As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

From what I've seen of Brad, I never understood how the Dobson thought he was their romantic hero. To the historians in the thread, was Brad supposed to be ATWT's answer to GH's Luke? Or did Brad predate Luke? I am asking b/c all the soaps seemed to cast men around that time that had the Anthony Geary aesthetic. 

I've said this before that many of the characters that weren't connected to the canvas (i.e., Henry, Janet, Vienna, Liberty, etc.) could've easily been cast as long standing characters in the show's rich history. I even felt that with many of the GH stunt castings too. I felt they stupidly squandered Wally Kurth, who has great chemistry with Maura. He could've easily been cast as Caleb or Scott (Lisa's son). Stuart Damon would've made the perfect Don recast. There were hundreds of characters to choose from the show's rich history that were practically blank canvases. 

Yes to that. I want to see the episodes where Marie Kovac, Cal Randolph, and Dr. Strauss all got killed. If I am not mistaken, the episode from '85 where Marie's body was found was on YouTube. I don't know if it is still there or not. 

[Khan]

I think the problem with Brad Hollister - aside from the fact that they absolutely cast the wrong actor for that role - was that he was too gray in his motivations.  On paper and on-screen, Brad was supposed to be this opportunist who nevertheless had genuine feelings for Dee that, in time, would have redeemed him to the audience.  However, from what I've seen, it's not entirely believable that Brad isn't anything but an amoral creep.  IIRC, too, Brad finally bedded Dee, but sunk his chances with her for good when he admitted to why he had bought the silver mine that the Hugheses and Stewarts co-owned; then, he left town.  To me, that's pretty much an admission on the part of TPTB that Brad was a very limited character who'd run his course.

[Mona Kane Croft]

The very idea that the Hughes family owned a silver mine (despite their history as firmly middle-class) is/was ridiculous.  Can you imagine Bill and Bert Bauer owning a silver mine? Joe and Ruth Martin owning a silver mine?  Jim and Mary Matthews owning a silver mine?  Mike and Nancy Karr owning a silver mine?   Seems to me, the Dobsons absolutely lost their minds when they became head-writers at ATWT.  This kind of crap might have worked on Santa Barbara, but not on ATWT.  Dear God in Heaven!!!

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Neil Johnson

[Soapsuds]

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Apparently Chris Goutman didn't do #2.

[kalbir]

Of all the EPs As the World Turns had in its final 25 years, go figure that Chris Goutman is the one that had the longest run (11 years).

[Vee]

I just remember them airing a Christmas '85 episode in the early-mid 2000s. It wasn't just a holiday episode, the plots were active. That was my first glimpse of Marland's ATWT, it was deep in the Doug story and it was fascinating. Holden, Lily, etc. were all present.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Vee

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Goutman and his team didn't do any of these rules hence why the show was a mess in its final years. 

I do remember seeing the scene (on Youtube) where Dee came down in a and Brad was literally undressing her with her eyes. It was just weird. And for Dee to lust after him while being repulsed by John for doing the same stuff was weird too. 

Reading up, I never understood this story. Was the mine on their property? If so, I thought they all lived in suburban areas. I do think that the Dobson might've been testing a lot of their ideas used on SB on ATWT. 

[Paul Raven]

The initial story was that the Stewarts and Hughes owned adjoining land out of town.

Brad discovered that there was silver there and through his new friendship with Lisa, got the Hughes to sell them the land. He also needed the Stewart property and approached David and Ellen. David found out there was silver and decided to lease out his property to another company. Brad began mining the Hughes land and Joyce,Melinda and Jay got involved along with Brad having interactions with Annie, Dee, James and Don. So they were really setting him up as a central character.

Don't quite understand from synopses why Brad and the Stewarts had separate mining interests underway.

[NothinButAttitude]

So was this land near the Stewart's cabin? Or was this just some retconned land to implant this story into? 

[Paul Raven]

Was the Stewarts' cabin around in the story at that time?

It seemed reasonable enough that at some point the Hughes and Stewarts would invest in some land outside of Oakdale, w/o it being mentioned onscreen.

Perhaps the whole idea was that they knew at some point the value would increase and they could sell for a good profit, so when Brad came along they were interested.

Otherwise, unless you planned to build on it, what is the point of having land just sitting there not earning any income?

[MarlandFan]

The only Marland-era 1985 episodes that have been posted on YouTube are Oct 16, Nov 1, Nov 11, Dec 24 and Dec 31.  I've been downloading and collecting all Marland episodes for years and these 5 dates are the only 1985 episodes I've ever seen.  

[DramatistDreamer]

 

For me, the most memorable episodes surrounding the passage of patriarch Chris Hughes weren’t about the funeral itself but the episodes before (when the Hughes family and extended family and friends were learning about his passing) and the aftermath, after the funeral when we see how loved ones are dealing with the grief after the funeral service, which is often not something that many dramas would dramatize. It was likely done without Rosemary Prinz and Julianne Moore due to scheduling issues that probably couldn’t have been rearranged to cover what was an unforeseen event but I think the writing made it work as Frannie’s scenes with Casey in the vehicle (I too wondered why, there wasn’t a deeper exploration of a romantic relationship between Frannie and Casey- Marland had a better sense of how to pace stories than most but this was one of those that I think was too rushed, they should have lingered a bit longer).

Penny wailing “Mom!” and just repeating “Mom…Mom…” as she fell into Nancy Hughes’ arms will never not strike me in an emotional way. David Stewart embracing Bob with the gentle greeting of “Friend” was just so touching to me. There was a scene of Margo lovingly and sympathetically looking at Tom as he mulls over the fact that their unborn child will never get to know his great grandfather, Margo tries to soothe Tom by reminding him that, at least, they were able to give Chris the news that they had reconciled which she knew made him happy. 
Sometimes ATWT could be a little too subtle for its own good but this was a time when those small moments painted a poignant and realistic picture of what grief and its immediate aftermath tends to look like. 

Also, I think the missing episodes do a disservice to the continuity, particularly in years like 1986 and 1987, when there were so many stories, many of which overlapped and interlocked with one another.

Edited November 6, 2023 by DramatistDreamer

[Mitch64]

Brad was skulking around the property (running tests) and met Annie who was sulking about some breakup.  Bob and Lisa knew him as his dad was friends of theirs ( a point quickly dropped) and Brad using his supposed charms got Lisa to push the Hughes to sell the land which then Brad announced that he found silver.  Then the Hughes were mad that Don was going to work for Brad..setting up a storyline but that was dropped. It jus was weird and the character never worked. I have no idea why they did not have James do all of those shenigans and just have Brad work for him.  They also started a storyline where David is flush with cash from the mine and buying things and Ellen is against it but that was dropped. 

I still don't get why Brad married Annie if he was always mopping about Dee. T

[China Jones]

I didn't see this when it originally aired because I was still in school, but I have viewed it on YouTube, and it took place concurrently with the "Lisa at The Willows" plot. Chris Hughes was torn about selling the property because of sentimental attachments since it had belonged to his late father (Grandpa Hughes.) The family eventually agreed that since they weren't using this out-of-town land, and were unlikely to, that they should sell it (along with the mineral rights, LOL.)

[China Jones]

But you know, I liked the fact that the writers acknowledged off-screen relationships. It seemed realistic that other people existed in Oakdale even though we didn't see them. This way the Hollisters didn't seem like they came out of nowhere but were already in town waiting to be woven into the fabric of the show. Too bad it didn't work out in this case.