As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[P.J.]

By that time Tom had been an adult for like thirty years, LOL.

*shivers thinking about a Tom/Molly hookup* Thank God they never went there.

[Soaplovers]

I think that the Snyders living on the farm isolated them to a certain extent as opposed to them living in town as a working class family. I always thought Marland's concept/creation of the Reardon's were better then his concept of the Snyders.. imho.

[DRW50]

I think it isolated Emma somewhat, but the others generally had full interaction with the rest of the town. I do think by the end of Marland's run everything had become suffocated with the family. And Caleb was nothing without MDM. They should have written him out.

[P.J.]

I do wish Marland had explored/addressed the way Emma isolated herself after Harvey's death. It's like she never really moved on after his death. Odd that Bea Reardon was kind of the same way---but at least they addressed that, having thought she was abandoned by Tom (?) when he was really dead.

Oh, and about the refrigerator---Cal and Jarod (Iva's bio dad) literally had a little war trying to win Emma's affections with new appliances. It was a thing.

[DRW50]

I guess her best partner was Cal, although even he was never quite right. I'm not sure who would have been.

The relationship with John is always a little baffling to me.

[SoapDope]

Speaking of Justin Deas, I remember one time reading an interview with Colleen Zenk Pinter (Barbara) where she was discussing her early days on the show and and she said something like Margaret Colin was my Margo and Justin Deas was my Tom.

Ok, she is right about Colin as Margo, but her romance was with Tom Tammi's version of Tom Hughes. I don't recall her being involved with Jusin Deas Tom. By the time he came on, she was married to James and he cheated on her with Margo. Then Gunnar came into the picture and he and Babs fell in love.

[P.J.]

Well, it's hard to keep track of thirty years' worth of co-stars. She completely lucked out getting to nearly sleep with Gregg Marx's Tom..

[Mitch]

Very true...and whatever mad doctor gave troll Tom Deas the pill that turned him into hot Tom Gregg Marx...send them my way!

I agree, I think the problem with the Snyders were that it was almost like they were on another soap. Emma should have had NO romance..sorry not interested in seeing that.

[Khan]

If we ever have a "I will fight you!" thread for actors on this board, I am definitely adding Justin Deas to the list.

[P.J.]

I think it's less about Deas as an actor and more about Deas as Tom Hughes. I honestly don't even really remember him on ATWT (damn the education system in this country anyway...LOL) but I loved the first couple of years of him on GL.

[DRW50]

From what I've seen of Deas as Tom, I don't mind him. He's OTT, but not THAT OTT. I can't believe him as Bob's son or even Lisa's son (and I can't imagine Nancy putting up with him...she'd smack him in the ear), but I do think his intensity and passion helped revive a role that had become somewhat moribund.

I just wish that they hadn't ignored all of Tom's pre-1980 history from then on (aside from his time in Vietnam).

I really wish they'd made a deal with the devil to keep Gregg Marx on the show. I had never seen him before, as I only started watching the show in 1989 or 1990, but I have loved every single moment of his work from the time I finally did begin seeing him.

(too bad they didn't make him keep the beard)

[JellicleCat]

It's a bit odd seeing such a meek and mild Barbara in those old clips. It's miles away from the Barbara of later years, but to Colleen Zenk's credit she's just as good with them both.

Barbara really was a character that changed dramatically over the years, yet CZ always made it work.

[Soaplovers]

I remember an interview with Colleen zenk before the show ended where she remembered her first week or two of episodes involved her saying sorry to almost everyone she came into contact.. and that she was intrigued to know why she was so sorry LOL

I agree that sometimes the Snyders seemed to be on a different soap then the rest of the canvas. After the first three years or so, it seemed like any attempt to connect the Snyders to the rest of the families came to an end... at least in a romantic sense.

I think once Marland passed, the follow up writers were on the right track writing each of the Snyders out one by one.. but I don't think the Kasnoff's were the right replacement family. I remember Mike was created, and he mentioned a sister named Stephanie who lived in Chicago who married for money.. but I don't recall mention of Sarah nor Mark. Shame they never cast Stephanie nor the mother character (whose name was Nora, I think).

I viewed Rosanna as Lily-lite, at least her first year or so on the show. I think that I preferred Tess to Debbie because at least Tess had ties to Hal and Barbara.. thus keeping some sort of tie/connection of the Snyder's to the rest of the canvas.

[DRW50]

Debbie was just somewhat whiny and drab and cliched. Tess had much more personality.

Rosanna was a dud because Yvonne Perry, to me, did not have the inner life as an actress to make the role work, and unlike Martha Byrne, she also didn't have the strong support system of Liz Hubbard and Lisa Brown that were able to help her and tone down some of her limitations. And the story with Rosanna was such an obvious retread.

I don't care for Barbara as the long-suffering heroine, but I prefer her here as she is just a little spikier. By the time of Brian McColl she seemed directionless.

[SoapDope]

A few random thoughts:

I never liked Yvonne Perry or the Roseanna character at all. I couldn't believe she won an award after being on for a short time. I got fed up with the show and stopped watching around 1998.

I always thought Hillary B. Smith was an excellent Margo, but didn't care for Ellen Dolan all that much. Glynnis O'Connor was just gross as Margo.

Most viewers feel Hal was the best mate for Barbara, but I liked her best with Gunnar. It seems like the show didn't know what to do with Babs brother Rick Ryan. It would of been interesting to see what he would have been like if he had remained on the show.

I loved Bob and Kim. I always remember that scene where Kim was crying and telling Bob she always loved him from the minute she laid eyes on him and that she never stopped. She also confessed how she set up their meeting when they had the affair years earlier.