As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

James Van Der Beek  talks about his ATWT gig....

 

http://ew.com/tv/2017/08/07/james-van-der-beek-looks-back/

[DramatistDreamer]

@Nothin'ButAttitude LOL, I was one of those folks who suggested Hunt Block play Rick Ryan, then the smarmy attitude would've worked but ATWT wasn't about making much sense by then!

 

Lots of people couldn't have cared less about the Janet and Dusty pairing.  Lots of people were "meh" about Katie and Chris as well.  I know some (the few who still watched) were indifferent about the fact that Lily and Holden were likely to remain apart, either because they'd felt the pairing had ultimately run its course or because they didn't see much chemistry between Noelle Beck and Jon Hensley.

This is probably why the show felt so compelled to bring back John Dixon for a limited run to reunite with Lucinda, because at least they were a pairing that people had felt strongly about at one time.

[NothinButAttitude]

I thought Noelle and Jon had chemistry. However, I was over Lily/Holden at that point. Had the show continued on, I would've wanted them to just remain good friends and co-parent. Lily & Holden were dead in my eyes long before Martha left the role. I'd say about the time Lily was with Keith, I was over Lily/Holden. When they paired them back together for that last run, it was painful. I was eager when Holden got tossed in Carly's orbit, who I felt he has immense chemistry with. 

 

I feel like Katie/Chris was something that happened on the whim. I was already peeved that Daniel Cosgrove was cast as Bill Lewis, who was playing Chris Hughes. That annoyed me b/c I felt they should've brought back the most recent Chris, Dylan Bruce, who was eye candy and was never really given a chance. Putting Katie/Chris together made it worse. I felt that the show put them together to further center the show around Katie had it continued. I could never buy Katie as a Hughes. At least not married to Chris. Not after she lied on him years before about him stalking her, which got him in major trouble. Katie should've ended up single and ready to find herself while raising her son alone. That would've been a total shift from how her story ended. It would've been nice to see Katie not latched onto a man and gain some independence for once. 

[DramatistDreamer]

@Nothin'ButAttitude In those final years, the show messed up many obvious stories they could have written based on the serial's history.

Lyla should've been brought back after Brad's death. Who would've understood better than Lyla what it's like to lose your husband while caring for a very young child???

Katie could've have begun to lose herself in her work to numb the pain of loss, then it dawns on her that this must've been exactly what her Mother did for years and Katie begins to understand Lyla in a way that she didn't as a child and starts to lose the resentment she had toward Lyla for the feeling of coming in second to her Mother's career.  

That would've been an opportunity to repair the damage that was done in the 'butcher-backstory' that was written for Lyla character when adult Katie first returned to Oakdale.

 

That was such an obvious story but I guess that would've required too much effort on the part of the writing team.

[cassadine1991]

@Nothin'ButAttitude speaking of Noah. They are half way done uploading 2007 episodes

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Again, we know Lyla was not gonna be brought back as Goutman said in so many words that he didn't give a hoot about old ATWT. Anything before him was to be ignored in his eyes. Would've been a great story, but we know that ATWT didn't do character driven stories under Goutman. 

 

One story I wish they would've done before the show's ending was bringing either Don or Grant back for Lisa. I still think that Stuart Damon should've been recast as Don and brought back as widower, who fell for Lisa again.

 

You know what would've been a cute story--for Don to bring a dying Mary home to Oakdale, and Mary was to push him off on Lisa as her dying wish. That could've been a cute ending story of Lisa. I still get p*ssed that she didn't get her happy ending. 

 

 

I adore the pairing, but I refuse to relieve the final 4 years of the show. Hell f-cking no. I can't remember Nuke in my mind. I love myself too much to endure anything past '05. 

[adrnyc]

I remember being so torn towards the end. When GL was canceled, I knew the writing was on the wall for ATWT. Even though I didn't enjoy a lot of what was happening, I was so grateful that ATWT was still on the air that I just went with a lot of stuff. Dusty/Janet being one of them. Although, as Nothin' But Attitude said, I was also just so thankful that Janet was away from Jack. Carly and Jack's ending was pretty near perfect for me, so I was thankful for that. 

