As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

We're there any other daytime soaps that had more than one woman directing episodes during the 1980s? I have noticed that ATWT had Maria Wagner and Jill Mitwell and I wonder if this was rare or common during that time period.

[Bill Bauer]

The only Dee Stewarts I really saw were Jacqueline Schultz and Vicky Dawson. I loved Vicky and couldn't stand Jacqueline. I don't know if it's the actresses or the way the character was written at different times. Maybe a bit of both but it may be my preference for Vicky. 

[Soapsuds]

I didn't know Jacqueline Schultz was married to Larry Bryggman. I preferred Vicky as Dee as well.

[Paul Raven]

Dee was still a viable character but Marland didn't see that.

She had only one marriage behind her - and that was to John, so plenty of story possibilities there.

It would have given Ellen more to do also and kept the all important links to the past.

[Brolden]

You are right. They both appeared.

[Mitch]

Wow..I thought Vicky was dull as dishwater! But I do agree with the previous poster who says that Dee suddenly became the unattainable goddess of love in Oakdale. Brad was obsessed with her (did they ever explain WHY he married Annie when he would stare off into space at the mere mention of Dee's name??) John was obsessed with her (even offering her the real ring and giving Ariel a fake one when Dee rejected him and he married Ariel...for...reason???) James was obsessed with her and they even chemistry tested she and Tom during a writer's strike.  I liked Jackie but she had horrible writing and just stared into the camera with her mouth open...(apparently Jackie and Colleen were fighting it out to be the STAR of ATWT and the girl who played Bab's sister got caught in the middle and fired..which was too bad..she would have been a good character for Marland.)

[Broderick]

That girl who played Barbara Ryan's sister Melinda Gray -- was her name Ariane Munker? -- was one of the cutest, feistiest young actresses on soaps at the time, and her storyline seemed packed with potential.  It was nuts that she was dumped.  She was the only lively participant in that Dee/Beau Spencer/Annie story in the very late 1970s.   

[bboy875]

Wow, I never knew Barbara had a sister other than Frannie. I searched around because the name sounds familiar, I think Munker played the forgettable Christine Valere(?) during a very forgettable period on Guiding Light in the mid/late 80's I vaguely remember her husband(?) Paul Valere getting murdered, which launched a very forgettable mystery. 

[DRW50]

Ariane Munker toured many of the soaps - I think her last role was a thankless recast for Kim on DAYS when poor Patsy Pease couldn't play the abuse/DID story anymore.

The little I've seen of her on ATWT, I liked her spark, which stood out in contrast to how staid much of the rest of the show felt. 

As for Jacqueline Schultz, I've complained about Dee, but I do think Schultz had an ethereal presence and was beautiful, which made the various obsessions men had with her more logical. It's just so many of the stories were so dull, and they did a horrible, horrible job casting Brad, with that pornstache and the general perviness. Probably one of the worst casting choices ever on a soap.

Edited July 25, 2021 by DRW50

[P.J.]

I believe she was Ariana Chase when she appeared on the show. I don't recall that much about Melinda, other than she was a trouble maker and died after falling off a boat into a lake and getting hit in the head by said boat. She just died and was rarely ever mentioned again. 

[slick jones]

Ariana Muenker is very friendly on FB, at least she was in a Doctor's group I am in. When someone asked her about her characters, she gave a lot of info about them. They had spelled her first GL character Christy and she explained the importance of it being Christie. She was just a temp. Greta on TD, but she recalled a lot about the actors.  She spoke highly of her Melinda run.  She didn't say a lot about Christine Valere, mostly how nice James Goodwin was, and the levity BTS.

[Broderick]

Yep, that's the girl --- Ariana Munker a/k/a Ariana Chase.   Her bio shows that she was born in 1960, so she was only about 17 or 18 when she joined World Turns as Melinda Gray.  She didn't have any "bad" soap habits then; she was just young, extremely cute, and a natural little actress.  What I remember about her is that Beau Spencer (of Spencer Hotel fame) was married to Annie Stewart, who studied all the time (med school).   Beau was bored.  Annie was dull.  That cute little Ariana Munker was tempting Beau to cheat on Annie.  Whenever he'd start thinking about possibly porking Melinda Gray, Chuck Mangione's tune "Feels So Good" would start playing in the background.  He finally did bang Melinda Gray, and then I believe he actually divorced Annie Stewart and married Melinda Gray.   My main recollection is Ariana Munker looked like she'd be a lot more FUN than Annie.   That's probably NOT what the writers were going for (viewer allegiance to Melinda Gray), but that's what they got from little boys in the audience lol.   

[DramatistDreamer]

Speaking of what writers hope to achieve, where viewer allegiance is concerned, I'm going to say something that may shock some, or at the very least, surprise a few: I don't believe that Lily Walsh was supposed to be regarded as a likeable character, especially as played by Martha Byrne. I have my reasons, and as a writer, it becomes more clear to me as the years pass and I watch episodes from the 80s, in particular. I think that viewers often confuse screen time with favorability. Villains often get a whole lot of screen time and material too, not that Lily was a villain, but she was definitely a self-absorbed, selfish, and often thoughtless, rich girl. In her relationship with Dusty during the 80s, in particular, she did not come out looking good in that instance. I think this was intentional in the writing, the direction as well as the acting choices. In fact, there wasn't much emotional growth from Lily until she had her first child, a lot of stupid and thoughtless choices had been made by her. If you want to discuss a character who had the most growth, who made the transition from ingenue (and sometimes vixen) to heroine in the 80s, I would give that distinction to Meg Snyder.

[Soapsuds]

Listening to an old Casey Kasaam countdown from July 1985 and Whitney Houston had a song at #3 at the time and Casey mentions how she was on ATWT.

[KMan101]

 

Julie appeared too? Wow. I had the same memory as others that she was off-screen and 'dying' or having cancer. I guess I didn't pay much attention at the time. I didn't have the appreciation for the character then I do now that I've watched more of her so I guess it was easy to forget. I definitely remember her 1999 appearance. How easy she fit right back in.

 

I don't think 1999/2000 are appreciated enough considering what came after LOL

Edited July 25, 2021 by KMan101