History of the announcements of Another World
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Main article: Another World (TV series)
The announcer, Bill Wolff, spoke the first and last words of each AW episode from the beginning in 1964 until he retired in 1987.
From 1964 until 1966, the first opening sequence would be supplemented with the epitaph: "We do not live in this world alone, but in a thousand other worlds." Wolff would then continue on, "And now, Another World. Brought to you by...", with the day's sponsor, which varied from various Procter & Gamble products for the home, such as Cheer laundry detergent and Jif peanut butter, to products tailor-made for the woman, such as Playtex bras.
When the show moved to color, Bill Wolff informed the audience: "Now, in color, the continuing story of Another World." By 1970, the introduction was edited to "And now, the continuing story of Another World." From 1975 to 1979, the introduction included a mention of its new time length: "And now, for the next sixty minutes, the continuing story of Another World." Depending on story and time constraints, Bill Wolff would add, "The first part of Another World is brought to you by...(the day's sponsor)." If time constraints dictated that no sponsor could be cited, the sponsor and its product would be mentioned at the end of the show's first segment. When the show was a half-hour in length, there were five segments in an episode. When the show moved to an hour, the writers were allowed the luxury of seven segments. The second part (or after 1975, the second half-hour) would be introduced with a bumper, which may or may not have been cited with a sponsor. If time dictated that the sponsor could not be cited at the beginning of the second part, it would have been noted at the very end of the show, before the closing credits.
In 1979, despite the show moving to ninety minutes, the show's introduction moved back to "And now, the continuing story of Another World," just as it had been from 1970 to 1974. There was still no change when the show was shortened to an hour in 1980.
With the introduction of new titles in 1981, Bill Wolff's introduction was edited yet again. As the title of the show mellowed into the night sky, he announced, "Another World. This part (or portion) is brought to you by...(the day's sponsor)." This stayed unchanged until the titles were edited with new music in 1987; by this time, Mr. Wolff had retired.
From 1964 until 1974, each act of the story ended with Wolff telling the audience "We'll return to our story in just a moment." In late 1981, his voiceover announcements were restricted to the mid-program bumpers, in which he said "Stay tuned for the next part of Another World."
During the B/W days, Wolff closed the show with the announcement: "Be sure to join us again tomorrow for a half hour of drama. Another World." After the change to color, AW episodes ended with the announcer telling the audience to "Join us each weekday at this time, for the continuing story of Another World." From 1970 to 1974, the end announcement would be prefaced with, "One half-hour from now, watch Somerset (followed by the current plotline on that show)." Wolff would then tell the audience to stay tuned to the program immediately following AW. At the very beginning, it was the quiz show You Don't Say, but by the 1970s it had been replaced by serials such as How to Survive a Marriage. From 1975 until 1976, the show that immediately followed AW was Somerset. After 1976, Bill Wolff did not usually plug the following program. However, his insistence that we "join [him] each weekday for the continuing story of Another World" continued until 1987.
After 1987, the only voices that were heard over the end credits were various in-house NBC announcers, who told us what was going to air that evening on the network (as they had for some time at this point).
[edit] Parody
Bill Wolff's distinctive delivery of the words "continuing story" was parodied on The Muppet Show. The ongoing sketch, "Veterinarian's Hospital", a soap opera spoof, began with a voice-over by Jerry Nelson: "Veterinarian's Hospital, the continuing storrrrrrrrrrrry of a quack who's gone to the dogs."
