ATWT history questions

[DRW50]

When did Lisa give up the Wade bookstore? Did she take it over after Neil died? I saw a flashback of that in the episode before Lisa's 50th anniversary tribute. And there was a 1981 episode where Lisa seemed to be running some sort of store or gift shop at the hospital. Was this after the store was gone?

Do we know how many men Lucinda has married? In a 1986 episode, Shannon and Brian's first failed wedding attempt, Lily throws it in Lucinda's face that she's been married 5 times. This was before John Dixon or James Stenbeck or Brian whatever his last name was. So that's Jacobo Esteban, Martin Guest, the Walsh guy...did she ever say who the other two were?

Do you know what the story plans were before the 1988 writers strike and if they were changed? That weird and confusing story about Laura the psycho babysitter -- was she always supposed to go from obsessing over Tom to obsessing over Bob? And what were the original plans for Spence, the perpetually shirtless Robert Tyler character? In one summer episode he was grabbing Lily for a kiss and pretending to be a friend of Dusty's, but then a month or so after that he was mooning over John's niece Pam.

[Paul Raven]

Good questions!

For now I can only say that the Wade bookstore burnt down in 79.

[DRW50]

Thanks. So that was the Dobsons who did that? I wonder how fans felt. The bookstore had been around for about 15 years hadn't it?

[Paul Raven]

Carl,I may be wrong about the bookstore.It could have happened in 1980 under the Dobsons.I will get back to you on that.

Here's what was happening early 1980 when the Dobsons took over.

Joyce is seen alive after her car went off a bridge months earlier. She tells her shrink she must return to Oakdale and make things right,

Betsy is depressed about not fitting in at school.Her friend Lois( who Kim had previously thought a bad influence on her stepdaughter) discovers she is pregnant.

Sheila is hurt that Tom dumped her and feels its because she's not classy enough for him.

Annie Stewart meets Brad Hollister while horseback riding.They bond delivering twins for a couple who name the children after them.

Dee is involved with Ian but John seems to be interested in her. He arranges to be in Italy at the same time as Dee and Ian and convince Dee that Ian is not strong enough to handle the schedule of work and tourist. John hopes to step up and be Dee's guide.

Barbara receives mysterious phone calls from Philadelphia about a hospital patient.Melinda intercepts another phone call and wonders what Barbara is involved with. Melinda follows her and confronts her at the hospital.Barbara says she's just there to see an old friend and Melinda need not worry.

Brad is out scouting for rocks and is delighted by his discovery on the Hughes property.He wonders if they know they're sitting on a fortune.

Marcia is being released from hospital and decides to give Doug the divorce. He can now be with Annie. Doug thanks her but insists her fall down the stairs was an accident. Marcia says he's lying and she has told that to Annie.

Chris tells Don Joyce has been declared dead.He can now marry Mary. Joyce arrives in town and seeks out her son Teddy. He's delighted to see his 'aunt'. Mary is stunned and will not believe Joyce's claims of making amends.

Ian tells Dee that his work is very important to him,but he is lonely and enjoys Dee's company.

Bob reads that Dana has returned to the ballet. He decides to go to NY to see where he stands.

Joyce apologizes to Chris and Nancy and then tells Don she is ready to face the consequences of her actions,even if it means prison.

Brad spies Annie again and comes to her rescue when she falls from her horse.

Mary isn't buying Joyce's new act - she's sure that Joyce wants to come between her and Teddy.Don disagrees and feels Joyce's remorse is genuine.She claims she'll never tell Teddy she is his natural mother.

Barbara reads about James Stenbeck in the paper and begins to cry over long hidden memories.

Brad charms Lisa and mentions he would like to buy some land that belongs to the Hughes.Could she use her influence to persuade them to sell? She succeeds and Bob tells Brad he'll think about it.

Sheila is arrested for drunk driving.As she was driving Don's car,he tells Tom that she should spend the night in the slammer. Tom, however,tries but fails to bail her out.Sheila is angry with Tom and says she'll never forgive him.But, after her night in jail she says she has learnt her lesson.

Bob tells his folks his engagement to Dana is off.

Brad informs Annie that if he can raise the money he will be able to buy the Hughes land and they'll become country neighbors.

Joyce follows through and turns herself into the police for the accidental shooting of her husband Don.

[DRW50]

Thanks. That part about Annie and Brad having twins named after them kind of makes me roll my eyes. I guess that's a harbinger for Annie having quads though.

I'd never heard of this Sheila. Did the Dobsons create her or was she already around?

I'd also never heard of this Marsha or Doug. I'm a bit surprised that Marland would create two very important characters named Marsha and Doug only five years later.

Were they not writing for Carol and Jay at this time? Were they already gone?

[Paul Raven]

Sheila was pre Dobsons and she was soon gone.

Carol and Jay were still around - obviously the Dobsons were retooling at this point.

Marcia and Doug featured heavily in 79.It was Annie/Doug/Marcia.Ralph and Eugenie Hunt were responsible for that after Beau and Annie were dropped.

[DRW50]

Thanks. I wonder if Annie had any relationships which were popular. What was Beau like again?

I guess we'll never know but I wonder if the Hunts were bad for the show or they just came in at the wrong time. Did they write anything which was popular with viewers?

[Paul Raven]

Well they killed off Dan Stewart, which was hardly the wisest move.

[DRW50]

I wonder what they would have done with Dan if he'd lived. I guess we'll never know...

[Paul Raven]

Beau was major in the story for 3 years and the first 'adult' story given to the Stewart sisters.

I can see the problem the writers had with Dan as he'd been through a lot story wise and was now happily married to Kim. Nevertheless,killing him off was a drastic move.

The problem stems back to the SORASing of the character.Dan should have been 8 in 1966 when he became a young adult,so 13 years later when he was really 21,the character was worn out.

Another option would have been to kill off Kim,but I guess she was seen as more valuable.