To all the former GLers, did any of you switch to another soap? I've been trying to catch a bit of ATWT (I like the people on this board, LOL), but it's amazing how hard it is to start from scratch, especially if you don't have time to watch more than a few scenes a week. It's been great to see Tom Pelphrey. Are any "alums" on any other soaps? I REALLY miss "MY" story. I'm finding it hard to care about a new show and I'm trying to decide if I'll stay with it.
I know Ruff and Amanda follow ATWT, but anyone watch anything else?
*GASP!!!* No WAY!!! Amanda, if you're saying this just to get me to watch ATWT ... well, it will work, LOL! As time goes by, I'm hoping more and more of our beloved actors from GL will find new "homes."
I watched ATWT the other day, and it really is hard to follow a new soap after all these years. However, it did have a homey feeling. Not knowing anything of the characters, I learned that some guy is/was sleeping/involved with two sisters, a young woman is pretending not to have post partum or just doesn't care about her baby, and a guy named Henry talks to dead people. Also, Maureen Bauer is now a cop named Margo.
Tom Pelphrey has never been a draw for me but Daniel Cosgrove and his wonderful dimples just might do the trick.
Okay, Ruff & Amanda, start filling me in on who is who.
Whoa, hold the phone -- the woman who plays Margot is NOT Ellen Parker?! If she is, she's lost a massive amount of weight. The woman who's mean to her baby (or her car carrier, LOL!) lost her husband, and he's the one who's talking to Henry. There are lots of women with long hair that I can't keep straight. I'm telling you, soaps are WAY more complicated than I ever realized. I'm a one soap girl and you don't know how strange it is to watch another. It is really hard to develop feeling for characters when you're new to a soap. I miss having a story and I love DC, so I'll try to keep going, but I don't like having to work so hard to decipher what's going on. It's like not knowing a language.
No, Ellen Dolan is the cop on ATWT, and she was Maureen before the one that died.
You're so right, KK about it being hard to decipher a new soap, also frustrating not to have the history behind each character that we took for granted on GL. I remember new posters seeing GL characters in completely different ways than old viewers because we knew they had been really rotten or really good in past stories.
meggie, Here is the note I sent to KK about Carly.
Carly just came back from rehab. She had a drinking problem. (Maura was out on maternity leave)
She now has long blonde hair. She is angry at Craig and Rosanna. Rosanna is her sister. Craig WAS her fiancé except Craig fell in love with Rosanna while Carly was away in rehab. Actually Craig and Ro were married once before. (Their history is complicated.) Carly is not taking this betrayal sitting down! No sir!
Carly and Jack used to be married. They have an extraordinary connection. She's the one who went to Philadelphia looking for Jack and is now in SC to find him there.
Maura is an amazing actress. I love watching her face. Carly is a woman who fights for her causes with gusto. I like this about her. You are cheering her on until she crosses the line and ends up going to far via the wrong way. She's gotten herself into a lot of trouble and she can end up losing something she dearly wants as a result. ................. Carly and Jack are like soul mates. There is a huge Carjack fan base. [It's not an obnoxious fan base the way Manny fans were.]
So now, Carly is in SC. She'll connect with Jack and maybe rescue him from himself. This is something Jack's wife (Janet) should be doing instead. Janet's well intentioned but over bearing maternal attitude is part of the reason Jack had to get away. Carly and Jack connect on a level that Janet doesn't get. Janet knows this. There's on going tension between Janet and Carly.
Thanks, Ruff. That's a good start, and does explain what I saw. Why is Henry able to talk to the dead guy? Is he related to anyone I've seen so far? Why was the older dark haired lady fantasizing about him? Do they have a past? Does he have a past with anyone else?
I feel like a I need a crib sheet to watch the show.
All you need is for one of the story lines or characters to grab you. You will piece that together and then the rest will begin to connect.
