AS THE WORLD TURNS has improved lately. If it weren't for ALL MY CHILDREN's lack of heart, ATWT might be the worst soap of 2008, but is showing signs of life. Bob and Kim have been featured the last three days and the Hughes family is front and center, as they should be. The Holden death drama has been interesting so far and Noelle Beck has been superb. There is definitely hope for the future where they seemed to be none just a few weeks ago.
But there are still some major problems with the storytelling on this show that need to be addressed before this can really be called a turnaround.
First, the stories are still be told in silos. Kim having a heart attack and Bob's memory problems have pulled in Tom and Margo but where is Lisa? And where is Barbara? Seeing Barbara caught up in Paul's life completely unaware of what is going on with Kim takes away so much of the sense of family and community which made Oakdale great in the past. Paul is Kim's great nephew as well and should be at the hospital. I can accept that none of Kim's children (Sabrina, Chris and Andy) are in town and may not be there but having a story like this involving Bob and Kim is only truly effective if the characters that are there and should be involved are involved.
Second, there is way too much focus put on the wrong characters in stories. The Bob and Kim story is more about Alison, Casey and Riley as it is as Kim and Bob, maybe more. Alison has been too wishy-washy, annoying and whiny for the audience to truly embrace her, and that airtime could be much more wisely spent having Dr. Susan Stewart pulled in or Lisa comforting Bob. Why isn't Alison talking with Susan or Emily about all this? Now is the perfect time to pull them into the story to have another epic battle with Tom and Margo. Are we really expected to believe that Alison is the only person in Oakdale to notice what is going on with Bob (until Riley/Adam finally did)? Kim lives with Bob and would have been the first one to notice.
Which brings me to one of the most frustrating things of all about AS THE WORLD TURNS - the plot holes and continuity errors. From day to day characters may act and feel completely different than they did the day before. Perhaps it is because a different script writer is penning the dialogue each day, but as a fan, who cares? This soap needs to make sure things make sense. If it's afternoon one day and the next episode picks up in the morning (supposedly the same day Oakdale time) it's just a sign to the audience that no one is paying attention and the show doesn't care about details. Now is the time to respect the audience and write for an intelligent, savvy set of fans (we are). If anyone in charge thinks this is "just a soap" and fans won't notice, they really need a new job.
AS THE WORLD TURNS is not the only soap guilty of focusing on the wrong characters or having big events or funerals where key people are missing. But no other show has the amazing history of this one where it stands out like a sore thumb. If the budget is an excuse to keep Lucinda, Susan and Emma (who is thankfully being used this week) in the deep freeze, perhaps trimming the cast or limiting the guest stars would be one way to help to ensure the characters fans actually care about are on our screens.
None of these problems are too big to fix. It's just a matter of whether The Powers That Be care enough to truly make this show as good as it could and should be. We'll all be watching closely over the next few months to see if they do.
Preach it! It seems as if your frustrations with ATWT are the same ones I've had with GL for a while. Continuity and that feeling of connectedness...there are the very things that attract and maintain viewers to this, particular medium, and both thngs are being tossed to the wayside.
ReplyDeleteI haven't followed ATWT regularly in way too long to make much of a comment, except to say that the last few times I've caught it, it's made me really, really sad. I'm glad TPTB have decided to pay homage to GL's past as the showwinds down, and delve into such things as Vanessa and Dinah's complex mother/daughter relationship...but I wish they'd done this a few years ago. it might saved the show. The same could be said about ATWT - it's seems to be a in a now-or-never situation: there's time to fix what's wrong, if anyone can be bothered.
- Lana
Great write-up. I agree with a lot you said. Thanks for putting it out there!
ReplyDeleteWell put!! Budget woes are no excuse for poor story telling. Even if an actor is physically or financially unavailable their absence can still be addressed.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you are writing for the wrong people....ATWT could use your help!!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this a lot lately, too. I'm by and large happy with the Bob and Kim storyline: it's given Don Hastings and Scott Holmes both some good material to work with in particular. I also personally like the twist of having Henry be James' son. But both cases remind me of the little things the show could do better. Susan is Bob's best friend but would also believe her daughter: seems like she'd be key to have intervene. If they couldn't get Marie on for the past few episodes, make reference to Susan being out of town for a conference and then have a big scene upon her return...On the Riley front, how much more would it help us reconnect with this character if we could see his grief at finding his grandfather losing it a bit and having his step-grandmother in the hospital but not being able to show that he knows them and instead acting like a somewhat interested stranger? For Tom, wouldn't it give the story much more context and make Margo's decision to keep the truth from him much harder if we saw him privately grieving for the loss of his son...Instead, he just mentions that he's grieving, too. Maybe they could explain his outrage about the Kim situation in part as the strain of losing a child...Bob, Kim, and Lisa have seemed to have next to nothing to say about losing Adam, meanwhile...
ReplyDeleteAnd this story could do a lot to explain Kim's strange behavior and obsession about WOAK for awhile. Maybe she subtly saw the signs of Bob slipping and subconsciously immersed herself in her work that much harder, or maybe the strain on her body is related to her obsession with not letting her professional life slip. Again, these don't have to be front-burner storylines, but they could give a lot more context to the scenes these vets appear it.
But bravo for getting some days with the Hughes family front and center, the sort of Snyder family drama we can really enjoy, etc. On the Hughes front, just a shame that we'll see so much of Tom, Bob, and Kim these next few weeks and then have them disappear again...
Sam, I agree that at least mentioning Susan (and maybe others) would have been helpful.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with the Riley story, aside from the fact that Tom hasn't been told, is that he calls everyone Dr. Hughes or Tom or Margo with ease and never slips up. I could not go home to Tennessee and start calling my mom Mrs. Newcomb. It would just be too strange.