As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[adrnyc]

The show I was watching. LOL  Loved Katie. She was one of the main reasons I watched the show. There are a lot of Katie lovers out there. The die-hard fan community may not have taken to her. But, yeah, she was pretty popular. So was Molly. And Henry. And Carly. And Jack. And pretty much every character the die-hards seem to be so against.

No shade intended. Just a different viewpoint. Everyone I know who watched ATWT in the '00s loved Katie. Saying she's everyone's sweetheart...well, of course, no character is EVERYONE'S sweetheart...but to a lot of us, she sure was! (And is, for me, as she's been on for 2 years now of my rewatch. Currently in May '00.)

[Contessa Donatella]

Loved Molly, also Henry, Lucinda, Lily, Lucinda's butler Matthew, Carly, Jack, Tom, Margo, Emily, Paul, Barbara, Lisa, I could go on. Katie, well, Katie was rather limited IMO. So I objected to Goutman's making her the centre of everything. 

[Vee]

The issue I remember re: Katie was never where she began in the 2000s, as a fan favorite character in a very popular pairing and then at least one other reasonably popular follow-up. The issue was the latter half of the decade where the entire show seemed spun around her, and pairing her with increasingly implausible partners.

Edited May 21, 2024 by Vee

[adrnyc]

 

I know that many people feel the same way you do about Katie. You're certainly not alone! But neither  are those of us who adored little Katie Peretti.

[NothinButAttitude]

Oh you know this would've happened. Or they would've had her obsess over Paul (under Jean Passanantate) as poor Rosanna, Emily, and Meg did. 

The fact that Lucinda didn't strike back makes it endearing and infuriating at the same time. A part of me wanted her to lash out, but it showed so much growth for her to just take the loss on the chin and rebuild herself. I found myself cracking up when Jane ripped Lily a new one when she thought Lily had something to do with the takeover. 

I do hate that so much material from 1991-1992 isn't on YouTube. There's a big gap missing post this story that I wanted to see. I wanted to see the episode of the actual launch of WorldWide. I wanted to see more of Linc/Connor's relationship post-coup. There are so many gaps between episodes that I feel like I am missing important parts. 

Another thing, I wanted Iva to not take the high road for once and rub it in Ellie's face about Kirk. I hate that Iva had to always take the high road in everything. Just that once I wanted her to bask in Ellie's misery. 

And what is everyone's opinion of Marcy? I get the impression that she was filling the void that was left by Julie and Emily at the time as Oakdale's minx. I liked watching her stick it to Connor by snagging Linc. It made me feel an ounce of pity for Connor after did Lucy dirty as she got the company but didn't get her dream man. 

I surfed through episodes on playlists during 1991-1992 just for the Worldwide arc. But I know I need to go back and fully watch again as I need to go back and watch Jess/Duncan's arc in full. Wasn't Gavin Kruger a racist turd to Jessica and poking fun at the relationship with Duncan at that time? 

[DRW50]

He was a racist, yes. He was too dull and unpleasant a character for all the airtime he received. 

Marcy was fun. I remember when she briefly returned in 1994, Michael Logan praised it on Pure Soap as it meant at least something was happening. Similar to Tess, she was probably closer to early Meg than Julie or Emily as she was just a blatant schemer...she was so blatant that it made Linc and his mother look foolish (although neither were known for their brains). It wasn't a strong story but worked fine as a support plot chugging along. I do wish they'd found some way to keep James Wleck as I thought he was just gorgeous. No comment on the recast...

[Soapsuds]

@DRW50

No love for Lonnie McCullough?

Please register in order to view this content

[DRW50]

I actually do wonder how he might have been in another role - maybe another of Iva's doomed boyfriends (although she was nearly gone by then). He was just all wrong for Linc.

[NothinButAttitude]

Agreed. James Wlcek is gorgeous to look at. I know he did OK in primetime with Walker Texas Ranger for a bit after leaving ATWT; however, I am stunned that no soap has tried to woo him back. He has aged well and could've easily been assimilated on a soap. Primarily B&B as a Thorne recast or a man for Sharon. 

Backtracking to Gavin, I find all his scenes to be him smothering Barbara in a sense. Thank God Ben Hendrickson came back around that time. 

I do agree that while hoping through the episodes last night, Gavin (and Darryl) consumed a bulk of the airtime during that time. Marland was smart that he knew to tie many of these characters to established characters we cared for. 

[DRW50]

Colleen Zenk complained in the press about the writing for Barbara in the Barbara/Gavin pairing - she felt that Barbara was being too naive, IIRC.

That whole crew was very heavy. I think that's one of the reasons the story is remembered as flagging out, with the Harpers, Daryl, Arthur (one of my final flashes before I go will probably be Rex Smith saying "Arthur"), etc. I think Marland managed to still keep it worth watching, but the real impact was lost due to his death meaning Frannie never returned (cameo aside) and we lost all the drama with Frannie and Barbara we should have had. I still wonder if he was going to pair up Frannie/Hal.

[NothinButAttitude]

I did find that Ben Hendrickson and Mary Ellen Stuart had stellar chemistry in the one clip of them in the hotel together that I once saw. Wasn't this around the time that Hal found out that Darryl was Jennifer's dad? Regardless, that would've been interesting to explore as you would've had not only Barbara not being a big fan of the pairing but Margo too. 

I do with that ATWT (and I don't know if they did) would've tried to get MES back as Frannie. The show always needed a Hughes family ingenue as the central heroine and we never got that again after Frannie left. I would've loved for Rex to have been brought back along with Carolyn and how that dynamic would've played out with an adult Jennifer too. 

[DRW50]

"The truth about Jennifer." 

Tom also would have been upset. 

I don't know if they ever asked MES or not. It felt like they mostly stopped caring after 1993 or so - whenever Sabrina's last appearance was. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Oh yes. I forgot about Tom. He would not have enjoyed his precious baby sister being romantically involved with his frenemy, Hal. Again, that is something that could've played out for years. And if Frannie ended up marrying and having a child with Hal, I am sure (if written correctly) Babs and Margo would've combusted. 

I feel like Frannie and Sabrina could've easily popped up with some kids to be alongside all the other Hughes grandkids and be the central figures of this show for the last decade or so. I'd imagine TIIC didn't care as we all know about the mid-90s to now, soaps started straying from legacy characters and pushing their creations instead. 

I will never get how writers don't dig into the annals of the show and dig up these blank canvas characters that are tied to the canvas. 

[Reverend Ruthledge]

Most writers, with a few great exceptions such as Marland and Nixon, don't want to play off another writer's material and want to create their own stuff. However, most of them are also deluded to think that they are just as good, if not superior, a writer than the previous writers. That's the mistake. It would help them to ride the coattails a bit. Very few later soap writers seemed to get the concept of the specific genre that long-running serials are and the CONTINUING (which means incorporating the past)  aspect of it. They treated it like it was a new show that they were starting. Trying, and mostly failing, to make their mark as a writer and ignoring that the show was bigger than they are. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Pete Lemay was quite good about supporting the Matthews family on AW. (I call him Pete because I learned that only his family & formal documents used Harding. He much preferred Pete, at least that is what it is reported he said.)