As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

I think  he may have later been killed by Tonio. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Was it an off-street death, or was he onscreen at the time? I thought about it last night after posting and had wondered whether he had been killed but I couldn't really remember. So much of that period is missing from YouTube. Just scraps.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Have you tried https://classicsodatwt.tumblr.com? 

 

 

 

 

 

[DRW50]

 

I see that Chris Cousins appeared in the role up to 1990, but SOC says Tonio had him killed in February 1991. The only reason I remembered is because I think it was mentioned in some of the clips where Bob confronts Tonio and is shot.

 

Here is a summary from Tonio's SOC/Soap Opera Central page:

 

Later, Tonio set his sights on the wealthy Sabrina Hughes. However, one complication was Sabrina's former fiancé, Colin Crawley. Another complication was attorney Blake Stevens, who was investigating some dubious dealings of Tonio's. Seeking to get rid of these obstacles, Tonio hired a hit man, Richard Tyrell, to kill both Colin and Blake. Under suspicion for the murder of Colin and Blake, Tonio decided to run off with Sabrina.

[Soaplovers]

I remember Colin was killed...and that helped usher Sabrina back onto the canvas full time for a year or so.

 

I did like that even when she was back on in the early 90s, there was some distance still between Sabrina and the rest of the Hughes family.  It was realistic since she wasn't raised in the family, plus she did steal her sister's fiance.  So all could be forgiven, but there was still distance.

[Soapsuds]

The Tonio/Sabrina/Bob story got ATWT to #3 in March and in April jumped to #2 in the ratings behind Y&R.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Soapsuds

[Bill Bauer]

Thank you very much for the resource, NothinButAttitude.

 

 

And thank you for that summary, DRW50.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Bill Bauer

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Speaking of Tonio, I'm watching a 1987 episode where Tonio is trying to conceal the fact that he's seeing Meg Sunder on the sly and he's in the office and Lucinda tells him that she thinks he should give himself and "whoever your doing

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with a bit of a rest, because you don't look well".

This episode is filled with spicy dialogue, but you have to pay attention because it's so subtle, you may miss it. 

 

EDT. Seeing the clumsy attempts at product placement in the final years of ATWT, it's almost hard to believe that the show actually used to be able to do product placement quite expertly.

Seeing these episodes where the Hughes family are in England and Virgin Atlantic was obviously a major sponsor during this time. Also, a street scene between Frannie and Seth, where a Schweppes truck drives by was hard to miss but fit the scene.

Also the caliber of products being placed was a cut above what the show would have fifteen, twenty years later.

Edited June 13, 2021 by DramatistDreamer

[NothinButAttitude]

I really wish some of the Doug Cummings story was accessible. I don't know why but every so many months, I go back and rewatching the climax to Dreams End and I am intrigued. The fact that this arc was multi-generational and so well thought out... *sighs*

 

Why can't soaps be like this nowadays? 

 

And why is P&G stupidly sitting on their archive when they could make a fortune had they created a streaming service again much like their AOL channel?!

[FrenchBug82]

That's what I never understood about product placement in modern soaps. Why did it have to be so bad, so corny and SO obvious?
There is nothing inherently degrading about product placement within the show if it is done cleverly - some big prestigious movies manage it seamlessly - and yet so little effort was made at making it anything but cheap and obvious when it was done in recent times.

As if the people behind it thought the soap audience was so stupid that it had to be heavy-handed to work. 

[Paul Raven]

Not sure a truck driving by on an overseas location shoot would have been deliberate product placement.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Speaking as someone who has been on film shoots, these things are usually planned. Streets are often times blocked off to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Those people who are often just happen to walk by, are often extras, who may have to walk by, again and again, depending on how many 'takes' must be shot. If you look at those scenes closely, even the street scenes in London and Cambridge (where exteriors were mostly filmed), although the scenes were obviously meant to take place in the middle of the day, the streets are sparsely populated, which means that 1) these scenes were likely shot early in the morning, when filming would be the least disruptive and 2) filming was most likely highly controlled--proper permits, no one who wasn't supposed to be there.

There is a chance that a Schweppes truck just happened to roll by during filming but it is unlikely that a company like P&G would allow that footage to be used on a television show that could be accessed by a representative from Schweppes--P&G, CBS could all be 'on the hook' for use of a company logo without permission. Schweppes could easily argue that their product was being shown in a way that they never intended. It's more likely that something was worked out to make sure that the footage was useable.

An indie director could probably get away with filming without permission in a "gonzo" type shoot but I doubt a huge multinational corporation like P&G could get away with that.

 

And Schweppes, a brand older than Coca Cola, that is considered a heritage brand, so closely associated with Great Britain, I doubt they'd just let some Yanks come in a film their property and brands as they please.

 

I briefly lived in London and I have been to Cambridge and they don't even let you set foot on the [!@#$%^&*] grass unless you're a University "fellow"

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. They take that [!@#$%^&*] seriously.

 

 

Whew, that brought back some memories!

 

 

Especially since these shows were started with the purpose to literally sell soap. They were 15 minute ad placements with some drama sandwiched in between. It so happened that the drama became the most compelling element.

Product placement done well seems a ton more dignified than shooting on a handheld in Peapack, NJ, or any other number of desperate techniques employed over the last fifteen years of daytime soaps.

It is pretty hilarious (and sad at the same time) to see those soap dollars commercials in ATWT's final five years. They look cheap and gimmicky as hell!

Edited June 14, 2021 by DramatistDreamer

[FrenchBug82]

This is Days of Our Lives not ATWT but since we are talking about product placement, this is an example of what I am talking about.

It is not product placement. It is characters straight-up delivering a commercial in the middle of the show - with the enthusiasm one can imagine.

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

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Cheerios!

[slick jones]

Also on Days I'll never forget Caroline Brady serving up "Wan Chai Ferry Dumplings".  Now that was some real  placement.

In her Irish Pub Kitchen.

 

 

I wish there was more 1983-85 out there. I'd love to check out the "Richard Fairchild" story, and Shannon and Guy Howard interactions.