ATWT: December Discussion

[P.J.]

I won't deny the writing has gutted the character of Margo. She's basically just a plot device to whatever character she's with on any particular day. I'm just fed up with her hypocrisy. She faced no consequences for covering up for Adam/Riley, but spent the last few years berating Casey any time he even looked at her crossways. She treated Maddie like a daughter after finding out about her rape, but had the nerve to get up in her face about Adam's "traumatic incident". She's completely schizoid on how she treats Alison, which I could understand to a point.

Anyway...today was like Sexual Tension City today with Jack and Carly. Damn Craig....I know I shouldn't want it, but damn...Jack and Carly could have rung in the New Year themselves if not for his fevered, wrinkly, talking out of his ass ass today.

On the other side of town...I thought Dusty and Jan stunk up the joint trying to manufacture "chemistry". Sure, I enjoyed Jan declaring she didn't believe in divorce one minute, then shimmying under Dusty the next...but it sure didn't seem in any way hot.

Found the Mick angle dull. I like the thought of Babs snarking on Em's ass again, but I'm not sure I buy Paul blaming Em for ratting out Meg. Couldn't Paul simply pay off someone in the OPD to find out who made that call to 911? Any other time he would have.

[Soapsuds]

I thought today's show was rather dull. I just hate how they are teasing us with CarJack. I knew they werent going to kiss. Craig is just an unwanted character at this point. Can he get anymore annoying??

The only bright spot in today's show was Babs snarking at Em.

[Mitch]

Ah, Marx was the hotness. But typical Marland, he got a stiff, kinda nonsexual guy to bore us as Tom, and we have been stuck with him for years!!!

As for the vets hurting more then helping. Hmm, since we never see them that is really hard to say! I do agree that they shouldn't have HUGE stories but they should be there to add flavor, spice, depth and history to the show, and have more to do then they do now. Fulton is a mystery. I kind of wonder if she has trouble remembering her lines, as when she is on, she is seems flustered. If that is the case then good for Goutman for keeping her around.

However, I think that what has done more harm to this show then the vets you mentioned is the endless repetetion of stories, Carly and Jack break up and make up, ditto for Lily and Holden, James comes back to be killed and returns again, Craig does something horrible but never pays, never feels bad, never learns, never grows up.

[Chris B]

I don't think the vets hurt the show at all, it's all writing. ATWT is the easiest soap to get on air. It's about families, several of which are already established. Throw in some comedy, business, lots of romance and a good mystery here and there and that's all you need. The show worked because there truly was always something for everyone. Hell, Nancy even got a new love interest after Chris died. Losing the vets and families has severely hurt the show. Whenever they attempt to write the Stewart's, Snyder's or Hughes as a family it improves the show so much.

As for Eileen Fulton, that's just how she plays Lisa. She's very sharp in interviews and she also does a cabaret show full time. I doubt she could do that if she were ailing.

[Soapsuds]

Marx is definetly hotter but Holmes did nothing for you Mitch??

[P.J.]

Oh, believe me...I knew as soon as Carly asked Jack "why are you here?" they'd cut to commercial and Craig would rear his ugly face before Jack would say anything significant. Sure enough, commerical ends, Craig The Swamp Thing enters, and "hilarity" ensues.

A large part of me simply loathes Craig as a waste of skin...but I admit, there's a deliciously evil part of me that sniggers at him being completely humilated and forced to rely on Jack and Carly's kindness, 'cause I know how he hates pity. It is tiny but it occasionally surfaces.

[Soapsuds]

Seeing Craig(Jon Lindstorms version) naked in the tub made me want to turn straight!! A scary sight to say the least....lol

[DRW50]

Gregg Marx WAS extremely hot, but the show never did anything with it. He and Margo didn't have a passionate relationship -- they had longing, banter, torment. He and Barbara never actually did anything, she made him think that he had slept with her. I thought Marx looked his hottest around 1984 when Margo was deaf. He had a beard then and it really highlighted his facial features while the clean shaven look did not. But even then, he had no story about sex appeal. I can't put that on Marland because Tom was not a sexy guy.

