As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

I never really know who to blame for early '80s ATWT as I never know who came and went. I find the show boring in those years but a part of that is down to the poor casting and drab production design. 

[BetterForgotten]

I do think Mary Ellis-Bunim was very misguided in trying to revamp the show and what she thought was wrong and what wasn't. There was indeed a constant change in writers before Marland, which couldn't have helped. 

 

Though, I do know ATWT was seen as a quickly decaying soap in the late 70's/early 80's when ABC rose to prominence. There was a lot of pressure to make the show something it wasn't previously. 

[Soapsuds]

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[Soaplovers]

I do wonder how GL in the early and mid 80s had a more modern (in those days) approach..yet ATWT didn't.  Was it due to producers, sets, actors?

[DRW50]

 

I think GL was better at casting. The show itself still looks a bit drab, even if they were able to more effectively use a club atmosphere (funnily enough ATWT had a disco set in the late '70s but, if the one clip available is any indication, it stuck out in that era like a sore thumb). If you compare Lisa Brown or Kristen Vigard to the dull, dull ladies of Oakdale in that time frame - night and day. And they cast men who were actually handsome and charismatic. ATWT had creepy uncle Brad, the guy who tries to drug your drink and take photos of you.

 

ATWT had a good production overhaul in '85, noticeably improving the look and style of the show, but it was the casting improvement that really helped the show. 

[BetterForgotten]

Yes, Robert Calhoun freshened up ATWT's look when he came on. Funny thing though, I think Laurence Caso later brought it back to grabsville...

[DRW50]

Finished that 1990 episode @Soapsuds linked to. Such a clear turning point in storyline, as the Lombard saga that had run for almost two years was almost over and we were in the earliest stages of the Crawford saga and Lucinda losing Walsh. Yet there is little blatant setup on display, other than a closeup of Connor smirking. They did such a good job of setting up a 2 year story of Lucinda losing everything. 

 

I will say that for Marland ATWT standards, the Daryl material is very in your face from early on. Right from the time we first see him we learn of his past with Margo, and that he's Barbara's baby daddy (those melodramatic flashbacks, with CZ doing her best old school movie star fluttering, are really something - and that headscarf!), they are already setting up the connection with Frannie. That mustache makes him look skeevy too. I think Rex Smith did a lot of good work in the part and probably played it about as well as anyone could, but Daryl is such a dirty dick pig right from the getgo. It's so jarring. 

 

(Margo spilling ALL of Daryl and Carolyn's business that way made me laugh)

 

Good to see such a well done shirtless scene for Michael David Morrison. RIP. 

 

Holden is as insufferable as ever in these years, although he managed to squeeze out some tears in that solo scene. 

 

I wonder if the echoes of baby cries was an accident (it doesn't feel very much like something ATWT did in this period) or deliberate. It's a very effective way of telling us what should be a happy event is actually a hell. 

 

Kirk being so sanctimonious isn't a good look.

 

I never could remember what Frank Wendall looked like. Julie always had a need for pretty boys (just another reason her pairing with the recast Caleb fell so flat). 

[Soapsuds]

Jessica and Duncan's wedding from 1992

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[Soapsuds]

A pal from Kim.

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[Soapsuds]

Mary Kay Adams & Terry Lester are on this classic episode

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[Soapsuds]

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[Soapsuds]

@DRW50 Will Horton would be proud of this. Lol

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[DRW50]

I don't really care for the way Marland rewrote the Stenbecks at this point but that is a fun moment. 

[Mitch]

God I love that, and its not the first or the last time that Emily would hear that!

 

The show was so much fun then..and then we have the 93 episode which was so dour and depressing, Margo's rape and the unending discussion of her "HIV status" poor MKA being held in (I know its me, but I just see a sedated depressed India there, why waste her on Marland's dour show send her over to Springfield to insult everyone she sees.she should be bickering with Alex, not confiding in Lucinda) We went from the Hughes kitchen to that damn Snyder Farm (apparently Marland thought every farm was still in the depression era...)

[Brolden]

A while back we were talking about Emmy Rossum as Abigail and how none of the episodes she was in were available on YT.

Well, guess what... it's not a full episode, but...

 

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I love what this channel is doing, but I so wish to find out where they store the videos that they're drawing these from.