ATWT: The Recent SORAS Obsession

[Actor87]

Okay...in the past two or three months, kids have been droppin' left and right and new ones are fillin' in. What's the deal? Sage was born in 2003 and is being played by a 10 year old!! Parker was born in the mid-90's and is being played as a 13 year old. Now that is what it should be. Meanwhile, we have new of a new Parker and a new J.J. debuting later this week. Faith has already been aged. Who's next? I seriously (at the rate ATWT has been going lately) would not be surprised if Johnny returns in the next few years as a teenager!

What dos everyone else think?

[P.J.]

Eh...I'm kind of split. If the kids are being aged because they're going to be given something specific to do, I don't mind as much. At least Faith, Parker, Daniel and coughJJcough are being aged as a group. It's not like when Katie and Bonnie were aged so out of whack with other children born around the same time. (Katie was actually born after Adam, but returned to town as an adult, while Adam was a teen who grew up on the show.)

But, I think seeing child actors grow with the role is a valuable way to hook the coveted teen demographic. So, I think the show should stick with this bunch of teens for the forseeable future, if they can act. I don't want to have them be 13 this year, and 17 (played by 22 yr olds) next year.

Plus, I'm tired of seeing the troubled 18yr old, who's marriage is on the rocks, or who's already had two miscarriages before she graduates high school. KWIM? Let them wallow in the family dynamic like most kids.

[All My Shadows]

ATWT is going to shoot itself in the foot with a pistol packed with SORAS, I know it! Look at this...

1. Katie Peretti - born onscreen in 1989...Terri Columbino was born in 1975. The character is most likely in her late 20s, approximately 27, putting her birth year as 1979, for a ten year difference.

2. Luke Snyder - born onscreen in 1995...Van Hansis was born in 1981. The character has been said to be 17 this year, putting his birth year as 1989, for a six year difference, which isn't bad at all.

3. Emily Stewart - born onscreen in 1972...Kelley Menighan Hensley was born in 1967. The character was once said to have been born in 1966, making it a six year difference, which, again, is definitely not bad at all.

4. Tom Hughes - born onscreen in 1961...Scott Holmes was born in 1952. The character is most likely in his mid-to-late 40s, which means he is only a good two or three years older than his original age, which really boggles the mind when you consider the fact that Tom had been SORASed nearly ten years by 1970.

5. Paul Ryan - originally stated to have been born in July 1977, but was aged 15 by 1986, making it 1971. The character is now probably following that same timeline, as Roger Howarth was born in 1968 and Paul is depicted as being in his mid 30s.

6. Dusty Donovan - originally depicted as a teen in the 1980s. Brian Bloom was born in 1970 and Grayson McCouch was born in 1968, yet the character seems to be in his very late 20s. He's been deSORASed.

7. Casey Hughes - born onscreen in 1991 and played by the same actor (Cruise Russo) from that year until 1999. Casey graduated from high school this year, probably making him 18 years old, putting his birth in 1988, thus making a difference of only three years, which, of course, is excellent.

8. Will Munson - born onscreen in 1993, but is now depicted as slightly older than Casey. Both graduated this year, so Will is likely to be a few months older than Casey, making a five year difference, yet making him older than a character who should be older than him.

9. Meg Snyder - in the 1980s, she was depicted as being in her late teens, yet 20 years later, she seems to have shedded five or six years, as she is most likely in her early 30s (Marie Wilson was born in 1974). She has definitely been deSORASed.

Now that I think about it, ATWT isn't as bad as some soaps are with SORASing (coughDAYScough), but with this current wave, they're gonna end up shooting themselves, I know it.

[SteveFrame]

Oh I agree with you AMS that some shows are worse, but ATWT is going to end up hurting themselves again. They should have learned from the lesson with Dan Stewart. He is one of the worse cases of SORASing ever in daytime and forever hurt the characters of Ellen Lowell Stewart and her mother Claire Lowell.

I agree with you in a way about Dusty acting in his 20's but I think they are still sticking with him being Lily's age. At least they were when Hogan was there, because there was big talk about their history when he first came back. I sure hope that JP has not forgotten that. I think because he interacted so much with Jennifer that they forgot about it or at least tried to make us forget about him being that much older than her.

[P.J.]

I don't think Dusty's acting like he's in his 20's. GMcC has always given Dusty a world-weary edge.

Mike acts like a guy in his 20's, instead of nearly 40 like he should be.

[JinkiesP]

I thought the SORASing on this show was getting out of hand when the pregnancies of Gwen and Jennifer where sorased and Jean P. bragged about it in an interview like it was some clever idea.

[Actor87]

I still can't get over the fact that a TEN YEAR OLD is playing the part of a three year old. I had always thought they hired an infant, then a toddler actor who usually stays on the show a goodfour, five or six years, ...then a pre-teen, then a late teen. But with ATWT, they went straight from infant to toddler (who only aired for like a half of a year<<when the whole Nick storyline was happening>>and now, a pre-teen. It just amazes me. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

And another question...when all these kids they're SORASing (clearly in an effort to revamp the teen scene in about 2 years or maybe in ATWT's recent behavior, a year) when all these kids finally get up to be teens...and then leave the show a few years later (like most of them do)...then what?! ATWT only has one baby right now and his sister just kidnapped him.

[Chris B]

My problem is that they don't need any of these bloody SORASes!

Faith - Lily just got an adult Luke last year and just three months ago she received another daughter in the form of Jade. Why does she need a third child? Develop her relationship with the two kids she already has and give her her OWN story.

Sage - JJ and Parker were very successful recasts so Sage is pointless (and too young). I don't see why they are going to recast these two roles especially when it'll just be a couple years. POINTLESS AND STUPID!

This show has no idea of how to balance or utilize what they already have working for them.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

I am kind of torn here. I don't like a lot of SORAS'ing but I don't mind it as much if they do several characters that way.

On GL ,little Leah Bauer is a teenager while her older brother and cousins are still little children.

Some of my favorite characters and actresses were Suzanne Davidson who started as a little Betsy Stewart on ATWT and grew up on camera as a teen age girl.She was eventually replaced with Meg Ryan.

Chris Lowe grew from a little Erich Leshinsky on SEARCH to a pre teenager.

One of my favorite actresses playing one of my favorite characters on one of my favorite shows was Jada Rowland. She started as little Amy in 1954 on Secret Storm.She stayed with the show with an occasional break here and there until it was cancelled in 1974. The role of Amy grew with her and was never SORASed!It can be done!

[WTGH]

I don't mind SORASing but right now it's completely unnecessary.

We already have a BIG teen set (Adam, Jade, Will, Gwen, Casey, Maddie, Elwood) taking up screentime day after day.

I don't want more stories with kids in them!!!!!!

Sage was a baby for about 2 years. Yet, she's now OLDER than Natalie who was born about 18 months before her.

I loved Parker.

[SpiritualJunkie]

They're aging JJ?? NOOOOoooo!!! I thought Dylan Denton was a great little actor!

[edgeofnik]

I don't mind SORASing as long as there are good S/L reasons for it -- long-term AND it doesn't hurt the parents. Honestly, I like the nuFaith and nuSage and their interactions with MB and MW. (From what I've seen, I think they enjoy working with the "older" children.) Casting is a big part of it, too. I'll take a good 10 or 13 year-old SORAS over a crying baby any day. Can't wait till Babs starts spoiling a teenage Johnny! LOL.

[AntiNWO]

You think that's bad? DOOL is the show most guilty of SORAS offences in the history of American daytime.