22 hours ago, DRW50 said:

My only complaint with the story is I think they cleaned Susan up a little too much, I guess to keep her as a viable character. I prefer how sharp she was when she first came back.

I think Susan and John would have remained viable characters without taking the edge off them too much. I loved how snippy Susan was when she first came back...and the perfect co-conspirator with John against the Hughes/Stewart "alliance" as John used to call it! Marland blanded EVERYONE out. And yes, John not being involved with James when he returned was a big miss, especially with James getting involved with Lucinda...(though I will grant him one of my fave scenes James in the Hughes kitchen lying out his teeth talking to Paul that he wanted him to grow up with the values that the Hughes have...with Kim with her mouth open and Nancy barely popping her eyes out..the Dobsons would never had James in the Hughes kitchen...) 

On 10/1/2025 at 7:07 PM, Mitch64 said:

I think Susan and John would have remained viable characters without taking the edge off them too much. I loved how snippy Susan was when she first came back...and the perfect co-conspirator with John against the Hughes/Stewart "alliance" as John used to call it! Marland blanded EVERYONE out. And yes, John not being involved with James when he returned was a big miss, especially with James getting involved with Lucinda...(though I will grant him one of my fave scenes James in the Hughes kitchen lying out his teeth talking to Paul that he wanted him to grow up with the values that the Hughes have...with Kim with her mouth open and Nancy barely popping her eyes out..the Dobsons would never had James in the Hughes kitchen...) 

Well, the Dobson's got rid of the (original) Hughes Kitchen. But James did attend Chris and Nancy's final 4th of July picnic (a guest of Barbara, I believe), in the very early '80s. I will admit, it was a little bizarre having a Danish prince show up for a 4th of July picnic in the backyard of a middle-class family in Oakdale, Illinois. But that's the direction the Dobsons were going.  

Edited October 3Oct 3 by Tisy-Lish

This should be good!  Love the lineup!

@DRW50 @DramatistDreamer

 

Thanks @Soapsuds glad Don is still up to do these.

21 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

This should be good!  Love the lineup!

@DRW50 @DramatistDreamer

 

I'll be watching!

For those who might have missed my post in the Eileen Fulton thread:

It was a typical funeral service but the eulogy was unique to Eileen. It was great. It was by a guy who was from South Carolina. He wasn't related. Years ago, he surprised his wife with a trip to NYC and while he was there, he thought it would be great to surprise her with a meeting with Eileen Fulton since she was a big fan of ATWT. This guy took a shot in the dark and called Eileen Fulton's manager (he found the info online) and made it clear he wasn't a stalker but he would love to arrange a meeting between Eileen and his wife. He said he would give a sizable donation to the charity of Eileen's choice. He said to his complete surprise the manager called him back and said, "Eileen will meet you for lunch at Sardi's tomorrow at 1:00". He said as soon as they met, they became fast friends and were at lunch for four hours. They stayed in touch over there years, would call each other once a week and she even visited him in South Carolina. He said that since Eileen didn't have children of her own, he became, "in true soap opera fashion", her "long-lost son". He even helped her move back to Asheville. His son, who sadly died a couple of years ago, drove Eileen down from NYC to her new home in North Carolina. He talked a lot about As the World Turns. He even mentioned Irna Phillips. He talked about her starting the show and he quoted the initial motto of the show that Irna created, "As the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer, and the harvest of autumn—the cycle of life is complete." He then stated ways in which Eileen personified the seasons and said, "Your cycle of life is now complete, Eileen". He said, "Don't doubt. Her presence is with us now. She couldn't resist an audience". He also mentioned how it was her idea that she would be listed last in the cast list as "And Lisa—Eileen Fulton". He said that she never talked about this in the press but the reason she had them do that was because she knew Helen Wagner and Don McLaughlin would be listed first and second and she said she'd rather be last than third. He said this really makes a statement of the impact she had in the world. So, whatever happens in the future, we can always think "And Lisa" so she's never really gone. He also said that his son asked her one time if she was nervous when she auditioned for the show because there were so many other girls vying for the role. She said, "Absolutely not because when I walked into that audition, I KNEW I was Lisa".

@Reverend Ruthledge Thank you for bringing the post over here as I didn't see it. Very moving. I would like to think his son and Eileen got to see each other again. 

On 10/2/2025 at 8:29 PM, Soapsuds said:

This should be good!  Love the lineup!

@DRW50 @DramatistDreamer

 

Thanks @Soapsuds Just the other day, I was wondering if/when they would have something for dear Eileen after stumbling on some episodes on YouTube that I hadn't seen in a very long time. I love the group they've assembled for this! Ms. Fulton looks fantastic here, true Diva fashion.

I think what made the Bob/Susan/Kim triangle work was the build up to it that seemed to have started as early as Andy's alcoholism become a concern for John/Kim with Susan being his AA sponsor.  That helped thaw the frost between Kim/Susan where they could be in the same room and be cordial/nice to one another.

Meanwhile, Susan's back injury and pill dependency made her and Bob become closer since he was left out with John/Kim trying to help their son Andy.

Even though Susan was softened, she still had an edge that would come up here and there over the years.

Rita McLaughlin (ex-Carol) on Mr. Wizard (1963). Youtube will not allow me to embed the video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfAuOco_7Vo

Thanks for reminding us.

Starts in a few minutes.

 

Amazed at how good Don Hastings still looks and sounds at his age.

5 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Amazed at how good Don Hastings still looks and sounds at his age.

I just don't want to jinx it, since I thought Kathryn Hays looked wonderful on this show maybe a year or two before she ended up in assisted living not long before her death.