As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

She left in 1968. 

 

Rosemary did sort of recur from 1985-1988. I wonder if no more would have happened as Penny had been gone such a long time.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Prinz felt confined and trapped on ATWT, and ended up loathing her job. When she quit in 1968, she vowed that the only way she would ever go back was if her father were in a Nazi death camp, and she had to return to the show in order to free him. Pretty harsh.

 

Years later, she softened a bit and admitted in the press that she cared about her fellow actors, and that Penny Hughes had been a warm, good human being.

 

I was shocked, but thrilled, to see that by the mid 1980s, she had lost the animosity against the show and agreed to appear from time to time. I adored Penny. I wanted her to return for the series' final weeks. Her presence would have been a poignant way send off to the long-running show; much more important than having Katie, Janet, and all the other abrasive/unimportant newbies parading across our screens, wasting time. With Helen Wagner gone, Prinz was the show's only living original cast member. I would have liked for her to be the one to utter the show's final words to Dr. Bob, "Good night, dear."

[Paul Raven]

Yes Penny at the end would have been a lovely touch.

 

I wonder if there was any thought/reaching out when Santos Ortega/Grandpa Hughes passed awayin 75?

Penny would surely have wanted to be there. Maybe at that point Rosemary was still anti ATWT...

[vetsoapfan]

 

Bringing back John Dixon at the end was a nice touch, but both Penny and Ellen Stewart should have been there as well. And Goutman needed to put his hubris aside and have Martha Byrne play Lilly in the final episodes. (I was never a Lilly/Byrne fan, per se, but it was the right thing to do for the fans.)

 

Even if she might have declined, TPTB should have at least asked Prinz to appear at Grandpa Hughes' funeral. It was uncomfortable not having either Penny or Irma Kopecke there. Dr. Bon acknowledged that Irma was off grieving with her own family, but I do not recall is Penny's absence was explained.

[DRW50]

What was the relationship with Grandpa and Irma like? Did they explore the reactions of Nancy or Chris? Did Chris have a problem with his father being with another woman?

[vetsoapfan]

 

The relationship was very loving and nurturing. I don't think were was any conflict with Chris. If there had been, I'm sure I would have remembered it.

[DRW50]

 

Thanks. I wish I could see this story. I've seen so little of Grandpa Hughes. What I've seen is a good contrast to Nancy, and he had a nice, warm scene with Tom as a boy. That's about it. I remember Marlena de la Croix calling him a bore in her SPW column and getting a negative response. 

 

Compared to the other P&G soaps ATWT seemed more willing to let their older widowed characters find love again. 

[Paul Raven]

Was Irma ever seen?

 

At what point was it established that Grandpa had a ladyfriend?

 

I have read that when the show went to an hour Santos Ortega was made recurring and seldom seen, or married and written out?

Edited December 4, 2018 by Paul Raven

[vetsoapfan]

 

Grandpa Hughes a bore????

 

Pffft!!!! Drop dead, MdeL!

 

I loved Grandpa Hughes. And Judge Lowell too, for that matter. 

 

 

 

I would say they started referring to Grandpa having a lady friend in 1975, maybe 1974. It would only get the occasional mention at first, but enough so that we, the audience, knew what was coming.

 

We never actually saw Irma. She was always upstairs or in the other room or "coming shortly." It got to be aggravating, because I wanted to SEE the woman who had captured Grandpa's heart. I wanted to check her out for myself, before I decided if she was good enough for him. But the Hughes family never criticized her, so I had to accept their positive assessment. Grandpa and Irma were not married very long before we heard about his death. The scene that makes me tear up to this day was when Chris told Nancy about his dad's passing. He thanked her profusely for being so kind to Grandpa "all these years," and Nancy replied simply, "Of course, dear. You see, he was MY father too."

 

I sobbed for 30 minutes, LOL.

 

I adored those vintage characters and relationships!

[Khan]

 

We should also mention that Prinz was on RYAN'S HOPE during its' final year, portraying Sister Mary Joel, who, if I'm not mistaken, turned out to be Jack Fenelli's biological mother (after being his sort of guardian/godmother figure throughout his life).

[DramatistDreamer]

 

That would've been lovely. 

 

I've thought that, in my wildest writing fantasies, if ever I had the chance to refashion a 2.0 of ATWT, even briefly...I'd open with Kim saying "Good morning dear", to her granddaughter, (Oakdale Memorial hospital's newest resident) Dr. Hope Dixon. 

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[Vee]

Feel free to share your wildest writing fantasies sometime in public or private. I'm always curious to see how people would revive these shows, even ATWT which is one of the furthest from my mind given how decayed it sadly became. (I have a silly idea for an AMC/OLTL 2.0-style GL revival floating way back in the board archives from the heady days of 2013...)

Edited December 4, 2018 by Vee

[P.J.]

 

I do tend to forget that Don and Eileen came on in 1960. 

[John]

How did the Penny Replacement in 1971 fare?

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Thanks Vee.

If the time or inclination gets me, I may try another blog post of mini-script as I did with a proposed storyline for Y&R.  Hopefully with less technical glitches next time, lol.  

If I do, I'd definitely snuff out a significant block of those final years, lol.