As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

[DRW50]

[Mitch]

LOL...I actually find all of this much more entertaining then the Dobson's stuff. People are interacting and we have a lot of good old Marland exposition. I wonder if despite what Bridget Dobson said, that the execs saw what Marland was doing and thought the Dobsons;s were at the end of the line at GL, and thought the switch would be good.

Kim, "I think he is the perfect man for you and this is the perfect place for you,"...uh, Kim, Lisa is a man hungry, bed hopping, busy body, glitzy dress wearing broad, much less where the hell are they going to find all the peroxide needed for that hair out in the woods?

Lisa's love interest would look more appropriate selling used cars then looking like a tortured writer looking ominous and mysterious.

We have prove positive that Marland was writing this, murder victims/suspects/side characters were referred to with first and last names constantly "Derrick Bickford, Derrick Bicford..." and a cuff link was a clue! I surprised they didn't have the maid fondle a letter opener as she spat out the name "LISA!"

What was the significance of the black cat?

I love Betsy "wild," teen party.

I wanted to see the bad disco!!!!

Edited November 13, 2013 by Mitch

[DramatistDreamer]

Has anyone seen a truly strange You Tube Channel where someone has posted clips of various ATWT stars wearing fur coats? I don't know what to make of this, except to say that I wish these were full episodes because some look as if they might be from episodes not uploaded to You Tube. It seems that that the person who runs the Channel is solely interested in the fur coats and not much else.

Edited November 14, 2013 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

Most of those episodes are on Youtube, I think. They do have some Search for Tomorrow material that isn't.

Sometimes you can find the most random soap things on those channels. The first time I saw Another Life was on a channel about women being hypnotized. I've seen some very rare soap clips through channels that are focused on men being tied up, or women being tied up.

[DRW50]

[Mitch]

Hmmm. well I can see why they needed to "update," things. As discussed, everyone seems middle aged..besides Tom, Babs and Annie, and Tom acts middle aged and Annie LOOKS middle aged. Only Barbara seems young and vibrant so we can see why the Dobson's used her so much. Seems to be that they are writing Valerie off (talking about going to see her husband at Christmas and of course, never came back) and did they say the "Hollister," farm? A lot of talk, talk, talk, talk...but liked the scene where Lisa discusses turning the basement into a "wine cellar/cocktail lounge," which predates her turn owning a restaraunt and an actual bar in the cellar. Laughed at Tom ordering a "Chablis," so 70's. Too bad about that actor, he looks like I would think Tom looks, but he is so stiff and uptight.

Also, poor Jay looks like a gay leprechan, I don't think Kim Hays or Fulton every aged that much, add to that Zenk and Wagner..what was it with the ATWT women?

Marland still writing this, Dobsons dont start until January right? You can tell besides the Inn story, the show was treading water.

[DRW50]

Jay looks weird here. Earlier on I remember seeing photos of him where he sort of looked like he was from gay porn in that era - dark hair, mustache, etc. Here it looks like he tried some sort of odd makeover. He also looks quite older. I can see why they wrote him out, as the character seems to be done.

Soapcentral said Valerie's last day is December 31, 1979 (no idea how they knew that) so her end should be coming up soon. I could have sworn they were hinting at Valerie/Ralph in some of these, but I guess not. Valerie has such a natural warmth and sophistication. I wish they'd kept her around. Wouldn't she have made more sense with a sleazy younger guy like Brad than Dee or Annie did?

It's weird because the Dobsons wrote a lot for Judith McConnell on Santa Barbara. Yet they either just missed her here, or fired her.

[Vee]

The show does basically look like it's set inside a funeral home, doesn't it. Full of old, old people.

[DRW50]

Aside from Henderson Forsythe/Helen Wagner/Chris McLaughlin, the cast wasn't even that old, they just often looked that way.

I will never understand why, with all these new, hip changes, Annie still looked like Pat Nixon.

[Mitch]

LOL...no wonder the ABC soaps rolled over ATWT, they had young people who LOOKED young, and their older people had more style...well everyone had more style. Here, Grant looks like he came off of a bender, Ralph looked like he was on the same bender, or he and Grant were making out in the law office restroom and mussed up each other's hair...I can also see why the Dobson's used Dee, she actually looks good (love that big head of 70s hair) and has life..too bad they made her a mope later on. I was laughing at poor Pat Brueder's look, to make her look as old as Nancy when she should be young enough to be Nancy's daughter, and everyone except Lisa, Kim, Barbara and even Nancy acted like they were on sleeping pills. This reminds me what Pauline Kael (sp?) said about soaps once, "Everyone acts like they are acting under water!" I can see how ABC looked hyper energetic and young and exciting compared to this. I think GL found a way to combine the two elements, but ATWT lost its way until Marland came back.

[DRW50]

[P.J.]

I do think ATWT was the last soap to modernize their look. You could tell they were moving in that direction with characters like Barbara, Margo and JD's Tom...but there's still a stuffy, conservative vibe in their look well into the mid-80's and some would say well after that. I'm sure some of it was about the fact they'd ruled the roost with their "look" for 20 years, much the same way Y&R has been stuck on their "signature look" forever now.

I've always found the ABC shows over-the-top in their acting and character manner.

[DRW50]

I think the event that might have most signaled ATWT sort of finally giving in was Nancy being written as the kindly grandmother, which is something that was much truer to grandmothers on other soaps, and that Nancy had never been. I've always wondered how Helen Wagner felt about that. I guess she must not have minded that much, as she would have left.

[saynotoursoap]

Yeah, like GH's rapist hero Luke Spencer. Tony Geary's home perm was so hip and energetic.

The ABC soaps rolled over ATWT because the writing, acting, and directing was dumbed down to the point that four year olds and cocker spaniels were watching. Viewers watching in 1981 could have easily mistaken GH for one of Krofft's live action Saturday morning shows. The whole Cassadine saga, sets to acting, looked like something left over from Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. And seriously, daytime is still paying for it thirty years later with even more dreadful writing, acting, and directing. Well, not directing because nothing is actually directed any more. Hit your mark and spew your crappy dialogue is more like it.

And personally, I would much rather watch real people from the 70s looking they have been on a bender than all of the Botoxed, big lipped, big tiitted, pathetic plastic performers of today trying so desperately to look as if they are still 28. How sad that rampant ageism in our society drives individuals to mutilate themselves in a futile attempt to meet the approval of shallow fans.

Somehow I expected better from this site in general and this thread in particular, but it seems like every thread on this board lately is filled with one ageist comment after another. I can bask in the knowledge that all those making these comments will one day be old, too. Karma's a bitch.