As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

All too true. So sad we never get things like changing of the seasons now (although we don't really have changing seasons now anyway...).

[victoria foxton]

I do miss the heatwaves and snowstorms. Not even a bit of rain once in awhile.

[Soapsuds]

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[DramatistDreamer]

 

Thanks @DRW50 although the period of the strike and the next few months that followed were hit and miss for me, (Ellie's insatiable thirst for Iva's Oakdale exes bothered me--what saved it was the fact that Sierra swooped in and gathered Craig, lol) yet even the strike and post-strike stories are far superior to anything offered by the remaining soaps.

Edited September 20, 2020 by DramatistDreamer
Cannot stand this phone!

[Soapsuds]

I never understood the purpose of Ellie on the canvas. IMO she added nothing to show and never really took off as a character. I remember Wiggin saying in the reunion that fans hated Kirk with Ellie and wanted him with Iva.

[Bill Bauer]

 

 

Ellie seemed to have the right amount of fans to make this an unpopular opinion but I never could stand her. She was my least favorite Snyder (which is saying a lot). 

[DramatistDreamer]

The one thing that the character had going for her was Renee Props, who was cute and a walking time capsule for the '90s. The only interest I had in Ellie was during the Brock Lombard story. I have read on this board that IRL the actors who portrayed Brock and Emily didn't get along, but had Brock survived and remained on the canvas, I think there was good enough chemistry for a reunion between Brock and Ellie to make sense.  

[Soaplovers]

I think Marie Wilson would have worked better as a recast Ellie...she was all wrong for Meg..imho

[DRW50]

 

I thought Renee was a great actress - her work in the Ellie/Craig/Sierra saga is strong, as is her material with Brock. When I was a kid I liked her, and her pairing with Kirk...as I get older, I feel that it is a bit forced, and the work Renee does with the abortion story near the end of her run shows where her true talents were. Her "comedy" moments with Kirk can at times come across like a space alien who has to base their idea of human humor on what is downloaded into their computers. 

 

I'm just glad I did not see any of the Ellie/Kirk/Iva story at the time, as I loved Iva and I would have had no way of getting past that type of plot. Retroactive opinion of Iva tends to be negative, but she did have her share of fans, and Lisa Brown always played the heartbreak to a tee (maybe a little too well for her own sake...).

 

In some ways allowing Kirk and Ellie happiness after breaking Iva's heart was transgressive by ATWT standards (I know there were extenuating circumstances). Choices like that, and the Meg/Josh pairing *, seem to be the breaking point where Marland seemed to take over such a central command of the show that its longtime mores were no longer as influential on the plotting. 

 

* (I do wonder if the strike writers had any influence on that though, as that whole plot was so seamy and explosive by Marland standards)

Edited September 20, 2020 by DRW50

[DramatistDreamer]

I remember thinking that the Kirk and Ellie wedding was so tacky. I tried to watch it a few years ago and could not get through it. It is that bad to me.

For whatever reason, I am prone to believe that someone thought that Kirk and Ellie would be some kind of modern, stylish couple yet until the bitter end it seemed like a fairly superficial romance. I chalk it up to the '90s.

Tbh, Kirk and Ellie sounds like a suggestion from some executive at P&G to 'sex things up a bit'.

[DramatistDreamer]

Unpopular opinion but I liked Pam. I think Robin Morse was earnest in her portrayal. I think the character suffered from being trapped between Lily and Meg. Maybe due to the writer's strike, I think the character wasn't fully formed enough to be legitimate rival to Lily and she sort of got trapped into the role of loyal friend to Meg, which enriched Meg's character but did virtually nothing for Pam.

[DramatistDreamer]

I would never want anyone to edit it out but that scene of Lyla and Casey happily looking out at the New York City skyline with the Twin Towers in the distance really took my breath away, by the next scene between Hank, Bob and Kim, I felt oddly emotional, although I really liked that scene. In today's soaps Bob and Kim wouldn't even know who Hank was and vice-versa. The scene between Barbara and Hal was poignant too.

[Bill Bauer]

 

I actually liked Pam too. She was down-to-earth and rational (two qualities in short supply in Oakdale back in those days). I think she was ruined by Beau. I found him gross and creepy and he kind of made her seem that way by association. 

 

While we're on the subject of unpopular opinions, even though I was never a fan of Lyla's singing, I love that song by Lyla that was Casey and Lyla's theme. 

[Soapsuds]

Sorry guys but Pam was dull as dirt. Never cared for the character.

[DramatistDreamer]

Can someone get Bill Shanks one one of these reunion livestream?