Scrapple

Regarding Marisa Tomei: I remember at the time thinking how special she was as an actress, and that she would go far (I know it sounds like hindsight, but it's true). She was especially magnetic when things were going bad for her. (her relationship with her shrew mother, her rape accusations against Bob). She also fit well in the teen scene back then. Unlike a former poster, I did not care for her involvement with Stuart at all. First, I thought the actor was not very good, and second,it was too much of a fairy tale that didn't fit in with the Marcy Saga. 

Wow, I never knew Tom was married before Margo. I do know that he left Barbara at the altar. How many times was Tom married?

I remember when Margaret Colin left ATWT.  I swore I would never watch the show again. I hated HBS, and thought she was unattractive. Eventually, she won me over and became my favorite (by far) of the Four Margos. Her battles with Barbara were the highlight of her tenure on the show.

I started watching the show when the Steve/Betsy/Craig story started. So I watched the show for the next 30 years, and never realized Steve had been married before. I never once heard the name Carol mentioned. Usually, the show was pretty good with using its history (except for Goutman). I wonder why the Carol character was forgotten?

Does this mean that any trace of my favorite soap storyline , the Stephanie Martin murder case on Edge Of Night, doesn't exist?

Usually when one-half of a supercouple moves on, the audience doesn't accept it. There are rare exceptions (Lily/Damien), but most times it's an impossible situation. What made it worse was that the character of Steve was ridiculously changed (hero to drug-dealer), everyone was comparing Lindsay to Meg (Lindsay was a better actress, but Meg had star quality), and nuBetsy went from being the center of storylines to a supporting player. Lastly, they put her with Iva's rapist. The writing was on the wall.

The pairing of Rod and Betsy was ridiculous. Steve and Betsy were one of the five most important couples in ATWT history. Why didn't they just let them ride off into the sunset together, instead of destroying both characters? I know Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost had zero chemistry, but still they could have wrapped up a quick little exit storyline for them.

James Stenbeck fro As The World Turns. This guy was THE uber-villain from the show and had returned from the dead more than anyone in daytime (except for Stefano from DAYS). So when he is finally killed for real, who does it? Not Barbara, the woman he tortured for years, not Paul the son he screwed up forever, not John Dixon , his arch-enemy in the early days. No, it was HENRY COLEMAN'S MOTHER, somebody nobody today even remembers. What a waste.

It's understandable that characters are written off of soaps.Actors and actresses leave, new writers want to change the direction of the show, etc. I'm fine with that, as long as the character we've invested time and affection forget the proper send-off, an acknowledgement of what they meant to the show and it's fans. 

 

My favorite soap was As The World Turns. The character Steve Andropoulous carried the show for two years during his whirlwind romance with Betsy Stewart. When new writer Douglas Marland came on board, he wanted less of a super-couple focus, and Steve was not among his favorite people. Fair enough, but to suddenly turn the former hero into a drug-dealer rotting away in a Greek prison was a slap in the face of the people who rooted for Steve and Betsy for years. And so unnecessary, since the Betsy character was written off shortly after. Another was Emma Snyder, the matriarch of the Snyder clan, who counseled all six of her nitwit children through crisis after crisis, but received virtually no decent sendoff.

 

Who were the characters on your soaps that deserved better at the end of their road?

The talk about Kirk reminded me how much I loved the office intrigue at WorldWide. At it's peak, Lucinda's company was a hotbed of conspiracy (Connor, Evan), quirky supporting characters (Ambrose, Jane), and assistants/antagonists and flirt-targets (Craig, Kirk). The show lost an interesting facet when it fazed out the business angle. 

I can't figure why they made Iva SO, SO depressing. Wasn't her character on GL fun and full of fantasy (I rarely watched GL). Why would she want to play such a dour character? The final nail in the coffin was sticking her with that doofus they married her off to.

I vaguely remember the character of Mike Karr, when I watched the show as a wee youngster. He was played by Laurence Hugo, and seemed  to be a major character, who was always in the center of the action. I remember popping in on the show years later when Forrest Compton had the role, and his character seemed much less important. Am I remembering this right? 

