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I didn't realize the Sabrina story started as early as November 86. For some reason, I always expected it in 1987. It's a lot of fun seeing Holden missing Sabrina because he was picking up a piece of paper or whatever. I do wonder how this will turn out. 

 

It's a little ridiculous that less than two weeks since they found out he's alive, James is going to dinner at Mona Lisa's. Yes, the characters reacted to his arrival, but you'd think he'd get thrown out or something... Everyone's being a little too polite here. Of course, it's all so James can learn about Tonio and Barbara's affair. Then again, Marland's doing a great job sowing in enough doubt about him being a 'changed man' that it ultimately works. I love Lucinda lusting after him -- to my surprise, I totally get it. lol

 

Looks like Margo's about to find out she can't have children. Oh, that's going to be so sad...

Edited by YRBB
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John was probably the only one who reacted as most of us might react- he flipped the hell out!! 

John could be very annoying at times, but it always struck me as very strange that almost everyone looked at John as if he were overreacting. Even Emma seemed a bit casual about it, even though she did once admit that she could understand why John hated James so much once she found out the history- but she said it so calmly when we all knew how fiery Emma could be.

 

 

 

Marland was gifted at building and layering and offering little breadcrumbs over time and stretching out the intrigue where you're seeing bit by bit without divulging too much information about where the story will ultimately end up. The story leads you and you allow it because you trust it will take you to a destination that's worth arriving at story-wise.

 

This is something that the writers of today's daytime soaps seem incapable of pulling off. Viewers don't even trust that they can do this. Nowadays we know where a story/character is going to end up, seemingly as soon as a story is launched.

Back then, we didn't even realize when a new story was being launched since sometimes they overlapped with an existing story or were somehow intertwined with a current story. 

 

One perfect example was when the Iva Snyder character first began to appear. It was great how no one really would've directly connected her appearance in Oakdale to the strange phone calls that Lucinda was getting. Lucinda knew but the audience didn't knew, we were trying to figure out who was behind those strange phone calls, along with Craig and Sierra and Ambrose Bingham.  It was great!  Then one day, Lucinda gets a phone call to meet someone at some tavern and when Lucinda arrives, the person is revealed. It's Iva Snyder!

Edited by DramatistDreamer
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I'm watching ATWT through As The World Still Turns on YouTube and am so thankful for it!  I watched the show from 2000-2010 and had always heard about the grand Marland era - finally I get to see a good chunk of it!!  I am enjoying his storytelling so far - incredibly detailed with many twists and turns that I don't see coming (Iva being the one blackmailing Lucinda, as was just pointed out above, for example)

 

However, I have to say that the Tad Channing killer storyline was so disappointing.  Perhaps I had it built up too much in my head.  And I did LOVE the week long stormy night that led to Channing finally being killed.  It was just so obvious from the start that it was going to be the model/photographer that Tad was using - she was a minor character, she was running around the night of the killing, and she found out that Barbara only fired her because Channing told her to do so.  I was glad that most of the murder storyline is missing and that the YouTube videos jumped to the killer reveal quickly.  When it jumped, it came back to the model suddenly being threatened and she was involved with Hal (and this was only 1 1/2 months later) and all of that cemented that she would turn out to be the killer.  After LOVING the Douglas Cummings murder mystery, I just thought the Channing one was too soon and disappointing.  

 

Now we're on to the mystery at Duncan's castle with the hooded man walking around and the drug ring in Oakdale.  (And, unfortunately, not many episodes remaining for 1986)

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Yeah, I think John was the one who reacted most appropriately. I wonder if Marland was trying to temper the reactions just a little bit because he was planning to have James stick around and was afraid going too hard on James and reminding viewers of his acts too explicitly would make him too much of a villain to keep around. He definitely didn't hide anything but hey, if the residents of Oakdale are taking a wait-and-see attitude, supposedly so would the viewers. I don't necessarily mind it but James should be getting punched/slapped/yelled at at every turn.

