As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

No. That was the recast. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Thank you for sharing these jewels. Let me get around to watching them before YT snatches them offline. 

[NothinButAttitude]

I miss galas like this on soaps. All the current stories on the canvas all occurring in one event--under one umbrella. Everyone looking like a million bucks. Sadly, we'll never get this caliber of lavish look and storytelling again. 

 

Is Brad Hollister supposed to be the depiction of sexy/the hunk during this era? Because he's not. He translates like a creeper--real Ted Bundy-esqe. I don't get what Dee or Annie or any woman that fell under his spell saw in him. 

 

I get David and Ellen were helicopter parent but jeez they seem obnoxious. Even reading recaps as of late, I root for John over them despite his heinous actions. Dee is a grown ass woman. She does not need protecting. 

 

So funny seeing James and Babs in orbit of Cricket, who just got a call from Margo, knowing what'll occur once Margo assimilates into Oakdale. 

 

Is that Betsy Von Furstenburg playing Lisa? I thought she didn't step into the role until later years? Regardless, she is the perfect recast b/c she is playing Lisa exactly like Fulton. She eerily sounds like her too. 

 

@DRW50 didn't you say they tried making Cricket an Erica Kane carbon copy? If so, I see it. Especially, in this episode. She just drones on and on about wanting to be rich. I don't know what Eric saw in her with the exception of her looks and the fact she'd probably put out easily. She just seems hollow and lacks substance. 

[DRW50]

Yes. The soap magazines I had of that time (not a lot admittedly) mentioned Eileen being very sick (I think with hepatitis) but never said whether Lisa was written out or recast. I guess she was recast. Betsy seems a lot more like Lisa here than I remember her seeming in the bits of 83-84 I've seen - I guess it's partly because she has a much better screen partner. 

 

I'm not sure I said it, but I can see it here. I wonder if they had any plans at this time to knock her up, or if that was later writers. Was it the strike writers? What surprises me is this character hung around for over 3 years, even if she all but ceased to exist after she left. 

 

I hope you get to watch the 1972 episode soon.

[NothinButAttitude]

Yes. I remember you saying how you didn't care for the actor that played Whit McColl, who Betsy von Furstenberg had to act against a lot of her stint. I still upset that they didn't reach out and try and bring James Douglas back to reprise his role as Grant and reunite him with Lisa even if it was the last episode. 

 

With Cricket, maybe future saw what fans saw and realized that she was worthless. I do wish that they would've brought the character back in some capacity around the time Bryant died onscreen. It would've been interesting to see Craig and Cricket clash seeing as Billy played a part in Bryant hopping into the car, which resulted in his death. 

 

I did watch the 1972 episode and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was good to finally see some footage from that time. I just wish more would come out. I enjoyed what was going on even though there were some tracking issues with the footage. The audio was good enough for me. 

[DRW50]

They should have brought her back, absolutely. She could have easily been recast, and would have brought some drama for Margo and Katie and Craig - I could have seen her possibly falling for Hal, and that causing some family strife. 

 

There's a line in that episode where she says she and Margo are like "oil and water," and all I kept thinking was - do people in real life actually say that? I tend to wonder if they intended Margo to be quite as full-on as she ended up being, or if they found themselves giving some of Cricket's planned material to her. 

 

You've probably already seen it but there's another 1972 episode that's been on YT for a few years - in worse condition, but watchable. 

 

I hope you get to see the 1980 GL as well.

 

I'm going to be reuploading some of the ATWT episodes I used to have on Steph Stokes. I put the partial July 1983 up yesterday and will try to get the March 1992 up today. Eventually there are more...of course maybe someday I'll know how to transfer the very few I have on VHS onto Youtube...

[NothinButAttitude]

I did get around to watching the 1980 episode too. I am gonna comment on it a little on today. 

 

I also noticed the partial episode with Kirk and Frannie that you posted from 1983 too. I'm subscribed to your channel. 

