January 2010 ATWT Thread

[Saving ATWT]

Today was bad and felt just like GL, especially with Sage singing junk and bad cam work. Carly and Jack were the only thing that help the deepy together: they were good. Also, I do like that model and think she actually has skills. My only issue with today is how Jack can flip on a dime from Janet and Carly. He is being written as way too weak, witout a spine. Hate to say, but I'm liking Parker. Also, Janet and Dusty might just work. It would be a great way to upgrade Dustyand give him some sort of root.

[P.J.]

I can't say today was a great day, but I'd put it in the good category, and certainly not as awful as anything GL did. I think they wasted time on some of the contest stuff and the "group" Parker and Lib were with...but whatever. I thought Allie Gorenc sang really well, even if it was a one hit wonder from the '80's.

I'm more than a little tired of Jack's tap dancing myself...but the inconsistancies just convince me he's really done with his marriage and doing what he thinks he ought to do, instead of what he wants to do. If you can only remember the "number one reason" to not reconcile with Carly is because you're married to Janet half the time...it doesn't seem your heart's really in it.

It's not like Jan's convinces me either, hopping from Dusty to Jack and back again. how committed is Janet to working on their marriage, if she tacks on "I'll work on it, if you want to..." It's a yes or no kind of thing. Saying that makes her look like she's really looking for an excuse not to.

Odd how Paulina sounds almost exactly like Ewa de Cruz. It's kind of freaky really, it took me almost the entire eppy to realize who she reminded me of. Otherwise, I thought the entire Katie/Simon/Henry crap was a waste of time.

[DRW50]

Dusty had years of history on the show to build on. If that wasn't going to happen, then I don't think tying him to Ronald Macdonald and her deadly dull sister and daughter will work either.

[P.J.]

^^^and that's kind of sad. It does seem that every time they have tried to tie him to a core family, it's imploded. Lucy left, Jen died, Rose died. Meg was always hung up on Paul and even Johnny got taken away from him. I don't really like the direction Dusty took, but he is a legacy character, IMO, and should have some kind of permanent tie to some core family.

[DRW50]

They were so desperate to show us how edgy and alone he was that they never bothered to build up anything else. Any attempts to tie him to other people usually did not sustain because they only tied him to one woman, who was often leaving the show. It's still laughable to me that after all the fanfare when they brought him in, within a year or so his only storyline revolved around a girl who was what, barely 18?

I know the Johnny stuff should interest me more, because I thought the baby switch story was generally good, but whenever I see that kid I just end up wondering if they dye his hair.

[Saving ATWT]

I thought the use of a child beauty Pageant, 'Miss Snowflake', was a cool, campy, splenda-sweet idea. It could have been so good, 'sweet like a toothache', to quote Parker. I floved the southern belle mom. I floved her slutty daughter, so typical. This could have been such good social satire.

I feel as if the entire Sage sings a song for mom and dad a bit overly-sentimental--this was my problem with the last few months of GL. It was cheezy when she told the pageant host lady that she was waiting for her 'parents to tell the truth'. I am wondering if they brought over the GL music people. I dislike the music lately, it is so out of place for World Turns.

I, too, could have done without Lib today but Parker's acting does keep getting better and better.

I like Paulina far more than Ewa de Cruz. I would almost like to see her around on a regular basis. She is sexy, smart, good at acting: on fire but not over the top. Oddly enough, she would be a great match for a guy like Dusty. TPTB should have tied Dusty with a core family years ago. I thought it would be the Ryan family for a few reasons including Jen. Come to think of it, Dusty was always a nomad. He lived with John as a kid but was Gunner's son, right? I don't dislike Dusty or the actor. I do, however, hate what writers have done with him. In 2003, Dusty was great. Now, he is a lonely, ageing Himbo.

[Actor87]

I love how Janet had one roll in the sack with Dusty and automatically feels so guilty that she hurries to Michigan to "fight for her marriage". Guilty much? Haha! I seriously wonder if the writers actually want to write her as a hypocrite.

P.J., I said it before. Clarissa is Vienna 2.0! Speaking of Vienna, where the hell did she run off to again?

Found it ironic that Sage sang "Never Surrender". Okay, maybe not so much "ironic", as it was "here. Look at us. We gave Sage the song that has the same title as Jack's soul-searching journey ad campaign".

Dusty could easily be tied to a core family...if they would bother to bring back John and/or Andy...aka the Dixons!

Allie Gorenc can sing amazingly well. She wow'ed me today. Really, really wow'ed me.

