2 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

It was during the writer's strike so listing the 'scab' would have been a kiss of death for their career. I'm not sure if any script writers on ATWT were working as scabs during the strike or not.

One of Marland's many trademarks was his love of writing gothic stories. The one's he wrote for GL were pretty good (seamlessly picking up where the Dobson's left off and creating his own), but I didn't think he successfully infused ATWT with that gothic sensibility. The closest he came was the Doug Cummings mystery and Lilith, but one was more of a mystery while the other bordered on camp.

Was it because ATWT didn't seem to lend itself to gothic storytelling like other soaps of the era like AMC or GL?

I didn't think of it being the scabs writing---that makes sense.

I just don't think gothic fit on ATWT. I think part of the reason was it's long standing sensibility and stability. Marland grafted Duncan/Shannon/and the McKechnie castle into Oakdale, but it was kind of contained to "the island". Even though other characters were woven into the plots, it always seemed isolated. And then the castle was converted into the Earl Mitchell Center

On GL, you've got an ever changing run of regimes and cast purges. Marland only wrote about a year and a half of Quint/Nola, and I daresay the more gothic elements probably would've disappeared once he resolved the Quint/Silas story. Long's southern gothic vibe stayed around as long as she had Reva.

4 hours ago, kalbir said:

Tad Channing was 1986 I believe. There were episodes of that storyline online in the early days of YT, but I think they are long gone.

Yes, it was indeed 1986, a year that was pretty stacked with storylines, coming off the Doug Cummings storyline. 1986-87 were jam-packed, with storylines being layered, overlapping one another (1986 was also the year that James Stenbeck returned from the "dead"). I miss that type of storytelling in daytime, although I'm not generally a fan of back from the dead storylines, that one in particular was novel at the time.

Edited yesterday at 12:16 AM1 day by DramatistDreamer

4 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

1986, a year that was pretty stacked with storylines

1986 and 1987 were the best years.

Nov 1978 Lynda Hirsch

“As the World Turns” might as well be renamed “As the Cast Changes,” as several cast members and characters have recently left the venerable CBS soap.

Ed Kemmer, who has played lawyer Dick Martin on and off for the last 10 years, is off again.

William Johnston, who once portrayed the Shadow on the famous radio series, departed with his character, Judge Lowell, not too long ago. In the storyline the Judge has decided to look over some New England property he owns; the business trip will be a permanent one.

In recent weeks, the evil charmer Nick Conway played by Doug Travis, dropped out suddenly when his plan to murder his wife backfired and he met his own deadly but Just reward.

Then, Michael Nader, playing Kevin Jameson the past few years, was replaced by Max Brown While Michael will miss the show, he has a lucrative modeling career to fall back on. Max Brown had once filled in for Mike when he was ailing. This new assignment on “As the World Turns” is Max’s first major serial role, but viewers will recognize him from dozens of national commercials.

Also, Dorothy Blackburn, who had been brought in to substitute for the ailing Ethel Remey, has left the program.

There are even more departures. After longstanding’ tenure as head writers of “As the WorlTurns," Ethel Sommer and Robert Soderberg have been replaced The husband and-wife team were let go by the producers for what is termed “irreconcilable differences.” Insiders claim those differences arose when producers demanded a more youthful look for the show, with contemporary storylines to match. Eugenie Hunt and Ralph Ellis, who have - helped with the show’s scripting chores for quite some time, take over as head writers beginning Monday. As for the Soderbergs, don’t be surprised if they turn up on another soap. You can expect even more changes for “As the World Turns" in the coming months

Kemmer, Travis were no great loss.

If Johnstone wanted to retire, Judge Lowell should have been given a proper send off.

And maybe Alma should have been killed off. That would have given Lisa a poignant story and be a nice tribute to that character.

In 79, Susan and Sandy and Dan were dropped. The show needed a housecleaning, but the new characters like Doug and Marcia were not the answer.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Paul Raven