As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

I would have brought back Emma's husband from the dead. He left the farm and didn't die because he couldn't handle Meg and the whole family drama. It would have given Kathleen Widdoes great material before ATWT cancellation.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Yeah I hate how Kim didn't get to protest Katie/Chris when she's done it with all of Chris' previous mates, who were no worse than Saint Katie. 

 

I still remember it like yesterday when JPiss said in SOD that Janet was based off of her. I knew right then that Janet was gonna eat the show. Sucks b/c as you pointed out, Janet would've been a much better character had she served her original purpose--an interloper between Brad and Katie. 

 

But to answer @Scrapple's question, I would've:

 

1. Had Katie end a widow. She would've for once focused on her career and child instead of chasing a man (the primary issue with 90% of the women in the last decade of the show). 

 

2. Brought Grant or Don back for an arc with Lisa. Lisa would've gotten her happy ending with someone instead of being left alone. 

 

3. Had Noah & Luke reunite. They would've went off to Los Angeles together to pursue film and TV together. 

 

4. Instead of Casey & Allison move out of town, Casey would've just reopened Chris Sr's law firm (Lowell, Hughes, & Colman) from years ago just to keep up tradition. 

 

5. Had Emma sell the farm, as she wanted to pick up her writing again. She'd plan a trip around the world for inspiration. 

 

6. Like I've said before, Carly would've went into business with Lisa and Babs. It would've been so nice to have these 3 bury the hatchet and go in business with one another as all three women were so alike. 

 

7. Brought back Scott Bryce as Craig. He would revert back to reformed Craig and eventually reunite with Roseanna. 

 

8. Brought back Andy. It was criminal that Andy was not mentioned or asked back for the finale. He bring back Hope in tow. 

 

Out of the final months of the show that I did like was Bob & Kim retiring and moving away (a nod to Nancy/Chris when they were written off), and Paul/Emily reuniting. 

 

[Khan]

It wouldn't matter what Colleen Zenk cared for, though, since her run-in with the Gunnar lookalike would have happened, in my projections, during the last act of the final episode.

 

I'm not sure about bringing Emma's husband back from the dead.  But one thing I would have LIKED to have seen in the final weeks was a triangle between Emma, the returning John Dixon and Lucinda.  I know most everyone enjoyed seeing John and Lucinda getting back together -- heck, even I enjoyed it -- but, I dunno, considering how much John appeared to have mellowed when he returned, I think it might have been nice to see the older and wiser John Dixon choose Emma in that scenario.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

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I liked the globe turning on the desk lighting up and spinning. I always wanted some shot at the end of the the world spinning on and on thus signifying that the show and its characters would spin on and on in the fans hearts and minds. Just like I loved the shot of the gyroscope, the pics of all the infamous characters, and infamous the shot of Mac toasting to life in the AW finale, and the lighthouse being show at the end of GL. Those are images I found synonymous with those shows. 

 

I hated how AMC didn't end on ABC with the photo album closing shut. I'm one of the few that hated the finale. I wanted something poignant and cute for their show ending. Would've been so nice to have seen Erica simply thumb through the pages of the album and flashback to infamous moments in AMC's history before closing the album shut, placing it on the coffee table, and walking out leaving us taking one final look at the infamous red book. 

[DRW50]

 

I get the idea, but it was unfortunate that my main memory of ATWT's final moments is that Bob and Kim really enjoyed shopping at Dollar Tree.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

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What's wrong with Dollar Tree? 

 

I honestly didn't mind the globe at end. Again, I thought it was cute. 

[DRW50]

 

I suppose I just thought it looked chintzy for a 55 year old show. I would have preferred a scene like Bob and Kim, before leaving, talking with a little boy or girl whose mother or father was in the hospital, and to help keep their mind off it, showing them places on a globe. I think it would have shown the generational theme and not been as self-satisfying as many of Goutman's choices were. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by DRW50

[P.J.]

Harvey Snyder's death was sacrosanct. VETO.

