As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Khan]

 

And that wasn't even acting on their parts!

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I think Marland was right to see Steve and Betsy as a limited couple (his words, not mine) but not allowing them to leave town together?  Their fans deserved a happier ending.

[DRW50]

 

I think there was real story to be told with Betsy on her own, so I can see why they kept her there. Maybe they could have recast Steve briefly and had him freed from prison and leave for a new life with Betsy (when Frost chose to leave). I think by that time Runyeon was on Santa Barbara. 

[P.J.]

And Betsy was about the only connection left to the Stewarts at the time. Without Betsy as a direct tie to Emily, Em's reintroduction to Oakdale would've felt flat.

 

Frost could've handled more and better story than she got. If there was a character who truly fell through the cracks under Marland, it was Betsy.

[Khan]

 

That might've been doable.

 

Acting-wise, Lindsay Frost was more accomplished than Meg Ryan.  Nevertheless, I'd be lying if I said Frost didn't leave me feeling cold emotionally whenever I watched her (on ATWT, as well as on other shows).

 

 

Which is ironic, since MR -- who, IMO, should've stayed on soaps -- couldn't leave ATWT behind fast enough.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Khan

[Brolden]

 

OK, I'm really excited, because I have just had a major breakthrough in my research. If you'll remember from when I first posted the above, I've been trying to figure out ATWT's episode history (something which I have since moved to the separate As The World Turns Full Episode List thread). In doing so, I have divided the entire history of the show into 13 "eras" which are really bridges between confirmed episode numbers.

 

The 13th and final "era" stretched from episode #10,000 in 1995 to the end of the show (or, really, 1998, from which point on every episode number is known). In addition to all of the pre-emptions listed above, I came up 3 pre-emptions short. I had four episodes that I listed as potentials for the 3 remaining pre-emption slots. 

 

Something that saddens me tremendously is that so much information that was once available online can now no longer be found, due to websites being taken offline. (really, how difficult would it be for CBS to have an archive section in their website for shows that are no longer on the air?) Anyway, I achieved my breakthrough with the help of an amazing tool. If you go to archive.org in your webbrowser and then type in the URL of any site, it will show you archived backups of that site from history. Thus, even if www.cbs.com/daytime/as_the_world_turns can no longer be found, this tool allows me to see what the site looked like in, say, 2004. It's a bit touch-and-go, as some subpages will not be available and others will be, but it's EXTREMELY useful for research such as mine. 

Back to the point: although the CBS site actually wasn't much of a help, I found a former Dutch website (which I used to visit a lot and I know is a trustworthy site, they got all of their info from the official sources and translated them in Dutch). On that site I was able to confirm the pre-emptions listed above for May 25, 1998, July 4, 1997 (which is a bit odd, as it is the ONLY year I can find where the 4th of July was pre-empted, but OK) and January 1, 1997. Although I wasn't able to confirm anything (either airing or pre-emption) for December 31, 1996, since there was only room for 3 more pre-emptions, that episode must have aired. (In general, December 31-episodes aired much more often than January 1-episodes, which were almost always pre-empted, so that makes sense). 

With this info, we are able to connect 1998 to 1995, which means that ALL of the episodes from #10,000 onwards are now accounted for.

 

There are, however, a few minor irregularities. I feel confident enough about this info to "close the case" and move to the next era, but ANY further verifications are always very welcome, especially on these irregularities:

 

1.) The Dutch page I was referring to actually marked the March 17, 1997 episode as having been pre-empted. They marked the March 7, 1997 episode as having aired. However, I have previously verified the March 7 episode to have been pre-empted due to President Clinton's news conference. I doublechecked and that indeed happened on the 7th. I am therefore assuming that the Dutch site had the two dated mixed up.
2.) The April 5, 1996 episode, which aired on a Friday ended with Dan Region saying "join us tomorrow", instead of welcoming us to "join us again Monday". I'm assuming it was a TPTB oversight... but that seems to have rarely ever happened.

3.) In the Scrapbook, there is a section that follows the filming of one particular episode. The Scrapbook mentions this to be episode #10,155 and lists the airdate as December 22, 1995. According to my info, #10,155 aired the 21st, while #10,156 aired the 22nd. The Scrapbook, much as I love it, is actually filled with tiny little errors like this, so I am assuming it is very possible that they were simply one day off.  

