As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

The actress in the commercial with Hubbard once played Anne Jeffers on THE GUIDING LIGHT, back in the 1970s.

[DRW50]

Maureen Mooney.

Thanks!

[Soaplovers]

Actually I liked MES better as Frannie, even though JM was pretty good as Frannie as well.

[John]

Did ATWT ever entertain bringing Frannie and/or Sabrina back since 1992

I thought I saw rumblings and saw a rumor of Liz Kiefer becoming Frannie after GL ended.

[NothinButAttitude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YmGUhah4Fk

[DramatistDreamer]

I liked MES as well although I admit, I was sort of engaged then disengaged with the show at this time. Is MES still working as an actress or has she retired from the biz?

[Soapsuds]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EiLfIjhfGU

[Paul Raven]

By Jan 3 1961

Penny Hughes comes home for a visit, and her parents, Chris and Nancy, are worried that she's still in a state of depression over the disappearance of her husband, Jeff Baker. Penny assures them that she's fine and is now moving on with her life. Nancy is certain that Jeff will come back to Penny, but Chris seems to disagree. Penny begs Jeff's father, Dick Baker, to sell her house because of the memories of Jeff it conjures up. Meanwhile, Meg Blaine asks Joe, the bartender, to give Jack Bailey -- who is really Jeff -- a job as the piano player there. Joe doesn't know why Meg is so insistent about this, but he does offer Jack the job.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Is it me or did Penny and Jeff have a super-heightened amount of drama by early soap couple standards?

I'm surprised they didn't just have Penny have a breakdown after Jeff's death instead of giving her amnesia.

[NothinButAttitude]

Finally got a chance to watch the video I posted in this thread earlier. Here are my thoughts and questions:

Is Edwina Walsh the same women that played Amanda's mother, Lucille Wexler, on Guiding Light? She wasn't nutty on here, was she?

I love Ellen and Kim. Both of them have no issues [or chill] with chewing out their kids when they eff up. Nowadays, they'd be encouraging or making excuses for their actions. So good to see that Ellen ain't having it.

Larry seems like such a good guy. My only recollection of him is that he was a dead beat and later made an egg thief thanks to the incompetent writing of Jean Passanatate. I never expected to see Susan be vulnerable and insecure. I get it because Frannie is younger but does she not see that Larry truly loves her?

Margo's HIV scare is good too. I love how Doug Marland made Margo go through every stage of grief and how Tom was affected by it too. Love that he also stood by her instead of having him easily stray [like they'd do nowadays]. I was moved when Margo rambled on about safe sex and not being able to be passionate with Tom.

Rex had some gall bringing up Babs around Kim and Frannie from the previous night. I am surprised that Frannie didn't clunk him in the head with the phone and Kim with her briefcase. Kim's expressions are EVERYTHING. I laughed when she simply grabbed her briefcase and coldly walked into the house not giving Rex the time of day.

I do wish that Frannie and Rex were brought back in later years. Rex seemed like an interesting character despite people hating his wife's murder mystery being dragged out. Did he and Lucinda ever have business dealings? If so, I think he would've been a perfect foil for Lucinda in later years in the business forefront. Did they even bring up Rex or Carrie when Jennifer died? I'm drawing blank.

Poor Frannie.... She was such a wreck of a character. Turmoil was always around the corner for her, which is why I don't get why ATWT in later years felt like the Hughes were boring. During Marland's era, they always stayed in the center of drama. All the Hughes needed was a young Hughes heroine [preferably the daughter of Frannie or Sabrina or even Hope] to drive story alongside her cousins Casey & Adam.

[DRW50]

Same actress. Edwina was meddling and could be very cold toward her daughter, but she wasn't a psycho.

Only an idiot would have seen the Hughes as boring. Frannie was supposedly going to be recast (MES wanted to leave, and did) if Marland hadn't died.

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks about the Edwina info!

And I didn't know that they were planning on recasting Frannie. They should've. Frannie, Sabrina, or both should've always remained on the canvas. Besides Kim, the show always needed a younger to middle aged female Hughes lead heroine to root for. I know Margo could count but she didn't for me.

[P.J.]

Rita Lloyd played Edwina (and Lucille Wexler). She was diabolical on both shows. I remember distinctly being scared of her GL character.

[DRW50]

What made the scene with Emily and Ellen so effective is that Ellen always had a soft spot for Emily, and blamed her mistakes on Susan being a terrible mother. For Ellen to blast Emily that way was extremely rare, and shocking. It's also a great example of what Pat Bruder could do when given the chance.

Emily's attire reminds me of Marlena de Lacroix panning her wardrobe as one of the most ridiculous parts of 1994 daytime, trashing Emily for getting her tits out every time she went in public.

[DRW50]

Susan had always picked the wrong guy, at the wrong time, and almost always picked a guy who was more in love with someone else. She just couldn't shake the feeling that Larry was settling for her.

Marie Masters was such a unique actress. I love how she uses Susan's blazer to make herself seem so small and vulnerable. It's miraculous that ATWT kept her to the end, even in the thankless role of mother to worthless Emily and Alison. No other soap by that point would have ever employed someone like Marie, who was so difficult to pigeonhole or stereotype. She's a prime example of what we lost with ATWT.