ATWT: September 2010 Discussion Thread

[ClassicsSoapFan]

I am really going to miss ATWT when it is over!

I watched it last week through "morphined eyes". I was in the hospital for two weeks because of a very bad gall bladder (now gone) and pancreatitis(sp).LOL!

I hope I don't miss my CarJack wedding!!

Maybe "morphined eyes" is the best way to look at it though. Alas no more morphine! I will have to settle for Loritabs!

Dusty! Love that banner!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DRW50]

Sorry to hear about what you went through.

[P.J.]

I can sympathize, I spent the week of the Valetta sinking (back in '98) laid up in the hospital for the same reason. Luckily, my 1pm surgery time got delayed until 3pm. So I didn't miss my show.

[Mitch]

It could have gone on and on. GL too. TPTB were too creatively inept and not brave enough to try something new (and by new I dont mean clones or rapid aging formulas.) Both shows should have focused on moving on with the new generation of core characters while still featuring the vets as support and as important. Imagine if they had invested as much energy into casting an actor for Chris, and working on creating a "real," character for him. Instead we go back to the Carjack well of weddings, same with Holden and Lily, and have Craig do the same [!@#$%^&*] over and over, while Katie finds the next "Twu Lurve." I am convinced that people are going gaga over Reid, not because he is such a great character (there is a lot of cliche in him) or that the actor is so dynamic (he is good, dont get me wrong) but that they hired a real actor, with a real personality and created a real character who was different then the bland ones we have, and who is consistent.

Kim worked for the paper that Whit McColl ran (that was preArgus, that paper was started by Brian to compete, can you imagine a small town having TWO major papers) and then when Lucinda took over. That was preMarland, pre wedding to Bob and it was dropped. Lisa's column spent the most time ragging on "that awful Johnny Dixon," to get back at him for writing about her "(aka Blondie) as a slut in his epic book, "A Man Stands Alone,"!! Some of the Dobson's second work was a lot of fun, with goofy stuff like that.

You would think P&G would show a little class and give a party to celebrate all the money the soaps brought them. Everyone is focusing on the negative that this show got cancelled but it should be focusing on that the damn thing ran 54 years

[Saving ATWT]

Agreed, Reid is a real actor and he will make it to prime time before long. I don't think Dan Cosgrove is bad; however, as much as he reminds me of Bob, the actor is a bad fit for Chris considering the character development that took place under various other actors. The episode in which Reid died reminded me of a Marland outline on fast forward. I'm guess ing was written by Lucky Gold. Pissy's writing has a certain feel and is almost always devoid of vets aside from the little lunchs and cheezy toasts. I will bet that Pissy wrote the majority of the Nancy Tribute while Gold did 'Reid dies' and the Lucinda and John interactions. Gold isn't a bad writer. Remember, he is under great presure to make his work fit into Goutman's production method.

[EastMA2]

I was just watching Wednesday's show. Van Hansis - you are busted! He cried out a solid tear. (aka glycerine) Watch about 21 minutes into the show. He spit out a solid tear that melted as it went down his face. Very fake and funny.

[Max]

As has been echoed in previous comments, Luke's behavior has been very unrealistic. In such a situation, most people (myself included) would be furious at Chris for choosing not to tell his family about his heart condition (which in turn led to the dire situation of needing a heart transplant). Most people would be equally furious at the doctors for doing absolutely nothing for Reid as he lay in the hospital dying. This thus brings me to another point: the Hughes' seemed to be especially nonchalant in dealing with Reid's death; somehow I doubt Bob & his team would be as calm (and insist that nothing could be done) if Chris were the one involved in a train wreck.

That being said, however, Reid himself is still responsible for his own death by being stupid enough to try to outrun a train (despite the fact that the railroad crossing lights told him to make a complete stop). (This fact is something that few, if any, of Reid's fans seem to acknowledge, despite the fact that Luke did acknowledge it.) And, while it sucks that Reid was killed off, it sucks even more that he got such a bigger tribute than did Nancy.

Despite all of the above complaints, I really must say that I am loving the past two weeks of ATWT. It really is the best soap opera that I have seen in the last decade, thanks in large part to extraordinary performances from Don Hastings, Kathryn Hays, Larry Bryggman, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Eric Sheffer Stevens. The real tragedy in all of this is that it took cancellation in order to get such a great television show.

