Tuesday, August 31, 2010

WATCH: AS THE WORLD TURNS Tribute to Nancy Hughes

AS THE WORLD TURNS paid tribute to Nancy Hughes today after it was revealed the character had died on Monday's episode. The show chose to not feature the funeral but focus on the aftermath with family and friends doing good deeds in Nancy's honor. It was an emotional day with many special flashbacks and a prayer with Helen Wagner's voice. There was even mention of Chris and Nancy's young daughter, Susan, that died before ATWT premiered. We also got scenes between Lucinda and John, Barbara and Lisa and Tom and Margo. It was hard not to cry while watching if you have watched this soap for a long time.

There were a number of things the show could have done better. Obviously with the time restrictions we were not going to get a three week tribute a la Alice Horton on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. But it would have been nice to see Nancy's children at least mentioned, especially the wonderful Rosemary Prinz as Penny. Patricia Bruder was sorely missed as Ellen. Like Bob and Kim's 25th anniversary party earlier this year, it was the best of what ATWT can be in 2010 but a shell of what made the show great in year's past when the entire cast would have been involved and the town would have come together like a real community to honor a local icon. It sort of summed up a driving reason why many think the show has failed in recent years. Nancy's death will have little or no impact on over half the canvas because characters and stories rarely intersect. This even occurred in today's episode with John showing up at his daughter Margo's house but not even talking to her. The show's 30th anniversary was one of the best episodes ever so showing that flashback reminds viewers what the show has become. Strangely the show ended with Katie and no "in memoriam" to Helen Wagner. The actress's rare appearances over the past decade have been spent (some might say wasted) on frivolous conversations with Katie so to the writers that relationship apparently was more important than the ones longtime fans might appreciate more.

But enough of the nitpicks. Wagner was a legendary actress and her long run may never be duplicated. How sad that she did not live to tape the final episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS. And despite my qualms I am truly grateful to ATWT for at least taking this day to celebrate Nancy Hughes. Let's hope her spirit will continue to impact as the final 11 episodes play out.

Watch today's AS THE WORLD TURNS below and let us know your thoughts.





10 comments:

  1. Enjoyed the flashbacks but why did it have to end with Katie?

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  2. Your comments & review were so very true!

    This busines that "we have only have two weeks left" as the excuse everything was so rushed in this episode is ludicrous. The woman passed away in May for heavens sake-- they had ample time to expand this tribute past one episode.

    As much as I still do not & will not buy the fact that Rosemary Prinz or Patricia Bruder could have been brought back for a couple days work, their respective characters of Penny & Ellen as well as Donald, Frannie, Sabrina, etc., etc. could have at least been mentioned. Would it have been too much to ask for the opening scene to have at least been Bob on the phone saying something like "I love you too sis" to an unseen Penny?!?

    I also think that the Chris heart ailment overshadowed far, far too much of the tribute and yes, yes, yes, while perhaps it was within reason that our dear Fluffy should break down over losing her beloved(!) friend, there's no way, no how she should have been showcased as the last scene of the tribute. Don Hastings alone was robbed from this distinction.

    The flashbacks, as few as they were, were still treasured moments to recall & savor & the lack of a fade to black/in memoriam at the very end was totally tacky.

    Overall Grade of the Episode: C

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  3. I love this episode, but I deeply resent the negligence of the idiots in charge for not asking Rosemary Prinz & Patricia Bruder to return as Penny & Ellen, respectively!

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  4. Given the love and care that went into the Alice Horton death sequence on DAYS, ATWT's handling of the death of its beloved matriarch was pretty pathetic. No mention of missing family members. They could have AT LEAST brought back Rosemary Prinz and Patsy Bruder for god's sake even if the rest of the Hughes clan wasn't invited. And why did the last scene of the episode go to Katie? Ridiculous!


    On the plus side, we did get to see virtually all of the show's veterans in this episode, though Kathleen Widdoes was oddly absent. (She hasn't been on for awhile. Is she going to be back before the show ends?)

