As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

That just goes to show how many episodes are missing from You Tube.  If you go by what's only on YT, you'd think that the only actual suspects were Kevin Gibbs, Jay Connors, Frannie and Kim Hughes.  In the episodes posted, Lucinda looked more like a likely suspect in the Marie Kovacs murder than Doug Cummings.

 

 

 

*Still hoping that somebody answers my question about where other soaps did special Labor Day cliffhangers or was it just mainly CBS daytime, primarily ATWT?

[P.J.]

I can't speak for nonCBS shows, but in general, I believe the Friday cliffhanger was more valued in general 30-some years (or more) ago. 

 

I can't recall specific climaxes though. I thought Paul shot James in March (for whatever reason). 

 

I do believe Marland probably believed on them more than average though.  I also believe he pushed the idea of building up the show's anniversary, which may have been unique. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by P.J.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I think James killed one of his cronies, Glen Harrington and shot Hank Elliot in March, when Hank tried to stop James from taking Paul (again) when he and Barbara were in NYC for the debut of the Barbara Ryan Originals line.  Everyone thought James had died during his confrontation with the police when the helicopter he was in was shot down over the Hudson.

 

 

James was not dead, of course.  He showed up in Oakdale by the end of spring, early summer (I think).

Paul shot James while he was beating up Emily by Labor Day.

This episode, which is dated September 1, 1989, at the very end is when the series of violent exchanges begin to unfold between James, Emily and Paul and the sequence is repeated (with some slight modifications) in the next episode, which aired next week, the day after Labor Day Monday.

 

 

It just seemed as if CBS and ATWT, in particular had these special Labor Day cliffhangers due to the U.S. Open pre-empting regular programming.   

I just thought it was very clever how the show was able to take what could have been a disadvantageous situation like the last episode of the week being on a Wednesday or Thursday and turning it into a reason to make sure viewers came back after U.S. Open/Labor Day episode pre-emptions by keeping them glued to the edge of their seats with a cliffhanger that pretty much came mid-week.  

Edited January 22, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

When was the material with Daryl and Frannie on the ski lift? Was that around Labor Day 1992? That was an epic cliffhanger. 

[P.J.]

Darryl/Frannie may have been around then. A fast perusal of an Sept episode reminds me that was also around the time of Holden's accident in NY. 

[Soapsuds]

 

How I wish this was on Youtube to see again or released on DVD. I loved the remote. It is one of my favorites of ATWT. 

 

ATWT was famous for its Labor Day cliffhangers due to coverage of the US Open Tennis. The soap was always pre-empted on Friday and the following Monday, which was Labor Day, and didn't return until that following Tuesday so Marland had to keep the audience invested in tuning back in after that long break. I remember one of the Labor Day cliffhangers was the Aaron parentage. Everyone was at the Hughes for the annual Labor Day BBQ and Iva spilled the beans to Lisa but the audience didn't know what she had told Lisa. I thought it was rather tame but the ratings for it hit the roof. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by Soapsuds

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Kim Hughes literally went into Labor during one of those Labor Day cliffhanger episodes.

What I posted up thread-- I was trying to find out if that episode was ever aired again (e.g. CBS airing their Soap Classics rebroadcast during holidays).  It's just strange that an episode that had such a big impact was never aired again or uploaded online anywhere.

Also,

did other soaps make as big an effort to do those special Labor Day cliffhangers?  I know that Guiding Light must have also been pre-empted, possibly Y&R but I don't remember either doing such explosive Labor Day cliffhangers.

Also, I think CBS was alone in this because other networks didn't appear to pre-empt their shows for the Labor Day weekend.

[Soapsuds]

All of CBS was pre-empted those 2 days for Labor Day. The other soaps on CBS had cliffhangers but I don't recall what they were. 

 

Are you referring to the Kim pregnancy or the Darryl/Frannie story as a soap classic rebroadcast ?  Neither one was...unfortunately 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

I'm referring to the Kim labor/delivery episodes. 

I always see people requesting the episode on You Tube, in the comments section, yet it's never been uploaded in all these years.  It just strikes me as odd since it has been highly requested for years.  This just makes me believe that the episode, despite its popularity, has never been re-aired in any of the remaining years that ATWT was still on the air.  

I'm still surprised that SoapClassics never thought to include it in the episodes that they put in their DVD collections.

Edited January 23, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[Eboneece]

I loved Scott Holmes’s Tom. He was the Tom I wanted to marry. Marx was the one I wanted to sleep with lol

[chrisml]

Michael Logan's column about Glynnis O'Connor taking over the role of Margo: 

oconnor.pdf

Edited January 24, 2019 by chrisml

[DramatistDreamer]

That recurring theme of minor characters going on to greater success on stage and onscreen, Blanca Camacho who basically had a dayplayer role as a Montegan named Erlinda went on to do a lot of work such as Lin-Manuel Miranda's first play on Broadway In The Heights.

So, of course, her IMDB page lists her role on Guiding Light but not ATWT.

[slick jones]

They don't have her role on AMC either. Not sure what year but she was Mrs. Alvarez there.

[DramatistDreamer]

OMG.

Remember the character Hey You, one of the kids from the Earl Mitchell Center, around 1989?  Jean Wolfman who played Hey You apparently, was beaten up in 2017...with his own Hula Hoop.  Nope, it's exactly as I just said.