[DeliaIrisFan]

I thought the scenes with Lily and Holden and Reid's uncle were not handled well, at all, and part of that was unavoidable because the writers have tried to force Luke/Reid as this epic love story in order to have this contrived tearjerker. Unfortunately, because that rings hollow, the way the scenes played out probably reinforced whatever ideas the homophobic audience the show has been so afraid of offending may have about the equal rights that same-sex couples actually want in real life. What was with Holden and Lily virtually throwing those papers in his face and practically bullying him into signing them? As a gay man, I don't actually think that someone who's been dating someone for three months or so should be planning their funeral, regardless of gender, and the fact that those scenes were juxtaposed with Luke telling Noah he didn't have any idea what Reid would want to be done with his remains underscored that. The reason that legal rights around hospitalization and dying have been such an important issue for LGBT people is because of the history of same-sex partners being barred from hospital rooms and funerals, and also the concern about what happens if the surviving partner actually has a much better handle on what the deceased wanted in the way of a memorial than their blood relatives. Neither of those were applicable in this case.

The uncle, despite type-casting, turned out to not be a creepy child molester like every other character he has played on P&G soaps, or a homophobe like the psychiatrist he played in Far from Heaven, who tried to cure Dennis Quaid (as the husband of Julianne Moore, incidentally, who was playing Nancy Hughes, more or less) of being gay. He was actually a pretty interesting character, and despite having had a tumultuous relationship with his nephew, it sounds like he was a big part of his life. Why on earth couldn't Holden and Lily have said something like, "Someone who is related to Reid needs to come forward in order for the body to legally be released. We're only here because we don't want Reid's remains to be treated in a way that none of us would want. Our family will pay for everything, and we're happy to make the arrangements if you would like, but we certainly would prefer to have you help decide what Reid would have wanted if you feel that you are up to that right now." They didn't even invite him to the memorial! Okay, I guess that is in-character for Holden and Lily, who have always acted entitled every time I've watched ATWT, but maybe they were the wrong characters to do these scenes, since I would venture to say that this was actually a more sensitive area than showing one measly love scene between this couple that we're now being told was one of the great loves of the ages would have been! Somewhere in middle America, I am sure some born-again, tea party-attending, Sarah Palin-loving viewer probably had nightmares that her estranged gay son is going to get hit by a car someday, and some guy he had hooked up with on Grindr the night before is going to show up on her doorstep, demanding that she sign over the body to him so that he can have him cryogenically frozen or whatever. And you know, in this case, I would almost feel sorry for that person...

On a completely different note, I noticed that Lily and Holden flew halfway across the country and back in record time. I know that happens on soaps all the time, but this seemed especially disjointed. I've noticed this a few times since I began watching regularly again at the beginning of the summer. It reminds me of when I read years ago - I want to say 2005 or so? - that ATWT was going to be "revolutionizing" their editing and how a character would say in one scene that they were going to go talk to someone, and in the very next scene, they would show up at that person's house. I think I remember seeing one episode, something to do with the murder mystery for Rose, that used this technique. I guess it goes to show how often I've watched ATWT since then, that I have to ask this question - have they been doing that ever since? I didn't like it when I first read about it, or what I saw of it, and I assumed it was an experiment that would pass. I guess not?

[Soapsuds]

The last week:(

[Cheap21]

Barbera and Henry are married...WTF?

[dragonflies]

You just now realized that? LOL they've been married nearly a month

I think Eric Sheffer Stevens has what it takes to make it outside of soaps. I thought from the moment he joined the show that he stood out from everyone else

[Cheap21]

obviously I dont watch ATWT. They havent been married a month. More like 2 weeks, as the episode I saw was on CBS.com and dated the 27th of Aug. I thought he was married to Vienna andd of course was shocked to see how different things were since the last time I checked in

[dragonflies]

He was married to Vienna, but she lied about having miscarried and being pregnant again and he dumped her cause of all her lies and deception

OMG WOW a John Dixon and Dusty scene

[All My Shadows]

He was going to dump her regardless. He just needed an out so he could be with his mistress.

[soapfan770]

I was thrilled to see that John and Dusty scene today. It was actually better than any of those brief mentions and moments we of them under Sheffer.