As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

I believe so. The member has been posting all new material that I've never seen on YouTube.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Soapsuds

[DramatistDreamer]

Thanks for posting, as I have never heard of this channel. I think I will go to the earliest videos posted on this channel and work my way forward.

I think I saw a teenage Donald Faison on a Folgers commercial but the picture quality is so bad that I can’t really tell for sure.

[Soapsuds]

It looks like I missed more episodes they posted

https://m.youtube.com/user/dodger2829/videos

[soapfan770]

Thank you @Soapsuds!!! I haven’t seen the conclusion of Brock’s murder in years either. 
 
Like @DRW50 was saying this part of 1990 is an oddity during a transitional period…Bob & Susan’s affair, Margo’s mercy killing of Casey and Brock & Emily were the highlights and the show won an Emmy for it but both Shannon’s death (and her shrunken head) along with John & Lucinda’s divorce left me in the cold. Watching this it’s interesting to see we already have the setup for Darryl, Gavin, and the Harpers in play. 

 

The AK Paul and MS Emily scenes leave me feeling nostalgic but also sad knowing their short term fate. Of course 20 years later Paul and Emily got their happily ever after, LOL but I have no nostalgia for Howarth and KMH by that point.
 

Tonio feels like an outdated Falcon Crest character. 
 

[DramatistDreamer]

Both Andrew and Melanie raised eyebrows and gave serious side-eye when they were told that Paul and Emily ended up together. I think, in the eyes of many, especially back then, Paul and Emily were never meant to end up together. It’s still odd to me that this ultimately happened. Then again, I would never have thought to put Barbara with one of James Stenbeck's spawn. Just really odd.

Revisiting this Casey euthanasia storyline made me wonder about the impetus for the story surrounding Casey’s sad and brutal decline. The more I see of this era, the more I think that death may have been a consistent preoccupation for Marland. It’s as if he knew on some level that he had just a few years left and he wanted to grapple with the implications of a life cut short.

[Soapsuds]

You're welcome! Enjoy!!

I agree about Paul and Emily.

[MarlandFan]

Regarding Casey's death: it was actor Bill Shanks who wanted to leave the show after his 3-year contract expired. Marland knew that Casey would never abandon Lyla and Katie so, rather than have Casey leave, he decided to write a story about Guillain-Barre syndrome which would eventually lead to Casey's death and the right-to-die storyline. Unfortunately, Hillary Bailey Smith left ATWT at the end of December 1989 just as Shanks was scheduled to leave (and Casey was to die). Marland knew that the audience would not feel the same emotional connection to a new Margo and the right-to-die story (and its fallout) would fall flat.  So TPTB asked Shanks to stay an additional 6 months to allow the audience to accept Ellen Dolan as Margo.  This actually helped the emotional impact of the story on other levels too because during those 6 months, it helped to create the friendship between Casey, Duke, and Susan so that his death devastated them as well.  (It also further humanized Susan after she went to bed with Bob).  

I don't think Marland had an obsession with death, but I think he began to understand that he had a responsibility to tell socially-relevant stories. He had always done so, but such storylines seemed to pop up a lot more in his later years. In 1990/91/92 he focused not only on the right-to-die story but also on teenage alcoholism, incest, bulimia, abortion, AIDS, rape, child abuse, interracial marriage, and Native American rights.  The examination of Kim and Bob's marriage was the most adult I'd ever seen on a soap.  The show lost most of it's whimsy/fantasy elements from the late 1980s and became a very mature show dealing with mature topics.  The ratings were very strong during those years which must have indicated to Marland that he was delivering stories that audiences wanted to see.

[Contessa Donatella]

I do this thing that I call "Lingering Questions". I've been doing it forever it seems. Started out with a question I wondered about or a question someone else wondered about & I would try to find the answer. If I did it went into a file. If I did not it went into a file. It was about getting information & it was about having fun.

The LQs at this time cover AW, AMC, OLTL, PC, ATWT, GL, GH, Y&R, DOOL, Nielsens and Marcia McCabe.

Right now LQs has a dozen questions with answers & it has a half dozen without answer. I should share with you that a jingle plays in my head every time I say Lingering Questions. So, LQs is an abbreviation so I don't have to pay the sound guy. Tonight I have for us a new LQ & I already have found its answer.

A new LQ with Answer: Who was the ATWT HW who Switched with Bridget & Jerome Dobson? Maybe it was Doug Marland. Bridget & Jerome were very successful at GL. Among other things they did the Marital Rape S/L where Roger raped Holly. P&G asked them to switch & HW at ATWT & let the ATWT HW come to GL. They didn't really want to but really had no choice in the matter. The story was told without knowing who was the switching HW. But, it was Doug Marland.

Dobsons  GL Jun 1975-Dec 1979

Dobsons  ATWT Jan 7 1980-May 20 1983

Marland  ATWT Nov 7 1979-Jan 4 1980 (13 wks only, known upfront)

Marland  GL 1979-1982

 

And, as everybody knows Marland went back to ATWT  & had impact the likes of which had not been seen in years!

Marland  ATWT 1985-Mar 6 1993

 

Should anyone want to see the whole file just tell me where to send it, like PM here or whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Tonksadora
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[victoria foxton]

You're dead right about Tonio. He totally gave a FC vibe. For me as a Hispanic teen watching. Tonio provided some representation. Even though the role was played by a white actor.

Edited July 13, 2022 by victoria foxton

[j swift]

I am always pleased that we can at least point to the diversity of modern casting as progress over the portrayal of Tonio Reyes, Sierra Estaban, Felicia Cummings (the Aztec Princess), and Paulina Cantrell (daughter of Maria Hernandez DeSilva) all by white (mostly blond) actors.

[victoria foxton]

It was a different era. But it sure would've been great. If tptb had cast real Hispanic actors. We come in many assorted flavors of humanity. Not all Hispanics are Mestizo's. Which is what the entertainment Industry thinks we all look like. I for example look Mediterranean. Even though Tonio wasn't one of my favorites. I liked seeing him in the thick of things.

Edited July 13, 2022 by victoria foxton

[DramatistDreamer]

Those interactions between Tonio and Lucinda were so entertaining. Maybe some were unintentionally funny but they were really entertaining, particularly when it became clear that Lucinda had no use for Tonio because the marriage between Sierra and Tonio was coming completely undone. The fact that Tonio wouldn’t go quietly was pure entertainment. I appreciate that Peter Boynton was game to portray such a venal character.

Speaking of diversity and representation, I only wish P&G would have let the Franklins be great. What’s his name Locher room guy didn’t ask Tonya Pinkins about the Franklins in his livestream with her. Some top notch B’way talent in that onscreen family.

[Forever8]

I'm also surprised that Peter Boynton hadn't appeared on The Locher Room yet. I wonder had he been asked yet? I know Peter's on Facebook. 

[Forever8]

Happened to be on IG and on the Beverly Hills 90210 YT show stories I found out that 90210 and former ATWT writer Jessica Klein passed away. 

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[Contessa Donatella]

Oh-oh, sad. RIP. Thnx for posting. OLTL too. Not finding a pic.

Edited July 13, 2022 by Tonksadora
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