As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[Brolden]

 

That's actually interesting, because they way I've always understood it, Molly is Carly's cousin through Ray, not through Sheila. So she isn't Rosanna's cousin at all. Must have been a mix-up on the part of the writers.

[Khan]

 

That (giving Molly definition) might be the only GOOD thing Hogan Sheffer did for ATWT.

[victoria foxton]

 I loved Molly & Jake. Then Jake died. Donna & Marley got custody of the twins. Abby left for college . All that and her pairings with Mike and fake greasy Dusty. Lead to her characters ruination. 

[mango]

Molly and Jake were great. I think that's the only time we saw who Molly truly was, and she finally had someone who understood her. I had never previously watched Tom Eplin, obviously knew of him through the daytime circles, but he was a likeable performer. It seemed so random to get rid of him, but I just assumed it was because his contract was up. Too bad, because he made Molly likeable, layered, and talked her down from a couple of ledges.

[Bright Eyes]

 

Yes, she was. She was in one scene, but it was substantial. I saw this post before I watched so I knew to look out for her. She did look great.

[P.J.]

 

Yeah---defined relationships weren't their strong suit. Sort of like how Jack started out as Holden's second cousin---then quickly got an upgrade to first. 

 

I was surprised that they made Carly and Molly cousins. I'm not sure Molly would've been salvageable if Carly hadn't returned to town. Molly had crossed a line trying to kill Lily, and seemed destined to get the bum's rush.

[Khan]

 

Sigh.

 

I'll probably catch hell and everything else for revealing this information, but since it's come up several times in the past in this and other threads -- why not?

 

Tom Eplin's departure from ATWT had nothing to do with contracts being up, or anything of that nature.

 

The truth is, he ran into some trouble BTS with one or two actresses on the show.  Specifically, he behaved badly -- VERY badly -- during an all-night wedding shoot (IIRC).

 

Out of respect for the actress(es), I won't name names.  But, let's just say it was a #MeToo/#TimesUp kind of situation.

 

 

Molly's being a house guest of Bob and Kim's after the church bombing (it was a church bombing, right?  And Lucinda led everyone in song, right? Or was I high when all that happened?) had a lot to do with that as well.  I mean, it probably helped to make the audience more sympathetic toward her.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Khan

[BetterForgotten]

I remember hearing Martha Byrne especially campaigned to get him fired after that "incident." 

[Khan]

 

She did.

[DRW50]

Not to take away from that but I was just thinking how he ended up pretty much destroying Molly as a character as after his exit everything given to her was terrible, aside from her 2010 return, which I thought was surprisingly strong.

[mango]

 

I had no idea. I appreciate the information, and thank you for taking the time to share it.

[DramatistDreamer]

Is anyone surprised that there was a "Me Too/Times Up" situation at ATWT, especially in that final decade?  Look at who was in charge.  Look at how characters were being written. I'm not even surprised at this. I was expecting it at some point.

Ironically, while many others were trying to write a hagiography of Eplin and his "exceptional" effect on the show's history (which is, kind of ridiculous when you think about the length and breadth of this show's history), I wasn't feeling it. 

 

[victoria foxton]

Jake's presence in Oakdale/ATWT felt a bit off too me. Tom/Jake's saving grace was his amazing chemistry with Molly. Which helped ground Jake in town. Tom always gave me a sleazy vibe. But i thought  that was just the character not the actor. 

[Mitch]

I always thought Eplin, on ATWT seemed to give a relaxed, "guy" vibe..neither super stud, nor villain nor nice guy...just a normal guy...(on AW it was a different story..) I liked him on the show and thought he worked well with everyone..( I thought he was a better fit then Scott Holmes Tom but...)  I know he had a run in with the actor who played "Eddie-Man" but that was because the Eddie actor was being an ass...sorry to hear his other issue...but now can understand why he was never on another soap.

 

I can't believe Rauchie (GL ) never had a "Me-Too" issue.

[KMan101]

 

Rauch probably did ....

 

I vastly preferred Eplin as Jake on ATWT than I ever did on AW. It also depended to me on who he was paired with on AW. He was wasted on blah Jensen Buchanan, and I was NEVER a fan of her Vicky (except maybe very early on and I feel like her pairing with Ryan was the exception, but she just lacked fire; we didn't need both Paulina and Vicky to be boring housewives).

 

Eplin does kind of give off that vibe, if I can be honest ... lol. I did like him the most on ATWT too, ironically. It always did feel random, as he fit in well on ATWT, IMHO (as did Cass, who should have also migrated full time) but now it all makes sense ... (much like I never understood why no show held onto Sarah Brown ... only to find out she was basically blacklisted)

 

That being said, overtime, I've become less and less of a Martha Byrne fan ... 

Edited August 22, 2019 by KMan101