DramatistDreamer

JMo but I think many soaps would have been happy to have her but it seems like she pivoted to prime time work soon after ATWT, then took time away. I am not sure if lack of compelling roles had anything to do with it, or if she really felt strongly about taking so long away from acting, but I get the sense that she chose not to do soaps again.

Colleen McDermott seemed very inexperienced during her time on the show. The last time I really looked at episodes where she was featured, she looked mostly overwhelmed to me. Both Melanie and Mary mentioned being raised to feel confident in their abilities, so even when they booked their first onscreen gigs and weren't really sure what they were doing, they felt that they could improve. I don't know if McDermott felt that way while on ATWT, which I assume was her first onscreen gig. Melanie talked about seeing how disciplined all the actors were when she arrived on the show and how certain things like always being prepared and to never be late, became embedded in her consciousness. She said she was shocked when some of the actors who came on after her show up unprepared or late. I wondered whether this was an issue with today's soap actors because in the past 12+ years or so, I have seen some young actors in a few soaps that looked lost, and I often found myself wondering whether it was the writing or the actor that is flailing, maybe both? I also thought man, some of these soaps need to contract Smith to work with a few of these actors who need help.

She said it was her first week on ATWT and Melanie kept raving about Julianne Moore, lol. It didn't seem intentional but Mary Ellen was already somewhat nervous about taking on the role after Moore.

Well, I'm not going to reduce Smith to a hair model, but he seemed rather lackluster for the role he was supposed to play.

😂. I have to see how Alan deals/fumbled that situation. Both ladies look great! I swear the ATWT actors have aged the best of all the soaps.

Oh, the Livestream is still going, lol. I will have to go back when the livestream is over.

Ooh, I missed this, lemme go catch the replay!

Speaking of Ms. Lott, this is so sweet!

Andrew Yang continues to make horrible statement after horrible statement.

Speaking of unsettling.

This actually happened?Tennis is so clueless.

If Emily had ownership of the house, then decided to let Susan raise Allison there (perhaps hoping that Allison would feel more of a familial foundation) where Allison would feel "grounded" rather than the feeling of being "unmoored" the way Emily felt as a child). And noooo, I don't like the idea of killing off Ellen when her longtime portrayer is still among us. Soaps have done this too often, and it usually strikes me as sad and desperate when they do.

A hard pass from me on that one.

Right, I remember that episode but you just confirmed what I had already suspected. I wish the episode where everyone else in Oakdale begins to find out were posted on YouTube. Sierra, Craig and Lily all find out at the same time after being summoned by Lucinda. Craig toasts the newlyweds, and says something to the effect of "...to a marriage made in hell...". Kim, Lisa and the rest of the town's reactions were pretty memorable too.

Is there a full episode of that original scene on YouTube? I'm not talking about the scene where the argue and Lucinda pulls John into the tub (I know that one is up), I'm talking about the next episode, where they're already both in the tub arguing and kissing, as shown in this clip. Also, was the Vegas elopement actually shown onscreen? Or just them already back in Oakdale. It's been so long, I had forgotten that there was anything after they pulled each other into the bathtub.

Someone has a YouTube channel full of video clips with what looks like the first actors who played Sabrina Fullerton-Hughes and Colin Crowley. Some of the clips are in poor condition, but there doesn't seem to be much of early Colin in Oakdale.

Even the Banbury Cross storyline had missing episodes. I mean, we know how it ends but it's not as satisfying when you don't see the steps that get to the storyline's conclusion. It's like that for basically every major storyline in the 80s up to at least 1990-91 posted on YouTube, which, tbh is annoying. And, I bet the Banbury Cross storyline would look visually stunning if it were remastered in digital and/or HD. Even the exteriors of the Synder Farm would look great in HD. The SoapClassics people should definitely have included some episodes that were shot in England/Venice and Venice. Don't know what they were thinking in not doing so.

😳😂😂🤭😩 Cheerios!

🤣😂 When I say that I'm here for the comments in this thread despite not even watching the show these days, I mean it. This is one of many reasons why.

Speaking as someone who has been on film shoots, these things are usually planned. Streets are often times blocked off to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Those people who are often just happen to walk by, are often extras, who may have to walk by, again and again, depending on how many 'takes' must be shot. If you look at those scenes closely, even the street scenes in London and Cambridge (where exteriors were mostly filmed), although the scenes were obviously meant to take place in the middle of the day, the streets are sparsely populated, which means that 1) these scenes were likely shot early in the morning, when filming would be the least disruptive and 2) filming was most likely highly controlled--proper permits, no one who wasn't supposed to be there. There is a chance that a Schweppes truck just happened to roll by during filming but it is unlikely that a company like P&G would allow that footage to be used on a television show that could be accessed by a representative from Schweppes--P&G, CBS could all be 'on the hook' for use of a company logo without permission. Schweppes could easily argue that their product was being shown in a way that they never intended. It's more likely that something was worked out to make sure that the footage was useable. An indie director could probably get away with filming without permission in a "gonzo" type shoot but I doubt a huge multinational corporation like P&G could get away with that. And Schweppes, a brand older than Coca Cola, that is considered a heritage brand, so closely associated with Great Britain, I doubt they'd just let some Yanks come in a film their property and brands as they please. I briefly lived in London and I have been to Cambridge and they don't even let you set foot on the [!@#$%^&*] grass unless you're a University "fellow" 🙄. They take that [!@#$%^&*] seriously. Whew, that brought back some memories! Especially since these shows were started with the purpose to literally sell soap. They were 15 minute ad placements with some drama sandwiched in between. It so happened that the drama became the most compelling element. Product placement done well seems a ton more dignified than shooting on a handheld in Peapack, NJ, or any other number of desperate techniques employed over the last fifteen years of daytime soaps. It is pretty hilarious (and sad at the same time) to see those soap dollars commercials in ATWT's final five years. They look cheap and gimmicky as hell!

Speaking of Tonio, I'm watching a 1987 episode where Tonio is trying to conceal the fact that he's seeing Meg Sunder on the sly and he's in the office and Lucinda tells him that she thinks he should give himself and "whoever your doing 😳🤭 with a bit of a rest, because you don't look well".🤣 This episode is filled with spicy dialogue, but you have to pay attention because it's so subtle, you may miss it. EDT. Seeing the clumsy attempts at product placement in the final years of ATWT, it's almost hard to believe that the show actually used to be able to do product placement quite expertly. Seeing these episodes where the Hughes family are in England and Virgin Atlantic was obviously a major sponsor during this time. Also, a street scene between Frannie and Seth, where a Schweppes truck drives by was hard to miss but fit the scene. Also the caliber of products being placed was a cut above what the show would have fifteen, twenty years later.

Trigger warning: it's the New York Times but this Op-ed reminded me of two things: a post about AT&T and Warner Bros. and the whole Discovery deal and how often these ventures become huge drains of money and resources, then flop before these corporations dump it, then move on to the next sure- to-eventually flop venture. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/opinion/att-warner-bros-discovery.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210613&instance_id=32915&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=15118680&segment_id=60585&user_id=5082fbe815e6ec912cf191e049f334da

Was it an off-street death, or was he onscreen at the time? I thought about it last night after posting and had wondered whether he had been killed but I couldn't really remember. So much of that period is missing from YouTube. Just scraps.