As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Khan]

I wouldn't have killed off Reid.  I would have killed off Luke INSTEAD of Reid.

[P.J.]

 

Maybe like Tom/Margo...but not half as boring.

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I've been trying to figure out a way to express this without sounding provincial...in a clutch-the-pearls-old-lady way...but I appreciated the right vs wrong, "moral" heart, rooted-in-values, middle-American-ness of Oakdale (and Springfield). Yes, people made mistakes, and yes, families shared way too many lovers....but in the end, right was right, wrong was wrong, and by all that was Holy, either Kim or Emma or Nancy was going to slap some sense into somebody who'd gone too far.

 

As for what I'd have changed about the last year---it's not so much one plot thing as it is an attitude. I would have wrapped up stories and sent off characters gradually instead of dragging [!@#$%^&*] out. For example, instead of forcing Luke/Reid down our throats---I probably would have sent Luke off to pursue his future. I would have gladly done the same thing with Katie instead of lamely hooking her and Chris up (which given their history made zero sense.)

 

But, if I was forced to pick one plot point to expunge from history---it would have been Jack [!@#$%^&*] Janet to create a baby to save Liberty. (in March, FCOL, when she was already pregnant from [!@#$%^&*] Dusty on NYE and yet too stupid to realize it, or ask when her freaking due date was....RME.) Talk about one last "screw you" to Carjackers.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Glad I am not alone in them hooking Chris and Katie up. I'm sorry but after Katie pulled that stunt all those years ago that Chris was stalking her (when she was trying to get Molly's job at WOAK), I just find it odd that he'd end up with her. Katie should've just been left a widow, who wants to focus on her baby and career. She didn't need a happy ending. 

 

As a NUKE fan, I wanted Luke and Noah to end up happy and go off to LA together. 

 

Jack & Janet as a whole was just stupid. Given that Janet & Dusty had chemistry, the show should've just tossed her in his orbit from the start. By 2007, I was tired of Jack & Carly's breakups and reunions. I just wanted them to be put together permanently and shifted the story over to JJ, Parker, and Sage. Those 3 kids alone would've given Jack and Carly tons to do.

[P.J.]

 

I just hated Katie. But the way the just glossed over that history, and Kim couldn't say anything, when she'd been ultra protective of Chris-----

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 typical prop Katie bullshit. 

 

Not a fan of Nuke/Ruke or Luke in general. I completely resented the way Reid took over the weeks leading up to the finale. 

 

And don't get me started on the fuckery that went on shoehorning Juicy Janet into the show. All so JPISS could delve into her Italian roots. RME. No way in he'll would Carly have EVER pushed some woman at Jack, and no way in he'll would Jack have been fine screwing his way into a relationship. They should have stuck to the original story---which was obviously Juicy trying to bed Brad. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

One  thing I would've changed-- every single actor that played Craig Montgomery in the show's last decade should've been playing Rick Ryan, Barbara's wayward brother.

The only storylines that the show would've had to change for the actors was there'd be no marriage with Barbara, and no impregnation of Jennifer of course (which was disgusting anyway), but in the end Rick could've still ended up with Roseanna and on the way there, the Ryan family could've been strengthened with opportunities for more conflict (i.e. drama) between Rick and possibly Paul, Emily, even Bob Hughes (remember Bob didn't trust Rick who caused scandal and chaos at the hospital).

 

Unlike Craig who had a very memorable character arc defined by two writing regimes but especially by Douglas Marland, Rick was more of an unfinished character that had enough of a memorable character arc as to provide for some highly interesting storylines, especially seeing as his flight out of Oakdale left a lot of things in limbo.

 

Barbara was on the Oakdale canvass since, what, the late 70s?  The Ryans should've had a stronger presence and with just Barbara and Paul (who sometimes barely had scenes with each other some years in the show's last decade) that wasn't happening.

 

Lots of missed opportunities!

 

Like you, @Scrapple ATWT was my favorite soap and I was deeply disappointed in the direction the writers decided to go in the last decade, trashing a lot of what had been celebrated about the show decades before.  The last year was mostly unwatchable for me, I finally watched the last handful of episodes a year after the show went off the air and I was mostly numb watching how the show had been ground to dust and although the actors tried their best to give the show a dignified end, the stories, the lighting, sets all worked against that possibility of a dignified end.

Many of the actors looked haggard and raked over the coals (Ironically, the oldest actors looked the most vital and stalwart).

 

I can go back and look at many storylines from the 80s and early 90s many times, I can watch clips from the show's late 90s-early 00s (although not entire storyline arc)  but I can't even face the possibility of viewing episodes in that final year, the show was too much a mess for me.

Edited April 5, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[Scrapple]

I would've done a couple things:

1) Have Simon come back for Katie. Hooking her up with Chris was ridiculous.

