vetsoapfan

Missy! Uncle Dru! Jim and Mary! AW at its finest, woohoo!

Oh God, Mel and Ethel Brez. Legendarily awful.

I think Lorraine Broderick was writing the show at the time. She was not a good fit for this show at all, but at least she was...less bad than many who came after her. Yep.

Both Penny and Ellen returned for Nancy's 80th birthday celebration. Overwhelmed by all the irrelevant newbies stinking up the joint, LOL, Penny had the immortal line, "Who ARE all these people?"

It infuriates me that all these gems are just sitting in the vaults collecting dust. Whom do I sue?

It really is. I don't know why these rare 1970s' episodes pop up from time to time, but really, they are a blessing. I salute all the generous people who are kind and altruistic enough to share them with the community.

I'm orgasmic!!!!!!!!!!! We are all so grateful!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I'm actually teary-eyed, reading all the comments about Luke on the internet. I hope he knew in life how beloved he was by so many people.

The Brooks sisters, when shows actually aired in 1984, only appeared in one episode. They did have a reunion scene in a penthouse, and talked about making an effort to get together in person more often, but that was about it.

I'm sure she would have been wonderful. She always was. :)

It was clear that Fulton resented her treatment on the show by the way she announced so bluntly that TPTB had basically left her out of the show's final days. (Lisa really had nothing of importance to do, and no closure at all was given to her character. I was hoping she would at least get a phone call from her ex-husband Grant Coleman, setting up a possible reconciliation between those characters. I did not expect the show to go through the trouble of introducing a new romance for Lisa, after ignoring her for about two decades. But Fulton and Lisa got nothing.) Wasn't Fulton's thanking Goutman specifically about the one showcase episode the show did, to acknowledge the actress' 50th anniversary on ATWT? I haven't seen the Paley tribute in nine years, so I am hazy about the specifics. I was watching when Kim was introduced, of course, and the audience knew from the start that Kim was destined to be a major character by the great dialogue and material she was given. ATWT was so beautifully done back then. No wonder it remained at the top of the ratings for 20 years, despite serious, stiff competition.

For those who cannot access flash-player media any more, I found these links on youtube. The video quality is dreadful (it's from a home-made recording), but the sound is great, and it allows you to see/hear some of the conversation from the discussion, so it's better than nothing! If anyone out there can find a better copy, or can transfer the flash-player version from Michael Fairman's page to youtube, where everyone can enjoy it, please let us know.

I really enjoy reading your posts as well. The great thing about SON is that we have so many erudite, informed, friendly folks who contribute to the conversations. Paley Center: Farewell to As the World Turns was a filmed panel discussion that was made in 2010. I was happy to see it, and loved hearing from the vets involved, but I did bristle at several comments made by the other panelists like CG and Jean P. There was a tense moment between EF and JP, when the writer was asked how she went about tying up all the loose ends of the show upon its cancellation, and how she decided who should be with whom. Before Jean P could say anything, Fulton jumped in and snarked, "Just leave ME out!" Jean P was noticeably rattled and looked dumbstruck. She did not reply to Fulton's comment at all, if I recall correctly. I found a link to Michael Fairman's column with the video included, but the video requires a flash player to access. https://michaelfairmantv.com/paley-centerfarewell-to-as-the-world-turns-panel-wcast-watch-the-video/2010/08/23/

My dear, I do not mind in the least; quote me to your heart's desire! I am honored that you deem my words worthy of the attention. Have you seen that filmed interview with Goutman, Jean P., and several cast members, in which Goutman announced that he considered Hastings, Fulton, and Hays the core of the show? HA! What BS! To this day, that statement galls me. Granted, Hastings and Hays got a bit more attention in ATWT's final years, but Fulton was degraded to the status of an irrelevant day player, which was hardly indicative of Goutman's assurance that Lisa was a core fixture in Oakdale.

I agree that there was a time when Trudy was not really "needed" on the canvas, as over the decades, the show had the likes of Bert, Meta, Kathy, Robin, Leslie, Hope, etc., to provide the Bauers with storyline fodder, but after TIIC decimated the family in the mid-1980s, the show desperately needed some stability and continuity, and bringing back an original character like Trudy or Meta would have been comforting to longtime fans. Even newbie viewers could have fallen in love with them, if the roles had been well cast and well written. Trudy was pretty much a blank slate by that time, and could have shown up in Springfield with children and grandchildren, adding fresh new blood to the Bauer family line.

