As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[kylefish76]

Labine in that same we love soaps piece said she had pitched a story where Olivia and Holly may have become involved by P&G nixed it

[NothinButAttitude]

I remember reading that and remember that Maureen Garrett said in an interview later saying that she wished Holly became a lesbian. Personally, I would've hated it much like I hated Olivia being turned into a lesbian. I would've accepted either of them engaging in a tryst or two with a woman but no become full-blown lesbian. Not Holly and Olivia--two man-eaters in their heydays. 

 

I'm actually glad that P&G nixed it. As a gay man, I personally hate when soaps make characters become insta-gay. I find it somewhat insulting. Especially, when these are characters we've seen live lives as heterosexual men and women, engaging in healthy (and unhealthy) heterosexual relationships. 

[Khan]

TBH, the more I think about the possibility of Holly being gay, the more I'm glad they decided not to go there.  Now, you could say her issues with men had to do with her emotionally unavailable father and with Roger, and you'd be right.  But saying it's because she actually preferred women?  I don't think so.

 

Besides, if anyone could have been a convincing lesbian, it probably was Dinah.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Khan

[DRW50]

The story was supposed to be like "The Children's Hour," which would have been a mess.

[kylefish76]

Actually Jill Lorie Hurst just said it wasnt The Children's Hour. Thats what P&G thought it was but that wasnt the idea

[DeliaIrisFan]

Claire Labine's ATWT at the time that she was being recruited by P&G (late 1996-early 1997) probably would have been much the same as her OLTL ended up being, as the backstage environments at both the P&G and ABC soaps seemed to be much the same by then. (Namely, writers were seemingly no longer empowered to tell long-term stories that were planned in advance and depended on characters acting consistently throughout.) I'm sure she would have successfully lobbied for quite a few beloved vets to be featured prominently, some of whom would have probably had some of their best scenes in years — much like I would argue she did at OLTL — but I suspect under the circumstances the sum would not have been no more than the sum of the parts. (Not that any other daytime writer did objectively better for any length of time at any time since then, I would argue.) And, with soap budgets already beginning to tighten, she likely would not have been allowed to showcase the entire cast as they should have been, which would have fostered resentment (rightfully so) among fans of the neglected popular characters, who would have been especially critical of the flaws in the show that would have almost certainly been there.

 

As far as Labine's time at GL, I can only imagine that must have been like Whoopi Goldberg's head writer character's experience in Soapdish, right down to half of the soap opera's stories being inexplicably uprooted to a fictitious Caribbean island. I don't see how any writer could have integrated the tropical royalty and the cartoonish mob family and what had been the core of GL into a coherent, entertaining show, but Rauch — like the Robert Downey, Jr. producer character — was reportedly unwilling to give up the ghost at that point. I have no doubt the Labines would have written a far more watchable ATWT, especially five years or so earlier.

 

A more interesting what-if for me than either of those scenarios, though, would have been the Labines going to ATWT a few years earlier — right after Doug Marland passed away, instead of taking the job at GH. I loved what they did at GH so much, but knowing what I know about the behind-the-scenes stuff now, it was one of the least likely shows for her to have gone to; in hindsight, ATWT was more up Labine's alley, and I could see many of the types of stories that she told at GH playing out in the ATWT universe. I believe at the time there was still enough creative license at P&G for an experienced head writer to execute a long-range vision and, whereas the decline of ABC soaps can be traced back to Disney buying the network, I feel like P&G writers lost power more gradually, and not necessarily due to any one unavoidable, external factor. A strong, veteran head writer with a proven track record advocating for creative autonomy, much like I imagine Marland did while he was still alive, might have stemmed the tide at least for a little bit longer.

Edited April 8, 2016 by DeliaIrisFan

[NothinButAttitude]

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[DramatistDreamer]

I know we were talking earlier about how depressing 1992 was and I have to say that I found many of the '92 episodes snoozy-worthy but the episode where Marland juxtaposes Andy & Courtney's wedding with the revelation about Aaron's paternity to Lily with Iva, Julie and Lucinda present at Lily's house- each having to admit their culpability in the cover up was a darn good episode and completely watchable from beginning to end.

