Wednesday, August 22, 2012

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #9 Mac & Rachel From ANOTHER WORLD

COUPLE: Mackenzie 'Mac' Cory & Rachel Davis Matthews Clark Frame
SHOW: ANOTHER WORLD
RANK: 9
PLAYED BY:
Mac: Douglass Watson
Rachel: Victoria Wyndham
YEARS: 1974-1989 (Mac and Rachel actually met off-screen in 1973 when Robert Emhardt was playing Mac.)

STORY:
In 1974 Rachel was a single mother who had been divorced three times, always trying to better her life and position in society.  Mac was the wealthy owner of Cory Publishing new to Bay City where his daughter, Iris, now lived.  Iris threw a party in honor of her "Daddy" and Rachel crashed.  Iris was having her thrown out when Mac came to Rachel's rescue.   Mac sent her flowers the next day and their romance began.   Mac formed a close bond with Rachel's son, Jamie, while Iris fumed over the relationship.  Rachel began to find new depths in herself now that she had unconditional love and support.  On Valentine's Day in 1975 Rachel and Mac were married.   As a wedding present Mac bought Rachel the mansion she used to walk by as a child and dream about living in.  They were never happy for long though especially with Iris interfering every chance she could.

Among Iris' many schemes was hiring a man to give Rachel horse-riding lessons who would try to seduce her.  That didn't work so Iris hired someone at the mansion to cause trouble.  A wedge was being driven between Mac and Rachel but things looked brighter when Rachel became pregnant.  In one of her most despicable acts, when Rachel called Iris looking for Mac when she was in terrible pain, Iris just hung up the phone and never told her Daddy.  Rachel miscarried.   Mac and Rachel began to drift apart.  He spent his time on moving his company to Bay City while she focused on her art.  Over the next decade, Mac and Rachel would divorce twice and then get married again.  They also had other lovers along the way (Janice, Mitch).  In 1986 they renewed their vows.  In 1989, Mac learned that Iris, who had returned to Bay City after eight years away, was responsible for the hostile takeover attempt on his company. He died shortly after with their relationship unresolved.  Rachel was devastated.  She eventually fell in love again but Mac would always have her heart.

IMPACT:
The evolution of the character of Rachel through her relationship with Mac was fascinating for viewers.   The writing of Haring Lemay was brilliant (he won an Emmy in 1975).  Having Iris be the antagonist in a triangle in the early years played out an interesting dynamic which helped keep ANOTHER WORLD near the top of the ratings.

Watson was nominated for three Emmy Awards for playing Mac winning twice as Outstanding Actor in 1980 and 1981 (the same years Judith Light was named Outstanding Actress).  Wyndham was nominated two times as well.   In 1978 Wyndham was named Outstanding Actress at the Soapy Awards.

From Patrick Erwin (A THOUSAND OTHER WORLDS): A wonderfully complex, complicated romance between two grownups – the debonair Mac and reformed bad girl Rachel. Watching these two struggle to stay together (with Iris spoiling the match) was magnificent theater. Mac Cory and Rachel Davis were as rich as any characters in Dickens or Shakespeare, and played to perfection by Douglass Watson and Victoria Wyndham.

CLASSIC CLIPS:
Rachel/Mac/Iris (1978) 
Rachel remembers Mac (1997)
Douglass Watson classic clips
Victoria Wyndham classic clips

Share your thoughts on Mac and Rachel in our Comments section below or on our message board.

RELATED:
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actors: The Complete List
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actresses: The Complete List
- THE COMPLETE LIST: 25 Biggest Blunders In Daytime Soap Opera History

17 comments:

  1. A beautiful adult love story.

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  2. LOVED Them! I remember as for a great mix and uncanny type of triangle, Mac\Rachel\Iris.I stopped watching AW in '77 when GL started a full hour. AW & GL was now clashing in time and our house was CBS household, AW was sacrificed until I returned as a viewer in '95.

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  3. No. I loved Mac & Rachel but the couple surely is not greater than DAYS' Bo & Hope who clocked in here at #10! This list has been biased toward P&G soaps.

    On another-note: Will Soap Classics release Another World on DVD like ATWT AND GL? Another World was a P&G soap. I know the folks here at WeLoveSoaps have an inside track.

