As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Soaplovers]

I do find it a shame that Karen left the next year.. because I do think she could have fit into Oakdale mid/late 80s period... same as with Diana.  

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

She still looks great.  She could be on one of the soaps on air today.  If Y&R weren't so ageist, she probably could've made a good Diane Jenkins (no offense to MW but we all know she was miscast in that role).

Actually both Kate McNeil and Kim Ulrich look great. 

If it were up to me, I would've waited a few months after Lindsey Frost left the role and just recasted Ulrich as Betsey Stewart.   I know Runyeon left at least a year before Frost but ironically Ulrich had a lot more chemistry with Runyeon than Frost did. I'm not sure whether it was the decision of the actresses or they were written out but I understand that McNeil left in 1984?

[Soapsuds]

It was a stand alone episode featured in the James Stenbeck DVD collection. I wish the episode that followed it had been included in the release. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

That's one of the things that irritated me about those compilations--why wouldn't you have the before and after episodes?  It needn't have the entire story arc but the episode showing how Barbara ends up in the bullring and then the episode that follows Gunnar saving Barbara from the bullring.  I mean, were Barbara and Gunnar able to wrest little Jonathan Bower from James' clutches?  I want to know how it happens?

 

The other thing that still annoys me is, why wouldn't they include those special episodes like the masquerade balls and formal events like the hospital fundraising formals?  Emily's tango with Brock should be in any compilation and so should Lisa's Cleopatra trick on Lucinda.

 

Also, if you're going to have Bob and Kim's bachelor party, wedding and reception, Kim's surprise labor and birth of Christopher Hughes should've been included!  That was a highly popular set of episodes.

Edited May 2, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[Mitch]

Lisa wasn't just daffy at this time, she acts like she is on something with her forgetfulness and her jittery hyperactivity, while Betsy acts stoned. (does Betsy..go to school at all, have a job, just sits around and sighs all day.)

 

It was actually Fulton's decision to play Lisa this way...(this was a few episodes before she left the show..) She said they weren't writing for her...(which they were) so she had to go dead down inside, to find something to play..."so I came up with a ditz..." which Lisa never was. She is obviously trying to get attention in those scenes and her red hair!!!

 

Loring is cuter and better then I remember her. I love when she tells that guy..."I trust you!"   Uh, cause he is FLAMING!"  (Note: I forgot all about Ernie, who now is a pretty successful interior designer in NY...so yea, Cricket..you are safe with Ernie.) The dark haired girl was Bilan who was cute...but what was the point...the Dobs were wasting time and insistent on bringing in young people, (Cricket, Ernie, Bilan) who don't do anything.

 

I forgot Colin's Margo was so harsh and annoying and I can't believe Deas is not chewing the scenery.  Agreed on loving Ariel and her eye roll at the dullards. She was fun and she should have been kept on just to sit in Fashions and roll her eyes at everyone.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Mitch

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Oops, I meant Bilan.  She and Cricket looked so much alike they were almost interchangeable here.

 

As for Lisa's acting choices...where was the director in all this mess?  ATWT at that time must have approved of EF's acting choices then because otherwise, a director would've intervened in that.

Edited May 3, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[Broderick]

If you watch Lisa, Craig, and Betsy's scene with the volume off, it looks as though you're fast-forwarding, because Eileen Fulton's arms and hands and eyes are all moving at such break-neck speed. 

[Khan]

 

Meg Ryan likely felt the same way as you.

Please register in order to view this content

 

Yeah, a big problem with ATWT at this time (which I tend to blame then-EP Mary-Ellis Bunim for) is that the canvas is littered with characters and actors who are certainly young and telegenic, but who lack purpose or strong ties to the Oakdale community.  Unless someone was part of James's storyline or the Betsy/Steve/Craig triangle, they might as well have been an background extra or under-five.

 

Watching that particular episode from '83, I'm amazed by how little of the show remained by the time Marland returned as HW just two years later.

Edited May 4, 2019 by Khan

[Soaplovers]

I always will think of Loring as Wednesday Addams from the 1960s The Addams Family...  She was on for 3 to 4 years on ATWT.. and I always thought it weird that Cricket never came back even for visits.  You'd think Marland would have had the character come back for visits when her mom got married, her step dad passed away, etc.

[Khan]

With some exceptions, Marland tended to act as if the 1980-1985 era had never occurred.

[DramatistDreamer]

Well, I know there were people complaining the there were too many Montgomerys, maybe it was his directive to rid the show of a few (* kanye shrug*).

Has Lisa Loring spoken of her time on ATWT?  She's lived quite an eventful life since she left the show, including being married to an adult film actor, as well as the fallout from that, and other divorces.  Also, her recovery from a drug addiction.  Is it possible that the show wanted her to make an appearance but she had too much going on in her life?

[rlj]

This gave me so many flash backs, loved Ariel, Karen, and Bilan, all part of the mother/daughter angle at ghe time   Love Lyla, hate Maggie.  Is that Robertons Brian ghat Ariel is eyeing?

[P.J.]

 

I think CBS didn't want to be associated with Loring the more notorious her life got. And honestly, Cricket wasn't a vital piece of ATWT history. Marland also liked using the idea of "out of town relatives" to cover vacations or maternity leaves.

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by P.J.

[juppiter]

 

My goodness. Seeing that, yes. As much as he spoke for taking things slowly and not changing anything for six months, he clearly wanted nothing to do with that vision of ATWT. I can see why, too, but I don't completely hate that 1983 episode either. Those Barbara/bull scenes are great. And Anthony Herrera is so sexy it should be illegal.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I thought that was a distinct possibility too. 

CBS was one of the most conservative networks (although that dynamic wouldn't truly manifest itself in the programming until the mid-late 90s).  Even when CBS had standards that could be considered more permissive, this was still daytime television and the standards would always be more constrained than primetime television.