As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Contessa Donatella]

Oh, no, now to try to think what it was about. It's so funny that I can remember storylines from the 70s, 80s & 90s pretty well or even very. Then I get to the oughts I go hmmm. It had all the people their age group in it: Lily, Holden, Rose, Paul, Emily, etc. More people. I guess it began with Scott Holroyd but finished with Howarth. I'm going to have to look it up. 

My favorite MB line is her having just won the Emmy & thanking JH for "15 years of sexual tension". 

[DRW50]

Jon was very charismatic early on but within less than a year he started looking miserable all the time, a permanent stick up his ass. I don't think he was happy there as he left repeatedly - twice in less than a decade. Once he realized that he had no other options, he seemed to loosen up a little. I never gave a damn about Holden, but I grew to tolerate him, and I do think Jon looked better, hair aside.

I wouldn't say things have gotten better. None of the soaps are killing off gay characters for shock value, as ATWT did with Reid. I guess that is an improvement. Van is not an actor, but he does have a somewhat warm, goofy screen presence, which helps with GH as the show has some cold fish.

Edited April 18 by DRW50

[prefab1]

I think the one good thing that came out of the Rose's death storyline was the institutionalization of Will and then his reintroduction as a teen played by Jesse Lee Soffer. In his first few weeks, he got some great scenes with Barbara where he plays her to get out of the mental institution. 

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Soffer is great at playing a smirking sociopathic teen, and it would have been great fun to see him causing chaos all over Oakdale. But then they pulled back from this conception of the character pretty quickly, and once Gwen arrived six months later, nearly all the dark parts of the character got covered over. 

[DRW50]

He probably would have just been a psycho who got killed or banished. Didn't the same "writer" redo this with Adam Hughes? Or was this still Sheffer?

Edited April 18 by DRW50

[Contessa Donatella]

Agree to disagree. He learns his lines, hits his marks, maintains eye contract, exhibits vocal variety, is very personable & seems to relate well to his scene partners & he definitely emotes. 

I've already touched on some gays in soaps but I think I can take it further. 

It's very VERY hit & miss. 

BTG has Martin & Smitty, definitely gay male couple. They have 2 adopted teen kids, girl 16, boy 17. Age is questionable. They do not seem old enough, as the parents. 

GH did have 2 women #Kraze Kristina & Blaze. This past year Kristina faced a daunting personal, life crisis. Instead of having them deal with it together, they broke them up & sent Blaze "out on tour".  (She's a singer.)

Soffer is excellent, period. Isn't he a regular on the NBC Wednesday night drama, last time slot, PD?

Okay, about the umbrella storyline line that ended in 2003, on the TV Megasite I fell down a very deep rabbit hole, ended up reading transcripts of shows in June 2003. Not useful for this discussion but all kinds of fun. Dusty is hilarious. And, no, he wasn't meant to be. LOL!

 

Edited April 18 by Contessa Donatella

[prefab1]

This was from when Sheffer was still cowriting with Passanante. That horrible Adam Hughes story comes from the next regime, with Passanante, Laiman, and Whitesell. 

[DRW50]

Thanks.

Edited April 18 by DRW50

[katie_9918]

Most right-leaning don’t actually give a crap about how other people live their lives and just want the same courtesy. 
 

Not that there aren’t major assholes who are right-leaning, but there are also more major assholes who are left-leaning, and it’s the left-leaning assholes who are quicker to hatefulness and violence in my experience.

[MarlandFan]

I need to disagree. Right-leaning people tend to advocate for restricting other people's freedoms: marriage equality, trans rights, and reproductive rights have all suffered under Republicans. Currently, DJT is trying to ban/restrict books and criminalize the Press!  And before you start yelling about the Left and gun rights -- gun rights have never been touched/diminished when the Democrats were in control.

[katie_9918]

None of that is true.

[Tisy-Lish]

Were either Helen Wagner or Don MacLaughlin ever temporarily replaced with other actors, even for one episode?

[DRW50]

Not that we know of. Helen was briefly fired or almost fired by Irna - I'm not sure if we ever heard of potential replacements for her.

[Tisy-Lish]

Thanks.  I did read a post on FB that said Helen Wagner was temporarily replaced for a few episodes, because of illness, during the Marland era.  But they didn't give dates or the name of the actor who replaced Helen.  I'm wondering if this is even true.  

[DRW50]

You're right. Sorry. I did not remember that. Soapcentral says Betty Runnel, December 88/January 89.

[Tisy-Lish]

Thank you.  I'll do a google search for Betty Runnel.