As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Yeah, it does make sense that Marland could've burnt out.  He could've even been experiencing health problems from this time.  I wonder whether a period of serious rest might have made any difference in his health, in his ability to have eventually make his way back in the long run.  Pure speculation on my part.

[DRW50]

I actually think he left ATWT in a pretty decent place and I felt like while it was a dark and at times needlessly dense time, parts of the show with characters not named Holden, Rosanna or Courtney also felt fresh and vibrant in a way that was not always the case from 88-91 IMO. Sadly, a lot of things went wrong (some not their fault and others very much so) to derail ATWT.

Edited April 5, 2016 by DRW50

[cassadine1991]

Wonder what would've happened if Claire Labine accepted the offer to HW ATWT

[Soapsuds]

I remember Claire being hired on GL and thought she is going to make the show must see tv again. Instead GL was boring under her pen and nothing like her work on GH. 

[Khan]

In hindsight, ATWT with Claire Labine as HW would have turned out the same way that GL did: a victim of constant network/sponsor interference, mixed with a nagging feeling that ATWT wasn't really Labine's kind of soap and that maybe, her best days as a scribe were long behind her.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Khan

[NothinButAttitude]

Do you all think that Claire's writing only worked at RH and later GH because it was more along the lines of ABC daytime soaps and not CBS soaps, which were more rooted in realism, hearth, and community?

[DRW50]

 

I'd say it worked at RH because she was her own boss, and at GH because she worked well with Wendy Riche, for the most part. It did her few favors at OLTL, where a lot of her writing was glaringly off-key.

 

The rumor at the time of her GL run was that Paul Rauch was sabotaging her work. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but I do think she would have had more of a chance at ATWT.

Edited April 6, 2016 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

Well I am not surprised (if true) that Rauch was sabotaging her work at GL. Given his chaotic history in daytime, it wouldn't surprise me if he did. 

 

Do you think that she would've been able to handle the beast that is ATWT? Part of me thinks that she would've done well with the older characters. It would've been the younger crowd I would've seen her struggle with.

[All My Shadows]

I think most would agree that RH was rooted in those three things as well, and probably her GH, too.

[Khan]

Possibly.  At its best, Claire Labine's work possessed urbane qualities, sharing Agnes Nixon's penchant for topical storylines, if not her broad sense of humor.  In fact, I think it says a lot that Labine's two biggest successes were on shows that were set in New York (three, if you count LOVE OF LIFE, which might have been set in NY as well, but don't quote me on that).  That was just her milieu.

 

However, to suggest the CBS soaps were more rooted in realism implies Labine's work was the opposite.  If anything, the further she strayed from the simple, everyday, character-driven stuff that characterized her best years on GH and especially RH, the more she faltered as a HW.

[All My Shadows]

It was. I forget where the original setting (Barrowsville) was located, but I think at some point, they were in NYC before settling in Rosehill, NY, by the early 60s.

[Khan]

Thanks, AMS.  

Edited April 6, 2016 by Khan

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks, Khan! 

[kylefish76]

Paul Rauch tried to fire Labine right away but no one wanted the job so Claire ended up staying a year and I believe Rauch pissed all over stories

 

I think her at ATWT would have been better

 

I also think she had more freedom at RH & GH 

 

I remember her saying to we love soaps that OLTL was hard cause the boys in NYC were always interfearing

[Mitch]

While I hated Labine's time on GL..you could see some good ideas in there...(minus Blake as a minister...) I don't think she was fit for GL but she tried...her best work was getting rid of Carmen...(for a while) and putting Claire in as the buttinsky mom in the Danny Michelle thing. She did great bringing back Aunt Meta and Meta taking charge and writing Claire's beads...but you could tell the show wasnt invested in that. Other stuff was just stupid, like Buzz and Billy fighting over Holly..it was like..."Oh they are the same age., lets put em together.." Other stuff showed a glimmer of hope...but it just seemed like someone was changing things..(Rauchie??) like the cigar girl turned FBI agent (who I read she wanted to be Nola's kid which would have been interesting, especially since she screwed her cousin's husband...) She may have done well with ATWT as someone mentioned, the vets especially...(I think LIsa would have gotten her old spunk and sense of humor back...)