As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Khan]

There's a lot you don't need if you have the writing.  You don't even need large casts!  You could make do with a cast of 12-18 actors if the writing is there.

[vetsoapfan]

Right.

Literally for decades, soaps mesmerized their audiences with tales of romance, family conflict, class struggles, and recognizable interpersonal-relationship sagas. We didn't need relentless, heavy violence. We didn't need clones, mad scientists, extra-terrestrials and demon possessions. We didn't need gaggles of plastic himbos and bimbos pushing beloved vets off-screen. We only needed to see people whom we cared about, and the intelligent, moving progression of their lives.

Flashy sets, gaudy gimmicks, and high-falutin' hairdos be damned.

The characters and the words were important.

[Tisy-Lish]

I agree 100% with both you and Mitch64.  Soaps have been going further and further off-course since 1981. TPTB just don't have a fundamental understanding of what makes soap fans so loyal. I'd love to be on a writing team with both of you.  Maybe we could put together a real soap opera, and show people what its all about...  

[DRW50]

I really do wish someone could. Just a few characters in very simple backdrops, with very real problems that are just a little larger than life, like the '50s and '60s. All the characters having a level of dignity or respect. And their inner lives are what dominate the story, even if there are outside forces at play.

[vetsoapfan]

I've seen so many posters over the years who are bright, creative, well-versed in soap history, and who care deeply about the integrity of the genre.

I'd put the shows' chances in their hands a lot faster than I would allow any of the "usual suspects" to take control of the dramas they've already helped decimate.

When I returned to university in the 1980s, I created a bible for a new soap and presented it in my screenwriting class. It was in reaction to how badly I saw the network shows being butchered at the time. The creative process was thrilling; a total joy, and I still smile when I remember the positive feedback I received from the professor and my fellow students. I was used to seeing written commentary from professors on my work. This one wrote me a long, complimentary note on the final page of the bible, but also graded it 97%, A+.

I was beaming ear to ear for days!

Please register in order to view this content

[Paul Raven]

Hope you will enjoy the 1976 storyline from the Daytime serial Newsletter.

The show had just expanded to an hour so new characters and stories were required.

The Soderbergs had been writing since late 73 and the show was still #1.

Looking foward to comments and discusssion

Pt.1 

For over two decades As the World Turns has depicted the events in the lives of two Oakdale families: the wealthy and influential Lowells and the less affluent but equally respected Hughes family. Judge Lowell’s granddaughter Ellen is married now to Dr. David Stewart, whose adopted son, Dan, is actually her own illegitimate child. Dan was once married to Dr. Susan Stewart, by whom he has a daughter, Emily. Dan then married Liz, the ex-wife of his late brother Paul. Liz was the mother of Dan’s daughter Betsy, who believes to this day that Paul was her father. Liz died tragically the day after their wedding.

Ellen and David have two daughters, Carolann (Annie) and Dawn (Dee), now of college age. Dan has recently fallen in love with Kim Dixon, who was about to divorce Dr. John Dixon until injuries suffered in a tornado caused amnesia and left her with no memory of her love for Dan. John is using this respite to solicitously convince Kim of his love for her.

Nancy and Chris Hughes had three children: Bob, a doctor, Donald, an attorney, and Penny, who, after tragically losing two husbands due to automobile accidents, is now living in Europe, where she is married to a racing-car driver. Bob was married while very young to Lisa Miller, then a scheming and selfish young woman, whose machinations destroyed their marriage. She is the mother of Bob’s son, Tom, who is divorced from Carol, who is now married to Jay Stallings.

Tom is currently married to Natalie Bannon. Bob later married model Sandy Wilson, a marriage which ended in divorce, and Sandy is now married to Norman Garrison, who is her partner in a beauty products concern. Norman blames Bob for Sandy’s  recent disillusionment with their marriage, and, ironically, Norman suffered a heart attack during his verbal assault on Bob at a Hughes family party; and while Bob rode with him in the ambulance to the hospital, Bob’s beloved wife, Jennifer, Kim’s sister, died in a car crash while driving home alone.

Lisa, more mature and considerate of others now, is married to attorney Grant Colman, but her life has been complicated by the recent arrival in town of Grant’s ex-wife, Joyce, and the incredible news that she and Grant had a child after their separation, a child Joyce gave out for adoption but now wants to reclaim.

Now the story continues...

The picture has now come clear for attorney Grant Coiman. He has learned that his ex-wife Joyce neglected to tell him she had a child shortly after their divorce and had given the boy to Mary and Brian Ellison for adoption. Grant, after seeing the adoption papers and considering the boy’s interests, tells Mary he feels the child should remain with them; they are providing a fine, stable home for him.