 

2) Bring back Martha Byrne , even if a ghostly Rose appearance. She was the first woman to win a Lead Actress Emmy, and was a vital part of the show's history.

 

3) Give Henry and Vienna a proper goodbye (Henry could've stayed with Barbara, but H & V should've had one parting scene).

 

4)Have SOME final scenes for Lisa. Although I've never been an Eileen Fulton fan, her character was integral to the show's past. The way she was written at the end was humiliating.

 

5) The show should have brought back fan favorites at the end, instead of bringing on newbies nobody cared about. How about a Snyder Family reunion? What about Duncan, Shannon, Penny?

    It was like the show was ending after 5 years, not 54.

[Khan]

Fortunately, they DID bring back Frannie (although, the fact that Julianne Moore WANTED to return probably had everything to do with that) as well as my favorite character, John Dixon.  But yeah, more former characters (Penny, Ellen, Dee, Annie, Jeff, Betsy, etc.) should have returned.

[zanereed]

 

Exactly right. Personally, I would have had a big "Dr. Bob Retirement Party" that would have brought back many familiar faces for a final hurrah. I would have definitely brought back Penny. I'm not sure about Don Hughes, as Conard Fowkes had already passed away in 2009 (maybe bring back Martin West, who played Don Hughes previous to Conard, if he was up for it). But, definitely Ellen (to represent the Lowell family) and as many Stewarts as possible would return. I would have had Grant Coleman return for this event, and to have Grant either convince Lisa to leave with him and start anew or to have Grant stay with Lisa in Oakdale. I also would have loved to have had some final "closure" scene between Kim and Susan. I could see a scenario where Kim goes to Dan Stewart's grave on the anniversary of this death (more or less) and coincidentally, Susan appears around the same time. That would lead to them hashing out all of their history regarding Dan and Bob. Kathryn and Marie would have hit a home run with this, guaranteed.

[amybrickwallace]

 

I know - boo hiss to them.

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[DRW50]

I think everyone else already said it, and I don't have the strength to type out a long list right now, so I'll just keep it quick 

 

- Ellen return (otherwise the Stewarts simply felt hollow at the end)

- Andy return 

- no Reid death - and not because of Luke, but because it was cheap and lazy 

- a proper goodbye for Emma, instead of her just vanishing months before the show ended 

- I wasn't a fan, but bringing back Martha Byrne for the last weeks, for the sake of her fans (and from what Noelle Beck said Jon Hensley had a really hard time playing those last episodes with what her rather than Martha, so it sucked for him as well) 

- ditch that toy globe at the end that really bugged me for some reason 

[Khan]

Yeah, I think Bob's retirement deserved a more fitting celebration.  They could have written a scenario where Bob insists on retiring without any big to-do's, but Kim and Lisa organize a surprise shindig that brings a lot of former residents back to Oakdale and allows all the loose ends to be tied up, with Bob giving one last speech to the well-wishers and the viewers at home.

 

YES.

 

Another idea for the finale: after she and Henry agree to remain friends, Barbara questions whether she'll ever find love again...and then she runs into someone who looks a lot like Hugo Napier's Gunnar.

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[Soapsuds]

Emma left with Meg. Making Meg crazy was dumb.

 

Eh Collen Zenk didn't care for the pairing. She for some odd reason loved the Henry pairing. So disappointed in her.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Colleen Zenk, nor should any actor, get to determine the direction of a character.  Although I was too young to have seen it myself, from what I've read on soap blogs, Gunnar basically disappeared in a hot air balloon with no real confirmation as to whether he was dead or alive, so it would have been a nod to long-time viewers to include a brief storyline arc where Gunnar emerges from locked in syndrome (or something) and throws Barbara's life into indecision on the eve of her wedding to Henry, instead of Dancing With the Stars.

 

Also, didn't Colleen Zenk post a photo of her with Hugo Napier sometime last year?

 

I think Colleen would have relished the fact that the writers were centering a more complex story around her character.

[Soapsuds]

I think she said that Henry was the best pairing Barbara had even including Hal. Barbara and Gunnar was my favorite pairing. Henry was so gay that I kept waiting for him to fly.

[Scrapple]

I like the idea of Bob's retirement party bringing back favorite characters from the past. See, zanereed would've been a better writer than the actual headwriters we had.

 

Another idea would've been to have Emma Snyder become deathly ill. Before her miraculous recovery, all the Snyders (Seth,Iva, Caleb, Ellie, cured-Meg, Julie, Angel, etc) would come to her bedside.

 

One last idea...bring back different people playing the same role. For example, Tom and Margo (Scott and Ellen) are having a discussion in their kitchen, they walk into the next room, but continue the discussion as Hillary Smith and Gregg Marx, then go outside to finish the talk as Justin Deas and Margaret Colin. You could've done the same with any role where you had multiple actors (e.g. Craig, Lily).It would've made for a must-see episode.