One of the biggest (and most expected) changes in daytime soaps this year was the cancellation of the long-running NBC/P&G drama "Another World". After thirty-five years, many of which it spent at the top of the ratings, AW went out "not with a bang, but with a whimper". The constant cast and crew shuffle at the show had resulted in one too many changes and inconsistencies, and over the years, the fans began turning the show off, until finally, on June 25, 1999, the show ended forever, culminating with the wedding of adulterous Lila Hart (divorced from Shane Roberts and Matt Cory) and lawyer/lover Cass Winthrop.
Despite an admirable effort from fans (by the end of the series, there was somewhere in the neighborhood of two million North American fans per episode), there was no chance for the show. Rumors persisted for years about managerial tug of wars between AW's owner, Proctor and Gamble, and the network that ran the show, NBC. NBC announced it's decision, in April of 1999, not to pick the show up after June 25, and P&G took that opportunity to close the book on the show forever. For a short time there was talk of petitioning the networks for a spin-off, one of the main functions of the misnamed controversial CSAW, but there is no word from the CSAW lately. (When contacted and asked for an update, CSAW had nothing to say.) Most fans have now accepted that the show is over, and many have instead turned their efforts to finding a way to get one of the USA's all-soap networks to re-run the older episodes.
The Another World Home Page: http://www.igs.net/~awhp/awhp.html
Passions
On July 5, 1999, NBC premiered their new soap, "Passions". Interestingly enough, "Passions" was reportedly supposed to replace NBC's last foray into the soap world, the low-rated (and recently finished) "Sunset Beach", but financial issues put AW in the hotseat. Although the show was less than stellar when it first premiered, drawing a 2.1 Nielsen rating, it made headlines for it's Lady Diana storyline in which female lead Sheridan Crane (McKenzie Westmore) almost meets her death in the same manner (and the same tunnel) that Lady Diana had two years earlier.
PSSN has taken advantage of the last six months to pull in a faithful following, and done something that no other soap to premiere in the 1990s has: They not only have MET their original rating of 2.1, with a 2.4 rating the last week of 1999, it BEAT it. Now PSSN is floating between 2.0 and 2.2. Viewers have quickly fallen in love with the campy, quirky storylines that are buffeted by the traditional soap background. There's the rich family hiding secrets (and a patriarch very similar to "Days of Our Lives" villain Stefano DiMera), the hunky blue-collar man who resents their wealth and power (and just happens to have a teenage sister who is obsessed with and is stalking the family's heir), and the ritual supporting characters with no real storyline.
Go To Page: 1 2