 

I would have loved more appearances, but I'm not sure what that entails, especially on a cash-strapped show. I'm not even sure who could have returned who would have made an impact. GL ran some people through, but they didn't amount to much. But I am still surprised at the lack of initiative that Goutman showed---apparently he didn't ask anyone back. Larry came back because Liz asked him, and Julianne contacted them. What really, really surprises me is that Scott DeFrietas didn't make a return at some point. Between Chris' illness, Julianne's return and Nancy's death...and the fact his wife still worked there...you'd think someone might have at least thought to ask him.

 

If there was one really crummy fact at the top of the heap of crummy facts---it's that Kim had one biological grandchild, and she was never really part of the show. After (what?) 40 years on the show and having a huge hand in raising Betsy and Frannie (and putting in a lot of hours struggling with all of Barbara's crap), she didn't have much of an impact on Oakdale's gene pool.

 

I guess as a nod to history, I would have been okay with Byrne returning to the role. But honestly, I wish they hadn't bothered to recast it in the first place. Nothing against Beck---she was a breath of fresh air. But Holden and Lily went on about 10 years too long.

Edited April 6, 2017 by P.J.
onon

[NothinButAttitude]

 

That would've been touching, but you know that Goutman was not gonna do anything consisting of the generational theme of the show. I was shocked and glad that they incorporated the world spinning in some capacity in the end. I would've been pissed if they didn't. 

 

While the finale was lukewarm, I was fearful leading up that they were gonna do something horrible much like I heard rumblings/rumors of Ellen Wheeler wanting to do do stupid crap for GL's ending before being locked out the writer's room. 

[DRW50]

 

This is one of the reasons I would leave negative comments in those ponderous "ATWT's final weeks are so superb and so superior to GL's" articles at DC, because they seemed to think it was so brave to have no returns, to kill Reid, and so on. No returns wasn't brave, it was just typical Goutman arrogance, as he clearly thought his ATWT was the only ATWT. 

 

I know why people were disappointed by GL's returns, as many felt like drive-bys and certainly someone like Maureen Garrett deserved more, but I appreciated them because I felt like it was at least an ATTEMPT to understand what older viewers wanted and an ATTEMPT to let us say goodbye. And some of those moments, like Nola's look back at Company and Bill and Fletcher saying they missed Ben, meant more to me than anything on GL had in probably about 10-15 years. 

 

None of that with ATWT, other than what, as you mentioned, was initiated by the actors themselves. I just felt like I was watching an ego trip. It will always make me feel let down and like my years as a viewer were meaningless to Goutman.

[P.J.]

RE: Babs/Gunnar...maybe CZ was talking about story more than Napier. As I recall, defined FUBAR..

[NothinButAttitude]

 

CZ must've not liked Babs/Gunnar pairing?

Edited April 6, 2017 by Nothin'ButAttitude

[Vee]

I thought both GL and ATWT's finales were mostly bad, but I thought ATWT's was an especially dreadful, bland and lethargic affair which came and went in a day. It does not register in my mind because the show seemed dead to me years before they finally cancelled it. It felt like Chris Goutman* just wanted to be done for years, and that final hour was just his quick exit. You can say a lot about how GL went out (and I can and will) but it definitely didn't sleep its way into the grave - it committed to Ellen Wheeler's insanity all the way. Going out ugly beats going out without me noticing.

 

 

That is a fantastic idea and would've been a lovely tribute for any soap to do to actors in a oft-recast role. Start and finish the day on the current actors but cycle through all the others throughout the scenes before going back to the incumbents.

 

* - incidentally, there is a story floating around alleging that Moore would've done a bit more ("a solid ten, fifteen minutes") in her brief appearance had Goutman not jumped the gun when she agreed and attempted to schedule her in for multiple episodes.

Edited April 6, 2017 by Vee

[Khan]

So instead we received the blink-and-you'll-miss-her treatment?

 

Goutman should have been horsewhipped.

[Soapsuds]

Goutman didn't give a damn about ATWT. He got rid of two its long time vets without blinking....Martha and Scott Bryce. I remember SB being lost as to why he was let go. It all had to do with how he saw ATWT and not how the audience did. Bryce was let go because he wasn't playing Craig correctly. What a joke.

Edited April 6, 2017 by Soapsuds