I don't have any sympathy for Goutman. In an interview once, he said that when the actress' health was waning, he could have pre-taped some scenes with Helen Wagner, to insure that ATWT had some Nancy Hughes material "in the bank" for the end of the series, but he never did. Idiotic, careless decision. Viewers would have LOVED to see new clips with Wagner on the show's last broadcast, particularly with Nancy Hughes saying, "Good night, dear." I never personally cared for Lily Walsh, but Martha Byrne owned that role. Knowing that Noelle Beck generously offered to step aside at the end, and let Byrne reprise the part, but that Goutman did not make/allow that to happen, was also egregious. Viewers who were invested in Lily and Holden deserved an emotionally-gratifying conclusion to their journey, with MB and JH reunited. Plus, Goutman literally had YEARS to reverse the blatant marginalization, underuse, and disgusting disrespect shown to Eileen Fulton, but never did. Phucque Goutman. He gets nooooooooooo sympathy from me. Killing off Liz Foster was a short-sighted, stupid, incompetent, infuriating move. There's NO justification for it. Y&R could really use an original cast member and beloved matriarch figure in Genoa City today. As long as Julianna McCarthy is healthy enough and willing to work, Liz Foster should be on that show. In fact, I don't even care how absurd and unrealistic a storyline was, to resurrect Liz from the dead and make her Jill's mother again. I would accept it, and then hope the writers NEVER referred to the crap about Jill's never-ending-but-ever-changing family switcheroos again. Liz would be alive and Jill would be her daughter. Period.

Well said. ITA.

Alas, after Nancy Curlee departed there was no more good writing (at least not on a consistent basis), and TPTB were hell-bent on offering the audience clones, ghosts, time travellers, effete princes and pretty-boy mobsters instead of complex, nuanced, interesting characters.

Most likely, TPTB running the series never knew she even existed. The writers and producers during TGL's last few decades did not seen particularly knowledgeable of or interested in the show's rich history.

Bert Bauer, Maureen Bauer, and Nancy Hughes were all treated to poorly-executed, insulting send-offs by their respective shows. I suppose they had it better than Jessie Brewer from GH, who simply disappeared without mention after Emily McLaughlin passed away, but TGL and ATWT failed their beloved matriarchs and the audience by offering us the half-assed "tributes" Bert, Maureen, and Nancy received. I would like to believe that actors Don Stewart and Elvera Roussel would have returned to TGL for one episode out of respect for Charita Bauer, and I'll bet Rosemary Prinz and/or Patrudia Bruder would have agreed to come back for Nancy's memorial on ATWT. Lee Lawson and Lisa Brown should have been there when Mo died on TGL. But instead of seeing Mike, Hope, and Meta mourning Bert, we had a fake Ed and the likes of Warren Andrews (!!!) in her post-service scenes, even though Bert had loathed Warren. Instead of welcoming Penny, Don, and Ellen back to Oakdale to say goodbye to Nancy, we had to gag our way through As Katie Grieves. UGH!

I know. Soaps used to have an underlying, positive moral center. Villains would eventually suffer for their misdeeds. Since mobster-rapist Luke Spencer became a national sensation back in the early 1980s, soaps have glamorized and glorified even the most degenerate behavior, and allowed mass murderers, rapists, pimps, drug dealers and other scum to become the "romantic" leads. It repulses me. We used to have heroes like Mike Bauer, now we have slimeballs like Sonny (gag me) Corinthios and Jason Morgan.

Or put videos of Trump on a loop in our web browsers. :(

Cool. Thank you, my friend. I do not think I have any of those in my collection (unless I have forgotten about episodes which I acquired decades ago), but I will now scour both my personal collection and the internet for them. If you just happen to know their whereabouts on the web, please let me know. I appreciate the assistance. Preserving soap history is important!

Killing off Rev. Ruthledge because she was vexed by Arthur Peterson quitting the show sounds like classic Irna Phillips, LOL, but if the actor really was determined to leave, the writer would have had little choice but to replace his character with another man of God, to continue on with the show's central theme at that time. If Rev. Ruthledge had remained alive, but simply never heard again, I'll bet the audience would have resisted any other character being placed in his shoes. It makes sense to me that Irna would have killed him off just so she could transfer the "guiding light" mantle to another minister, without any leftover Ruthledge baggage lingering in the audience's mind. I am grateful for all the radio and TV episodes that have survived from 1950 onward, but I would kill to listen to material from the 1930s and '40s with Rev. Ruthledge. Do ANY of Peterson's episodes still exist?