 

 

IA. He's clearly a master at this. I have complained about his pacing before -- the show is almost breakneck speed. Just thinking about it, in less than a year, he hasn't had one or even two major umbrella stories... but THREE (Douglas, Tad Channing, now James). Each ONE of those stories would have been a 2 YEAR story on Y&R lol. And, yet, Marland's way into the third one with weeks to spare. It's a little insane. He'd be exactly like today's soaps in terms of pacing and galloping through story -- if he wasn't such a brilliant writer. But he goes through all the beats; he has a great instinct on how to build on the stories. And despite the pace, he knows how to make you wait for something (I am shocked the Lily secret hasn't come out yet!). You are right -- the viewer (including me) trusts him. NO viewer would trust any of the current headwriters.

 

 

 

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I actually feel like you're missing a good portion of an emerging storyline by not having seen those missing episodes.  

The whole thing where Craig ends up getting framed after he follows Sierra up to Foxwood Lodge when she discovers that Tonio had the affair with Barbara.

That side part of the story was kind of a big deal, at least for Craig and Sierra fans because all that longing and angst (back when angst was done well on soaps) they had that had been building for about a year, kind of exploded with consequences for the rest of the year and beyond.

Edited by DramatistDreamer
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Sometimes writers are dictated by the rhythms and of their writing. Storylines may flow one after another in rapid succession and who is going to turn away from what looks to be a compelling storyline out of worry that it might be too soon?  It's like when an athlete is on a hot-streak and wants to 'go with it' because if they question it or go against it, it might dull the creativity.

 

Sometimes I wonder whether being so relentless in writing one story after another may have taken a toll on Marland's health over time.

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Thanks for the explanation of that.  I wondered what had happened.  Once the jump occurred, Craig and Sierra were back together.  (Although now Iva appears to be paralyzed from (someone) FINALLY falling through the floor boards in the Snyder barn.) I'm not a huge Craig and Sierra fan.  I don't hate them, don't love them.  Mary Beth Evans will always be my Sierra (which will bother a lot of people, I'm sure) so, although I enjoy the current Sierra, she can get on my nerves at time - especially when the actress is called upon to do anything that involves crying.  I love Hunt Block as Craig - he was the first Craig I experience and I experienced him from the beginning - but I'm really enjoying Scott Bryce as well, of course. 

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I loved Sierra and Craig. It's a shame that most of their story arcs are missing from You Tube but I loved both Finn Carter and Scott Bryce, they and Brian Bloom's Dusty and Tom and Margo really hooked me onto As The World Turns.

 

Sorry but Hunt Block wasn't Craig to me, at all. Couldn't stand the way the character was written, couldn't stand the way he was being interpreted. But I really wasn't a fan of a lot of storylines from the show in its last decade.

There were still some good actors left on the show but as a longtime fan, I felt largely disconnected from the show by then.

I was in Grad school for writing so my writer's cap couldn't let me be anything but critical of the show in it's last decade- I just couldn't enjoy it at all.

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I understand that Hunt Block is not loved by many on here, not to mention how people feel about the last decade of the show!  I didn't enjoy the last 4 years but enjoyed it pretty much up to then. It sounds as if ATWT went through a major shift in 2000 and, since I hadn't seen anything before it, I was in love with that new version.  It'll be interesting to see how I feel when I get to a rewatch of it after I've seen the 80's and 90's.

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I can be a harsh critic because ATWT was my favorite soap and I grew up watching when the CBS lineup of shows were so well written.

I've learned that people like what they like and for some Craig and Sierra might have been an acquired taste, maybe too much of a throwback when you compare them to how couples were written since the millennium and like I said, much of their storylines are absent from You Tube. If I were only seeing them from episodes/clips on You Tube, I might not have thought much of them either.

 

As much as I am grateful for all the fans who so lovingly shared their episodes, I get a bit frustrated that some key storyline conclusions are missing but at least I have memories and blogs, right?

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It's true - they do seem to have giant gaps in their story.  It's gotta be a big portion of the non-connection from me.  And as I said, I don't hate them, I'm not in a rush to fast forward through them at all, I'm just into other stories and characters more, I guess. The Snyders and The Hughes family of course, Barbara, I'm surprised how much I've grown to enjoy Shannon as she really annoyed me when I first started watching her.  And as much as I LOVE Lucinda, and always have, she does seem to get much more time than other characters.

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