. ABM made a joke about developing a relationship with Matt Cory rather than Cass, which I have to say
-- that sounds so outlandish, it would be worth seeing! It's about time Matt gets away from lying, scheming, adulterous
women with dark brown / black hair. (I wonder if the similarities between Donna and Lila were only coincidence...)
How Do I Kill Thee? Let Me Count the Ways...
Grant is going to "die" on March 25th. This is extremely similar
to the DOOL storyline a few years ago where Curtis Reed is killed, and something else that is flitting at the corner
of my brain...There are a number of suspects in Grant's death, including Joe, Paulina, Jake, Vicky, Marley, Donna,
Cindy, and Gary, but there's also an unidentified mystery suspect. Now, we ALL know what the eight known suspects
would want to kill Grant for, but who's left to suspect? In a recent interview, Goutman revealed that even the
actors themselves don't know which one of them killed Grant. Goutman knows, but he's not telling. He says the show
has taped several scenarios of possible Grant exoduses (which include methods of death ranging from strangulation
to suffocation), and will air some of them through to May. It's because of these that Mark Pinter, who stopped
taping some time ago, will still be on-screen until the culmination of his murder trial.
Basically that begs the question, "Who's the mystery man / woman?" Which of the people in Bay City have
a possible motive for killing Grant?
Remy / Tito:
These two have the same motive -- Grant's treatment of Paulina. Remy could kill Grant for threatening to destroy
Paulina, and Tito because he doesn't want Grant to reveal his scam (remember Grant's allusion that Paulina's child
was a girl?), or because he doesn't want Paulina or Remy hurt when the truth is revealed. Maybe they'll team up
together!
Freeman: Grant's
private eye, he has the least invested in Bay City. Would we even notice or care if Freeman disappeared from town
to go to prison? (Although it would be nice to keep a real PI around town for the NEXT time we need one.) Maybe
Grant stiffed him on the check, or maybe we'll find out that HE'S the father of Paulina's baby...stranger things
have happened.
Etta Mae: We
all know how protective Etta Mae is of Vicky. Maybe she got sick and tired of watching Grant use and abuse Vicky,
and decided to off the guy.
Jordan Stark:
Why bother having a motive? Sparky does whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases, so it's not entirely a foreign
idea that he could be responsible for Grant's death.
AW in the Ratings
AW went up in the ratings this week. From 2.4 the week ending March 7th,
AW jumped up .2 points to hit 2.6 the week ending March 12th. The latest ratings have marked a decided turn-about
in AW's popularity. The show dropped to an all-time low between the spring and fall of 1998 after Culliton took
over the reins, which continued for the first few weeks after Laiman joined Passanante as head writer, but in recent
times, the ratings have begun rising again.
Saving AW from the Chopping Block
There is a "Save AW" rally set for April 24, 1999, which coincides
with the AW Fan Club Luncheon (note: the rally is not being organized by the fan club). The rally will be held
in front of NBC's "Today Show" studio window in Manhattan while the program is being taped. If you want
to participate, be in from of Rockefeller Center studio on Saturday, April 24, 1999, between 7:00 and 9:00 am.
Remember to bring your protest signs! It's currently estimated that over a hundred online fans are expected to
show up. Neither NBC nor P&G had any comment. E-mail Lucky121@webtv.net if you have any questions. There's
a good chance that a number of SB fans may show up as well -- band together with them to show your support, or
ignore them, but DO NOT argue with them, fight with them, or anything else. (Incidentally, the one running the
"SB fans at AW rally" move is also one of the people in charge of the illegal petition.)
If you want your voice heard and can't attend the rally, WRITE TO NBC. Make sure to include your full name and
home address, write respectfully, and adding your phone number and / or e-mail may add authenticity to your letter.
Letters are far more reliable than petitions, and they have more weight with the network. If you are a fan of both
SB and AW, tell the network why they should keep both. Don't attack the other show, and don't fall into the trap
that a number of SB fans have fallen into by resorting to illegal means. (A few don't mean all, but word has it
the network is a little ticked off by what some SB fans have done. If you want to save your show, for crying out
loud, do it legally.) Chances are the network won't want to run four hours of soaps, but they may be amenable to
the suggestion of cutting one or more shows in half. I'd rather get 30 minutes of AW a day than no minutes.
Talking to AW
There is an AW chat with actor Jonathan Sharp (Sergei Radzinsky) being
held on Tuesday, March 23rd, at 6:00 pm PST (9:00 pm EST). Visit NBC's official AW page for more info, at http://www.nbc.com/tvcentral/daytimecentral/anotherworld/.