 

There's actually a complete episode online that was uploaded recently.  I think previously it was posted in segments but it's nice to watch the entire episode and not chopped up.  For anyone interested it's dated December 21, 1992

[cassadine1991]

I came across this on YouTube

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[DRW50]

Gregg Marx...going a bit sassy gay friend at the end.

 

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[Paul Raven]

Frankie Michaels,who played Tom Hughes as a child in the mid 60's has died aged 60.

 

Frankie Michaels, the youngest person to win a Tony Award — which he earned in 1966, at 11, for his featured role in theBroadway musical “Mame” — died on March 30 at his home in Chittenango, N.Y. He was 60.

The cause was a heart attack, said a friend, Steven Clark.

Mr. Michaels, who was known in private life as Frankie Chernesky, was 11 years, 1 month and 11 days old when he received the Tony for playing the young Patrick Dennis, the nephew drawn into Auntie Mame’s irrepressible gravitational field. (Daisy Eagan, the youngest actress to receive a Tony, was about 11½ when she won in 1991 for “The Secret Garden.”)

“Mame,” with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, also garnered Tonys for Angela Lansbury, who played the title role, and Beatrice Arthur as Mame’s friend Vera Charles.

Though Mr. Michaels had been trained as a performer from the age of 3½, “Mame” was his only Broadway credit. After leaving the show at 12, he had a brief adolescent career as a nightclub singer, sharing bills in Las Vegas with the likes of Dean Martin and Danny Thomas.

As an adult, Mr. Michaels worked as a lounge singer, voice and piano teacher and electronics repairman.

Francis Michael Chernesky was born in Bridgeport, Conn., on May 5, 1955, the youngest of five children of Michael Chernesky, a lieutenant in the Bridgeport Fire Department, and the former Mary Bissett.

As a young child he was able to pick out tunes by ear on the piano, and before long he was taking lessons in singing, dancing, piano, drums, vibraphone and acting. At 5, he played a piano duet in Bridgeport with a visiting Liberace.

Frankie was already a veteran of “As the World Turns,” the CBS soap opera on which he had a regular role, when he was cast in “Mame.” For his work in the musical, he was paid $400 a week — about $3,000 in today’s money.

He was so gifted, Mr. Herman later said, that he learned all his numbers, among them “My Best Girl” and “We Need a Little Christmas,” in a single day.

Reviewing “Mame” in The New York Times, Stanley Kauffmann wrote: “The hazard with young performers is that either they look coached or, if they are gifted, are show-offs. Young Mr. Michaels is neither.”

But Mr. Michaels found that the market for a child singer, especially one whose voice is changing, was limited, and by the time he was out of his teens he was more or less out of the profession.

For two decades, until his retirement about eight years ago, Mr. Michaels serviced radios for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Until shortly before his death, he sang on weekends at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.

Mr. Michaels was married and divorced three times. His survivors include his companion, Lucille Bort; a son, Michael Lloyd Chernesky; a stepdaughter, Desiree Medlin; and a sister, Felicia Hreschak.

About two years ago, Mr. Clark said, Mr. Michaels overcame an addiction to alcohol and cocaine that he had battled for some five years.

In November, Mr. Michaels underwent quadruple-bypass surgery. In January, fearing that his time was limited, Mr. Clark said, he sold his Tony Award at auction for $18,750.

The sale, Mr. Clark said, paid for Mr. Michaels’s funeral.

[DRW50]

That's a shame. I wonder if he was ever interviewed about his time on ATWT. Is he the Tom in the 1966 or 1967 clips that are on Youtube? 

[P.J.]

wow...that is sad. I had no idea one of the Toms had won a Tony and been in Mame with Angela Lansbury!

 

Gosh, ex-ATWTers have been dropping like flies the last few months....

[Soapsuds]

It's too bad Gregg Marx is no longer doing soaps. He could be a gay fashion designer at B&B or be paired with Jill on Y&R. 

[DramatistDreamer]

I wasn't a member of this board until a few years ago, so it's possible this article was posted in the past, so I ask, has anyone seen this article before?  Because of the author is writing from a personal standpoint, I think that makes it pretty interesting, despite the typos.

 

Douglas Marland: A Personal Remembrance of Soaps' Greatest Writer

 

Just curious but does anyone know the last episode that Marland wrote before he passed?