As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soaplovers]

 

This episode goes to show that Marland inherited a fairly strong show that he didn't have to fix, all he did was expand on what SBH set up.  I did notice his first year or so as head writer that he kept some of the light camp undertone that SBH had established before it became more serious and darker as the 80s wore on.

 

Shannon close relationship with John/Dusty, feud with Barbara, and the start of her friendship with Lisa were all done under SBH.. and Marland was wise to not damper her quirkiness when he took over as head-writer.. in fact, adding Duncan in a kilt only enhanced the eccentric nature of her character.  Though didn't Shannon's character get less quirky/eccentric by the time she left the first time?

[Paul Raven]

AS WORLD TURNS FOR ISLAND ACTRESS

By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

Published: October 24, 1982

• EVERY now and then, Marilyn Raphael walks out the door of her ranch-style home in Merrick, hops on her bicycle (equipped with two baskets) and pedals off to the supermarket.

And every now and then, while she shops, someone walks up to her and says, ''Aren't you on 'As the World Turns?' '' The answer is, of course, yes, because for nearly a year now, Miss Raphael (though married, she uses her maiden name in her career) has been playing the role of Madame Koster, a psychic medium, on the popular CBS network soap opera.

And when Miss Raphael says yes in that Merrick supermarket, the next question is likely to be, ''What are you doing here?'' The rest of the dialogue goes something like this: ''I live here and I shop here.'' ''You do? I can't believe it.'' Miss Raphael says, ''They all believe we live some glamorous life in New York.'' Though she has been an actress since her childhood in Brooklyn, Miss Raphael, who is 50, has been living in Merrick since 1959 with her husband, a corporation president, and she has spent much of that time raising a family of two girls and a boy, who are all now in their 20's.

Still, during the years since her graduation in 1950 from Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School, which awarded her a gold medal for dramatic art, she has managed to appear in a variety of roles in a variety of mediums.

She has worked in theater, radio, television and film - and in theater, for example, in roles in scripts by such playwrights as Tennessee Williams, Moliere and Neil Simon.

''I've never been a leading lady,'' says Miss Raphael. ''I've never been an ingenue. I've always done heavy roles.'' It was one of these heavy roles -the mentally disturbed overprotective mother of a retarded boy - that Miss Raphael was enacting in a play called ''Imperceptible Grief'' in New York City at the Actors Theater of America last autumn when she was spotted by casting directors for ''As the World Turns.''

Not long afterward, as she was preparing to take a vacation in Florida, Miss Raphael received a telephone call from CBS asking if she were available for the role of a psychic medium on ''As the World Turns.''

''Originally, it was, as far as I know, a one-shot, but I've been extended for 10 months,'' she says. ''The writers developed my story line. I have been turned into a villainess. The audience doesn't know whether I am a genuine psychic or a phony.''

Some fans, she notes, have asked if she really is a medium. ''That means they believe what I'm doing,'' says Miss Raphael. ''That means I've done my homework.''

When it comes to acting, Miss Raphael, who has trained others in workshops all over the Island, says: ''I have my own method, because I've studied so many different techniques and because I teach as well. I go for the truth of the character. I do research. If I am playing a widow, I will talk to heads of widow groups, because I'm not a widow. I will talk to widows, if it's not too painful for them. I will read books about widowhood. I try to be truthful. You owe the audience the truest chartacter you can bring them.''

Miss Raphael describes performing in soap operas on television (she's also appeared in ''All My Children'' and ''One Life to Live'') as ''probably the most pressured acting job there is, because in one day you're turning out one hour. Usually you start work at 7 in the morning, so your day can be from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. and sometimes 10 o'clock at night.''

Still, it is clear that she regards the experience as satisfying. In the meantime, says Marilyn Raphael, ''I'm just a normal suburban housewife who happens to be on network television.''

Edited November 5, 2017 by Paul Raven

[adrnyc]

 

Here ya go!  The scene starts around 29:55

 

 

[DRW50]

Thank you for finding that article, @Paul Raven. Her name seems familiar to me but I think it may be the character more than the actress. Was she in the psychic dreams story with Barbara?

[Khan]

 

I think so.  

[DramatistDreamer]

 

That scene between Lisa and Lucinda beforehand (around 27:00) was pretty memorable too.

[DRW50]

 

The writing for Shannon changed quite a bit in 1988 when they began delving more into Duncan's backstory with Lilith and that bizarre story where Shannon was afraid Duncan was going to kill her. She was second fiddle with Tom while Margo was away (I guess the pairing might have lasted if HBS hadn't changed her mind and stayed another year) then got involved with that evil Richard Burgi character. She was pregnant with and lost his baby, while dating his nice brother and keeping Duncan at arm's length.

 

The latter story was a very heavy, depressing tale, and also very generic. It has always seemed odd and un-Marland to me, but 1989 was a transition year for the show and she seemed to get caught up in that. 

 

I assume Marland must have loved writing for her, and Margaret Reed always did a good job (that's one of the reasons I was fan of the character when I started watching around 1989 or 1990), but looking back I honestly think she stayed a few years too long and no longer fit into ATWT or Duncan's life by the time she "died." 

[adrnyc]

 

It's true. One of the things I love about the show during this time has been Lisa's hatred for "Ol' Lucy". The Whit McColl stuff seems to finally be over now that Lily knows everything. Lisa told Lucinda she wouldn't pursue it anymore because she didn't want to do any more damage to the child. We'll see if she stays true to her word!

[amybrickwallace]

 

Thank you so much!!!

[NothinButAttitude]

 

[victoria foxton]

 

[Mitch]

 

Yea, Shannon was fun when she first came on..and Marland wrote her close to a kooky Nola way..(without the angst..) The Duncan storyline was first played for laughs...or more lighthearted..which is how they should have kept both of them...getting involved in mysteries, breaking up and making up...It was later that she became like the rest of the show, too serious, dark, too earnestly boring, (and I hated her then..) but Duncan did do with the utterly boring "Jess" storyline...

[Soapsuds]

Shannon was better written by Marland when she first appeared. Once they paired her with dreaded awful Duncan....Shannon became a dull boring mess of a character.

[Scrapple]

Shannon was one of my favorite characters. I loved her with Duncan (much better than the boring Brian). As much as I loved Jessica, there was absolutely no heat between she and the Scotsman.  I still remember the scene of Shannon and Margo confronting Barbara in the ladies room. 

[NothinButAttitude]