As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Vee]

Posey IIRC offered a different version in an interview some years ago. She said the movie came up, she had a conflict with the show and when she went to them to talk about it they asked if they could write her out ahead of her contract due to the summer months coming up or some such period, therefore it all worked out. Still, tomato/toma-toe.

Edited March 27 by Vee

[Mitch64]

Don was still around when Lyla was introduced in the spring/summer..they never showed "Donald" as they called him anywhere but the Hughes law office and then they wrote him out in the fall, so it probably was the Don/Joyce set...(they should have had recently returned from the dead Joyce walk into Lyla's house..."Who are you, this is MY house.")

Speaking of, Lyla was originally introd with Velka Gray(?) playing her. At that time they had Lyla (in flashbacks) as a former social climber who turned respectfull but became a bit prudy (always on Cricket, who was following in her footsteps.) Velka played Lyla as more of a hard ass who was covering up as a respectable nurse, and apologies to the Lyla fans here, I liked her interpretation better then Sword's washed out version. I know Hastings didnt like Velka (I wonder if it was an age thing) but when they replaced her with younger, cuter actress, it was weird. I like the dynamic of Lyla and Cricket, the new good time "bad girl" but the recast, and Loring's lack of acting skills, ended that, and they brought Margo in as the new wild one.

[Vee]

What exactly was the issue with Don Hastings and Veleka Gray?

[Mona Kane Croft]

Was Veleka older than Anne Sward?  I'd assume they're about the same age. Hmm.  

[Khan]

According to Velekka Gray, Don Hastings wanted his wife, Leslie Denniston, to portray Lyla, even though Denniston had appeared already on the show as Karen Parker.

[slick jones]

Yeeesh.....Lyla would have been a total snooze.

 

[Mona Kane Croft]

When did Don Hastings and Leslie Denniston get together?  Were either of them married when their relationship began?  Isn't she nearly young enough to be his daughter?   Might be none of my bidness, but I'm asking anyway...

Edited March 27 by Mona Kane Croft

[DRW50]

She's 16 years younger.

She was not married. I know he was married up to the mid '70s because of magazine interviews but I am not sure if he still was when he met Leslie. They met when she joined ATWT. Hard to believe a child was born from that incredibly dull storyline.

Thanks to you and @MarlandFan for the info about Parker. I'm glad the experience at least didn't leave her bitter about her time in Oakdale. 

In another world I'd love to see her heading up a new soap - probably some show in the vein of Where the Heart Is.

[Mitch64]

You're right...they are about the same age. I think Velka seems an older and Sward is a cute skinny woman so seems younger? They hardly ever mentioned that she and Bob were engaged (and why did they end that, it would have been more dramatic if Bob's current step-daughter was fooling around with his other step daughter's husband not to mention finding out his current wife had a kid with the town pain in the but ... ..the Dobsons seemed to skip most dramatic events during that first run) except for John snarking at Lyla during Bob and Kim's wedding. 

Edited March 28 by Mitch64

[DRW50]

Did they end the relationship for Miranda? 

Imagine creating a story about an international drug lord that is so tedious.

I wonder if Chris even got a reaction. 

If Miranda had been a hit with viewers, then we might have gotten to a point in the mid '80s where Miranda was involved in Miami Vice type stories (maybe she could have followed Alice Horton in passing out drugged donuts).

Edited March 28 by DRW50

[Mitch64]

I think new writers were responsible for getting rid of tedious Miranda and moving him on toward Kim. I can't believe the Dobsons had widowed Kim around with Bob in an unpopular pairing and they didn't move them toward each other then.

Poor Don McLaughlin was pushed into recurring, but they did have one little scene where Bob asks him to let Miranda live with he and Nancy, and refuses but later relents. Imagine if Wagner was still on and the reaction Nancy would give. They missed out on every piece of drama of having the law abiding Hughes elders deal with a drug dealer daughter in law ("And we thought having a slut like Lisa was bad!") but the Dobsons just skipped over that to have another scene of Betsy being indecisive and Meg Ryan acting like she was an epileptic.. You could tell the Dobsons could care less about the show and were just doing what they wanted  to do until they got a pick  up for SB.

Edited March 28 by Mitch64

[DRW50]

Thanks @Mitch64 . I'm surprised we even got that much.

I meant to say Nancy, not Miranda, drugging people, although I guess Miranda would have done her share.

[Paul Raven]

I wonder how may episodes Don got once he went recurring?

Did he even manage one a month?

The writers didn't seem to be too interested in giving Chris scenes, even when he could have been included.

When Nancy came back in 85 was she on contract? I imagine Helen Wagner would have insisted.

But did Don go contract? I think not as he seemed to be quite ill in scenes from that time?

Does anyone know if he was seen much in scenes outside of Nancy's initial return and the wedding/anniversary episodes?

Edited March 29 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

There is one episode from 1981 or 1982 (?) where he's with Tom in the law office. I got the sense that was the main place he would have been, but I can't say.

[Mona Kane Croft]

I remember reading in two separate interviews in the late-80s or early-90s, Helen Wagner stated that she never had a contract.  I found that hard to believe, but that's what she said.  I'm still not sure I believe.  But she did say it.