 

 

Anyway, now that we have connected September 17, 2010 to May 12, 1995, it is time to shift our focus to the next era: 1993 - 1995. 

This is a tough one, as it is the era of O.J. I need to find 10 more pre-emptions. As you can see below, I have 8 pre-emption potentials, but I can't even be sure about any of them. Any help is welcome! 

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Edited August 7, 2019 by Brolden

[Brolden]

Actually, scratch that. I think I may have just connected episode numbers all the way back to episode #9,102 on October 2, 1991.

 

It went a little fast for my taste though, and my head is spinning a bit, so I would like to doublecheck some things tomorrow before I post.  

[Brolden]

 

OK, so I needed to find 10 more pre-emptions. Based on btm0815's comments, that included the January 17, 1994 and February 21, 1994 episodes. I had 8 more candidates listed, but I have since found out that the O.J. Simpson pre-emptions likely lasted a day longer, including July 8, 1994. Since it is widely known that soaps were pre-empted a lot for O.J. and  since my source for the Oslo Accords was very unsure about whether or not that led to any pre-emptions, I'm going to place an estimated guess that the show was pre-empted on July 8, 1994 and that the show aired on September 13, 1993, which will allow me to connect episode numbers all the way back to October 1991. 

IF this estimated guess should be incorrect, it will most likely mean that the September 13, 1993 episode was pre-empted and the July 8, 1994 episode aired, which means every episode number in between would be off by 1 (if that were the case). 

 

The Full Episode List has been updated accordingly.

As always, any info, particularly on September 13, 1993 and July 8, 1994 will be much appreciated!

[Paul Raven]

Rona Barrets Daytimers Jan 79

Amy Gibson (LOL) and her sister Jody (ATWT) model disco fashions.

 

Anyone know who Jody played? Obviously a minor role.

 

Jody chose another career path.

Jody Gibson is an American former madam who was active in Hollywood in the late 1980s through 1990s. Going by the pseudonym "Sasha of the Valley", Gibson operated an "escort agency" in Hollywood, during which time she employed several hundred women across 16 States of the United States of America, and also in Europe

[Mitch]

LOL..she was the inspiration for GL's Amanda..the "Malibu Madame!"

[Bill Bauer]

 

Must have been. That was the same year she had lead character Robin Fletcher kill herself by throwing herself in front of a truck on Guiding Light. But Irna was always very morbid. Ten years earlier, she had Robin’s mother, Kathy, killed when, confined to a wheelchair, she was knocked into oncoming traffic by kids on bicycles. 

[Khan]

Irna had this habit of killing off characters whose performers displeased her in rather gruesome ways.  Didn't she want to kill off Liz by setting her nightgown on fire, because Liz's portrayer had appeared nude in some movie?

[Bill Bauer]

 

I think I heard that too. She killed her off in another morbid but creative way when she fell up the stairs. 

[Paul Raven]

That is a story I have read many times.

Jane House I believe was the actress in question and had appeared nude in the play Lenny. But when Liz was killed off she was being played by Judith McGillan.

[soapfan770]

So in the past couple years I've pretty much for better or worse re-watched a lot of ATWT from 1993-1998, any suggestions of where to start at next? 

 

Speaking of Molly a few pages back @Khan, I did venture in 1999 just enough to see Molly make her  epic diss of Yvonne Perry's Rosanna. "Hi Rosanna I'm your cousin Molly, oh those clothes look so dowdy on someone so rich!" The biggest problem with Molly during the first couple years was she was pushed everywhere without rhyme and reason: a retcon history of her and Holden having a child, pushed into the Stenbeck family, and then was also Carly's cousin! No, Dusty Donovan never pushed her into the Snyder Pond either. Her pairing with Jake was a breathe of fresh air and allowed Molly to finally develop on her own and let Kay's acting abilities shine through  There was a reason it was so great when Kay's Molly returned in 2009 with a typical Molly down on her luck story with a nefarious man story. 

 

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 at Finn Carter's arrest btw. 

Edited August 21, 2019 by soapfan770

[Wendy]

Figured this was the best place to put this. But I read on another board that Renee Props was actually on the season finale of Animal Kingdom on TNT tonight. It was said she still looked good, and the poster was glad she didn't go the plastic surgery route. So I am assuming she still looks like herself. (I don't watch the show, so I can't say first-hand.)