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  5. This episode was "nice" at very best. As I mentioned last week, for any new viewer who wants to really see what ATWT used to be all abloyt, watch the 30th anniversary week shows or subsequent passing of Chris Hughes on YoUTube. Don't be alarmed by the setting-Kim and Bob once owned a house and even the Snyders, Lucinda, and a long list of guest stars seem so much more authentic and well used. Two words: Douglas Marland.
    Compared to this ,and Kim & Bob's recent anniversary, you'll see how the show has been wittled down to the barest of bones. It's actually heartbreaking when I start to really think about it.

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  6. gman, I've never understood why soaps don't bother to at least mention missing characters at events like this. Marland's ATWT did this very well. Everyone had extended family.

    Rob, I think Kathleen Widdoes was unavailable in the final months ATWT was taping. I'm not sure what she was doing but obviously her presence has been missed.

    Patrick, you made my point much better than I did. Showing the 30th anniversary flashbacks in these "special" episodes just drives home the fact that it is now a shell of its former self.

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  7. I honestly don't know how I will fill that hour in my life. I have a home daycare as well as looking after my grandchildren. While the children are at school and the little one is napping, I have always watched my show. Even during the summer, my kids know to be quiet while I am watching my show. They do a craft at the kitchen table or play in the backyard, while I have my lunch and watch ATWT. They are so good - they never interrupt and sometimes even watch with me. Unlike a few others, ATWT has been the only soap I have ever watched. My mother introduced me to it when I was about five or six. She watched all her life, and we had many talks about the characters and stories over the years. After my Dad retired in 1989 (he is now 84), he would watch with her - he knows Barbara and Lucinda and John quite well. (I told him to watch the show yesterday and Monday and he did) - he also watched Barbara and Henry's wedding). It was their time together. My Mom stopped watching the last ten years, because she felt that the veteran actors were not being given enough air-time (I agree). I got involved with the younger storylines (Carjack etc) and never wavered. I would quite often call her and tell her if something interesting was happening. She loved the 50th anniversary shows. Since VCRs were invented, my Mom would record whole episodes (always the Christmas ones) when she thought they were interesting. I now have a collection of about 100 videotapes that I want to transfer onto DVDs (when I figure out how). I know the quality won't be as good as a DVD, but who cares. When my mother passed away just after Christmas in January 2007, I lost my heart. And now I've lost Nancy and my show. But I have my memories. Making my scrapblog is very good for me, because it gives me purpose - I feel that having this record will also keep ATWT alive for me (I know that a lot of the pictures and articles will disappear after a short while on the internet - so having the scrapblog will serve to keep all the information and pictures in tact). Once everything is over, I will have a permanent memory that I will transfer to CD and I will probably order a hard-copy book from Scrapblog (although that is prohibitively expensive - more than $300.) I have also been recording the show for the past two weeks; and I intended to edit out the commercials and then transfer that to DVD. My birthday is September 12th and Eileen Fulton’s is September 13th. As a Virgo, I have this NEED for nostalgia and I am super sentimental. I read Eileen Fulton's autobiography years ago (will probably re-read it between 2-3pm every afternoon after September 17th) and I found a lot of astrological similarities between us (except Eileen is not fond of children - I am the opposite - children are my absolute joy).

