As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I assume she wanted to retire, but I don't know. Maybe the show let her go, as they were more and more youth-focused and Carol had gone through a lot of story.

I do have a fair share of Rita interviews, as she was hugely popular with ATWT fans in the '70s (she was the only young heroine on the show outside of the revolving Annies and Dees). When I find them I'll post them.

[amybrickwallace]

Thank you, I look forward to reading them!!!

[jam6242]

I very much liked Rita McLaughlin as Carol. She was really sweet without being cloying or boring. Soap writers seem to have lost the ability (or desire) to write heroines like that these days.

[DRW50]

Sad to say no one like Rita would be cast today - she'd have to have fake lips and breasts and a frozen face. It's a shame. Carol seems so real, and likely was a nice touchstone for the average viewer at that time.

[Mitch]

That's interesting..I don't believe I ever saw a Deas McClaughling clip before. I always wondered how he would act with his "grandparents," as everyone was so distant from each other at this time. I also have to say, Deas was cute without the beard.

This was a really bad period in ATWT...right after the Dobsons, Wagner quit, they brought in all these new characters (all practically tied to James) and then the writers strike.

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks for the videos, DRW50.

I really enjoyed the last scene with Dee and Annie. It was comforting to see two sisters with a good relationship rather than just at each other's throats like they have them do nowadays.

What's the story behind Dr. Larry Travis? How long was he on the show? Was he who the writers planned to pair Annie with?

I found it cute to see Jeff pine for Annie. Funny that from doing research that Jeff came on in '78 and didn't get his dream girl [Annie] until '82. Soaps wouldn't know how to build up a pairing like this nowadays either. They'd be married and divorced twenty times by then. I do wish though that ATWT would've brought Jeff, Annie, and Dee back for a visit before the show went off the air. I also wish that the quads would've been brought back in later years to create a new, younger crowd with Casey, Allison, Aaron, Gwen, Will, Maddie, Jade, Luke, etc. Could've been interesting....

I love watching old episodes of ATWT during this time. Even though it's a bit before my time [i was born in '88], it's still comforting. Just a natural warm feeling to it. And I love looking at the set designs at the time too.

I hope whomever posted the episodes post many more from this time.

[amybrickwallace]

I agree with you guys about Rita Walter. I said pretty much the same thing about Kristen Vigard over on the GL board.

[slick jones]

Nurse Marilyn Best[Randie Jean Davis] was on James' payroll to spy on Rick and John. Dr. Larry Travis [Gary Lahti] had something to do with Angel dust, but I don't know much else about him. Larry was gone by late 82.

[amybrickwallace]

Dee and Annie's sisterly relationship reminds me a bit of Eden and Kelly Capwell's (Marcy Walker and Robin Wright) on SB.

[Paul Raven]

Didn't they have Carol marry a minister (played by her real life husband) How did that play onscreen?

I recall a clip posted here of a wedding(can't recall who) and Carol was there-in a sort of cameo, after she was no longer on contract.Does anyone else remember that?

When Mary Ellis Bunim took over,Afternoon TV had a story on the 'new ATWT' and Randi Jean was in a glamor photo spread of the shows hot women.

[amybrickwallace]

Yes. Rita's real-life husband, the Rev. Norman Walter, portrayed a minister on ATWT.

[Paul Raven]

Edited September 25, 2014 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

That was a Christmas episode We Love Soaps put up for a few days when they were making the ATWT and GL DVDs. I think that was her last appearance, per Soapcentral. I remember that she had scenes with Tom in that. Nice way to take her full circle, I guess.

Thanks. I kept thinking I recognized Larry Travis. IMDB says he was in Knightriders, a notorious B-movie that was on MST3K. Maybe that's it.

[DRW50]

The material for John and James seems to be what carries the show in this period. The show seems so lethargic, as it has in most of what I've seen from these years. I guess that must be one of the reasons why Deas and Margaret Colin were so popular with fans - they have a lot of vitality. Deas is much more low-key here, which I appreciated, but he still had some charisma even in a basic scene. And Colin bounces off Larry Bryggman perfectly and even does OK in that scene with Cricket (Lisa Loring is as bad as you said...).

Still, it was pleasant enough to watch, which is more than I can say about most soaps now. It just doesn't quite seem like ATWT. Or anything. It's oddly formless.

[DRW50]

Considering that they'd both been involved with the same man more than once, or had feelings for the same man, it's a credit to the show that they didn't have them getting in tacky catfights, like what you'd get now, and instead they were trying to encourage each other. It made me like Annie more, this and her earlier scene with Carol where she seemed to have some humor. That's probably the best part of some of these scenes, like the one with Hayley and Eric, that the actors sort of play them as loose.

These have already been seen but if anyone hasn't seen them:

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