As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

14 yr olds should not be given storylines beyond their years...

 

Watching this the problem for me is none of those characters were related to the core. 

 

Emily Srewart would have been the right age to be at the forefront of stories at this point. If they didn't want Susan back, Emily could have come to stay with Ellen and David while susan took a job in  some far away land.

 

Don Hughes' step daughters Alice and Debbie should have been kept around.

 

So much easier to keep veterans relevant with young characters to play off.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I agree that 1984 definitely looks like a transitional period. 

 

One half of the show's latest supercouple has left and you can tell that the show is scrambling to try to fill that void and many of their young adult characters seem to be treading water (as is evident by those lackluster conversations between Frannie, Kurt and Jay).  Brian McColl seems fairly generic here (just before his romance with Barbara) and Gunnar and Karen seem to be on their way out.

It is fascinating when you think of how this year fits into the general context of how the 1980s stories were laid out for this show.

 

I also am a fan of Lucy Deakins, the first Lily Walsh.  This episode is not such a great example but in other episodes you can see that she and Brian Bloom have really good, genuine chemistry.  The writing seemed determined to veer toward the poor little, rich (and spoiled) girl characterization when Martha Byrne took over the role. 

 

As for Dusty/Brian Bloom, I don't recall who was directing at this time but I think that Bloom could have used a good director to guide him through some of those scenes in terms of display of emotions.  I remember, in an interview, Julianne Moore mentioned that there wasn't much rehearsal time at ATWT.  Given Bloom's age, a good focused, purposeful director would've been all the more important.

 

I wonder whether TPTB had caught wind of Brian Bloom's film work prior to some of these episodes? 

 

They might have spent too much time watching his work in the Sergio Leone film Once Upon A Time In America which would have debuted early that same year.  Bloom played a very precocious character who actually goes to see a prostitute.  Brian probably shot that film when he was 13 but in that film he looks 12!

 

@BillBauerEven more reason why I think that early Dusty Donovan might have served as a template for early Holden Snyder because of the restless, angsty, volatility.  With Holden though, was the added element of sex.

Anybody remember how predatory Holden came off as he and Meg plotted to drive a wedge between Dusty and Lily?  Part of Holden's original plan was to seduce a teenage Lily (and no, I'm not speaking of a figurative seduction, I mean literal) until the added complication of him developing genuine feelings came into play.   Very early Holden was calculating and also creepy.

[amybrickwallace]

 

You probably already know this, but Lucy Deakins left show business behind several years back and became a lawyer. Here are a couple of recent pictures of her:

 

https://www.dunsinglaw.com/about-the-team

 

What did you think of her Lily's dynamic with Liz Hubbard as Lucinda?

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Yes, I do remember reading that she had studied painting for awhile before going into law.  With the litigiousness of our society, she'll never be out of business, that's for sure!

 

As for Deakins' dynamic with Liz Hubbard, I thought that Lily's world, at that time was written to be very tightly constructed around Lucinda.  (I wish that there were more episodes uploaded to YouTube because frankly, I was so young when those episodes first ran that my memories of anything not posted to YouTube has become cloudy over decades).

 

In the waning months of Deakins as Lily, the character was just growing into conflict with Lucinda as the beginnings of the Sierra "saga" and the mystery of the emerald was just taking off. 

Before, the conflict was mainly generic teen stuff, her sneaking out to go dancing with Dusty, which because she and Brian Bloom had such great playful chemistry, came off as a lot of fun (I like it when teens are teens and we actually get to see them have fun sometimes!). 

As the mystery having to do with Sierra's identity was just beginning, I think it actually gave Lucy Deakins more "notes" to play, dramatically-speaking.  Lily was starting to assert herself, especially where Lucinda was concerned. I remember a scene where Lily pointedly tells Lucinda "I'm not afraid of you anymore" and you can see that Lucinda is totally taken aback by the statement.  It kind of said, in a nutshell, the past and present state of Lily and Lucinda's relationship. 

 

In a sense, it would've been interesting to see how that storyline played out with Deakins in the role.  It would've been interesting too to see how the writers would've written Lily's budding sexuality with Deakins in the role, especially seeing how very young Deakins looked at that time.

[Paul Raven]

Some 70's pics that I don't believe have been posted before.

 

That era seems to have no profile. The move to 60 min seems to have weakened the show. 

 

View large image
(1144 x 1600)

Edited March 7, 2019 by Paul Raven

[chrisml]

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[DramatistDreamer]

A lot of board members have been posting scenes in the Best U.S. Soap Scenes thread and I've been posting some from ATWT. 

During my search, I came across this scene from 1986 and I must say, it does not age well.  At all.

I realize that this scene was supposed to be fraught with sexual tension, and even, in some ways, sexy but Holden comes off in a somewhat predatory manner.  

We were talking about scenes that seemed age-inappropriate for the Dusty character- the same logic sort of applies in regards to Lily being a minor and Holden being an adult-grabbing her hair violently. Ugh.

 

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[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

Julianne Moore talks about being fired from Can You Ever Forgive Me and why she still hasn't seen the movie.  The write-up is in Vanity Fair.

Julianne Moore Says She Was Fired from Can You Ever Forgive Me?

 

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[DramatistDreamer]

Also came across this recent interview on CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley, who it seems, was a fan of ATWT and mentions Frannie/Sabrina Hughes.

 

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[Vee]

Julianne never fails to honor the soaps. I'm always so touched.

[Faulkner]

I wondered what went down with that, with Julianne and Nicole Holofcener both off that movie. Every interview I’ve read with Melissa McCarthy about how she came to replace JM talks around that whole ordeal. Say what one will about Andy, but he gets the scoop. 

[DramatistDreamer]

I don't credit Andy so much as someone actually asked Moore the question.  I don't think anyone had actually asked Moore about it.

[Faulkner]

Not saying Andy Cohen is Barbara Walters (he wishes), but the looser format of his show sometimes allows for scoops about stories that had been glossed over. If no one dared to ask her about what actually went down on “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” before that random caller, that’s crazy. Now if she’d been asked previously and deflected so as not to steal any thunder from the film and Melissa during awards season, that’s different. Maybe she only now felt comfortable to say something.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Faulkner

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Her co-star, Chris O'Dowd, who was replaced by Richard E. Grant, talked about the fact that he was replaced and he was disappointed but was very complimentary and diplomatic toward Grant.  Grant even mentioned it during awards season, before the Academy Awards so I don't think that it was some big secret.  Entertainment reports were likely dancing around the topic and Moore had other movies to promote like Bel Canto. I just don't expect entertainment reporters to ask the probing questions, especially when they defer so much to the studios and agencies for access. 

It's cool that Andy Cohen allowed the caller to pose that question but it wasn't breaking news.  I just think the entertainment reporters likely didn't want to touch it and were happy to move onto other stories like the one about the movie in which she portrays Gloria Steinem. 

Everybody knew that that movie's production history was very messy, lol.

[Faulkner]

I’ve been in that side of the business, so I know how hesitant certain reporters can be to dig. But the bigger outlets (like the NYT) usually do ask those questions. They might not get the answers, but they usually ask and note a lack of candor. Everyone knew something went down, and Holofcener left the project right after JM did, so I thought maybe someone pulling the purse strings could have forced them out. For Julianne to be as blunt as to say she was fired by Holofcener  (and to add she hadn’t seen the film), while not earth-shaking, is decently big news, especially for someone of JM’s caliber. 

 

Anyway, I feel like I’ve veered far away from my original point, which is that Andy gets decent scoops from time to time, even inadvertently.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Faulkner