ATWT Tribute Thread

[Franky]

Didn't Emma sell the farm early last year (2008)? There was that whole thing with Paul and Mike and the development of the land, and Ethan in the hole. I think that all that Emma owns anymore is the house.

[Mitch]

The Snyders were the idealistic version of Marland's own family (though I don't think they had that many kids...a mag at the time snarked that the Snyder family were like that car of clowns, that keep coming and coming and coming....) and Marland wrote Seth based on himself...(course if he really was Marland himself, he would have been chasing after Holden and every other blue jean clad stud on the show.) I too used to think he was kind of hot.. though he and Moore as both Frannie and Sabrina had no chemistry. I never undestood why they made Sabrina such an uptight bore, as it wasnt like Frannie was this live wire. Would have been funny to see the Hughes deal with some boozed up slut..but that would totally not have been Marland's style.

Marland was the best at making it seem like these were real people who talked about their relatives and friends who werent in town. He would remember phone calls and when people would go on vacation they woudlnt just disappear like now, he would have Kim go visit Penny, etc.

[DRW50]

The Snyders had their share of kids but not any more than you can often find in real life, especially given Emma's age and her being a poor farm woman. Look at Harding Lemay, he has tons of siblings. I think establishing a lot of kids from the outset is smarter than suddenly dropping them into the dialogue, or doing what Dynasty did and every year having Blake and Alexis remember another child who had been kidnapped or they thought had died.

I did always get confused about whether Seth or Iva was supposed to be the oldest, and was confused as to the part about how Emma adopted Iva because she didn't think she could have anymore kids. Was that after she'd already had Seth? And then she went on to have four or five more. I remember thinking that doctor must have been a laughingstock in town afterwards.

I agree with you about Sabrina. I think the idea of her being shy and repressed, and this attracting Seth to her in time, made some sense, but I wish they'd done more with her. I noticed that they seemed to try to make Frannie's hair a little wilder to compare her to Sabrina. I wish they had made Sabrina more edgy when she returned later on. It was one thing to make Frannie and Sabrina played by different actresses, which was already stretching it, but then you had a Frannie who was very controlled and calm, and a Sabrina who ended up seeming like a damp squib. She became pointless. I think in the long run this was another reason for the Hughes kids being sidelined.

I sometimes sort of wish they'd done a gay story with Seth. Even his relationship with Angel was more about protecting her and healing her than about strong love.

I wish Marland had lived to a time when he could write in people using e-mail and cell phones and all the rest. I think he would have been much better at blending these elements in than most soap writers.

I want to see more of the story where they find Sabrina, and more importantly, the aftermath, like the various reactions, which Marland played brilliantly in his stories.

Here's a very good scene where Bob and Kim tell Sabrina about her conception.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNvTKnTooKU

[All My Shadows]

I always wanted them to introduce Don's daughter Christina as a scheming, trashy vixen/slut/goddess. I loved Jade being a part of the Walsh/Snyder circle, but it would have been awesome if she had been Christina Hughes instead, blackmailing closeted gays, faking pregnancies, picking fights with Maddie, etc. Imagine Kim dealing with that.

[Paul Raven]

Some comments made by Don Hastings in a SOD interview,

"One of the problems we have on our show is with the writing of events and incidents.We jump from one thing to another,like dot to dot-and sometimes the dots aren't connected.We have a wonderful acting company who can do stories about real people.There's lots of mayhem and murder and bed to bed,but our strong suit is family.We've lacked that for a long time and hopefully we'll get back to that.

If we do,we might be number one someday.But if we try to copy other shows,we're doomed.Talking about the lack of seeing family together on our show,General Hospital had a 4th of July picnic and we didn't,and we're supposed to be the family show."

Those comments were made in 1981!

[Mitch]

That was during the Dobson's reign...and while I know that they get a lot of praise here, they werent a great fit for ATWT and were very, very plot oriented...plus they really didn't like the Hughes family.

Going back through clips on You Tube, I came across the Tad Channing stuff (I remember that summer of ATWT quite well.) They had a hot, younger guy playing Channing, and you could see why Iva fell for him and how he was turnin' good old Betsy on, but then they switched to a dumpy older guy and the whole "I know he is a sleaze but I would still do him," that the women had going kind of didn't make sense...(and my little homo self rembers tuning in to see hottie Tad, but finding someone who looked like someone's dad in his place. Anyone know what happened there?

[Soapsuds]

Wasnt Douglas Marland writing the Tad Channing stuff?? I dont tecall a young hunk playing him. I remember Barbara and Babs best friend were involved too. I forget the character name...I have it on the tip of my tongue.

[DRW50]

You can see him here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg2-brOY5iI

I like Larry Pine but that recast MUST have been jarring, and to see Betsy more under the spell of Larry's Tad makes her seem a bit...dumb, which Lindsay Frost's Betsy does not fit with.

[Mitch]

It was totally jarring!!! One day Tad is young and hot and you could see Betsy getting turned on by him despite herself, and why Iva would fall for him (though I could never understand how anyone could have fallen for that mope) but then he got "old," and dumpy..what did Betsy have some father fixation???

I think this falls under Marland's "I wouldn't know sexy if it hit me in the face," thing. Besides the young studs in jeans thing he had going, he consistently cast some uh, rather "normal," looking actors in roles. Now I don't mind that, but when I am told that the characters were "hot," and other characters were falling madly in love or doing outrageous things to obtain them, it didnt work. Characters who spring (ha, ha) to mind are the Taylor character, who was supposed to be this vixen though she was plain AND dull. I wonder how the Emily actress, the Melanie girl got cast, as she was HOT! (I can imagine Marland watching the screen when she was heating it up with Holden and wanting to quickly send him back to plain boring Lily.)

[Soapsuds]

Thanks Carl!! Now i remember him. Man did I love Lindsay Frost as Betsy. Good old times..and Scott Bryce looked so damn cute...lol...wub....and CZP looked so stunning! Nice seeing Peter Boynton too....

[DRW50]

I thought there were a number of hot guys at ATWT during his era (Casey, Hal, Duncan, Linc, the Snyder boys, among others), but you are right at some of the casting not quite living up to the description. Remember Barbara's signature model, who lost her spot when Tad blackmailed Barbara? No offense to the actress, but she looked more like Big Ethel than Cindy Crawford.

[Soapsuds]

oh and how I miss the Mona Lisa set. It was one of my favorites.

[DRW50]

Yeah I love that whole episode. Lyla singing torch songs and ballads and her voice and poise and sex appeal were incredible. I wish Casey and Lyla could have had more years together.

I miss Lyla.

[Soapsuds]

I miss Lyla but not her awful singing...lol

[Paul Raven]

Marie Marshall was the actress who portrayed Denise Darcy,the killer of Tad Channing.