As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Mona Kane Croft]

Many of us feel that Douglas Marland was very good at mining the past for storylines while he was writing ATWT.  The Frannie/Sabrina plot and the Lisa/Scott Eldridge plot are two examples. Most of us have also heard that he had some interest in the return of Chuckie Shea, but decided Scott Eldridge would be a more believable route to take.  But Marland must have considered other characters or plots from the past to use in the 1980s and early-90s on ATWT.  Have any of you heard stories or rumors of old plots he considered reviving, but decided not to pursue?  Or plots he wanted to write, but was forbidden by the network or P&G?  

Marland had such a creative mind and he certainly loved the genre (as opposed to some head-writers who held the genre in distain).  So I'm confident he must have considered other details and characters from ATWT's past.  For example -- did he ever consider Joyce Colman for a return?  Or perhaps Lord Cushing (wasn't he Paul Stewart's son?)?  Or how about Natalie (one of Tom Hughes' former wives)? Marland did seem to have a particular interest in Penny Hughes, as he brought back Rosemary Prinz for short visits several times for different reasons.   So back to my original question -- have any of you heard stories or rumors of old plots or characters Marland considered reviving on ATWT, but decided not to pursue?

[DRW50]

Thanks. The link hadn't been posted here. I am trying to remember if I'd ever seen the episode on Youtube in another form - the Jef and Emily scenes are a little familiar as is the funeral scene. Probably just merging them with another memory.

The music they use for those opening scenes remind me of the Friday the 13th opening theme (the TV show), just with added guitars. 

Jef is one of the few Emily love interests I liked her with. It was nice to have a normal-seeming guy (not bad on the eye either). There's a good bit in this where Jef tells Emily what Ellen and Dani have been saying about her (as he lives in the apartment above their house) - it's a glimpse of what could have been with expanding the Stewarts if Valente hadn't fired Pat Bruder and made Emily such a monster.

Such a restrained performance from Eileen Fulton, in what would turn out to be her last story, and one of her best. The funeral scenes also have a genuine atmosphere - cold and dead. The moment with Damian where he helps her say goodbye to Eduardo in Italian is so touching.

The episode is also a reminder of how much I liked Kirk and Sam. I have never understood why Tom Wiggin was fired around this time. Sadly, nothing was the same with Kirk and Sam after that point.

Early 1995 was a period of more improvement from ATWT than I had expected after slogging through 93 and 94...although Rosanna and Mike are there to remind me of the failures still present. 

Love the start with Liz Hubbard reminding us to stay tuned after the OJ recap. I'd say that's beneath Liz but she makes it seem fun so who am I to judge?

Edited February 8 by DRW50

[VelekaCarruthers]

This was the year it all really started to fall apart.  Caso kept Packer/Backus through Doug's death then added Garin Wolf. He did drop Backus and added Richard Culliton and Garin Wolf as Baker's co heads. Then Caso left in June and Valente started to dismantle the show. He fired Garin Wolf and left Culliton and Packer write the show from July through Dec. Then he fired Packer and Collation was sole head writer until late February 96 when two of the worst writers to hit daytime were hired for 11 months (Black and Stern).   Of course, Valente didn't last either.  The show never recovered IMO. 

[Contessa Donatella]

You know who recommended Black & Stern, right? In case you don't it was none other than Les Moonves!!!! He KNEW they had zero experience with daytime. Thank god they weren't in that position for very long!!!

It was 1995 when P&G played Musical Chairs with the EPs.  Valente went from AW to ATWT. Jill went from GL to AW. Caso got left out. Laibson was in at GL. Then add in Moonves' stupidity about the HWs. Nothing was the same after that.

Doug Marland had died in 1993. Caso, forced into retirement from P&G began a successful second career. On all 3 P&G soaps in NYC the changes in execs in the next decade were both amazing and appalling. This is only the 2 CBS ones.

Upheaval & Changes in TPTB

in some of the soaps on the air between 1996-2003.

 

The 2 P&G soaps on CBS set in NY

Chgs in HW & EP

 

ATWT EP Laurence Caso Oct. 1988-1995

ATWT EP John Valente May 1995-Nov. 8, 1996

ATWT EP Felicia Minei Behr Nov. 11, 1996-June 1999

ATWT EP Christopher Goutman July 1999-Sept. 17, 2010

 

ATWT HW Richard Culliton 1995-Jan. 31, 1996

ATWT HW Stephen Black & Henry Stern Feb. 2, 1996-1996

ATWT HW Stephen Demorest, Mel Brez, Addie Walsh* 1996-1997

ATWT HW Jessica Klein May 1997-late Oct. 1997

ATWT HW Stephen Demorest, Mel Brez, Addie Walsh* late Oct. 1997-Jan. 1998

 

GL EP 1996-2002 Paul Rauch

GL EP 2002-2004 John Conboy

GL EP 2004-2009 Ellen Wheeler

 

GL HW 1995-1996 Megan McTavish

GL HW 1996-1997 Victor Miller, Michael Conforti, Nancy Williams Watt

GL HW 1997-1998 James Harmon Brown & Barbara Esensten (RIP)

*Interim co-HWs

[Mitch64]

Love that opening (Liz does play it well and makes it fun..without being too jokey or silly) and wish they would have kept something like that every once in a while..Lisa "Oh honey, come sit down with me and let's see  what ole Lucy and Johnny D are up to now...maybe we can have a nice gossip too?"   Nancy, " Hello dears, come have a cup of coffee with me and see what mess I will need to fix next!"

[DRW50]

That would have been such fun. And for news preemptions, a good use of history with Nancy given that she was in the JFK shooting episode (Don Hastings too IIRC).

Edited February 9 by DRW50

[Paul Raven]

Nancy was in a scene with Pa.

[DRW50]

I thought so. I think Don Hastings was in it too, just not with her (wasn't he in a restaurant or bar?).

Edited February 9 by DRW50

[P.J.]

I think what Don said (in one of those Emmy Org interviews) was that he thought there were two interruptions. One at the top of the show, and then the one we know. They weren't told what was going on, he and his screen partner continued with the scene. It wasn't until he was going home (at Grand Central, I believe) that he heard Kennedy was dead.

[DRW50]

Thanks. 

[Mitch64]

I think It was with Henderon  Forsythe ..I thought they knew but kept going as that is what they did...a wall falls down and you keep going its live. But maybe not..

No one in American wanted to hear Nancy say, "I have given it a great deal of thought..." again!

[Reverend Ruthledge]

They kept going until the end. The scene with Pa and Nancy was interrupted first, there was a brief announcement with just a card saying "news bulletin" or something along those lines. Then, they went back to the show which was in the middle of a scene between Bob and David. Then, they broke in again during that scene, this time with Walter Cronkite, and they never went back to the show. Don Hastings has recalled in interviews that the actors heard a stage hand or somebody say, "What? The president's been shot?" but the actors had to continue with their scenes since it was live. 

Edited February 10 by Reverend Ruthledge

[Contessa Donatella]

In the beginning Bob and David were at a restaurant, smoking and talking.

Also Nancy told someone that Bob had invited Lisa to Christmas.

Edited February 10 by Contessa Donatella

[Reverend Ruthledge]

The scene with Bob and David came later in the episode as I noted above. It was Thanksgiving, not Christmas that Pa and Nancy were talking about Lisa coming for. 

[TheyStartedOnSoaps]

Newly discovered interview from 1998 where Eileen Fulton talks about her famous "Granny Clause" resulting in Margo losing her baby - saying "it was just a foam rubber pillow!"

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