As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[MarlandFan]

Starcher was such a handsome guy and a good actor. I never understood why his career disappeared after ATWT.  He had a non-speaking part in 1988's "Working Girl" and one role in "Babylon 5" but, other than that, he seems to have never worked again. 

[DramatistDreamer]

I am watching part of the bathtub interview and when Roger speaks of the assembly line type of production that daytime soaps do today and the fact that one former soap writer expressed that it had become devoid of joy, that is really what is lacking, not expensive sets. The budget cuts are evident in the process and the lack thereof. Lack of rehearsal time, lack of interesting filming because there is no time to do multiple takes in order to find the best one. No time for anyone to do their best. At all. He described it well.

[Vee]

We've talked about it a lot in the years since the wave of cancellations at the end of the 2000s-early 2010s in just that same way. The OLTL oral history has the actors discussing it at length. It all goes back to that lack of time and budget, which in turns leads to a lack of passion and energy. I think the network clamping down on what stories they approve, or what a show thinks they can sell to a shrinking, aging audience and in an increasingly polarized time also is an issue - everything is babies these days or pablum. GH and DAYS occasionally have sparks of life, but for the most part these shows are simply about subsistence at this point, going through the motions and keeping the lights on, and that's sad.

[DramatistDreamer]

I remember we have discussed these aspects so it is surprising that some continue to cite cheap sets as being the thing that's most wrong with today's daytime soaps, other than poor writing when sets are the least of these show's problems.

To me, this was already evident in the last decade of ATWT. It's just great to hear someone who has specifically spent a good chunk of time an effort in presenting a substantial body of work highlighting serialized drama express this in a succinct way. 

[TVFAN1144]

What is the reason if any that the remaining 4 soaps have survived 

[DramatistDreamer]

There are probably multiple reasons, not really one single reason.

One important one is support from executives (production company as well as network)

Another could be favorable timeslot and how ratings are impacted by it.

Sponsors usually have some say over traditional network television. When sponsors begin to walk away, shows can suffer (here is a test for how much/little support a show has from the production company executives/network.

Each show has a different dynamic. For example, Sony is an entertainment entity, so unlike Proctor and Gamble, a corporate conglomerate that specialized in household and personal care products, Sony is more likely to be committed to investing in their entertainment titles to keep them in production, while we obviously now know that P&G was not. 

Like I said though, the dynamic varies depending on who is producing what show and what the executives want for their respective companies/network.

[Soapsuds]

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[DRW50]

Uploaded toward the end of last year, missing the final segment. The date is June 26, 1989. I looked and didn't see this posted, and I don't think the episode is around, but others like @DramatistDreamer may know  more about that than I do.

https://archive.org/details/vts-01-0_202112

[DramatistDreamer]

The Archive link is not loading for me at all.

[DramatistDreamer]

Watching part of this reunion interview (I am not sure how much of it I will watch) and she talks about the tension created due to the fact that Marland was trying to bring on the first Black family in the show's history. She also mentioned having had a crush on Steven Weber, going out on a date and feeling crushed after finding out that he was really focused on getting close to Finn Carter. It's sad to hear how alienated she felt from him and Finn once they started dating. I was disappointed to hear that. It's obvious there was more to tell but Alan hastily moved the conversation to her time on AMC.

Pinkins did speak of the amazing cast members, her peers who she referred to as "the kids" (Marisa Tomei, Julianne Moore, Meg Ryan, Steven Weber, Finn Carter) that she worked with while on the show. I wished she had been asked about working with Novella Nelson, Count Stovall. Pinkins has mentioned seeing Julianne Moore now and then, and interviewing Marisa Tomei for a project she produced a few years ago. She also did say that she ran into Steven Weber years after they had both left the show and he apologized to her for the way he treated her. It was at the height of Wings popularity and she was not expecting him to remember her (I would only hope that if she and Finn ever encountered each other, Finn would do the same but we all know that Finn has other issues to contend with, who knows whether she would remember?). Of her experience working on ATWT, she did say that it was so much like working in theater and a noticeable glimmer appeared in her eye when she spoke of getting to sing "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" before Whitney Houston even sang the song.

[Khan]

What does she specifically about that?  I'd watch and find out for myself, but...sigh...not with Alan Locher, lol.

IIRC, TP has mentioned in the past that there was tension between her and Robert Calhoun.  Did she touch on that at all?

[Limenade]

It was interesting to hear Tonya's perspective on Marland's tenure, but too bad Alan didn't delve a bit more into her comment that it made for a tense environment - that TPTB was paying attention to actors' life off-stage and incorporating that into the show. I heard it more broadly as affecting other stories as well. 

[Limenade]

Tonya spoke frankly too about her experience at Carnegie Mellon and why she left - I'm thinking of two other ATWT alums who also went there: Judith McConnell and Ming Na Wen.  

[Soapsuds]

Oh Paul and Emily having sex! Andrew was so adorable. This was two months before Paul shot James.

Here's a 1990 episode of ATWT. I haven't seen this one on YouTube. Heather Rattray is beautiful.

The other CBS soaps are included.

https://archive.org/details/whdhraw

[Soapsuds]

1993 episode

https://archive.org/details/capture-a-5717