ATWT Tribute Thread

[Soapsuds]

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[Mitch]

They have part of the Paley Celebration of ATWT on You Tube (sorry, I looked at it at lunch and didnt link it here..) Its is interesting viewing.

For one thing, Fulton seems more with it and energetic (and Lisa-ish) then she does in some of her recent appearances. Some good retro from Hays, Hastings, Fulton and Zenk..and the people from the Gautman era. But what really stuck out are the comments both Gautman and Passante make about ATWT that seem really spot on (Gautman talks about how when he joined the show he was so impressed that the show being so "natural," as opposed to the ABC shows were everyone was "bombastic," and how ATWT had people having conversations instead of of yelling at each other, while Passante talks about it being a very "midwestern," show and how the generations have survived and how if one thing happens to a Hughes, it happens to the entire family and all the various branches which is the entire show. Now if I had read it it print I would say they are blowing smoke up the veiwers ass, but to hear them say it, they sound as if they believe it. So why don't we see that on screen if that is what they truly believe.

Oh, and I saw a clip of that Dylan guy as Chris Hughes and I have to agree, they should have kept him..he doesnt come off as a big himbo as I thought he would.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Yeah, watching that really hit home that we only have a few more weeks left before the show is done.

It also makes me a bit sad how years of poor management and neglect have killed the spirit of the show. It was nice to hear those nice things, but why did I never see it much over the past 15 years or so?

[DRW50]

I watched the first three parts so far. It was great to hear the vets talking about Irna Phillips and the days of live tapings and going off script. Kathryn Hays's words about Irna were very moving.

I loved that CZP was wearing a dress Doug had liked on her.

I have to admit I just skipped all that Goutman and Passanante said, and Colombino and Trent Dawson.

[Paul Raven]

A mystery solved...sort of.

Katherine Babecki,listed as headwriter in some sources from 66-70 was actually Irna Phillip's daughter,who under her own name was listed as creator and headwriter of A World Apart.

Apparently,Katherine did little writing herself and the whole thing was more about Irna's troubled relationship with her daughter than Katherine's talent or interest.

[DRW50]

That sounds like a soap itself.

I finished the Paley tribute and there were some great moments, and some insightful ones, like the discussion about the future of NY actors. I also, as others said, was happy to see how Eileen Fulton had so much personality -- I've missed that onscreen lately.

I have some cast photos from 1970 I might scan -- I think some of them might have already been put here some pages back but not all of them.

[All My Shadows]

That really was a great watch. Much thanks to Oakdalian for putting it together. Just listening to the people talk about their experiences behind the scenes and their feelings about the show...it just drives home the bonding shared between the cast, crew, and audience. The Austin Peck moment was slightly bizarre and awkward, but he had good intentions, I'm sure.

There were some little things said about the olden days that sent a little shiver up my neck for some reason. First, as KH described the process of doing the show live with all of the sets lined up, I visualized that and the idea of all this soap opera going on in one place at one time is kind of overwhelming. And then, when discussing soaps shot in New York, the way Don Hastings says, "Oh, CBS had a whole building of them," it gets you to imagining this entire building full of soap opera going on all at once. The makeup, the hair, the writing, the blocking, the line running, the taping, etc, for half a dozen shows going on at once every single day.

Eileen was a trip (points for TC for thinking that Henry would be related to Grant because I always thought that too...). And best believe she got in some digs at TPTB when she could.

[DRW50]

What were Eileen's digs? I couldn't hear all of it. I did enjoy her ripping into that Chedwin story one last time.

I could listen to a million stories about the old days and I think they could tell quite a few. I love the idea of Eileen just changing her lines up when it suited her, and how Kathryn was enamored of that.

[Soapsuds]

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The Ellen Wheeler cracked me up!

[Soapsuds]

OMG...A Lileth episode!

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[DRW50]

September 1977 Soap Opera Digest interview and photo shoot with Marie Masters and daughter Jenny. I'll leave out the section where someone talks about the clothes and about the new look for today's woman, unless anyone wants to see it.

[Bright Eyes]

She was a "yummy mummy."

[DRW50]

Marie Masters

"I Can Handle Being a Single Parent"

"Hey mommy, watch me." Jenny Harns yelled, as she proceeded to turn a cartwheel. Marie Masters clapped and answered. "That's great, honey."

We were photographing Marie and Jenny for the fashion pages in this issue and we found that spending a day with Marie and her exuberant 8 year old (going-on-15-year-old) daughter was a very enlightening lesson in a mother-child relationship.

Marie and Jenny are not your ordinary, everyday mother and child. Marie is the very talented actress who has been doing such a fantastic job of playing Susan Stewart, the troubled alcoholic on "As the World Turns." Jenny, has the part of Emmy, her daughter. Jenny has a twin brother Jesse (not in TV) but as Marie said, "If you think she's supercharged, you should meet Jesse."