Grant’s wife, Lisa, is pleased with his decision, feeling he has thus closed the door to the past and they can now go on with their own lives. But Joyce has learned that attorney Dick Martin is now back in private practice, and she tells him she was confused when she gave Teddy up years ago and wants him to represent her in a custody action to get her son back. Dick tells Joyce she has a very weak case but he’ll do what he can. He goes out to Laramie to see the  Ellisons, upsetting them very much. Grant, meanwhile, has confided in Chris Hughes, his law partner, that while his name was on the consent form for the Ellisons’ adoption, he didn’t sign the papers; he had, in fact, never known that he had a son.

But he’s afraid to open a new can of worms by signing a consent form now, as that would reveal that the adoption papers are not legally correct. Grant confides the situation to Lisa, explaining that if he wanted to,  he could probably get custody of Teddy himself, but that’s not what he feels would be best for the child. Mary Ellison finally breaks under the strain of Dick’s visit and tells Brian that Dr. Paulk, the doctor who arranged the adoption, told her he didn’t know where to find the baby’s father and so he signed the consent form himself. She painfully explains she kept this secret knowing that Brian wouldn’t go through with the adoption if he learned the papers weren’t legally sound.

Brian quickly calls their family lawyer, Jerry Butler, who immediately phones Grant to be sure he backs the Ellisons’ claim. Dick realizes from Joyce’s story that Grant couldn’t have signed the papers and tells him he knows. The only person who has a right to file for Teddy’s custody now is Grant; he’s the only injured party. And the moment he files, Dick can sue for invalidation of the Ellisons’ adoption. Grant finally files, to settle the custody question once and for all, but technically he's filing for custody himself.

Tom Hughes and Natalie Porter are married in a small, lovely ceremony at the home of his grandparents, Nancy and Chris Hughes. They honeymoon in the Southwest and return full of expectations of happiness. Natalie is disquieted, however, when flowers arrive which are not from her new husband. She covers by pretending to check with the florist and tells Tom it was a wrong delivery and they have told her she might as well keep them. But she knows who sent them. Natalie is upset when, shortly after, Luke Porter arrives in town and seeks her out. But Luke insists he is there only to assure her this is a final farewell and he has now decided to concentrate on. making his own marriage work.

Sandy Garrison, Bob’s ex-wife, is working at the  bookstore to fill in for Natalie. Her estranged husband, Norman, recovering from a heart attack he suffered during a drunken confrontation with Bob at the Colonnade Room, is still telling anyone who will listen that Bob and Sandy are having an affair, but ironically will let only Bob care for him at the hospital. His recovery is hampered by his easily aroused temper. Norman anxiously tries to persuade Dr. John Dixon to convince Bob to swear he slipped at the restaurant, thus making them liable for a costly lawsuit, but John won’t do this. Chris discovers a large amount of money missing when checking the books on the Garrisons’ business, but doesn’t want to upset Sandy with this.

More to come...

Edited 15 hours ago by Paul Raven

[Mitch64]

Thanks! I do have to say that I  do love a good murder mystery, kidnapping and evil twins....I just wouldn't do them everyday! And I do love a good town slut and troublemaker!

 

 

[DeeVee]

I'm sorry, truly I am, but this literally made me LOL. Tempting fate, much?

Please register in order to view this content

[Mitch64]

I thought that was hilarious too!

This was at the point they started to mellow out Lisa....I wonder if Fulton fought this or if she liked that her character could change. It seems now Joyce is getting all of Lisa's trouble making stories, and now Natalie has become the vixen slutting around town. I would love to see some Natalie videos.

[adrnyc]

It seems like many posters on this board wanna MSOGA - Make Soap Operas Great Again

Please register in order to view this content

The 50s and 60s are over. Storytelling won't go back to that type. The 80s and 90s are over. Storytelling won't go back to that type.  

I understand the nostalgia and enjoying a certain type of storytelling that was popular when growing up/being 20, 30 yrs old. That's why I watch TV series from the 70s and 80s and not as much current television. But I understand that people's attention spans have changed and therefore storytelling has changed and everything has gotten more expensive and there are more and more projects competing for eyeballs and the big flashy stuff is what makes people look up from their phones 5 seconds before going back to them. 

We can never go back to before.

[Reverend Ruthledge]

 

 

I don't think Neil Wade died in an automobile accident. I think he died of an embolism. Unless he was driving at the time and it caused him to crash. Jeff was the only husband she had who died in a car accident.