As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

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[Mitch64]

The credits weren't right as the Dobson's were writing and Bartholemue was exec.  

The rumor I heard was that Munker was fired as she was instigating issues between the two..tho I have no idea how Shultz who seemed so..morose all the time was popular.  Odd storyline for the summer...a young person dying and everyone sad..for about two days, then Babs is having a masked ball, Annie is getting married to scuzzy Brad and no one mentions Melinda again. The scary thing is, after the Dobsons left and they went through headwaiters and a strike they tried to pair Lisa and Brad...EEEWWWW...Michael Shea would be better!

Edited August 14, 2024 by Mitch64

[Khan]

A pretty good sign that TPTB were glad to be rid of her.

I'm curious as to how longtime ATWT fans here felt about Melinda's introduction.  Did y'all buy that Jennifer Ryan could have had an illegitimate daughter whom she later gave up for adoption and told no one about?  How was Melinda received at the time by the audience and the soap press?  Did they buy her as Barbara's long-lost sister or not?

[Paul Raven]

When Melinda was introduced, Barbara wasn't around. Wonder how that was handled onscreen? Were Rick and Barbara mentioned? Did they meet offscreen or was there perhaps some initial hesitation from Bob, Kim etc about Melinda meeting her siblings and then it was not mentioned.

If they wanted to introduce new younger characters why not just bring back Rick and Barbara instead of creating Melinda?

[DRW50]

Those credits are from 1978 (I'm guessing, based on Rebecca Hollen's name being in them).

In some of the early appearances of Brad I wondered if they might have paired him with Lisa, but I guess he was only using her. A Brad/Lisa pairing might have been interesting under other circumstances, as it didn't seem like they knew what to do with Lisa (the Whit pairing could have been a boon but the casting was poor).

I am surprised they never tried an older woman/younger man pairing with Lisa. They seemed to hint she had feelings for Cal Randolph, but that never went anywhere.

 

And then when they bring Rick back months after Melinda's death, they do nothing of merit with him either. 

I wonder if they ever had any plans for Melinda to make a play for Dan, or to be involved with John. By just having her involved with the dull partners of Dee or Annie they didn't ever capitalize on her relationship with Kim. Or they could have had her get involved with Eric while he was dating Betsy. 

Similar to bringing in Valerie with ties to Kim, and not really doing anything with those, it's a sign of how adrift the writing had become. Reminds me of the last years of the show when they brought in an egg baby for Emily and just had him as a killer, or whatever they did with him.

Edited August 14, 2024 by DRW50

[Mona Kane Croft]

I'm sorry -- I'm not aware of the exact years any of the head-writers were working.  So are you saying this episode was before Marland, and that the Dobsons were immediate successors to Marland?  Or that there were writers between Marland and the Dobsons?  And were Chris and Nancy already being minimized at the time of this episode?  I do remember Chris and Nancy were still prominent when James Stenbeck was first introduced, because he attended one of their 4th of July picnics.  That was strange -- international Stenbeck at a middle-class picnic. I could sense change was in the air.    

[DRW50]

What I'm saying is the credits don't match the clip. The clip is from summer 1980. The credits are from sometime in 1978 (I'm guessing). I am not sure why they were put together in the clip. There were no interim writers between Marland and the Dobsons, IIRC. This was the Dobsons. I do think Chris and Nancy were being minimized by this point. 

[Paul Raven]

Those credits are from the Sept 78 episode that has been posted.

Marland had a 13 week writing stint b/w Ellis/Hunt and the Dobsons, which has always been the subject of much conjecture as it was such a short stint and he really didn't do much story wise-some sort of interim/caretaking position before he moved to Guiding Light.

[SoapDope]

They casted Robert Horton as Whit to play off his earlier success as the star of the 50's/60's  series Wagon Train. It was a huge bust. He had aged poorly by that time and was not a good fit for a daytime soap. Eileen Fulton had also left the show which also altered things. I read somewhere that Horton and his wife missed California and wanted to move back there to a house they had bought built by George Montgomery (Dinah Shore's ex husband). I wonder if that played into them killing Whit off ?

Montgomery (who also acted) was a known master wood craftsman in his private life building antiques reproduction furniture and did a series of Pledge commercials during the 1970's. The Carol Burnett Show did parodies of them with Lyle Waggoner playing him. 

Speaking of Lyle, maybe he could have played Whit since the character was cheesy anyway. 

 

[Reverend Ruthledge]

Melinda was always an outlier to me. When I think of the Ryan family, I always think of Jennifer, Kim, Barbara, Rick and Frannie. I never think of Melinda. 

[SoapDope]

Speaking of Barbara...how many actresses played that role before Colleen Zenk started playing her in 1978 ? The character had been around off an on since 1971 or 72. What kind of early storylines did she have ? I think she was involved with Tom even back then. 

[Khan]

I think I read somewhere that Barbara and John were briefly involved.  Did they reference their earlier relationship at all when they hooked up in the '90s and had Johnny?

[SoapDope]

I can't remember if they did. Was Barbara still a teen when she and John hooked up in the early 70's ? Of course John was sleazy and it probably didn't matter to him. 

[Paul Raven]

Info on OG barbara is limited as she isn't mentioned much in summaries of that time.

She was involved with Tom but Irna quickly pivoted back to Carol when she returned and Barbara was left out in the cold. Seemed to be a support to Jennifer/Rick.I think she hung around till late 72/early 73.

[adrnyc]

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@AMCOLTLLover This is a good episode from August I just finished watching that helps set up Craig/Carly. 

For everyone else, I can't understand the dislike for Hunt Block's Craig and never will. Not liking an actor, I can understand - everyone has different tastes. (If I never had to see the original Sierra from the 80s try to act again, it would be too soon.)

But as for the character of Craig...when he returned in 1993, he and Sierra were already separated and then he left again in 1994. So now it's 6 years later, and in this episode he explains to Margo just what happened during those 6 years. How they grew apart (how many marriages have I seen that happen to throughout my life? Thankfully, not my own.) How he got tired of living in her shadow. It's a completely believable tale and how the character got from 1994 Craig to 2000 Craig. I actually watched the credits (which I rarely do now that they're to the  side of a commercial) and Hogan Sheffer is already writing. Like Doug Marland before him, he really takes his time to explain reasoning for characters. Am so looking forward to the next 4 years!