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  8. I honestly don't know how I will fill that hour in my life. I have a home daycare as well as looking after my grandchildren. While the children are at school and the little one is napping, I have always watched my show. Even during the summer, my kids know to be quiet while I am watching my show. They do a craft at the kitchen table or play in the backyard, while I have my lunch and watch ATWT. They are so good - they never interrupt and sometimes even watch with me. Unlike a few others, ATWT has been the only soap I have ever watched. My mother introduced me to it when I was about five or six. She watched all her life, and we had many talks about the characters and stories over the years. After my Dad retired in 1989 (he is now 84), he would watch with her - he knows Barbara and Lucinda and John quite well. (I told him to watch the show yesterday and Monday and he did) - he also watched Barbara and Henry's wedding). It was their time together. My Mom stopped watching the last ten years, because she felt that the veteran actors were not being given enough air-time (I agree). I got involved with the younger storylines (Carjack etc) and never wavered. I would quite often call her and tell her if something interesting was happening. She loved the 50th anniversary shows. Since VCRs were invented, my Mom would record whole episodes (always the Christmas ones) when she thought they were interesting. I now have a collection of about 100 videotapes that I want to transfer onto DVDs (when I figure out how). I know the quality won't be as good as a DVD, but who cares. When my mother passed away just after Christmas in January 2007, I lost my heart. And now I've lost Nancy and my show. But I have my memories. Making my scrapblog is very good for me, because it gives me purpose - I feel that having this record will also keep ATWT alive for me (I know that a lot of the pictures and articles will disappear after a short while on the internet - so having the scrapblog will serve to keep all the information and pictures in tact). Once everything is over, I will have a permanent memory that I will transfer to CD and I will probably order a hard-copy book from Scrapblog (although that is prohibitively expensive - more than $300.) I have also been recording the show for the past two weeks; and I intended to edit out the commercials and then transfer that to DVD. My birthday is September 12th and Eileen Fulton’s is September 13th. As a Virgo, I have this NEED for nostalgia and I am super sentimental. I read Eileen Fulton's autobiography years ago (will probably re-read it between 2-3pm every afternoon after September 17th) and I found a lot of astrological similarities between us (except Eileen is not fond of children - I am the opposite - children are my absolute joy)

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  9. I would have loved it if Patricia Bruder and Rosemary Prinz could have been included. Andy, Adam and Frannie should have been there as well. Since May 1st, at Helen Wagner’s passing, there would have been more than enough time fpr the producers to arrange this. I find it disrespectful to Helen and the show, itself. I again agree with the comments about Douglas Marland. I hated the tribute to Lisa; and Bob and Kim’s anniversary was also not what it should have been. There are enough clips that could have been used. Even the extended tribute, shown after the Daytime Emmys was NOT acceptable. There are some unprofessional tributes on YouTUbe which are excellent. As far as I’m concerned, the ENTIRE cast should have been on stage at the Daytime Emmys - shame on CBS.
    As far as your comment about Katie is concerned, I only agree to a certain extent - the Katie/Chris/Reid storyline is front and centre right now - it also leads to much more air time for Bob, Kim and John while they rally around Chris - FAMILY. The other thing that was evident yesterday - Helen Wagner and Terri Colombino had a very special relationship - they supposedly co-authored the book and spoke about philosophy of family and values several times over the years. I think that because Lyla wasn't around, Katie relied a lot on Nancy for advice. After Helen Wagner passed away in May, and the scene with Katie and Nancy was played in June, I was devastated because the words that Nancy spoke about loss, grief and etheral faith was so prophetic. If memory serves me, I believe that scene was shot on April 23rd - just a few days before Helen passed. As I said before, it would have been wonderful if Nancy could have spoken the last words on September 17th - but I think it is kinder to her memory and the history, that she spoke those words on April 23rd and that now we have had a chance to honour her yesterday. For Katie to be alone in Nancy's room with the words that Helen Wagner spoke for the last time, is an amazing legacy to not only Helen Wagner and Nancy but also to Don McLaughlin, Benjamin Hendrikson and all the other fine actors and crew that graced us with their humour, wisdom and love for many years before their passing. I wonder if Don Hastings, Eileen Fulton and Kathryn Hays and all the others would agree with me. It gave them a beautiful opportunity to honour Nancy and Helen Wagner in a way (that although is very painful) is also very necessary. I absolutely abhore CBS and feel that all of the television industry should be ashamed that Helen Wagner was not honoured in memoriam either on the daytime Emmys or last week on the Emmys (other actors were honoured, but not Helen Wagner or Frances Reid). That is all I have for now, more later.

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  10. I actually thought Tuesday's episode 'wasn't that bad' considering that its 2010, not 1986. Sure, it could have been better but unfortunately ATWT better days are behind it. I appreciated the references to Nancy's early life, they almost seemed like a reward to really long-time viewers.
    A phone call or two from Penny and/or Frannie should have been included.
    By comparison, I found Alice Horton's DAYS death rather depressing and drawn out.
    I think we have been lucky to have any form of ATWT and the Hughes on TV all these years.

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