As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

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[Soapsuds]

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[DRW50]

James Wlcek was a gorgeous man. They had to work hard to find such an unflattering photo.

[Faulkner]

Word. Kinda looking like Bugs Bunny there.

[wonderwoman1951]

ATWT was moved to 2pm (EST) because Bill Bell wanted his own block with B&B following Y&R. And while it may seemed “mor organic”  to have the P&G shows together, the reality is that ATWT’s ratings took a hit from which they never fully recovered. In retrospect, moving the time slot was the beginning of the end.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

And terrible writing in the last ten-twelve years of the show. Also, P&G didn't want to produce daytime serials anymore. GL had been cancelled the previous year-- before ATWT, AW, a decade earlier.

[Soapsuds]

https://soaps.sheknows.com/soaps/news/593675/soap-writer-douglas-marland-death-anniversary-tribute/

[wonderwoman1951]

re the time switch: the year preceding year, atwt was at 7.0; the next year it was 6.6and continued to drop until its cancellation. 

 

you’re not wrong about p&g, but there’s plenty of blame to lay at the feet of cbs. the decline in writing really began after the 1995 exec producer shuffle instigated by cbs daytime vp, lucy johnson, who, according to the la times, ‘motivated’ p&g by threatened to replace gl with a new bell soap. with laurie caso out and john valente in, cbs president, les moonves, then foisted the writing team of black and stern on atwt with disastrous results.  it was all downhill from there. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Oh, I absolutely put CBS on the list of blame for the show's decline. Ultimately, P&G made the final decision to put the kibosh on the show. Even after CBS made an offer to "save" the show (only God knows what that enterprise would have looked like, considering the fact that toxic-as-hell Les Moonves had just taken over the top job at CBS, running the network), P&G went ahead and pulled the plug anyway.

[Paul Raven]

Some innacuracies in the Marland tribute...

 

 When Gloria Monty decided that radical changes for General Hospital were needed, the newly minted executive producer made him the soap’s headwriter. 

 

Wasn't Marland already the headwriter before Gloria Monty took over?

 

 In an almost unmatched feat, with his three years at Guiding Light, he helped to drive the show from almost the bottom of the ratings to the top.

 

I think GL was doing quite well ratings wise when Marland took over-sometimes the no.1 CBS soap.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Not to criticize these soap blogs and mags but would it really be too much to ask that they do due diligence in their writing before they publish these articles? It feels like so many are simply going through the motions, just to claim the 'preserving the soaps' mantle. If their hearts aren't in it, especially as it pertains to cancelled soaps, I wish they'd just let it go. 

Actually, that did sound a lot like criticism. Oh well.

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This was on my Twitter TL when I logged on, lol.

It was sheer folly for ATWT to make Marshall Travers a rapist. Well, lots of other shows know how fine this man is, and apparently their fans do too.

I don't even know what show is being referenced in this tweet and I still got the meaning behind it, .

Edited May 11, 2021 by DramatistDreamer

[titan1978]

Everything I have read says he was there first.  It might have only been a couple of months though, and with the knowledge that someone was replacing Tom Donovan.

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[Mitch]

Some of Marland ages better then others....Duncan and Shannon were so weird with their quasi gothic and all the bad accents. Was Beecroft difficult to work with, I always thought he was sexy from good guy Tony to mobster Brock..why didn't he get more work?

 

Loved Greta..and Babs reaction to her.  Was this the trial where she slapped Emily, called her a "whore" and walked away. Just wish she was a regular character, the anti-Nancy Hughes..."Well I think arsenic always solves pesky family problems don't you Nancy?"

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Yes, this was the storyline where Greta slapped Emily outside of the courtroom after yelling "Whore!". The funny thing is how Emily kept it moving, as if determined not to let Greta see her react to it.

 

From a writer's perspective, a character like Greta is best used sparingly, in short arcs, or the character can easily become unsustainable. In order to make the character a regular part of the canvas, the writing would have to make her more like everyone else to fit into the canvas or the writing has to increasingly "up the stakes", in which case the storylines and characterizations become more over the top, at risk of making the character cartoonish, a frequent problem on soaps, which has cost the genre credibility, imo. 

You can't realistically write a character like Greta consistently, over the long term, unless you devote huge amounts of time to writing storylines especially focused on exploring deeper psychological aspects of the character, in order to both humanize as well as prevent the character from becoming stale, and what then becomes of the other characters on an ensemble show when you devote so much time an resources to one character? Then you get a Victor Newman-like situation, unhealthy for the show.

That's why a character like Greta is more likely to appear in a script for a movie, where there is a definite beginning, middle and end, than a serialized show.