As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

"Lily's birthday" and "the truth about Lily" must be in there too. I was watching an old Y&R from 1990 and there was a promo for Lily's birthday - yet another mass event. I thought they'd stopped by then. It's too bad this was discontinued. I have this vision of a 40 year old Lily having her security people make everyone hold up banners saying she's still 29.

[juppiter]

Lily's birthday woulda been just a couple weeks ago. Sad that I still remember that (we need a lol emoticon)

[DRW50]

Speaking of Lily events, this episode has the announcement of her marriage to Derek. There's a beautiful if slightly truncated scene of their first dance, as we see various people reacting.

This is the episode right after the notorious Emily/Brock tango. I love his line about how they just made love in front of hundreds of people. Melanie Smith is just sexational, especially with Beecroft.

There are lots of great moments in this - a sense of community, a big gala where generally everyone looks their best, with the glaring exceptions of Margo and Ellie (Ellie's outfit got a ripping from Diva Von Dish in SOD). It's funny that ATWT was doing an AIDS ball in 1989, complete with a very moving letter from Hank Elliot, yet I don't know if they got half the credit GH did for their Nurses Ball five years later. As happened again a few years later with Hank's letter upon David Stewart's death, I am so impressed Marland got that past the censors.

There's also a nice little scene with Ellen and Lisa.

I can see why they wanted to make Iva's father more virile, for this triangle with Cal and Emma (that never went anywhere), but I preferred the first actor. It's too bad the character ended up never being mentioned again.

My favorite part is at about :14, when Emily asks Lily if Holden knows she's married. I love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DkDXcR2JEE

[P.J.]

The winner has to be "I'm just trying to protect Lily"---EVERYONE and their flippin' mother used to say that whenever they lied to her. And she was always being lied to. Hell, most of Lucinda's purpose was lying to Lily and then protecting her from it.

[Mitch]

Too friggen funny. They should have ended the show on, what else, Lily's birthday, with MB as Rose crashing it, "Do I look dead???"

Don't forget during the Margo rape storyline (sorry, I know it was realistic but hated it, too damn dark for ATWT) when character's were constantly worried about Margo's "HIV status," No one ever said, "Gee I hope Margo didnt catch something," they all were so politely politically correct.

But my favorite ATWT/Marland cliche was the end of show/Friday cliffhanger which turned out to be nothing on Monday. Example, Lisa opens the door, looks shocked, and says, "Its YOU!!!" only to have it be Earl/Nancy/Kim/Shannon saying something like "Yea, I stopped by for that magazine I lent you last week!" My sister and I are big ATWT dorks and will still answer the door with a shocked, "Oh, its YOU," and a dramatic soap opera expression. I told you we are dorks.

[Mitch]

Why the hell did they kill Beacroft off??? I think it was just too much "sexy," for Marland. Usually he would have a hot guy with a kind of plain girl, (Holden/Lily) or a hot chick with a bleh guy (Emily and Paul) but he had two actors that were smoking it up on screen. Way, way too much for Marland' s refined tastes I think!!!

Edited October 5, 2011 by Mitch

[soapfan770]

ATWT got two separate mentions in the 1998 book TV Mania by Edith Pavese and Judith Henry whoos thick book sadly overlooked most daytime soaps except for ATWT, Dark Shadows, GL, GH and Y&R. Here's ATWT's two mentions:

[soapfan770]

Trivia time! Oh and it's Stenbeck not Stenbech(what an obvious error!!)

Edited October 6, 2011 by soapfan770

[DRW50]

Thanks. I hadn't seen those before. That first photo I'd never seen.

They get most of the names wrong...

[P.J.]

I don't think Greg Beecroft wanted to be tied down with a long term contract. Brock started out as such a scumbucket, it would have been hard to really redeem him and let him stay in Oakdale. I respect that Marland stayed with his vision and didn't keep the mob in Oakdale simply because Beecroft is a great actor.

Oh, and I have that card game. And the one for GL.

Edited October 6, 2011 by P.J.

[DRW50]

I think they were right to keep Brock a short-term character, although he definitely would have added something in Oakdale long-term, especially since Tonio was a fairly wan villain and others like Gavin Krueger were short-term. I do feel like they sort of lost the plot for Emily once he left, but then, Melanie Smith may have already told them she was also on her way out.

Melanie said in interviews that she really disliked Beecroft.

Beecroft was ahead of his time in terms of look. If he were the age today that he was on ATWT he would have fit in very easily on these retro shows that are on various networks now. The part of his story which affects me the most - Brock's struggle to get away from a dead marriage both he and his wife gave up on a long time ago - is very '50s or '60s. I'm glad Marland resisted the easy choice to make his wife a bitch. Her pain really adds to the story, and to Brock's character.

Edited October 6, 2011 by CarlD2

[Paul Raven]

[rlj]

Isnt this also the Ball that Holden arrives at with his wife Angel?

[DRW50]

I think Holden didn't return until later that summer.

Some 1992 promos. Sleek.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA_RpoYWuac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI_1EbK6OOk&feature=related

[DRW50]

October 1972 TV Radio Talk. I wonder how much Eileen Fulton's personal tumults fascinated those who read these magazines back then. I didn't know she was the Loretta Lynn of daytime TV.

Edited October 10, 2011 by CarlD2