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  4. Mac and Rachel were superior to Bo and Hope, no offense. The actors were two of the best ever and that elevated them in my opinion.

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  5. I was beginning to wonder how and when Another World would rank on your Couples list. Hopefully Mac/Rachel, while an excellent choice, won't be the only one representing AW on your list.

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  6. @zyxwvuts: You'll get no argument from me in terms of who were the better actors but I'd argue that Bo & Hope were a more relevant, impactful and important couple in daytime history. Heck, if this list were about the best acting duos in daytime history, Douglass Wattson/Victoria Wyndham, Justin Deas/Margaret Colin, Robert Newman/Kim Zimmer and Erika Slezak/Robin Strausser would be my top choices. As far as couples, Bo & Hope should rank #2 not #10!

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  7. We will have to agree to disagree. It's not just about the acting although I think that is important. Mac and Rachel in the 1970s were pure brilliance and the 'triangle' with Iris was the best in soap history. I enjoyed Bo and Hope in the early days as a nice young love story but not so much in recent years. But I think both deserve to be in the Top 10.

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  8. Well said *awtribute*. ANOTHER WORLD deserves more than one spot on this list. Mac and Rachel were a given(and I'm expecting to see Steve and Alice), but Cass & Frankie deserve to be here as well. They may not have gotten all the magazine covers and Digest awards that DOOL and GH were hogging, and Emmy certainly ignored them(though Stephen Schnetzer and Alice Barrett were both deserving), but AW did devote two special B&W episodes to them and Frankie's brutal murder sent the show on a downward spiral it would never recover from---if that's not impact I don't know what is. What made Frankie & Cass so special and so memorable though was the amazing chemistry Barrett and Schnetzer shared. As it is, few couples on this list can compare with them in that department.

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  9. I grew to love Frankie but Cass and Kathleen were my all-time favorite soap opera couple. Of course, there was no chance they were going to make this list. Cass had great chemistry with everyone woman he was with except Nicole. But he was magic with Kathleen.

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  10. Roger i love the diversity of so many wonderful couples makes me mourn soaps even more for not being what they once were.

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  11. Yay--I Still Love Mac & Rachel!

    Brian :-)

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  12. @Roger...I do agree about Cass & Frankie, WONDERFUL couple and fun, when I was watching old episodes that started on Soapnet (when it actually showed soap operas) I was able to catch the years I hadn't seen before and I was in hog heaven. Seeing Frankie as she came to town and back history. Kathleen returned and I didn't like Cass & Kathleen, I know they were a popular couple but probably because when I went back watching Cass & Frankie was married and pregnant with Charlie...fallen in love. As far as Cass I loved him with Lila more so then with Frankie and it was because of Lisa Pelso. I grew up with her as "Wendy" she was delicious!

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  13. harlee, I was a big Peluso fan from SFT too. Loved her as Lila on AW. When Kathleen came back the writers had changed. I know a lot of viewers that started watching after she had left in 1986 so their loyalties were with Frankie at that point, and so were the writers. It was a good triangle where there were three strong characters but the new writers didn't write the types of stories Cass and Kathleen had before. Kudos to Stephen Schnetzer for being so awesome with everyone.

    As for Mac and Rachel, I wish every episode from their first two years was available.

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  14. I can't believe this is the first entry for another world - this list is NOT impartial and it's clear the authors watched/were fans of some shows and knew little about others as the pickings of great couples from Another World is vast and a number outrank what has been on this list so far - Ryan and Vicky, Jake andVicky, Jake and Pauline, Dean and Jenna, Cass and Frankie, Michael and Donna, Steve and Alice, John and Pat, Cass and Kathleen, Catlin and Sally, Donna and Matt, Carl and Rachel

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  15. I can't believe this is the first entry for another world - this list is NOT impartial and it's clear the authors watched/were fans of some shows and knew little about others as the pickings of great couples from Another World is vast and a number outrank what has been on this list so far - Ryan and Vicky, Jake andVicky, Jake and Pauline, Dean and Jenna, Cass and Frankie, Michael and Donna, Steve and Alice, John and Pat, Cass and Kathleen, Catlin and Sally, Donna and Matt, Carl and Rachel

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