Marie is a mother, an actress and often both halves of a parent team. She is divorced from her husband, and although many actors, who live fishbowl type lives because of their profession, prefer to keep their private existence just that, private. Marie was most willing to discuss her role as a single parent.

I said, "Marie, having spent many hours with you and Jenny, I can't help but notice a special relationship between the two of you, and although I have never met your son Jesse, I'm sure that it's almost the same, except that Jenny is fortunate in being able to work on the show with you. How long were you married before you were divorced?"

"We were married for four years before we were separated and now I've been divorced for, officially, almost one year."

To get to the subject, I quickly asked several questions at once. "I think there is a particular problem that single parents have to face and in your case, because of your career, perhaps it's easier because you are so occupied and you have your daughter with you a great deal of the time, or does that make it more of a problem?"

Marie laughed. "Ruth, that's a lot of questions. First of all, it's more difficult being a single parent. There's no question about it. What I was telling you both [Angie, S.O.D. Fashion Editor was along] about making the four breakfasts this morning - I think if I were married, he could have made the first one, or maybe he could have made the second one. Lots of times it's just logistics, it's getting a child to and from a movie, or to and from a playmate, or who's going to take Jesse or Jenny to the dentist? It's all those things that make it very hard to be a single parent but those are unimportant things. I mean you can't really ever assess the important things - you've got big decisions to make ,and instead of having a husband who you can talk things over with, you're very often faced with decision-making by yourself and you hope you're right and you don't know if you are. Child-rearing is certainly one of the most important things we ever do in our life. My children see their father every weekend, and he's wonderful, he's very devoted, very different from me - he does different things with them than I do. I'm a baker and a stayer-at-home or I go to the theatre or I take them to the movies. He's very active, but he likes sports and baseball and basketball, and they go bike riding and all that heavy activity that I'm not into - so that really works out well. The relationship between my children and myself is affected by my working. I think in a very healthy way. I'm a happier person and certainly they reflect that - we have a happy home. We have a good relationship. I feel that I'm healthy and I think they are, too, but I wouldn't be healthy if I weren't working and doing something that I really love."

I had another important question. "Since they are quite young, and they were even younger when you separated and they have this experience of being with you, and then a visit with their father, was it difficult for you to explain the situation to them? Or do you think that perhaps they don't fully understand yet?"

Quickly Marie answered. "Oh, they understand it. There are certain aspects of any divorce that a child couldn't understand until he's much older, they're no question about that. But certainly mine understand the fundamental thing, which is that mommy and daddy are not going to live together anymore - that's the fundamental thing, and the most obvious thing is that your father will not live here. And that's a very big thing. As far as explaining it to them, I felt, when the divorce was happening that the best rule of thumb, by far, was to be honest, as honest as I possibly could about my expectations - whether their father and I would get back together again for instance, and what it would be like, would he see them. I tried to answer all their questions as honestly as I could. There is a limited understanding, and I think some adults make the mistake of trying to tell children too much, but, they [Jenny and Jesse] all in all are doing very well, they have a lot of love from both sides of their family."

Hesitatingly I asked, "Do you think that when you remarry, and I'm sure that someone as young as you are will certainly contemplate marrying again, will that present a problem as far as the children are concerned?"

Smiling she said, "Well, definitely. Because it's like the mother and father they [Jenny and Jesse] stand at the door and inspect everybody who comes in - and they say, 'I like the one that had the limousine' and 'hey that guy's fat' or 'I don't like that guy, he was mean to me when I said you're ugly' and stuff like that. So really, they're worse than any relative you could have, they're very demanding - two El Exigentes. But actually though, I think if I decided that I was really in love with someone and I wanted to marry him, I'd trust my judgement enough that whoever he would be - he wouldn't be a horn toad and he wouldn't be a Bluebeard, so he would be a pretty good guy. I wouldn't pick a terrible guy. And somehow the problems would be worked out because I anticipate that families in forming always have problems and you don't know what they are going to be and not everybody is going to like each other. He's going to have children you don't like and you're going to have children who he doesn't like, or a mother that he doesn't like or heaven knows what - but you've just got to work it out. It's like everything else, it's not going to be perfect."

I was honest in my admiration for this woman and said so. "Well, that's a fantastic viewpoint and I think your whole attitude had made you happy and the children happy and I'm sure that whatever the future brings - you'll be able to handle it."

"Well, I don't know about that, Ruth. The future can hold some interesting surprises. I think part of growing up probably is learning not to be too afraid of the future and just roll with it - along with the punches."

[DRW50]

Kim/Dan wedding stuff from the September 1977 SOD. Sorry about the cover not being in the best shape but it looks pretty decent overall.

[DRW50]