As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Several years ago someone uploaded a few ATWT clips and an episode from the early '80s. The videos left Youtube and I haven't seen them since, so I've decided, for anyone here who hasn't seen them or wanted to see them again, to put them up. I'll put the other few up tomorrow. If anyone can help with dating this - thanks.

 

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[P.J.]

 

My guess would be that Marland was ghostwriting parts of the show before his official debut. Because the story has always been that he created the Snyders, who were based on his own family.

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

This is the newspaper synopsis for the week of November 9, 1985. I am assuming that Iva showed up at the end of the Friday episode, November 6th. And that Emma and Holden were probably established/featured during the week of November 2nd.

 

November 9, 1985
Emma was shocked when her daughter Iva arrived on her doorstep. Kevin saw a woman`s body in a closet at the Corbman mansion. Police officer Roy Franklin investigated Marie`s sudden disappearance. Frannie gave Roy a page torn from Marie`s diary. Kevin told Frannie their romance is over. Ken lurked outside Kim`s house. Doug made a date with Frannie. Marsha told a shocked Kevin that Marie is pregnant. Barbara told Tom she`s concentrating all her energies on business.

 

[Khan]

If Lucy Deakins had remained as Lily, then Lily and Dusty most surely would have been endgame.  Then again, who's to say that Deakins and Jon Hensley wouldn't have generated a similar amount of chemistry that Hensley and Martha Byrne did?

 

I, too, think it was possible that Marland was "assisting" Susan Bedsow Horgan and her team before officially joining the show.  At the very least, he might've given Horgan notice of stories he had planned to tell, thereby allowing her to leave characters and storylines in the right places for him to pick them up from.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Khan

[Soapsuds]

I believe this clip is from the James Stenbeck DVD release. It's from July 5, 1981

[Paul Raven]

French Fan's synopses have Marland taking over in Sept 85.

 

It seems the Kim secret admirer story was his first new plot.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Paul Raven

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

Yes. You can tell by the synopsis I posted from the second week of November 85 that Doug Cummings and Marsha Talbot are already established.

 

Though Doug may have been killed in February, he still made sporadic appearances for weeks afterward, haunting Frannie in her dreams. So I'd say John Wesley Shipp was on the show for about six months, give or take.

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by JarrodMFiresofLove

[DRW50]

 

Thanks - I looked and this one is July 5th though.

 

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I had forgotten Rick was back in this episode. 

 

If I ever get the episode I have on disc up, from August 1981, he also features there. It's funny as there's been such talk about him here lately. It's still odd to me they cast Marc Singer and did so little with him (maybe he left of his own choice, I don't know).

[DRW50]

 

Thanks - I looked and this one is July 5th though. 

 

Actually according to the old WLS press release this episode (the one on DVD) should be July 15. I guess the Youtube channel misdated it?

 

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I had forgotten Rick was back in this episode. 

 

If I ever get the episode I have on disc up, from August 1981, he also features there. It's funny as there's been such talk about him here lately. It's still odd to me they cast Gary Hudson and did so little with him (maybe he left of his own choice, I don't know).

Edited July 3, 2018 by DRW50

[DRW50]

Here's an old promo with Margo catching James kissing Connie (which comes up a lot in this episode). Mary Stuart's "ooooggghhh" in this promo always cracks me up.

 

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Here's the episode. I still don't know if this is the right month so if anyone knows the exact date:

 

 

 

 

 

Compared to a lot of early '80s ATWT I've seen I actually enjoyed this episode (even a bit more than I did the first time seeing it). It has some pep to it instead of seeming slow as hell. Some of my main bugbears of this era, like Cricket, Dee and Annie, have a bit more life and less dead line readings (Cricket even manages a pretty good one with Margo) than usual. And Annie is not made up like a Vice President's wife, which makes a nice change. I really love the John/Margo relationship under Colin - such fire, yet you can also feel the bond. And it's good to see Tom with Chris, as working with Don McLaughlin seems to calm Justin Deas down.

 

I know I asked this the first time this episode was around, but:

 

- How long was this cute doctor Larry and the nurse around? I had never heard of them until I saw this.

- I get so confused about the Annie and Carol baby stuff. Were they both pregnant at this time? Did they both lose their babies? For some reason I thought at one point Annie was carrying a baby FOR Carol and Steve. Was this that baby?

 

If Rita McLaughlin had wanted to stay on the show I think she easily could have - her hair and makeup and wardrobe here fit the changes of the early '80s beautifully, unlike a lot of ATWT stalwarts who had some very rough patches. 

Edited July 3, 2018 by DRW50

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I think Shannon was not so much a candidate for Lily's mother, but as a suspect for who was the person behind the mysterious phone calls that Lucinda had been getting.

Back then, nobody knew why Lucinda was getting those phones calls but Craig suspected that it might have something to do with Martin Guest and Sierra only knew that the phone calls made Lucinda very agitated, so both Craig and Sierra (who was by this time married to Tonio) decided to share information and investigate this together.

 

Once Iva walked into that bar off the Interstate and Lucinda, who'd been sitting there waiting looks up to see who it is, the audience becomes aware that it is actually Iva who was behind those mysterious phone calls to Lucinda (one of which Lucinda ran off the road and got into a near-fatal accident on the way to meet her).  It was in the bar that Iva reveals that she's Lily's mother.  At first, Lucinda is incredulous until Iva starts providing details, including the adoption broker who, it turns out met with Martin Guest.

 

Craig and Sierra ended up suspecting Shannon as being behind the phone calls because of a weird call that Shannon made to the mansion and appeared to get frazzled when Sierra answered the phone.  Also, when Craig found out the bar off the Interstate where Lucinda went (Lyla, who had found the address on a slip of paper that Lucinda accidentally dropped and left on her hospital room floor after her car crash, contacted Craig), he and Sierra went to talk to the bar owner who identify Lucinda in a picture that they showed him and then proceeded to give a dodgy description of the woman whom Lucinda met (he only mentioned figure, eyes and a green scarf), which Craig and Sierra assumed to be Shannon after she walked into Lucinda's mansion one day wearing a green scarf.  

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[John]

Thanks for that episode

So That is the Besty right before Meg Ryan. Kinda of dull

 

Dana Delaney and Peter Reckell were they smaller characters

[DRW50]

 

Yes. Lisa something (Lisa Sloan? Or is that another actress?). She is very generic.

 

Considering Reckell came in as the brother of a character who got a lot of focus at the time (Brad Hollister) they may have had more plans, but I don't think either of them made it out of 1981. It's odd ATWT didn't see Dana's potential, but then so many women came and went in this time period thanks to poor writing.

 

That's interesting. I never knew Shannon was involved in any of that story, although I haven't seen a lot of it. Shannon became much more isolated after she got together with Duncan.

[John]

Lisa Denton 

surprised they never brought Suzanne Davidson back as Betsy

Edited July 3, 2018 by John

[Soaplovers]

Oddly, I think Shannon's brief return in 1994/5 had her interacting with the canvas more than during her last two years or so on ATWT (1988-1990).  She was tied to Duncan still.. but she interacted quite a bit with Lily/Damian, Lucinda, Samantha, even chemistry tested with Royce, and lastly she and Barbara locked heads a bit during the Lisa/John lawsuit (since Barbara sided with Lisa.. while Shannon was more apt to side with John even though she was close to John).