As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

Thanks for posting!

Don looked so young.

[Vee]

I wonder what would have happened had Rauch's first choice (James DePaiva) said yes.

The Alec Wallace debacle was one of my first glimpses of ATWT. It turned me right off the show. Like GL at the time, it had a thing about somewhat frowsy middle-aged women being treated as sex goddesses and everything revolving around Margo did not play to Ellen Dolan's strengths - despite allegedly being a cop, she came off at the time as weak and all about some young adults she was being mommy for (Eddie? Georgia?) and being sprung for this creepy guy. It was them struggling to write for different types of women and doing it poorly IMO. But I haven't seen any of that since it first aired.

[AbcNbc247]

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[Soaplovers]

This is a pretty decent episode and it proved that the Dobsons weren't a complete disaster writing for ATWT.

I can see why P & G thought the Dobsons could work their magic on ATWT, but ATWT was in worse shape than GL was when they took over.  It was going to take a lot longer to fix ATWT than it was to fix GL.. and also I think that the viewers for ATWT were a bit older/more conservative than the viewers watching GL.

Even so, I did like the scenes between Tom/Carol... and I liked the debate that Maggie/Lyla had over John Dixon.  There was some strong elements here that never really gelled (either because of P & G having mandates, the upcoming writer strike, or the fact that the Dobsons weren't the right fit for the show).

[Mitch64]

Sad day.. the day my Mom found out she was pregnant with me...she will always remember coming home from the doc and turning on "World Turns" as she would call it, and hearing the news here. I can't imagine what it was like for people at home sitting down to watch "their show" and to find this horrible news (well, depending on how you look at it, my Mom got two pieces of horrible news that day!!!) 

Imagine a show dedicated to if you were going to invite your ex daughter in law to Thanksgiving dinner...much more relatable then the ridiculous plots we were subjected to over the years, and really what Wheeler and Co. should have done with the new production model on GL. 

[j swift]

I think it is fascinating in terms of mass media culture that people alive that day often associate the image of Walter Cronkite announcing the breaking news with the assassination, and people born after 1963 often associate the Zapruder film images with that event, because it wasn't released until years later.  So, the visual memory may depend upon when you were born.

Can someone help fill in the details?  I recall an interview later where that cast of ATWT mentioned not knowing that Kennedy had been shot, because they kept going even though the episode was interrupted.  So, they didn't hear the news until they were done recording the episode.

Edited November 22, 2023 by j swift

[Khan]

For sure, I don't believe Ben would've been killed off.  I think Rauch, James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten had it in mind to make Ben, as Ross' long-lost half-brother, a permanent fixture in Springfield, but that would've required an actor who could be empathetic, if not likeable, two things Hunt Block (God bless him) just can't play.

[wonderwoman1951]

here’s a freebie link to that ny times article:

 as the world turns interrupted by kennedy shooting

[Vee]

That reminds me, I need to finish up my Knots Landing commentary on Season 6 and move into Season 7 over the holiday. Very curious to see Block back in the day.

[j swift]

The soap’s scheduled episode was canceled on Monday, Nov. 25, amid CBS’s continuing news coverage. One line of that episode’s unused script holds special poignancy: “A dream can be aborted before it’s even born.”

That is a lovely bit of reporting, thanks @wonderwoman1951

[AbcNbc247]

And talking so much about knitting bulky sweaters

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Soap Twitter would be going crazy, ranting about how boring it is. 

I’d love to see the full, uninterrupted episode some day 

[Khan]

You've seen Hunt Block essay one role, you've seen him essay them all.

[wonderwoman1951]

i recall seeing it on youtube a while back, but can’t find it. 

but, i do know it’s in the paley center archives. don’t know how to access it, though. 

[P.J.]

See also: Shawn Christian.

[Mitch64]

 

Oakdale is gearing up for an ice storm and black out... soon Lisa and Joyce are going to have their one millionth confrontation and Joyce will "accidentally" light Lisa's skirt on fire!

Its weird..this is right after Margo finds out she is John's kid, but there doesn't seem to be much drama pumped out of that...she just seems pissed at Lyla and annoyed at John. I know he gets run over by a car and goes blind, but I would like to not only see the episode where Margo hears she is John's kid, but when and how Margo got to be so protective of John. 

Like Maggie's coat and think she is a really interesting character...making her Lyla's sister is so clunky....so while living in Sweden, she just happenes to meet and start screwing the son of the guy who is engaged to her sister. I wonder if Deas and Colin were starting to be an item yet?