As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Me too. Upthread, I mentioned conversations that could draw you in and wondered if post “Y2K” soap viewers raised on a steady diet of OTP frenetic plots and pacing would find these types of scenes difficult to digest.

[Liberty City]

A class of time we'll likely never get to go back to.

[Mona Kane Croft]

Wouldn't it be terrific, if The Gates goes back to believable human drama about family struggles and social class??  We can only hope.   

[Liberty City]

From the character previews it just might!

[Mona Kane Croft]

Here's a change of topic.  Has anyone else ever thought that Helen Wagner and Ronnie Claire Edwards were similar?  Although they were a generation apart, I always thought the two actresses had similar facial features, similar voices and vocal cadences, and somewhat similar acting styles.   Of course, Ronnie Claire was much more "over the top", but still the similarities were rather striking to me.    

Edited September 15, 2024 by Mona Kane Croft

[DRW50]

I do think there is a subset of viewers who only watch for gun battles, slap fights, women painted in the ugliest possible light, but a lot of younger people never even had the chance to see material like this episode. You see studies claiming that younger people want more focus on friendship and a move away from sleaze. Soaps are just so inert and that makes it very difficult for any new viewers to be involved - if they are it often just seems to be edits based on a couple rather than the show itself. A show needs to have its own identity and a sense of comfort to find and keep viewers. That's something ATWT lacked in its last 15 years (along with all the other soaps).

[DramatistDreamer]

Are the remaining daytime soaps still even interested in attracting Gen Z viewers? I am not even sure they are interested in retaining soap viewers if it requires them doing anything differently than what they are currently doing. 
Don’t even get me started on those couple edits lol.

[DRW50]

I don't think they are. I think they are mostly trying to keep the conservative and shrinking viewer base they have. As shown with GH in the last few years, when they had a popular younger base of teens who weren't part of the norm, they actively worked to minimize them.

[DramatistDreamer]

It’s been decades since I actively watched GH but that’s a shame. It sounds like they were trying to bait and switch, a la WB and UPN. That won’t turn out well for them over time.

[Mitch64]

I remember my Mom wanting to see what "Lisa was up to today!" and her using Lisa as an example of what not to do,"See, that woman, lies and is mean and she has no friends" (of course during Lisa's villainous heyday..) Fulton, Wagner and Hastings voices are what I heard when I had to take a nap when my Mom watched "World Turns" and they are always comforting to me....never again will a TV show have that much thrall over the generations and become such a part of our lives (and Gautman/Madd threw it all away...) 

Penny owned the bookstore and turned it over to Lisa, so that might have been her husband. I wish they had kept that bookstore among Lisa's many businesses.... it was interesting that this woman who always wanted more out of life owned a bookstore where people could see different possibilities..and it was an interesting change from a cafe, or restaurant of kitchen for people to gather and talk (and Lisa eavesdrop...)

[Contessa Donatella]

I know that the thing was supposed to have been "Jeff & Penny" but I think that the couple my mother was in thrall to & about was "Neil & Penny". It's been so long that I am no longer sure. 

[Paul Raven]

The Dobsons burned down the bookstore in an 80' s stunt.

Look at how much time and money we spent on destroying a tradition!

I think it was going to be rebuilt but not sure what happened.

I think throughout the 60s and 70s there was hardly a customer except cast members.

In just a few years bookstores/cafes became a big thing. 

Lisa running the fashion business was OK but the bookstore should have been kept.

[DRW50]

Seeing Lisa running the hospital bookstore around 1981 just felt sad. 

AW brought a bookstore in for Cass and Felicia in 1995 but quickly dumped it. 

A bookstore would have been a great idea in ATWT's later years. You could even have underused characters like Emma involved, given her writing background.

[Contessa Donatella]

Wallingford's was so good as a tribute, but, no, they simply did not invest in it. 

[adrnyc]

 

Thanks so much for posting this! It's always great to see a new clip from the show. It's interesting...even though I'm one of those believers that anything else major will never surface from what exists on YouTube already, I have a recurring dream where there's a soap opera channel that shows all the vintage soaps. It's essentially an anxiety dream because I realize that the show airs at 1pm and 4pm and it's nighttime and, once again, I had forgotten to watch it both times!

Even though it's just the one scene, it's nice to see more of Carol and of course, always nice to see vintage Kathryn Hays. 

Edited September 18, 2024 by adrnyc