As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks. There are a lot of good photos on there with GL alum. I miss GL so much. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Yeah, the GL Twitter feed is far more active than the ATWT Twitter page.

I realize that both are run by volunteers but it seems like the GL one keeps current more consistently.

[Graves72]

Jane played Liz well into 1972.  Irna wanted to kill her because Jane wouldn't give up the play.  Irna wanted the world to see Jane as sweet heroine Liz and her role in the play countered that image.  The network forbade her from offing the beleaguered Liz, who was enormously popular as the show's front-burnner young heroine.  (Susan Stewart was her nemisis.)  When her contract was up in '72, Jane had had enough and walked.  In those days, characters were often as popular as their portrayers.  Because Liz was popular and loved, the show had to replace her.  That's when Irna got her revenge by killing Liz (Judith McGilligan) and writing out nearly all of the large Stewart family.  She wanted no reminders of Jane House and Liz.   Irna died and the new writers brought back all the Stewarts whom Irna didn't kill.  (Dan, the girls, Ellen, Susan, Annie, Dee)  David and the old judge survived Irna's wrath but went onto the backburner until the banished Stewarts resurfaced.

[zanereed]

 

Was Judith accepted in the role of Liz as well as Jane was?

[KMan101]

Am I the only nut now downloading any full episodes I can get of old soaps on YouTube? lol. I'm always scanning these threads so thank you to everyone who posts videos. ATWT is one I've found a lot of and I'm going to sit down eventually and start watching. Should be fun. I'm also downloading a lot of AMC and GL. DAYS (and GH) is next on the agenda.

Edited October 12, 2018 by KMan101

[DRW50]

 

No. I do too. I should probably do it more, really.

[KMan101]

 

I should too. I've downloaded what feels like a lot but it's probably not. I'm always paranoid they'll disappear off of YouTube.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Nope, it's not just you.  I've got some ATWT saved that I've recently migrated to a flash drive until I find a way to get more space onto my laptop.  Can't decide whether I should get an internal or another external HD.

 

We really should be nagging and petitioning P&G to release more episodes online or something.

I don't get it, what does P&G really have to gain by letting those master reels molder in storage?  Can we find the guys behind the SoapClassics for some advice/advocacy?  How did they get P&G to budge on releasing episodes?

[Brolden]

 

Nope, here's another. This is also part of the reason why I started the 'full episode list' thread, to sort of catalogue what's out there.

 

 

 

Same problem here... I'm just getting what I have space for now, but I'm definitely planning to buy a hard drive to collect everything on.

[KMan101]

 

I know, I'm debating the same thing about how to store everything I want to download, and have already downloaded.

 

I'm with you on P&G. I like the thought of reaching out to the SoapClassics people (person?) for advice. I'm not sure why P&G hasn't tried to make money off of them. Bizarre. I'd certainly pay a reasonable fee for a streaming service. But I imagine it's ultimately more work in some regards than many want to take on. Just one thought on why. But then we had AOL streaming soap episodes (once again, before it's time, like AMC and OLTL online). And the SoapClassic DVD releases ... Amazon can't get in on it doing MOD releases? IDK. It's probably just more effort than anyone wants to take on.

 

Streaming or reruns are our best bet I imagine. I wish RetroTV would air other soaps, at least they still air The Doctors I believe, why not, say, Another World? Edge of Night? Heck, Peyton Place! I think Decades has Dark Shadows but it aired in a marathon I think when the network first launched.

 

Even SoapNet did a shitty job. They never aired true classic runs of AMC, OLTL or GH (I'll blame Frons just because; the network was so unique when it launched and then it became, well, crappy) Just marathons here and there. I did appreciate AW and Ryan's Hope. I was always sort of bitter they never re-aired Loving but they just loved re-running Port Charles's awful arcs.

 

I'm glad you started the episode list thread, will, and has come in handy at times trying to figure out if an episode is missing or if there was a pre-emption, etc.

