As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[P.J.]

TBH, '98 is hard for me to watch, after Feb. Jan-Feb wrap up the Teague case (Carly and Jack gtetting trapped in the tool shed, and finally admitting their interest in each other) but March they break up, she marries Hal and they bring on StJuliaI.  I don't particularly like Kirk/Sam, Eddie/Georgia/Tom/Emily/Margo, and I think the pest known as Katie also shows up in the summer/fall.

I go back and forth on Molly. She's unapologetically slutty, but IMO, gets an unearned redemption after the chaos she caused accusing Holden of beating her up. Meanwhile, Carly is treated as the town tramp for marrying (!) and having sex with her husbands (!) (or at least 2 out of the 3).

The one really good thing is that Hal gets revitalized via the involvement with Carly. As much as I had liked Hal/Babs back in the day, it was a crutch for the writers.

[Manny]

We had ATWT in the early 90s together with Guiding Light in Croatia. But I think both shows only aired for one year.

[Chris B]

Some more 98 thoughts as I continue to watch…Im starting to see the cracks in the stories, but I’m still going to continue. It’s much better than it became so there’s still many reasons to watch. 
 

It is so strange to watch Barbara as a normal character and not a psycho. I’ve seen her as the tortured heroine of the 80s, but am most familiar with her as the Psycho Hogan Sheffer created. It’s nice to see people care about her and not groan when she enters a room. 
 

I can express how much I’m enjoying John, Hal and Lisa. I always loved Hal and this is reminding me of how amazing he was. With John and Lisa, I don’t understand how the show lost interest in them. Both add so much to every scene they’re in. Lisa doesn’t have her own storyline, but she’s still well integrated and they use her relationships with the other characters well. 
 

Something that I don’t understand is the Jessica recast. It’s clear they asked for a Black female the same age as Tamara Tunie and that’s it. She is nothing like Tunie and while a good actress, it’s pretty obvious she’s just a stand in. They only use her as a lawyer which seems like a waste for a good character. 

[Paul Raven]

Actually just found out that Don was still in the story at least till around April 73.

[FrenchFan]

I hope we will learn more about it !

[antmunoz]

Which Liz actress was allegedly fired because the actress was also doing a play that involved nudity?

[wonderwoman1951]

“allegedly fired”

the play was ‘lenny.’ jane house played lenny bruce’s stripper wife, rusty, according to ibdb, for the entire run (may 1971-june 1972). and, yes, she took it all off! got to see it with my own eyes!

i’ve heard that irna was so irate she had her fired, but the facts don’t support that. since. it appears she left ‘world turns around the same time s lenny closed. no idea how the firing story got started. 

[DRW50]

The story I read was that Irna tried to kill Liz off because of her hostility toward Jane House, but viewer backlash over what they sensed was coming (as Liz was in the hospital for a while) made P&G step in. House then decided to leave rather than keep staying under the situation with Irna.

[wonderwoman1951]

i’d just heard bits and pieces. this version makes more sense. 

[FrenchFan]

End of the month - July 1968 is now complete

Please register in order to view this content

 

 

#3199 – Monday, July 29th 1968

At the Hughes’, Bob told Chris that Chuckie should be safe and he might leave the hospital before the end of the week. Bob added he felt ready to go to Los Angeles to learn more about cornea transplant. He told his father he had learned to use his senses more easily and would like to help the blind people even if he got his sight back. Nancy arrived to talk about Penny. She told Chris and Bob about Judith’s call. Nancy was afraid that Penny couldn’t go through with her past ordeals : Neil’s death, the loss of Jimmy. Chris and Bob both thought Penny had to face the future. Nancy said that as Chuckie was doing okay, she could live for New York and see her daughter. Bob wanted Nancy to tell Penny about his eyesight and Sandy’s disappearance but Chris thought Nancy should talk with Judith and Jerry Stevens first.

The following morning, Dick visited Chris in his office. Chris told Dick that Chuckie should be fine. Dick told Chris he had went to see Claire and told her to call Michael because a man of honor would act if his baby was in critical condition.

At the Cassens’, Judge Lowell tried to know what Dick told Claire the other day but she didn’t answer. Michael rang the door and Judge Lowell excused himself. Michael told Claire he wouldn’t see Chuckie at the hospital. He had always been clear with her he was not interested in having children. He wouldn’t act hypocritically. He wanted her to forget about Lisa and the kid. Claire said she needed to think it through.

