Professor James Baffico left his university teaching role in July 1980 after "I was in New York auditioned for a part in 'Another World' and got it..." Aside from acting he also directed, "My position was what you might call 'relief director', filling in for one of the 4 regular directors when they had days off, vacations, did outside work, etc."
"Often in soap opera production," it was pointed out, "the time factor becomes the only dictating factor." James continued, "I have 2 shows – continuing on 'World' and working on 'Texas.'" 'Another World' and 'Texas' (originally called 'Houston') were taped 2 weeks ahead of air date.
Of production, James made known, "The 2 shows are taped in the huge NBC Brooklyn studios – the largest in the East. 'World' is in the 11,000 square foot Studio One, while 'Texas' is on the 9,500-foot Studio Two stage – which makes Bay City (the setting for 'World') larger than Houston."
Starting from July 1980, "'World' characters have been moving south from Bay City to Houston in what can best described as a 'split-off'. New continuing characters have also been introduced as the storyline has been divided between the 2 cities." Paul Rauch explained, "We've already integrated the departing characters into fresh storylines to be carried over into the new show." It was reported, "The relationship between Houston and 'Another World' will continue for the first few weeks of 'Texas' (in August 1980) then will be dropped and the 2 soaps will maintain separate identities." One of the characters would be Reena.
Carla Borelli expressed, "Reena's not a bad girl but she draws a lot of hate mail...At least it means I'm making an impression in the role and that's what counts." As Iris Carrington, Beverlee McKinsey conceded, "Playing Iris as the 'just awful' woman and to do this constantly is draining as an actress...Every show has to have a troublemaker, but this time it won't be me." Hence Carla. Gail Kobe remarked, "(Iris) had become a sweet woman and the audience was used to seeing her do terrible things. It just didn’t work." Beverlee begged to differ, "To play the kind of villain that Iris was takes a terrible toll on you. There's always some gigantic emotional pitch."
It was mentioned, "'Texas' is very different from 'Another World' in many ways. It is a much more expensive show and it is being photographed differently. We're using diffusion filters on the cameras, so that instead of the usual hard edge on the figures you get a little softer cinematic quality. And it is lit differently than the standard soap. This makes it difficult for the cameramen to get and maintain their focus, not having a crisp edge to hold on to, but it just has such a beautiful look to it. It's really lush, like an afternoon movie. It has real film quality."
Of writing, "The scripts are being written in New Orleans by Joyce and John William Corrington. They're real Southerners. They understand not only the language – which is kind of superficial – but they have created characters with a different feel to them, a different way of relating and a different kind of psychology." Pamela Long remembered, "All of the people I've worked with have said, 'You got to get rid of the accent'. I do want to learn 'General American' as a dialect but I don't want to talk that way. I think I sound just the way I should for the show (playing Ashley Linden from Savannah, Georgia)."
It was mentioned, "'Texas' is very different from 'Another World' in many ways. It is a much more expensive show and it is being photographed differently. We're using diffusion filters on the cameras, so that instead of the usual hard edge on the figures you get a little softer cinematic quality. And it is lit differently than the standard soap. This makes it difficult for the cameramen to get and maintain their focus, not having a crisp edge to hold on to, but it just has such a beautiful look to it. It's really lush, like an afternoon movie. It has real film quality."
Of writing, "The scripts are being written in New Orleans by Joyce and John William Corrington. They're real Southerners. They understand not only the language – which is kind of superficial – but they have created characters with a different feel to them, a different way of relating and a different kind of psychology." Pamela Long remembered, "All of the people I've worked with have said, 'You got to get rid of the accent'. I do want to learn 'General American' as a dialect but I don't want to talk that way. I think I sound just the way I should for the show (playing Ashley Linden from Savannah, Georgia)."
