As The World Turns Discussion Thread

titan1978 · January 5, 2021

Something I noticed over the years I watched ATWT (after Marland’s death unfortunately), was just how lost people sometimes looked during her adlibs, especially the newer actors. I also saw both Martha and Jon Hensley breaking character reacting to her spinning out trying to get back to what she was supposed to be saying. She’s a brilliant actress, but doesn’t come across as always a good scene partner.

People like Nancy Lee Grahn, Tony Geary, and Tristan Rogers also ad lib a lot. But their scene partners rarely look as lost or just plain annoyed as hers sometimes did. Not that Nancy and Tony didn’t sometimes derail things and noticeably try to get back on track. It just happened less that when I was watching Lucinda.

DramatistDreamer · January 5, 2021

Sadly, that nay be one of the key reasons why Lucinda had no serious, and long-term other pairings, other than John Dixon (although you can see attempts with characters, here and there).

Something came to mind in reading your post-- silence doesn't always equal consent. Scene partners (and the director) who allow another actor to go off on an ad-libbing tangent may not agree with it yet will let it go because in the fast-paced environment of daytime soaps, it might be easier and cost effective to just move on with the scene, rather than stopping to reshoot, particularly if the tangent is not too disruptive to the central drama.

This is not to slight Hubbard at all, who did some memorable, wonderful work but from the perspective of a writer who has also done some acting (onstage), it can be taxing for everyone--scene partners, director and writers to consistently have to deal that one actor who is always going off script.

Edited January 5, 2021 by DramatistDreamer

Mitch · January 5, 2021

Yea..I see in the reunions Martha give Liz the same look Lily would give Lucinda...so maybe it WAS Martha. I also see from the reunions what a pain in the ass Liz must have been...it was all about her, she talks over people (more so then the rest..)

He always came across as so stiff and uptight..and not the stiff and uptight guy who can be crazy in the sheets..he just always came off as a drag..so the women throwing themselves never seemed to work that well. I do wish they had hired a really sexy Latino guy..but...I think Marland would have felt it was too much and give him the vapors.

I hated that he ignore Betsy and Kim for Kim to focus on Frannie. The point of Bob and Kim was that they brought this family together of kids of different ages and (like Betsy) not bio kids to make a family. Of course, I was watching the Meg Ryan years where all Kim did was support her (what a waste of a character) but the relationship was strong.

DRW50 · January 6, 2021

When they had Kim tell Seth in one of the summer 1988 episodes that Betsy was like her daughter, and describe their bond to him, it was so surreal for that era that I ended up wondering if that was the strike writers. I had nothing against the Frannie and Kim relationship, and there were some good moments which helped make 1986 such a strong year for the show, but it just wasn't anywhere near as interesting or important to Kim's history as her bond with Betsy. Even reading the synopses of Kim being alone and lost, sitting in the park, and bonding with Betsy, who also felt so alone and lost as a child, is powerful.

Soaplovers · January 6, 2021

I had no idea that Kim and Betsy were even close till 1996...when Kim and Susan were arguing over Dani.

Betsy/Susan was something that never was explored....and would have mined some good story since Betsy's mom Liz and Susan didn't like one another....and didn't Susan leaving the baby gate open by mistake cause Liz's unusual death?

DramatistDreamer · January 6, 2021

There's not much Meg Ryan/Betsey material on YouTube, it's a fairly paltry amount. You'd have to go back to around '83 to get a genuine sense of the bond between Betsey and Kim. There was a few short scenes in 85, 86 and like someone mentioned, 88 where you get a brief reminder but by the time Kim and Bob married in spring of 85, you already got the sense that Kim and Betsey were moving along separate paths.

Edited January 6, 2021 by DramatistDreamer

Bill Bauer · January 6, 2021

Yes, she did. The best material available out there to show the closeness of Kim and Betsy's relationship is the 1979/1980 series of episodes. The way they clung to each other after Dan's death was pretty poignant.

DRW50 · January 14, 2021