Okay, I KNOW I’m not the only fan of As The World Turns on the Dope. I haven’t actually watched regularly since about 2000, but I still try to follow what’s going on occasionally and I do sometimes catch an ep. So I still consider myself a fan. Not quite as much of one when I was watching regularly and discussing the show every day on ratsc (rec.arts.tv.soaps.cbs).
I was kind of thrown into mourning by the announcement by CBS of their cancellation of ATWT. I’m having trouble imagining a world without Oakdale. I’ve found myself turning some of the more memorable plotlines of the 20 years or so I watched regularly over in my mind. So I’m opening a free-ranging discussion of the show here.
Some conversation starters:
What’s your first memory of ATWT?
What was the first plotline that got you watching regularly (if different from the previous question)?
Who is your favorite character in the period you watched (can be more than one)?
Who is your favorite villain in the period you watched (can be more than one and can be the same as above)?
My first memory of ATWT is snippets of the Marisa Tomei “Marcie marries a prince” story. Not long after that I started watching regulary when the Sian O’Casey/Shannon O’Hara mystery began…I can still remember Kim running into the Hughes home screaming about having just found a body.
Must go on break…I’ll continue my stories in a little bit.
My favorite characters tended to be the older generation, but not all of them: Lucinda, Lisa, Emma Snyder, Nancy (LOVE Nancy!), Kim, Hal (RIP Benjamin Hendrickson), Margo (or at least the Hilary B. Smith version), Connor Jamison (Walsh) (at least until Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin (head of production for Procter & Gamble, most UNaffectionately known as MADD) and her flying monkey ATWT Execuprod Felicia Minei-Behr) lobotomized the character).
Favorite villains: Lucinda Walsh, John Dixon, James Stenbeck (until about the 4th resurrection), the crazy guy who had a shrine to Kim (Douglas Cummings), the crazy guy who had a shrine to Lily (Scumberto, as he was known on ratsc).
I think my favorite plotline was the loooong summer lead-up to the revelation of Lily’s parentage. That incredible scene, when Iva busts into Cousin Josh the stablehand’s room with the pitchfork, was an absolutely beautiful climax to that storyline!
The most ridiculous plotline is any one that involves James Stenbeck coming back to life and somehow regaining all of his power and wealth (or, even more incredibly, convincing everyone of his rehabilitation (LUCINDA! What were you thinking?!)). It really began to get old.
My favorite writer was Doug Marland. He was headwriter for most of the beginning of the era I was watching and it was incredible. The show’s death spiral began when the stories he was working on when he died ran out…it intensified when MADD and her flying monkey Behr took over. It’s been on life support since, really.