As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[victoria foxton]

 

 

[SamandWillowFan]

I didn’t watch As the World Turns when it was on, but I’ve looked up some of the characters and watched some clips from the 2000s. Was the character of Emily considered to be a troublemaker? It seems like she was the Brooke Logan of that show in that she slept her way through the Hughes and the Stenback families. 

Edited April 3, 2019 by SamandWillowFan

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I'm not sure what Emily was supposed to be by that time.

You should really dig further back to when Melanie Smith portrayed the character.  Yes, she slept with James and Paul Stenbeck but she was no Brooke Logan type.

[P.J.]

 

Yes. There was a brief period where Em was softened (with Hal), but otherwise she ran the gamut from evil to just abrasive with psychotic tendencies (at least while KMH played her. Meanie Smith's Emily was a troublemaker who repeatedly picked the wrong man. )

[KMan101]

 

The writers never seemed to know who or what they wanted Emily to be. 

[DramatistDreamer]

The last few years of Emily were weepy, whiny and maudlin.  It was almost unbearable.

[DramatistDreamer]

Did anyone see this? 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[KMan101]

 

 

But I do love he's actively staying busy. Good for Michael Park  

 

Tom, Emily and Margo really lacked for me. As when I started watching as a newer viewer, before I've since done my research, watched old episodes, etc. it just felt they had no real purpose and were all just there. It was such bad writing. Scott Holmes and Ellen Dolan also irritated me sometimes with their acting choices. Dolan's Margo felt cold. Tom was often kind of just there. Sure they had some minor storylines and I started tuning out around the last couple of years but eh ... I never saw what the appeal was until I saw better writing and better actors playing Tom and Margo. JMO ... lol (and I think Ellen was great as Maureen on GL ... she just felt checked out a lot on ATWT, not that I can blame her)

[SamandWillowFan]

Thanks for the replies. Tom seemed like an upstanding guy. I know he got Emily pregnant while married to Margo. Was that a one-time lapse in judgement, and if so, what caused him to stray?

[victoria foxton]

Tom was going through a midlife crisis. He quit his position as town district attorney. He then got a job as a reporter. While working with Em the two had an affair. Their affair went on for a while.

Edited April 4, 2019 by victoria foxton

[SamandWillowFan]

Thank you. I would think he was pretty disgusted when she later had an affair with his son.

[KMan101]

I figured they were trying to recapture the attention Bob/Susan/Kim received with Tom/Emily/Margo but it fell pretty flat. You had the Alec nonsense with Margo. Emily and Tom forced together ... and then for years barely a mention or use of Daniel ... for me I don't know that they ever recovered for me after all that, honestly. It felt like a lot of damage was done to all three characters. "On paper" the idea isn't horrible.

Edited April 4, 2019 by KMan101

[DramatistDreamer]

 

TBH, I think most of the ATWT cast stays actively busy.  Larry Brygmann, Margaret Colin, Tom Wiggin, Tamara Tunie and many others do theater, at the B'way and regional level.

 

IA with your assessment of the last Tom & Margo.  Ellen Dolan's performances as Maureen Bauer were strong and a bit off-beat yet warm (although Ellen Parker was the Maureen I grew up knowing and I loved her portrayal as well).  I can see why a casting director would expect that all of that could carry over to Margo Hughes but only the strength aspects seemed to carry over.  I think ED's Margo had a very challenging storyline right from the start and it seemed as if when that was over, she only had one really powerful performance left and that was the rape storyline.  I didn't really get the warmth from her and although she cracked jokes and smiled a lot, that easy humor that Margo always had seemed to fall flat or get lost. 

Although he wasn't my favorite Tom, I liked some aspects of Scott Holmes' portrayal of Tom when he was with Hillary Bailey Smith.  They had a good poignant vibe which could veer into romantic, if lacking the passion that HBS had with Gregg Marx.  

I do think the writing became uninspired during much of Holmes and Dolan's run and perhaps they just got tired.

[KMan101]

 

Holmes and Dolan's run was definitely dampened by poor/awful writing. I don't really blame them for checking out ...

 

I felt like I always just wanted something ... a bit more ... out of Dolan's Margo. I too can see why they thought it would work. It should have, she ultimately wasn't a bad choice to play Margo ... but then maybe Dolan felt she'd be playing Maureen all over again. IDK.

Edited April 4, 2019 by KMan101

[victoria foxton]

The Tom/Emily affair was so bad. I can't believe  i watched most it. During the course of that story. Tom, Emily and Margo all became completely unlikable. If i remember correctly the affair overlapped with the Eddie/Alec stuff. Another clunker from that era. 

Edited April 4, 2019 by victoria foxton