 

They might've given some of Margo's material to Cricket. From reading recaps as of late, Cricket's story does go dead within the next years with the exception of the Cody fling. She becomes more of a 'talk to' while Margo goes on to have all the fun and scandal with James and John. 

[DRW50]

I saw your comments about Brad - I will just never get that casting. I guess these were the dying days of the antihero "rugged" type casting, but while he's a passable actor, he has little charisma and is just pervy looking. And he had a huge role on the show, which makes it even more bewildering. I'm not sure if they were going for a Tony Geary or Gerald Anthony type of anti-casting, but Gerald Anthony was a hot piece of ass and Geary...well, he had charisma and acting talent, even if he never did anything for me physically.

 

I wonder if that's one of the first examples of ATWT "going ABC." And just like almost all the other attempts, it was a mistake.  

Edited January 25, 2016 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

Makes sense now that you've explained it. That could've been it. 

 

I just find the actor's choice or the writing to be weird. He is like a pervert. Like the scene when Dee first meets Brad and he's staring at her in her robe like she's a piece of meat. So gross. Maybe it was acceptable behavior then (IDK I wasn't born yet) but today, his behavior would've been met with some screaming and running. 

 

I'm glad to know that he only lasted one year on the show and was quickly forgotten. 

[John]

Did Veleka Gray quit as Lyla or did ATWT replace her. She does well in that 1980 clip

[DRW50]

She was fired. Several years back I think she implied Don Hastings had her fired.

[DramatistDreamer]

I'm going to try to watch the 1972 episode this evening.

 

I did get a chance to see 1980.  It's funny but even though I was a pre-schooler during this time, I knew instinctively that that was Lyla's house and deduced that that must've been Cricket!  

The dialogue and the direction did the actors no favors.  All but a handful of the cast seemed to be stumbling over that clunky dialogue and then there were those awkward pauses.  ATWT is my favorite all time soap and so I have an innate fondness for the characters but I can see how the show could've had trouble attracting viewers at this stage.  

Looking at Cricket, I think every soap had their own variation on this type of character but I can see where Meg could be viewed as being cut from the same cloth.  It's interesting to see Kim look at Cricket with such disapproval.  What a contrast to the type of relationship Kim would have in the future with her sister Margo!

Boy, this is definitely during Barbara's naive phase!

 

There's a lot of obvious exposition in this episode.  It feel's like the viewer is waiting for most of the show to see something happen.  Barbara being pulled into the elevator with her mouth covered and Dee walking into that scene with John surrounded by nurses (which feels anti-climactic, almost a non dramatic scene).

I did get a kick out of seeing that middle aged couple groovin' on the dancefloor though.

 

In terms of the styles, I'm always tickled by 1980-1982 because it seems like 80-81 in particular, styles are still coming out of the 70s, not yet firmly rooted in the 1980s.  Seeing how many of the men are groomed, particularly the dark-haired men who are not the main characters.  I'm seeing quite a few Burt Reynolds, Tom Selleck and Lee Horseley lookalikes.  One or two Bert Convys too.

Edited January 25, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[zanereed]

Carl,

Thank you very much for the link to the 1972 ATWT episode. It is always great to see another episode from this era.  I love seeing John Colenback and Patricia Bruder in scenes together - they never did look like "mother and son" at all.  I can really notice the fact that they are the same age (well, Colenback was actually OLDER than Bruder). Marie Masters looks AMAZING here.

Edited January 27, 2016 by zanereed
Grammar

[John]

really seems very not a don thing to do.... SCANDAL

[Scrapple]

It's so interesting to hear about this era. I started watching the show shortly after this. (The first scene I ever saw was John Dixon , presumed dead,  walking into a courtroom, taking off some disguise. That scene so intrigued me, I tuned in the next day to see what was going on, and stayed with the show to the end of its run.) It's hard to believe Cricket was so important a character. When I started watching, she was just desperate to get married before her baby was born. But then , of course, ATWT became The Steve and Betsy Show.