#3200 – Tuesday, July 30th 1968

In Chuckie’s hospital room, Lisa was with Nurse Doyle and felt better that Chuckie seemed to be on his way to recovery. Bob arrived. He was happy Chuckie was doing better and told Lisa he would go to San Francisco for cornea transplant. Lisa made him promise he and Tom would have dinner with her once he came bacK. She thanked him again as she said he was part of saving Chuckie’s life.

Tom visited Alma. They talked about Bob going to San Francisco and Tom questioned her about Chuckie’s supposed parents. He told Alma it didn’t make any sense that Lisa didn’t know who Chuckie’s father was if Chuckie’s mother was such a good friend of Lisa’s. She probably told Lisa who the father was as she knew she was dying. Alma tried to dimiss the questions and Tom went home.

Lisa came home and told Alma that Bob agreed to come dinner after he was back from San Francisco. Alma tried to say Lisa shouldn’t get her hopes high. They talked about Tom and Alma said he had a lawyer’s mind as the way he reasoned thinking she knew who Chuckie’s father was. Lisa assured Alma she would find something to tell Tom if he asked her someday.

Tom arrived home. Pa told him Chris and Nancy were dining outside so he offered Tom to go to a Chinese restaurant together. Sally arrived to have news on Chuckie. When Pa said she could join him and Tom for dinner, Tom dismissed violently the idea. While Pa went upstairs to get dressed, Sally asked Tom why he was acting rude with her. Tom said girls didn’t deserve to be treated nicely. Sally left in tears. Pa wondered why Tom was acting this way.

#3201 – Wednesday, July 31st 1968

Lisa was preparing herself to go to the hospital. Alma wanted to see Nancy before she left on her trip. Alma asked Lisa about her previous plans to get Chuckie’s father to marry her but Lisa said she had changed her mind. She was happy with Chuckie being her « adopted » son for Tom and Alma complained about the baby not having a father in his life. Alma said Nancy worried about the boys Tom was spending time with.

At the Hughes, Chris told Pa he was hoping things would be okay between Nancy and Penny. He said that if Penny had known Sandy left the same day Penny went to New York, she might have come back. Nancy came downstairs. Pa assured Nancy he would take care of everything while she was away. Pa wondered if Tom might want to go to California with his father but Nancy said he had to study if he wanted to join university on the fall. Nancy asked Pa to call Alma to tell her she was having an earlier plane. Chris and Nancy left for the airport.

Lisa visited Bob in his office. She wanted to see him before he left for California. She said that she wished she could have come with him but Bob said that was absurd and made it clear he intended to stay married to Sandy, no matter what was going on at the time. Lisa kissed him goodbye. After Lisa left, David arrived. Bob was not happy with Lisa trying to seduce him. David said he remembered Bob had good times with Lisa then Bob reminded him of all the failures – Bruce Elliot, Lisa’s marriage to John Eldridge, her recent baby… Bob wished he knew who Chuckie’s father was. David then said Dan would like to go to San Francisco with Bob and Bob said it was a good idea.

Nancy had arrived in New York. Judith told Nancy she was worried about Penny. She didn’t communicate neither with her, nor with Jerry. Judith asked Nancy if she planned to tell Penny about Bob and Sandy. Nancy said that if Penny would come back to Oakdale, the situation would be complicated as the Wilsons blamed her for the situation. As Roy McGuire was working in New York, Nancy asked Judith if Penny was seeing him but Judith didn’t think. Judith added she didn’t talk about Neil, or Jimmy.

[wonderwoman1951]

scroll down for a picture of jane house in ‘lenny’: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/movies/julian-barry-dead.html?smid=url-share

[FrenchFan]

Think I found Marie Masters' 1st airdate as Dr. Susan Stewart. Would be October 18, 1968. Susan was absent from the canvas since early August and in the October 18 script, she is mentionned as being back from a trip in the UK so it could be quite logical for the recast to be introduced at this point. Some scripts from September are missing though so can't be sure 100%.

Jane House was introduced as Liz Talbot on October 15, 1968 so recasting Susan might have been the plan for the Dan/Susan/Liz triangle coming up.

[Paul Raven]

@FrenchFan excellent work. So glad we are uncovering new information.

What's interesting also is that Susan was introduced as Dan's girlfried with Connie Scott who was 16 at the time in 1966.

The next Susan Diana Walker was 24.

So I'm assuming that when John Colenback came on as Dan ,Walker took over as Susan as both characters went from mid teens to early 20's. 

I wonder if Dan and Susan were offscreen for a bit, maybe over Summer 66.

[SamandWillowFan]

Was Emily supposed to be a Brooke Logan type character?

[DramatistDreamer]

Emily Stewart? She preceded Brooke Logan.