Khan, I agree. Hunt Block, although entertaining in a way, made Craig a one-note caricature. There was nothing more cringe-inducing than watching him attempt real emotion (e,g. Bryant's death). Jeffrey Meek was actually not bad..he just wasn't Craig. He probably would have been a good long-lost son of Stenbeck. Jon Lindstrom committed the unpardonable sin of making Craig boring.

 

The less said about Roger Howarth, the better.

Colleen must have been so grateful for both Douglas Marland and Hogan Sheffer. Both head writers took her from far-back burner and put her front and center on the show.

As much as I couldn't stand most of Hogan's tenure, I must admit that his first year-and-a-half was just what the show needed. Characters were revitalized, people were talking about ATWT, Emmys started coming, and most importantly umbrella-type stories started appearing, all resulting from the simple idea of splitting up Hl and Barbara. Unfortunately, once the whole original story finally wound down, Hogan had no second act.

Is Hutch Hutchinson the worst ATWT name ever?

Although I liked both characters, I could never see Duncan and Jessica as a romantic couple. They just seemed like brother and sister. Duncan and Shannon had all the fire.

 

Probably the most ridiculous moment in ATWT history had to be Duncan holding up "Shannon's" shrunken head, crying, "Oh, my wee lassie!"

 

Although her return eventually fizzled, Shannon's surprise return was one of ATWT's best shockers (before the days of spoilers!) 

I was just thinking how head writers can either make or break certain characters. Barbara Ryan was on the back burner when both Douglas Marland and Hogan Sheffer started their respective tenures. Both plucked Barbara from dullsville and injected new life into the character. Who do you think did a better job?

I like the idea of Bob's retirement party bringing back favorite characters from the past. See, zanereed would've been a better writer than the actual headwriters we had.

 

Another idea would've been to have Emma Snyder become deathly ill. Before her miraculous recovery, all the Snyders (Seth,Iva, Caleb, Ellie, cured-Meg, Julie, Angel, etc) would come to her bedside.

 

One last idea...bring back different people playing the same role. For example, Tom and Margo (Scott and Ellen) are having a discussion in their kitchen, they walk into the next room, but continue the discussion as Hillary Smith and Gregg Marx, then go outside to finish the talk as Justin Deas and Margaret Colin. You could've done the same with any role where you had multiple actors (e.g. Craig, Lily).It would've made for a must-see episode.

I would've done a couple things:

1) Have Simon come back for Katie. Hooking her up with Chris was ridiculous.

 

2) Bring back Martha Byrne , even if a ghostly Rose appearance. She was the first woman to win a Lead Actress Emmy, and was a vital part of the show's history.

 

3) Give Henry and Vienna a proper goodbye (Henry could've stayed with Barbara, but H & V should've had one parting scene).

 

4)Have SOME final scenes for Lisa. Although I've never been an Eileen Fulton fan, her character was integral to the show's past. The way she was written at the end was humiliating.

 

5) The show should have brought back fan favorites at the end, instead of bringing on newbies nobody cared about. How about a Snyder Family reunion? What about Duncan, Shannon, Penny?

    It was like the show was ending after 5 years, not 54.

Does anybody ever think of how they would've handled ATWT when it was announced it was cancelled? Of all the soaps that were given the pink slip, ATWT had the most time to tie up loose ends, bring back favorites, etc. But for the most part, they dropped the ball. Although the show was by FAR my favorite soap, the last year was a disaster in my opinion. If you could've changed one single plot point, what would you have changed?

I loved how all the suspects had their moment in the spotlight in the courtroom. Sometimes the show would entirely consist of one person on the witness stand.

I vividly remember the Stephanie Martin case, even though I was very young. It was riveting, and the actress who played Stephanie (Alice Hirson, maybe?) was excellent, and made you understand why everyone in town wanted to kill her.

Any good books that would interest ATWT viewers?

I remember thinking what a great find Marisa Tomei was back then. She literally stole every scene she was in. Especially riveting (and heartbreaking) were her scenes with that trashy mother of her character. I did lose interest when they paired her up with that asexual Lord Cushing.