As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[adrnyc]

 

Thanks!

[Scrapple]

Wow, I never knew Tom was married before Margo. I do know that he left Barbara at the altar. How many times was Tom married?

[Paul Raven]

Tom married Carol in 1972 and Natalie in 1975.

[DRW50]

 

There is an episode of 9-10 year old Tom around.

[victoria foxton]

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[DRW50]

Thanks for posting that. 

 

I'm so glad to see an episode from this period as it helps narrow down my confusion over when Marland took over and what stories he pushed or didn't. I was never completely sure how much of a role he had in Craig's hit and run with Dusty. Or Shannon's debut. 

 

It's fascinating to see how much of an anti-hero Craig is here - wanting to do the right thing but being too afraid, and instead doubling down on a mistake. I prefer this to the tears and more tears we'd start getting by the end of 1985. 

 

Odd seeing Shannon and Nick together. Talk about passing the torch. I didn't know if he was still around by this point. Shannon really was in one bizarre and overly convoluted mystery story or another from first to last in her run. I had to laugh at that woman's cod-Irish accent (the woman Shannon was talking to). Take some lessons from Helen Gallagher! 

 

I loved Anne Sward as Lyla but I'm curious as to what some who did not (like @Mitch ) feel about Lee Bryant. I think she's a pretty good fill-in and makes the character her own. 

 

You can also see Dusty was a much more central character before Marland deemphasized him for dull Holden. I guess it paid off but for me Dusty's always more interesting to watch.

 

It's "nice" to know one thing never changes - all that awful wailing and shrieking from Lily. It's a wonder Dusty didn't flatline to get away from the earache. 

 

I wonder when they replaced that cheesy (and oh so '80s) incidental music. I kind of like it, although I can see why Calhoun (wasn't it Calhoun) would want it gone ASAP as it's very "Russians taking over America for $2 at the local video store." 

 

It's interesting to see Kevin before the Marie saga and all the angst. I can also see why Marland cut him, as he's irritating. Julianne Moore is a real natural though.

 

Also good to see more of Marcy and Stuart. I really like Stuart - Ross Kettle is such a natural and so charismatic and charming and goofy. I wonder why they didn't want to do more with him. He and Marcy are sweet together. I never remember if Tomei quit or was fired. I can see where Marland may have wanted to move on to fresh characters as her group was pretty much gone and she's such an up-and-down actress, but I liked these scenes. I think she and Stuart could have made a decent long-term couple.

 

I can't help noticing just how youth-oriented this episode is, yet somehow it all feels completely natural, unlike the much more desperate push of young characters earlier in the '80s. It not only felt false, most of the time the characters just felt oddly heavy and very depressing. 

[Soaplovers]

I truly believe that Bledsoe Horgan didn't get enough credit for cleaning up the show in late 1984 through most of 1985.  If anything, she laid the foundation so that Marland could get to work on crafting his stories.

 

I actually think the Marie saga was going on during this time as well... the only change Marland did to the story was creating the Douglas Cummings character as well as having Kim getting stalked by him.

 

The Brian/Barbara/Shannon triangle was in full swing by the time Marland came on.. and all he did was add Duncan.

 

Lily/Dusty were the young angst couple..and Marland added Holden to cause complications.

 

And I do believe marisa Tomei quit the show as her contract was up.. and if I think Marland scripted Marcy and Stuart's wedding before they left the show.

[Vee]

According to veteran director Peter Miner (many soaps, Dark Shadows, etc.) in the OLTL oral history, Marisa Tomei asked to be let out of her contract because she couldn't handle learning that many lines per day and felt it left her no room to perform well. He sympathized with her.

[DRW50]

 

That's interesting. I wonder if that's why she rarely talks about the show. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Marland probably figured that it wouldn't be sustainable to have the Craig character forever be the guy that messed up our of fear while aiming to do "good".

Barbara was sort of transitioned into that role, after her scheming period ended in the late 80s.

I would've preferred either 80s Craig to the ridiculous one that existed in the early '00s, that was just a venal creature who lacked any nuance.

 

Looking forward to watching this episode from '85 though-- I take it this had never been posted before on You Tube?

 

Wasn't Susan Bedsow-Horgan part of the OLTL 2.0? She's been doing solid work in the soap trenches for decades. I guess she's basically retired now? Today's soaps could use her services, TBH.

Edited October 8, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

I'd never seen it before.

[victoria foxton]

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[DramatistDreamer]

Not a bad episode, all in all. I hope to see more episodes from 1985. It'd be nice if someone could dig up and post the Costume Ball from that year, I think that was July 1985 though.

I can't help it- anytime I see Lee Bryant, that slapping scene in Airplane immediately springs to mind but she was good here- much better than she was when she returned about a year later and they tried to pretend like she could sing. The Lyla character had changed somewhat and Lee's interpretation at that point didn't seem to fit but here, especially refereeing between Bob and John and trying to maintain calm at Memorial seemed to be in keeping with her interpretation of the character.

Lyla's interactions with Shannon were, um, interesting. I guess Lyla was still holding out hope for a reconciliation with John, that whole tiff between Lyla and Shannon over Frank seemed odd and forced, but I guess it was meant to illustrate how little Lyla regarded Shannon back then.

 

LOL @ Lily with her overwrought acting with Dusty. I could imagine though, had Brian Bloom decided to stay, that at some point Lily would have taken up with Dusty again after making up, then breaking up with Holden.

 

Speaking of wondering whether couples would last based on an actor staying, I wonder whether Stuart and Marcy would've been a longterm possibility had Tomei stayed on. They're not bad here and Tomei was the type of bubbly 80s style ingenue that soaps seemed to go for back then. (And hey, when characters actually used to eat real food, not just pretend to eat and drink!)

 

Looking at Kevin Gibson character and how cocky and bullheaded he seemed to be in this episode, I can't help but wonder whether he was the early prototype for the Kirk Anderson character. Early Kirk wouldn't have cared either whether there was a fraught hospital scene or anybody's feelings, if he needed to get a piece of business done.

 

Per usual, Bob and John were good at antagonizing one another. That room with an emerging Dusty from his comatose state was very chaotic but at least there was a sense of urgency and it wasn't boring.

 

I enjoyed that episode.

[NothinButAttitude]

Does anyone know what episode in '85 does Marie Kovac ends up dead? 

Edited October 9, 2017 by Nothin'ButAttitude

[adrnyc]

 

Yes, she is, I believe, the first person murdered in the Douglas Cummings storyline.