As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

It's weird to see Iva dating her therapist as I thought that was seen as very unethical. I wonder if that's why it never went any further. Too bad, as I think they have a nice vibe here, as she slowly tries to find her life again after letting go of Kirk.

 

This episode also had one of Marland's dream/fantasy sequences. I notice after the first year, when they were very campy, they were often much more serious, as this one was. Therapy subtext as text 101, I suppose. 

 

Gail does remind me a lot of early Marland Barbara, now that you mention it, especially when she confronted Frannie to try to rile her up. The story itself is flat but Gail had the potential to be an interesting character. I wonder just what she was threatening to tell about Courtney. By the next year Courtney would be remade into a complete sweetie-pie. She annoys the hell out of me either way, but at least here she has more personality. 

 

I notice in this episode they make sure to have those family moments, bantering moments, with the Hughes family - this is what made them special to me, and what was lost by 1996 or so. 

 

Someone on the video commented about how odd the Emily and Hal scene late in the episode is when you remember they would later marry. I just can't picture Melanie Smith with Hal. 

 

Sometimes I forget how much they played up Tonio being a sex fiend. He has one woman on the go here, is playing mind games with another, and is about to get a third. Peter Boynton isn't unattractive, but he doesn't have the charisma to make it believable.

 

I loved the bit where Susan says only a fool would be with a married man, then awkwardly pauses. 

 

 

[adrnyc]

Has anyone seen this? It’s an LGBTQ serial I’ve stumbled upon - seems to have a new chapter released every day. It’s reminding me of how much I loved ATWT. It and ATWT on YouTube are the only things keeping me sane these days...   https://www.thehomosofharmonyhaven.com

[Mitch]

I don't even remember this woman!!!

 

Sean WAS hot...he played Gaston on Broadway...but he was totally not Frannie's type...or Marland's type..i.e. he didn't prisspot around about "feelings," and "honesty"  I forgot he was annoying Courtney's bro and I HATED this Frannie with her helmet hair..she just didn' t seem to be a Hughes...(I would think Nancy would think that "flashy" hair is good for Emily but NOT a Hughes...)

[Khan]

It's like we're trapped inside some alternate universe ATWT, where Gail was a major player in Oakdale for decades.

 

Meanwhile, I'm like Squeak in "The Color Purple," going, "Harpo!  Who dis woman?".

Edited February 1, 2019 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

 

At the time, I didn't take it as Iva dating her therapist.  I should probably watch the episode(s) again but I remember seeing it as the fact that they both worked at the hospital, so on occasion, they would encounter each other in the hospital cafeteria and eat lunch together.  And their conversations often seemed more like extended therapy sessions to me. 

Perhaps there were times when they saw each other outside of the hospital and I'm just not remembering?  I think she may have invited him to the farm once but Iva had a tendency to invite everyone to the farm.

Then again, I don't remember Lynn Michaels or Dr. Audrey Samuels having lunch with their patients.  Lisa Brown and the actor who played her therapist clearly had onscreen chemistry-- I wonder why they didn't pursue it?  Maybe have Mark decide that he can no longer be an effective therapist because he's attracted to her?  Too bad Iva seemed to be typecast as "the heavy" by then.  Ellie was seen as the whimsical, impetuous sister.  I would have loved for Iva to, for once, decide that she's going to go for what makes her happy-- date Mark, see Dr. Michaels as a therapist and then decide that she can't just let Ellie have Kirk and stop that wedding (that wedding was tacky as hell anyway!

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There were times when I questioned how Melanie Smith's Emily would fare in a pairing with Hal or Tom and at first, I had trouble picturing her Emily with BH's Hal together, until I remember that she once played George Constanza's girlfriend in Seinfeld.  Then, it seemed a little less impossible to imagine.  Oddly enough, I have as much, or more trouble picturing MS' Emily having an affair with Scott Holmes' Tom.  With Greg Marx's Tom, hell yes!

 

[DRW50]

 

I didn't even believe KMH being interested in Tom. I hated that whole storyline. 

 

They did mostly pair Melanie with men who were much older or much younger so I guess it could have worked, but I'm not sorry I didn't have to see it. 

 

I don't know why I thought he was Iva's therapist. What you said makes more sense. I haven't watched a lot of this time period as I didn't even know how much was around. 

 

I agree that they shouldn't have made Iva "the heavy." I suppose she was always a heavy character, but they got away from that a bit when they paired her with Kirk. It's unfortunate they doubled down in order to bring in Ellie. And then Ellie ended up being horribly depressing in the end too, as the whole show became very dark by that point, so it was all for nothing.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

No no, you're right Mark was Iva's therapist.

The confusion was in how the relationship was portrayed on screen. 

Their get-togethers seemed to consist mostly of lunches in the hospital cafeteria where they both worked, and their conversations seemed to look more like extended therapy sessions.  What I couldn't figure out was why give us glimpses of what Iva and Mark could've been and not pursue it?  Why not explore the ethical ramifications of a doctor becoming attracted to his patient and vice versa? That would've been good drama considering how talented Lisa Brown is.

I'm just saying, had I been writing it, I'd have really had Iva break out of that role that she'd been foisted into and pursue her desires.  For once, not for the good of someone else but because she wanted it.

[juppiter]

 

MS played Jerry’s girlfriend who he made out with during Schindler’s list. But she is most well known for walking on on George naked, to which he famously responded, “I was in the pool.” One of Jerry’s only girlfriends to last multiple episodes. 

Edited February 2, 2019 by juppiter

[P.J.]

Ugh.. .I stumbled on to Daniel's conception on day on utube. It was....the opposite of good. *eyebleach*

[victoria foxton]

The Tom/Emily affair was horrible. They were both so nasty and unlikable. Long after the affair.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

Lately, I've been imagining how I would write a rebooted ATWT, how I would re-imagine certain storylines and what characters would be included and one aspect that crossed my mind was the question of Daniel and would I even acknowledge that entire storyline or would I simply pretend that it didn't exist and keep things moving?

 

I guess reboots have been on my mind because we're in a world of Reboots right now.

[P.J.]

 

For a legacy child, Daniel sure was an afterthought quickly after his birth. If I were doing a reboot, he'd be in it. Imagine the mess he'd be. Lol.

 

 

 

Neither SH or KMH were particularly warm, emotive performers. What they had goes beyond anti-chemistry to some black hole where the laws of physics no longer work as we understand it. 

 

Except for Em's brief time with Hal, I never found her or KMH likeable. 

[victoria foxton]

The kid was a Stewart and Hughes hybrid.  He deserved way better. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

And yet, I'm completely indifferent to his presence.

[Eboneece]

That period under FMB, especially 1998-99, was so blah. And, of course, the Margo/Eddie stuff was running concurrently with Tom/Emily. I only liked the Tom/Em pairing because it wasn’t Eddie and Margo. Gross. That story partly ruined Margo for me, but I did appreciate how the show would trot out the Em/Margo rivalry in later years and particularly during that brief Casey/Em affair.

 

But, like I said, that period was so blah. I recently rewatched a few eps... the writing was glacial and focused on odd character groupings minus a handful of stories. The production values were lackluster, but the sets were spacious in spite of their cheap looking adornments. CG really took them up a notch if you compare early 1999 to later in the year and into 2000.. And the less said about the music direction during this period, the better. The tone was totally off in terms of music.