Where have I seen that "cave" set before? The one Liberty and Parker took shelter in. It looks soooo familiar.

[Soapsuds]

I was the first to say Clarissa was Vienna 2.0...lol. Dont steal my thunder Dusty....haha. i am now 4 days behind. I have been too busy to have a chance to catch up.

Gunnar Stenbeck was Dusty's father but he was raised by another man. Barbara should have taken Dusty under her wings when he returned the first time. That would have made Paul jealous because of all the attention Babs was given Dusty. Treating him more like a son than him. Although Babs has always thought of Dusty as her son.....well I do think so...lol

[P.J.]

Dusty lived with John after Gunnar and Burke Donovan both died. For a while, he was passed around almost as much as Johnny. I'm not even sure Dusty knew Gunnar was his bio-dad before Gunnar died. I believe Burke's will named Karen Haines as Dusty's guardian, and it was through Karen's marriage to John that John ended up adopting him.

We haven't seen Vienna since GhostBrad first took over Henry's body and refused to sleep with her.

That shed in the woods reminds me of the Old Mill set, with a bunch of damn branches inside for some really odd reason. I think it's the door and the stonework.

[Soapsuds]

I think Dusty still believed that Burke Donovan was his dad. I like the Donovan character. I wish I could see old clips of those good old days. I am a little fuzzy..but what happened to Karen, PJ??

[Saving ATWT]

I remember Babs telling Dusty that he was like a son back when Jen died. After that, they had a few scenes together but nothing much happened with them. Why doesn't Babs ever see Johnny? That would be a great way to link Dusty with the Ryan family.

[P.J.]

I looked it up at SOC, and according to them, Gunnar didn't think Dusty could be his son until after Burke died, NYE 1983. Hugo Napier left the role of Gunnar in October, '84, so my guess is Gunnar made no real move to claim Dusty as his son.

Karen ended up leaving town. She had married John to keep custody of Dusty, but their marriage was never about love, and it hit the rocks when she discovered he'd double-crossed Bob somehow. By the time she was ready to forgive him, he was becoming involved with Lucinda, so she packed her bags but left Dusty. Kate McNeil played the role, her mother on the show was Linda Dano, who'd become involved with the amnesiac David Stewart.

[Saving ATWT]

Question for everyone: What do you think of the current writing team? For me, yes, the show is better than six months ago, but there are still so many problems. Somedays, I feel like the show is down right cheezy and I've never considered ATWT to be over-sentimental. I am dreading Libby getting sick 'cause I know Ronald McDonald Janet will be annoying as heck. The show has also been wasting time on stuff that goes nowhere such as Noah's adoption and Lilly thinking she was pregnant? World Turns has also been running certain scenes too closely together making it seem like Oakdale has time travel: Today Simon was at Al's and, in the very next scene, at Katie's front door--some other scene relating to other characters should have been in between. All of this was shot before CBS gave the ax. If the network bosses watched any of the previews, I get why they gave up on the program. I really thought the new writing team would fix things up. Also, with Simon out, I thought the scripts would have less gaps.

[Mitch]

Yowza...hot daddy Burke Donovan played by David Forsyth (though I like him better as his clean cut, uptight wearing a suit all the time incarnation on Texas.) Karen wanted custody of Dusty (I dont remember how she could claim him) to control the Stenbeck fortune,was coming on to the dad to get in with them, but in tried and true ATWT vixen mode, started to grow a heart and then she got to like him and they became friends. John and Karen were allies in the scheme, but true to form they started to like each other also. I dont think it was really love but they had a freindship marriage. When Lucy came to town she went after John, and Karen fought her for awhile, (I am remembering something with mud masks or hair dye being switched,) but then gave up...which was totally unKaren but the actress wanted to leave town.

Which reminds me, Dusty is the true heir to the Stenbeck fortune is this ever mentioned anymore?

[P.J.]

Karen ended up with Dusty mostly because he liked her. Burke loved Ariel Aldrin (James' bio-sister) who kind started pursuing him realizing Dusty could be the true heir to the Stenbeck fortune. (James only had it because he had custody of his son Paul, which is part of the reason he tortured Babs and Gunnar so..) Dusty didn't like Ariel at all. He was friends with Karen, and once Burke knew he could die, he made Karen Dusty's guardian.

It's rarely mentioned that Dusty is a "Stenbeck". I do think that when he first showed up in town, I do think Babs mentioned Dusty had lost his inheritance (and a business) implying he was ripped off. When Ralph showed up in town, Dusty made a comment that Ralph had been behind the scam that had cost him that business.