I think Marland did write for Scott Holmes as Tom. Tom often reacted to things, but then that was a role which I thought made sense for Tom. Holmes was a very good supporting player and was more than capable when he got lead material, like the Lien story. I also thought Holmes was great at the banter and the fun which comprised Tom and Margo when Marland was around.

For a few years after Marland's passing Tom and Margo were still alright, not great, but their humor was stripped away and they were pushed into dramatic, yelly stories. Margo yelled for most of 1996 and 1997.

The story with Eddie Man and Emily was one I felt did a lot of damage to Margo and Tom, as a couple and as characters, because it was so plot-driven and so unpleasant to watch. Emily became this completely evil monster, Tom became a complete self-righteous moron, and Eddie was shoved into the center of the story even though viewers barely knew him.

I guess Goutman and Sheffer arriving was the last straw. Sheffer trashed Tom in print very early on -- Tom is the antithesis of the type of man Sheffer worships. And Margo, who was over 40, not very warm, not conventionally attractive, probably made him shudder. Add in Goutman's general disdain for the vets, and it was all she wrote.

I do miss the humor and fun and warmth which Holmes and Dolan once had as Tom and Margo. This summer when Bob was in the hospital and Tom was on YELLYELLYELL mode every scene, I just felt so depressed.

[P.J.]

Well, I admit, I had to keep focused on Mikey...'cause staring at that white lump of flesh could render you blind. Maybe he was mildly attractive 15 years ago on General Hospital...but now? Nope.

[Vee]

I always liked Ellen Dolan's Margo, actually especially in the Sheffer years. I totally believed she was this hard-bitten, no-nonsense lady cop and she looked wonderful. She wore the pants in that couple. They should've recast Tom Hughes with a power player long ago. You look at the clips of Gregg Marx or hairy Justin Deas in the role and it is someone totally different.

[DRW50]

Did you see that awful Doc Reese story? I think that and her hepatitis were the only stories Sheffer gave her.

Dolan is good as the no-nonsense cop, but I do think it just was the generic tough cop, more than Margo. Her history sort of blended into the background (at one time she and Dusty had been close, but when he returned, she acted like she didn't know him).

More focus on Tom would have been a good step, but the problem they had this decade was what they would do with what they saw as a power player. It probably would have been chasing after Meg and having psychotic breakdowns while driving someone off the road.

[Vee]

Oh, I'm not defending Doc Reese. By and large the stories he gave her were bad. But when they just had her performing her function as cop she was spectacular.

[DRW50]

She was good at that. It was the rest of the writing for her I was never sure of. I felt like they used her a lot to try to make people pity Craig or Katie.

[Soapsuds]

Ewww..Doc Reese...and every female in Oakdale had a thing for that pig....LOL

[Meldus]

I have been pretty much ignoring the show but I read that Dusty and Janet had sex already. I swear Janet was a good Catholic, so why did sleep with Dusty, even though she told him she didn't believe in divorce? Can she ever do as she says because right now she is looking very hypocritical. And Dusty has now slept with about five different women in a year, which is whorish even for ATWT.

Casey and Ali are ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!! Can someone please explain to me why these two are shoved down our throats?

I am off and on with Margo, lately she has been on my [!@#$%^&*] list. I still freak out that ATWT actually had "Black" people Camille, Doc, Marshall, Sarah, Jessica, Ben, Curtis, Denise and Bonnie on the show with real storylines. Now there is ZERO diversity!! And I am still a bit miff that Bonnie got dumped just so Teri and Janet could take over her life and Dusty. I guess ATWT assumed that most viewers rather see Dusty playing hero than actually trying to have a healthy relationship with someone that wasn't a complete idiot or freak. But obviously CG and co aren't the best or the brightest so I am not surprised.