As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Mitch]

Nothing was quite there with Holmes as he really had zero  chemistry with everyone.  People who have a natural chemistry with everyone like Hastings, Fulton, Hays, had nothing with him. Terrible recast and I can't believe he stuck around as long as he did. 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

No arguments from me on that one, Mitch.

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  As a kid, I kind of accepted Gregg Marx's departure as it seemed like so many of my faves were leaving but now as a fully grown adult, I look back at these episodes and wish that Marx had stayed. Shoot, I would've offered him a singing gig, right up there with Lyla at the Mona Lisa if it had gotten him to stay!

 

@Limenade Thanks for that info. Margaret Reed still looks so good! ATWT should've brought Shannon and Duncan back for a brief arc toward the end, Jessica (with Isaac) and Bonnie too and just finally re-married off Shannon and Duncan- it might have even given Lisa something to do, as Lisa was close to all of them and might have been able to encourage Shannon while helping Jessica negotiate any tangled feelings she may have had (as Lisa had/has with Bob and Kim). Could've been some good stuff! If only had the $$$ to finance a web-mini-series, I'd redo several storylines on ATWT from those last years and re-cast the actors that I wanted in those roles!

 

Bill Shanks became a private detective? Wow.

 

@Nothin'ButAttitude Thank you for sharing that latest upload. I could really use it this weekend, given the kind of week I've had. Times like these I truly miss losing my cares in the lives of the people of Oakdale.

[DRW50]

Margaret Reed also has her on Youtube channel - earlier this year she put up some videos while she was doing a play. 

 

I thought Holmes worked well with Eileen Fulton, Bob Hastings and Ellen Dolan (for a while anyway). To me he really didn't get bad until the late '90s. 

[P.J.]

 

Yeah, I grew to really loathe Holmes, but his early stuff with Ellen Dolan was still good. There was just a point (probably around '99) that I think he realized that he was clearly the second banana in that relationship, that he wasn't going to get meaty material anymore (the affair with Emily was just so wrong on so many levels, and trying to sell Holmes as a man who'd interest Emily on any level was redonkulous) and was simply on redial for his performance to the end. It's interesting that Holden pretty much became the understanding dad type (after having been a hothead in his younger days) while Tom, who should have been, given that his father was Bob, just seemed to do nothing but yell at his kid. The way he kept calling Casey "stupid" whenever that kid screwed up (after he was aged) just grated on my last nerve.

[NothinButAttitude]

@P.J., you are gonna leave my Scott Holmes alone! 

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[Limenade]

I watched the show live at the time and Gregg Marx and HB Smith were so good (peaked, for me, during the miscarriage of Margo in November sweeps of 1986), Scott Holmes' entry into ATWT was very jarring - even though Marland sort of prepared the viewers with Tom's absence from Oakland.  Watching the show now retrospectively on YouTube, Scott Holmes gradually grew on me, and even his earlier scenes with HB Smith made sense.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

See it was the exact opposite for me.

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 Binge-watching and seeing Marx, then Holmes in rapid succession (probably because I'm not watching in real-time, plus there are so many episodes are missing from YT that would lengthen out the time.  Then in the little online- binge space between Marx and Holmes, I keep seeing Marx in these Secret deodorant commercials extending into Holmes' run.

 

Holmes wasn't all bad. There were some tender moments between he and HBS but Marx had such a strong onscreen presence and I just never got that from Holmes. I could see Marx in leading eventually, had he stayed but I always saw Holmes in supporting.

Edited November 12, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[Soaplovers]

Unpopular opinion...but I liked holmes as tom....and i liked Stuart better then Julianne moore as Frannie

[DramatistDreamer]

That recently uploaded episode from '85 was, er, interesting, a bit of a mess really. Maybe I'm being harsh, maybe the picture quality has something to do with it.

There were some noticeable lulls in scenes that were heavy with conversation and some of the accents were extra. I know Spree and Jay were supposed to be working class but listening to them talk, the dialogue dragged and it seemed that the writers were writing more of a caricature of what they thought 'young people' sounded like when they hung out.

 

As much as I loved Finn Carter and OGs Craig and Sierra were my heart, what was up with that accent Sierra was putting on?! I just tried to look at it as if Sierra was disguising her posh identity by exaggerating an accent, so she wouldn't be identified as Iacobo Esteban's daughter and shot but that accent sounded like a cross between Speedy Gonzalez and some Miami Vice villain. I don't know whether that was an acting or directing choice but I chuckled when I shouldn't have been chuckling.

 

Like I said, some of the dialogue- (the scenes with Brian, Barbara, Lord Cushing and Diana, for example) were labored but the actors tried. The scenes with Bob and Kim were very dramatic and I did like how the episode jumped from the drama of the snowstorm to the chaos in Montega. 

 

 

A storm in Oakdale and no one was murdered,that's saying something.

 

I saw this episode after seeing a January 1988 episode on Friday where there was also a snowstorm and I actually like those episodes where people are sort of forced to stay in and engage in conversation. Although the situation with Holden and Emily getting stuck in the snow and having to stay with Dusty and Lily at the carriage house seemed contrived.

You can truly see the difference in dialogue in this 1988 episode compared to the 1985 episode!

Edited November 13, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[DramatistDreamer]

ETA. Okay the February 1, 1985 episode is much better than the previous episode which is the one I was commenting on. Still, it tickles me to see Craig and Carlos (aka Sierra) engaged in early power struggles. On a more grave side, in a way, so are Bob and Kim in this episode.

[DRW50]

Wrong thread!

Edited November 14, 2016 by DRW50

[Paul Raven]

Robert Vaughn, who played Rick Hamlin has died aged 83.

[Scrapple]

Ironic that both Robert Vaughn and David McCallum both had roles on ATWT (but at different times). 

[P.J.]

 

It's literally the nicest I've been about SH in 16 years.

 

Thanks for reminding me who RV played. It was bothering me.

[DRW50]

I liked his work on ATWT. It helped that I really really liked Jef (yet another wasted character). I wish they'd done more with him.