As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

I thought they did a good job presenting the theatre/backstage etc with only a few extras.

Colleen Zenk was a real find as she had an individual look at the time that still holds up today.

[DRW50]

I agree. I wonder where they filmed those scenes.

[Paul Raven]

I read somewhere that it was the Ed Sullivan Theater in NY.

Regarding Annie and Dee,Marcia McLain was the first adult Dee and according to a John Colenbeck interview in SOD she was fired for not losing weight.I think Dee was offscreen for a while until Jacquie Shultz took over. She and Larry Bryggman were married for a time. Then Vicky Dawson took over and that was it for Dee.

It's a pity Doug Marland wasn't interested in bringing Dee back. She only had one marriage under her belt and her relationship with John could have been explored as well as mixing her in with the new characters that were around late 80's/early 90's.

As for Annie, that character had pretty much played out after 3 marriages and being saddled with quads but again it would have been nice to see her kids brought in in the 90's as the new teens( not necessarily all at the same time).

[DRW50]

Some great scenes in this. Enjoy seeing the bookstore, and Lisa being torn. Tom Tammi isn't too bad in this clip. Great to see more of Nancy, even if her hair is awful and flat.

The John/Kim scene in this is good, just slowly building up. They had such a tense relationship at this point as he keeps needling and pushing and she can barely contain herself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHIsOOUniOE

[Khan]

It was. I recognize the doors.

[Khan]

No way would these scenes have occurred under Chris Goutman's or MADD's watch. Chances are, it would have been more Grant manhandling Lisa, John browbeating Kim and Kim taking it, Lisa being absolutely stupid about Bennett and calling him her "true love," and Lisa and Kim calling each other "bitch" while Tom looks on and Nancy is away at the retirement home.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Khan

[Soaplovers]

Reading up on the show's history, I was intrigued with the character of Joyce Coleman. From what I gathered, her character's introduction helped to change the role of Lisa (i.e. from scheming bitch to more of an anti-heroine). I also noticed that she was not only hooked up with Grant, but also caused complications for Donald and Bob Hughes as well.

For long-time viewers, I was wondering if she was written better pre-Dobsons? I noticed that the Dobson's bought her back from the 'dead' and had her back for over a year before she moved away to start anew. Nowadays, I think she would have gone full-on psycho.. but back then I noticed that she had a job and even friends. I often wonder if the character could have continued past 1981, or if the character's stay from 1972/3 to 1981 was far too long? I bet Douglas Marland would have loved to write for her.

[DRW50]

Joyce was apparently popular with viewers and she seemed to be a very complex character. It seems like ATWT in the 70s shied away from writing most of their female antagonists as just scheming bitches, which is what her Dobsons material sounds like.

I do wonder if Marland ever thought of bringing her back, since he did bring Susan back. She probably would have ended up being a mix of Susan and Lucinda. I wonder if she might have been a little too difficult for him to write.

[DramatistDreamer]

From time to time, I love to watch classic clips and although I'm pretty familiar with what happened in 1986 (probably my favorite year), I'm a bit confused about one storyline and I hope someone here can clear this up for me:

I know that Barbara caused that rift between Tom and Margo, leading them to a separation and to near divorce by pretending to have slept with a passed out Tom but why did she do this? Was she angry with Tom? Or Margo?

Also, I don't remember how the truth came out of Barbara's actions. It had to have been revealed somehow. Does anyone remember?

Why are there no You Tube clips of Barbara getting caught in any of the numerous schemes she pulled that year? There were so many (Shannon & Brian's wedding debacle, the whole Duncan affair, the affair with Tonio Reyes while outfitting his naive wife Sierra).

Does anyone know if there are clips of Barbara getting caught? Because I've looked and can't see a darn thing.

[Soapsuds]

The whole Barbara/Tom(Greg Marx..so sexy)/Margo was great stuff. I believe Babs really did want Tom...and she and Margo didn't have a great relationship. I wish I could see that storyline again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLaQnL2AIvQ

Edited October 2, 2013 by Soapsuds

[P.J.]

I don't think Barbara was mad at either of them; even though Margo's affair with James meant they would never be friends. Barbara was tired of being shat on by life. She survived James, but Gunnar died shortly thereafter, then she lost Brian over Paul issues to Shannon. She decided she wasn't going to be hurt by men anymore.

Tom and Margo were having problems. Tom agreed to help Barbara start up her first clothing line, Simply Barbara. Tom and Babs did kiss---but he pulled away and wanted to keep it strictly business. So there was some desire on her part---but I think it was more about power than love.

[DRW50]

I think the truth came out because of Duncan - I think Shannon figured it out from Duncan, or Duncan finally told her.

There is an episode munecojim uploaded where Brian tears into Barbara (as he has begun to suspect the truth), but I don't think there are any episodes on Youtube that show the actual reveal.

[DramatistDreamer]

I had seen that episode (I think it is broken down into scenes and shorter pieces) where Brian lights into Barbara for her suspected disruption of his wedding and he does mention Tom and Margo briefly, but I think it had mostly to do with Brian, through anger, admitting that he invested in her company out of guilt for dumping her and Barbara almost admitting that her actions stopped the wedding before trying to cover and amend her statement.

I haven't seen any episodes on You Tube where Tom or Margo discover that Barbara has been lying or even Barbara's (or Lisa's) reaction to the unveiling of the deception.

I also saw several clips in the aftermath of Sierra's discovery of Tonio's infidelity. I think I even saw one where it was revealed that Lucinda found out about Barbara and Tonio's affair but chose to keep quiet about it. I can't find any clips on You Tube where Barbara is confronted or the affair is actually revealed.

I was watching ATWT at the time, but I was so young that I can't remember 'whether I was watching those particular episodes and some of the subtext would've gone over my head, so I don't know how much I would've processed at the time anyway.

Too bad Soap Classics folded because I would have loved to see those episodes. I would've paid cash to buy/download those episodes. Those were some juicy storylines.

[Mitch]

LOL..so true.

I love this clip..Kim is being the same kind of Kim we saw to the end of the show..did Hays ever age? This was pre-Nick and much better, I hated her with Nick. Lisa looks...odd. What's with the tie around her neck and blazer, very un-Lisa. The Tom actor was cute but stiff and Grant..what the hell was with those dark glasses? I remember my aunt thinking Grant was "hot stuff," lol, but he was always so stiff and boring. This was Marland writing, right? I can see his later ATWT with the mystery, the details, the foreshadowing, the way he could write where you could see what a character was thinking (you can clearly see that Lisa does not totally belive Bennet is innocent but damned if she will admit she is wrong to Grant..)

[DRW50]

Another clip.

Lots of good stuff in this. I, surprisingly, loved the Nancy and Ralph conversation - so rare to see this complex side of Nancy interacting with people who aren't overly close to her, and Keith Charles brings so much depth to Ralph's motivations.

The large group at the bookstore is a fascinating moment. You have the people who are trying to be friendly and peppy (Valerie and her foster daughter), Betsy struggling to get through the conversation because of her grief, Sheila being nice but seeming shady, and Melinda immediately being on to her.

How many people worked at that bookstore anyway? Kim, Betsy, Lisa, Sheila, Melinda...are we sure Lisa didn't burn it down for insurance money?

And look at Don making the move on Mary! No time wasted. I think there was even tongue. If that awful rouge didn't scare him off, it must have been love.

Kelly Wood would have made a good Alice recast on AW.