Edited October 13, 2018 by KMan101

[DramatistDreamer]

@KMan101 It is certainly a lot of episodes, I'm not trying to minimize the effort involved.  P&G, for better or worse, would be starting from the 1980s because they 'wiped' what came before 1979 and the last decade is already digitized right?  So that basically leaves the '80s and the '90s, which don't get me wrong, it still a whole lot but not every episode would be a priority.  Some episodes/storylines, I would prioritize over others.  

I admit, I am talking specifically about ATWT, right now.

 

In terms of cost, I imagine it wouldn't be cheap but there are actual film restoration programs at universities where there are students concentrating on film restoration.  Does anyone reach out to those programs to see if students might want to take on some of these reels for credit?  Or even a part-time/work-study job?  It would be worth a shot and preferable to letting these archives further degrade. 

Under supervision, so that students don't destroy the film, of course.

 

It would take some thought but with the emergence of new software and more effective restoration techniques, the process seems as though it would be less of a hardship than it used to be.  If they could get a few teams of students that might help too. 

 

From what I understood of the SoapClassics effort, they lacked the manpower to take on a bigger slate of projects.  So they had to undertake a relatively modest effort as a result.

 

Now, in the era of crowdfunding, had someone started a Go Fund Me account to raise a stipend to fund a few teams of students and hire a few professionals to supervise...who knows how far they could've gotten in the last several years?

Edited October 13, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

I'm watching an episode of The Doctors that aired recently on Retro. It's from the 19th of October, 1976. Doug Marland is the headwriter and took over a month prior to this broadcast.

 

In a scene I just watched Dr. Matt Powers (James Pritchett) talks about taking his grandson Michael Paul to a place called Snyder's Farm to get a pumpkin for Halloween.

[Brolden]

I was going over Slick Jones' H-section of the ATWT cast list, when I came upon the Harper family:

 

____Harper                   James Bartz               85    SUN, DOOL,Santa, DAL, RH, Y&R

_____Harper                 Kevin O'Rourke                    ATWT, SFT, OLTL, CM, Trinity

Anthony Harper          Michael Hammond     92

Bill Harper                   John Dossett              GosGirl

                                     Wayne Maugans

Julius Harper             John Doman       92              GL, City

Sheldon Harper          Brian Davies          86           OLTL, AMC

Vicky Cerrone Harper                Donna Mitchell              92-93          DAL, Santa, $treet

I've seen many episodes from the late 80's, as well as from the mid-70's onwards, but I guess the period between 1991-1995 is sort of my weak spot when it comes to ATWT. I know the Harper family was this big crime family, who were in cahoots with Arthur Claiborne and Gavin Kruger and who were infiltrated by Hal. I know Anthony and Vicky (Vicki?) were married, and she came from the Cerrone family, which was a crime family in its own right. 

The scrapbook lists a Bill Harper, played by John Dossett and Wayne Maugans, appearing between 1989-1991. Unlike Anthony and Vicki, however, he's never actually mentioned in the story (and can only be found in the cast list). Does anyone know who he was? Was he related to the Harper crime family, or was he a different Harper? 

Four other Harpers are named in Slick's list. Two of them (nameless and Sheldon) appeared in the mid-80's, so it's unlikely they're related to the crime family. Another nameless one goes without a year, so may also be unrelated (or even be related to the 80's Harpers). And then there's Julius, who must have been related to Anthony and Vicki since he appeared in 1992. Was Julius their son? Anthony's father? His brother? 

As I said, the scrapbook mentions very clearly that Vicki came from the Cerrone crime family. However, the only other Cerrone I've been able to spot in Slick's list is Pete Cerone (spelled differently, but that could easily have been a mix-up). He did appear in 1993, so it seems he could have been related to Vicki. Was he her father or brother? Was the remaining Cer(r)one family kept off screen? 

[DramatistDreamer]

Oh how could I have missed this searing comment from Colleen?!!

 

[slick jones]

 

 

I've been sick, but I'm finally starting to feel human again. I found the family tree for the Harper family in an old notebook.  Julius Harper was Anthony's brother, Bill was Julius' son. 

 

 

 Sheldon Harper was Tad Channing 's lawyer. Actor Brian Davies is the husband of Erika Slezak (Viki on OLTL (71-2010)) and had several small daytime roles and appeared on Broadway.