 

Without Martha Byrne, I didn't mind Lily and Holden being apart at the end of the series. Katie/Chris was just stupid (as was the whole switching houses with Margo storyline) but Katie was such a popular character (including by me - one of my absolute favorite characters/actors on the show) that she had to have an HEA (happily ever after).  I like the idea of Katie being single and learning to be happy without a man but I suppose, after the tragic loss of Brad, that just wasn't possible. 

 

I was completely over Luke and Noah at that point and I LOVED Reid. I enjoyed the tragic ending for him and that he was insistent that Chris get his heart. Luke and Noah separating made perfect sense - especially at that age. They were never going to last.

 

And then there was Barbara and Henry. If ever there was a reason I was devastated by the cancellation, it was that those two would've made for great TV for years to come! Barbara could've really mellowed due to Henry's love for her and her love for him. 

 

It's so odd for me to think about all this right now. My current 1987 episode of ATWT is on as I'm typing this. I'm so into that era (which is new for me) that it feels as if that's what it "currently" happening in Oakdale. HA!

[mango]

 

That's a special era to enjoy. 1986/1987 -- it's incredible how many stories were intertwined and the pace is unheard of these days. Douglas Marland was a wonderful storyteller. 

 

I often wonder what ATWT would be like now if it hadn't been taken off the air. Clearly, it's a moot point because we'll never know, but the thought crosses my mind from time to time. And I echo everyone's sentiments, the last few years were an absolute train wreck. It's best just to remember the golden years. It was a tremendous show then.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I'd thought of that too!  Especially since Lisa was really the 'lost Hughes wife' with her tight connection to Penny Hughes and her complicated, yet loyal relationship with Bob and Kim.

 

The one "wrinkle" in that plan is that the last actor to play Don died in '09 (I believe), so they would've had to do a recast.

Perhaps if there were another actor to have played Don previously and who was still alive in 2010, you may have still been able to pull it off but the actor who played Don in the 80s when he returned for various family gatherings had a good combative chemistry with Eileen Fulton's Lisa, so a romance between those two would've have been very interesting-- almost on the level of a John and Lucinda.  

 

I too think that Lisa, who was the endless romantic of the show, should've been afforded the opportunity to have a romantic ending with another love and a Hughes man would've been perfect.

Edited August 9, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[NothinButAttitude]

 

That's why I said that they should've cast Stuart Damon as Don instead of making him some cliche Italian mobster related to dull a** Janet and Teri. I loathed the Ciccone clan. One of JP's stupid creations, which she modeled after herself. 

[Soaplovers]

I always thought Grant was her true love.  In fact, that pairing helped mellow her to the point where she was bootable and not the interloper.  And I loved how karma rewarded Lisa with Joyce Coleman in the 70s and early 80s.  

 

I think having Grant come back in the final episode wanting to check into the hotel she was running..and Lisa smiling..could have left viewers with the notion that perhaps they would end up together again.

[DramatistDreamer]

@Soaplovers I thought about Grant too and he likely could've worked but it seemed as thought with each visit, the writers made the character looked more dubious.  

Also, if he and Lisa didn't get together the other many times he visited in the past, though Grant remained single all those years (and Lisa a few of them), I didn't see the writers committing to writing them as endgame.

 

Sadly, the writers didn't care either way about one of their longest running characters and what many consider daytime TV's first vixen.

[cassadine1991]

CBS and P&G could've intervened 

[adrnyc]

 

P&G clearly didn't care about their soap operas anymore. In fact, they actively wanted to be out of the soap opera business.  I often wonder if CG wasn't under instructions to dismantle the show so that it could be canceled. 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I'm pretty sure he and Ellen Wheeler where under instructions to dismantle both GL & ATWT. I'd even go a bit further and say he might've gotten those same instructions almost a decade earlier at AW. 

 

P&G sucks major a** b/c networks entertained the idea of wanting to buy the rights to many of their shows. There were whispers that NBC and even ABC was looking to get the rights to AW upon its demise. And didn't Les Moonves say that he would've been interested in owning GL & ATWT, but P&G opted not too? 

 

I'd love someone to buy the rights to these shows one day b/c I still believe someone could make a profit off of them if done correctly.