As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Faulkner]

In this day and age it just makes more sense to do what Tyler is doing: make cheap drama with far fewer episodes  for primetime when more eyeballs are available. It’s much tougher to launch any show these days on any platform, which is why you see all the reboots with built-in recognition to cut through the glut of Peak TV. I think the four remaining soaps are lucky that daytime has become a no-man’s land for content development. No one really wants to start a new talk show or game show for the networks; it’s just not a smart business these days as most big-name talk shows have flopped, and the networks are just more interested in stopping the bleeding in primetime. Y&R, B&B, GH, and DAYS are likely to stick around for another 8-10 years until their audience finally dies off. 

Edited February 28, 2018 by Faulkner

[adrnyc]

OMG - I hate Sabrina Hughes with the burning passion of 1,000 suns!!!

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  I want to smack her face every time she opens her mouth.  They sent Frannie away to Boston just so Sabrina could get more screen time? Was the character of Sabrina popular at the time?  Or were TPTB just trying to force the audience into accepting her?

[Mitch]

I think Marland had a burr up his ass about Sabrina and thought she was great, as opposed to the rest of viewing audience. "Hey Julianne, to show your range we are going to have a twin sister to your docile, nice Frannie....what, is she going to be wild and a slut..no...she is docile and nice..but you will get to wear glasses, wear a wig and have an accent!!!"

 

I hate boring Sabrina too,  (oh my God, the endless scenes of boring Sabrina with boring ass Seth...) what a waste when they they have could have brought some cockney ho bag into the Hughes family! "Hey Gram..that Holden looks like a nice piece of a** "

[DRW50]

 

I imagine Julianne Moore may have already told them she was leaving the show by this time. Frannie's story had basically ended in 1987, so they wrapped up Sabrina's story while Frannie made sporadic appearances. 

[adrnyc]

@DRW50  Thanks for the info! I didn't realize she would be leaving so soon. She must go during the writer's strike. Am at 4/4/88 right now. Frannie just returned home to let Kim and Bob know that Kathy told her Andy had a drinking problem. It was good to see her!

[DRW50]

 

She will pop up off and on into fall.

Edited March 2, 2018 by DRW50

[Soaplovers]

 

Personally, I liked the actress that replaces Julianne Moore as Frannie much better then Moore... so hang tight for that.. I think that's in 1989 I believe.

[adrnyc]

 

Hey now! You lay off my Other Husband, Seth!! 

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 He's a tall drink of water who is sensitive and sweet and brooding and I would claw out that Sabrina's eyes to get at him!!!

 

 

That's good to hear!  I adore JM as an actress but this first acting job for her has been difficult for me to get through. Frannie was just SO PERKY the first year. The one thing I'm grateful for in regards to them bringing on Sabrina is that it taught JM had to ground herself as an actress. The transformation in her acting was quite interesting to watch. I found Frannie to be much easier to watch once Sabrina was a part of the Oakdale canvas.

 

It's interesting, the little I've seen of Meg Ryan as Betsy, I've not really enjoyed her interpretation of the role whereas I find Lindsay Frost to be an absolute joy!

[DRW50]

 

I suppose you had to be there. I didn't see either Betsy until years later, and I also very much preferred Lindsay Frost.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

ATWT was not Moore's first acting job.  She had been on EON previously.

 

Also, when Moore first arrived in 1985, her first year, I actually thought the character had a dour, melancholy undertone.  Grown-up Frannie was clearly hiding the effects of a breakup from a tumultous relationship when she arrived in Oakdale.

If you remember, she and Barbara had a mild falling out because Frannie didn't show up for her fittings for Kim's bridal party and was cut out of taking a vital role in Bob and Kim's wedding.

 

In terms of why Sabrina might have stayed around so long (she outlasted JM's run, by the way), Marland likely saw Moore's work on EON and somehow thought she had a facility for accents, since the character she had played on EON had one.  I don't understand the reasoning but he may have thought that it was a nifty skill to have somehow.

In a way, he wasn't that far off-base, by the time she did A Single Man with Colin Firth her British accent had improved to a level of authenticity.

I once saw her on a TV show look at a clip of herself as Frannie and Sabrina and she cringed at it and I do think it much to do with the accent. She also joked about the fact that her aunt had married her father and her twin was actually her cousin and laughed and said "The Hughes were the nicest people but...I know...that's so disgusting, right?".

I do think that by the time MES had gotten into the role, the writing for Frannie was a little more nuanced and the stories less bizarre, probably because Frannie was an older, more mature character than she had been when Moore portrayed her.  The other aspect is that we mainly only heard about Sabrina and didn't really have to physically see her onscreen during MES' tenure.  A huge difference in the load that the actress has to carry.

Edited March 3, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[adrnyc]

@DramatistDreamer  When I watch the two weeks of Bob & Kim's wedding, JM just seems so PERKY to me. (Editing this to say that perky is the wrong word....MANIC. That's the right word. Which at times, comes across as SUPER SUPER PERKY!!!) Her dourness in the scenes you mention come across as being forcefully pushed. Same in some of the early '86 stuff I've seen. She's overdoing it, imo. The overdoing it continues through the Douglas Cummings storyline and kidnapping to me. She screeches her way through the weeks in the cabin being OTT hysterical to the point where I seriously thought Kim was going to slap her. HAHA  

 

I never knew JM had a soap role before this! I think I've just always heard announcers or interviewers say (obviously incorrectly) her first acting role was ATWT.

Edited March 5, 2018 by adrnyc

[Soapsuds]

I hate Sabrina as well. She and Seth were a bore and added nothing to show but zzzzzzzzz.

[Soaplovers]

 

I truly think Marland wanted to rewrite history in order to create conflict between Bob/Kim/Barbara/Frannie without really thinking of a strong character for Sabrina that extended beyond the reveal and fall out.

 

If he were smart, he would have had Sabrina be more aggressive, but disguise herself as this meek British girl that was a symbol of the Hughes family ire... but had Sabrina really be a vixen... and be more aggressive with stealing Seth from Frannie.. and having more fire/edge then what was written/acted.  It seemed like Marland was trying to do it.. but the execution didn't work.

 

Or I would have had John/Bob compete to be chief of staff.. and blaming Kim and Bob for poisoning Andy's mind against him.. attempt to blackmail both of them about their previous affair and dead child.. then have it come out there was an affair at some big event.. and you could have still had the fallout without having to rewrite history by having Sabrina survive, etc.

[Soapsuds]

The storyline with Bob/Kim finding out and leading to them going around the world to find her was great but once she appeared full time it was meh.......

Edited March 3, 2018 by Soapsuds

[DramatistDreamer]

Is Mary Ellen Stuart retired from acting?  I realize that haven't seen her in anything in a long time!