Daytime Emmys
Recently the soap nominations for the daytime Emmys were announced. Although
AW did not receive any of the major nominations, they did receive four non-major nominations, for Outstanding Achievement
in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design for a Drama Series, Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for
a Drama Series, Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control For a Drama Series,
and Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition For a Drama Series, The Emmys will air from New
York on May 21, 1999.
Quotable Quotes
There are two winners this week for "quotes of the week". Although
I have to admit, I loved almost EVERYTHING Grant said, there was way too many great quotes for me to choose only
one or two. The two best singular quotes were from Tuesday (Gary and Josie talking about the affair), and Wednesday
(Donna and Vicky's discussion about obsession).
Gary (to Josie): If somebody told me you were
dead, I'd go crazy...I'd break things, get drunk, beat up somebody who looked at me the wrong way. But I can't
imagine getting horny.
Vicky: Oh, you're
a fine one to talk about obsession.
Donna: That's what
it is.
Vicky: Well, I don't
know. I didn't hop in my car and try to run down my daughter!
Dead Hamster Award of the Week
This week's dead hamster award was a tie! Joe and Paulina have both won
the award this week for threatening to kill the mayor of Bay City with so many witnesses. Of course, don't let
me forget the two honorable mentions -- Grant and Jake. Cindy went into the bathroom at the motel, she didn't disappear
off the face of the earth. Aside from that fact that I specifically remember Grant calling the Bay City Towers
to make a reservation (NOT Sinbad's), I've been in cheesy motels. They usually don't have a window big enough for
a blonde woman in a skimpy red "outfit" to squeeze though. Oh, and let's not forget ANOTHER honorable
mention for Jake. I don't care if Cindy WAS wearing a wig -- she does NOT have Vicky's body. In fact, I've never
seen anyone look LESS like Vicky. Rhodes is taller, more slender, and much smaller built. Buchanan is shorter,
curvier, and more voluptuous. I would buy Lila in a blonde wig as Vicky, but not Cindy.
Rants & Raves
***NOTE: These are a little short this week. I spent half the night trying
to get my @#$%ing car to work, and not quite succeeding. @#$%ing mechanics charged over $900 to fix the thing,
and it's worse off now than it was before it went in! All I need now is for my VCR to go on the blink again.***
Rants: There's
not a whole lot to rant about -- except for the lack of Sergei scenes, this was a pretty fabulous week! But I still
have SOME rants. First of all, what's with Grant and Jake? Did they lose all intelligence? Cindy went to the bathroom,
not to Mars. Just open the door, and VOILA! There couldn't possibly be THAT many places to hide in there. Now onto
the Carlinos. Hate Grant all you want, but don't threaten to kill him in so public a place. If this was a Perry
Mason mystery (which it seems a lot like), Perry would have a thrill of a time with Bay City's citizens! I have
only one rant regarding the death of baby Gary. Well, two. A nephew is not a junior (he's a "the second"),
and if someone doesn't kill Cameron soon, I'm going to cry. His character was the sole blight on the moving scene
when Josie finds out her baby is gone. Incidentally, why is Joe just accepting Tito at face value? If he does just
a LITTLE bit of prying, he'll find out that "Tim" never existed. It can't be that hard for the chief
of police to look up a birth certificate, or adoption papers, or SOMETHING, but no -- we just accept it. We KNOW
there never has been and never will be a Tim, but Joe doesn't even wonder?
Raves: The handling
of the baby's death was fabulous!  Although it's incredibly sad that the child had to die, it was completely expected. Most babies born
four months early don't survive. Every single scene with Grant this week was a gem to watch, and I LOVED he and
Cindy in the apartment, and later in the hotel. Blondes really DO have more fun on AW. (Take Vicky for example.
Every man she's ever looked twice at has become obsessed with her to the point that he's willing to kill to keep
her. I don't understand it, but then, she's not exactly my type. Sergei, on the other hand...) Kudos to Gary for
his cuts on Josie in the hospital, and kudos to Amanda for being able to look past his lies and betrayals and reach
out to the SpamMan in his hour of need. While we're at it, score one for Vicky. It's about time someone pointed
out that she ran Marley down with her car. I loved Rachel's introduction to Tim. She just stands there, looking
expectantly at him. At least they didn't have some huge hug and, "Oh, I love you so much." Nothing is
more irritating than smarmy, over-done reunion scenes. Tyrone and Marley were equally fab on Friday, standing up
to Grant. And it goes without saying that John Littlefield was completely fabulous as Gary this week. I'm really
going to miss him...
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