As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

Yes.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

TBH, hearing directly from her, in her own words, it sounded more serious than I had thought. 

On this board, I heard that she had problems with Beecroft but I honestly assumed it was a case of two actors that had chemistry onscreen and just rubbed each other the wrong way off screen, or that Beecroft rubbed Melanie the wrong way. Her account makes me think that his behavior was really disrespectful towards her and he breached her boundaries, and that it got so bad that she sought intervention. Really disturbing.

[Soapsuds]

I'm surprised Alan went there. A fan ask the question if those rumors were true. Yeah, sounds like she had lots of problems with him if she had to go to the executives a lot.

[DRW50]

 

He seemed to have more of a direct history with Melanie and Mary so I wonder if he was less restrained. 

[Soapsuds]

I wish they've talked more about the remote with the cable cars which they briefly touched on and Marland changing Daryl as the killer. They could've gone another half hour. The good reunions are the ones that fly. This one did. Some drag and are so boring because the right topics aren't covered and the actor is mum and doesn't say much.

[DRW50]

 

Yes. Mary Ellen seemed so eager to talk about the beach sequence, so they never went back. 

[DramatistDreamer]

I do wonder if they had a different moderator would more people tune in? The numbers for these livestreams have dropped off considerably. If the numbers get any smaller, soon there will be little to no incentive for actors to do them. 

Alan must have been disappointed that the Y&R reunion stream couldn't happen because those always easily draw tens of thousands of clicks.

[j swift]

One wonders, after watching so many of these reunions, how much insight the actors have into the production forces that guided the shows?  So many of them tend to have focused on the drudgery of having to preform in five hours a week of soaps, that very few were aware or informed about what was happening in the writing and production offices.  Learning that many scripts, as well as the egocentric qualities of most actors, generally means that those in front of the camera were more concerned about their own appearance and performance than they were about the inner workings of their show.

 

That's why when actors are willing to discuss their relationship to other actors it is intriguing, but their opinions on writing and producing seem like supposition.  One of the reasons many fans have negative views of certain producers, writers, and network executives comes from the interviews that actors gave after they were fired.  However, just as most of us would experience in our own workplace environment, people who were fired are rarely reliable sources, or least they do not always reflect the majority opinions.  For example, I am sure certain actresses were perfectly lovely to their fans, but if you were working on a show and a writer clearly found a muse in another actor or character, I think jealously would be a natural response. 

 

Alan's reunions remind me of Larry King's show on CNN.  He was not the best prepared interviewer on TV, but he had access to people that nobody else could match.  So, are there people who are more informed about ATWT history; of course.  But, Alan was first to the plate and he gets the choice experiences.

Edited June 18, 2021 by j swift

[Soapsuds]

I had forgot about the Y&R one. It was never rescheduled. He did one with the B&B cast and so far it has 45k in viewership.

[gimmetoo]

Wish Alan had asked Melanie and Mary Ellen about Douglas Marland.  They were major stars of the show during its renaissance...even if they might not have insights into production matters, they certainly would have reflections on Marland's talent w/ story, character, etc.

[Mitch]

It really is too bad if true...Beecroft seems to have been his own worst enemy. I guess now I know the answer of why they never brought him back to GL..they needed a leading guy in his age range and really, why have Buzz Cooper when you have Tony Reardon...(I always wondered what the chemistry would be between he and Zimmer and there was no way Kimmer would put up with THAT crap!)

[j swift]

 

Unlike other workplaces it continues to amaze how actors with bad reputations on one show found work on other daytime shows.  Melanie's complaints about Beecroft were published at the time in SOD, but he still worked on several other shows after ATWT.  Vigard's time on the show was characterized as "tumultuous" in the Tumblr articles after she left ATWT, but she still got a job on OLTL.  I guess actors don't need letters of reference, but it never ceases to interest me that those who were perceived as difficult by their co-stars continued to book gigs.  

Edited June 18, 2021 by j swift

[DramatistDreamer]

 

That's exactly what I meant-- the current soaps like Y&R and B&B regularly draw in the tens of thousands for these livestreams (you can hardly call them reunions when the shows are still airing), while most of the ones featuring cancelled shows, which barely get 2k, are languishing.

I can see a scenario where Alan pivots away from the P&G soaps and does more Livestream with the current soaps and possibly some past primetime stars (like when he did w/Allison Arngrim). There's more clicks in it.

 

 

 

Seems as if this might be one of many reasons why there has been such a breakdown in the daytime soaps industry. Dysfunction has taken over operations.

Edited June 18, 2021 by DramatistDreamer

[Soapsuds]

He told Melanie he really wanted to interview Nancy McKeon after he found out they were best friends. I'd love to hear stories about her brother who sadly passed.

[DRW50]

 

If they had a more famous moderator it might help, but I think with the pandemic over, and many of those appearing not really big names, they won't be likely to recover.