One of the things I really like about ATWT is the inherent respect that exists for its history and long standing, very valued cast members. The Hughes are the core family. Nancy Hughes/Helen Wagner is the mother and is an original cast member from when the show first began in 1956. She still comes on the show occasionally. Her son is Dr. Bob Hughes. He runs the hospital. Bob Hughes/Don Hastings has been with ATWT for 44 years! Bob is currently married to Kim Hughes but back in his younger days, Bob was married to Lisa Hughes. Lisa currently owns the hotel everyone uses. Lisa/Eileen Fulton has been with ATWT for 40 years. Eons ago Lisa and Bob had a divorce and an ugly custody battle over their son Tom Hughes. Tom Hughes is the DA. His wife, Margo is the Chief of Police. Margo is played by Ellen Dolan. Ellen was Maureen Bauer for 4 years starting in 1982. She's been Margo since 1989. Tom and Margo have two sons, Casey and Adam. Casey is the only son who is present right now.
Tom also has physical custody of his son who is a result of his affair with Emily Stewart. (Old news.) This child is currently away in the boarding school closet along with all the other soap children.
FYI: Margo's brother is Craig Montgomery. He has a notorious reputaion because of his history as a villain. Lately he's been good .... for Craig it is 'good' except he's strayed back to Rosanna. There are a lot of people who are skeptical of him, with good reason.
Craig has a son, John. He's in kindergarten or first grade. Craig also has a grown daugher, Lucy. She's off the show right now.
Margo's sister is Katie. Katie is the sad mother with her new baby (baby carrier). Katie was married to Brad. Brad was Jack's brother. Jack is a detective. Jack shot and killed Brad by mistake during a hostage/rescue situation. Jack is on a guilt trip right now. (Brad/Austin Peck was recently fired so they had him killed off the show)
-- Edited by ruffles on Saturday 14th of November 2009 03:37:30 AM
Henry and Katie have a deeply bonded friendship. Henry calls her Bubbles. They've always been friends. They did try marriage once but it didn't work. Brad (the dead hubby) is haunting Henry because Henry is linked to Katie in friendship......Except Katie is angry at Henry now which complicates Henry's ability to communicate with her. Henry is Brad's best chance of getting through to Katie.
I think Henry's mother [Audrey] is off the show now.
Henry has a sister, Maddie. Maddie and Casey used to be in love but Casey had to go to prison for a bit. They seem to be reconnecting now.
The dark haired woman is Barbara Ryan/Colleen Zenk Pinter. Joel adores her about as much as he did PSO. She is a fabulous, fabulous actress. Barbara's character is very diverse. She's been with ATWT since 1978. Barbara is a very well to do, intelligent, sophisticated woman. One wouldn't, for all the world, expect any connection to happen between Barbara and Henry, but it has. Barbara was once connected with James Stenbeck, the villian of all villians! They had a son, Paul Ryan. Rather recently we learned that Henry is also James' son. Amazing! James died [again] which brought on a bizzare battle over the inheritance. Short story: Henry was coerced into seducing Barbara as an effort to get 'his' share of the money. It was a delightful comedic interlude. Now it seems, that poor lonely, sex starved Barbara is looking for more fling! We'll see.
Henry was madly in love with his significant Vienna however she's away from the show right now. I like her but Henry's/Trent's plot involvments have been fantastic and so much more interesting since she's left.
Okay, after all your typing I feel obligated to start watching. ATWT is on at 1pm here which is a killer time for a soap. I'll have to start taping so I can be sure to watch it every day. I'll give it a try!
Great, Meggie, you can join me! I don't have the time to watch an entire week's worth of episodes, so I know it will take me awhile to get what's going on. For now, I'm focusing on Henry and Tom Pelphrey's stories and ff'ing the rest. I also like the girl who plays a video game (she mentioned my son's college!) and the cute geek who has a crush on her. I figure it's like immersion in a language and I just have to dive in until I become fluent. Adding Daniel Cosgrove and his dimples to the mix will definitely help with my education, LOL!!!
I tried watching DOOL because of Crystal Chappell, but aside from CC the acting by the younger cast members is so incredibly bad , I just couldn't watch it anymore.
I am going to try ATWT. Thanks for all the backstory info.
For so many years, we've had a blast sharing our soap talk and perspectives. This is how we came together. I happen to have become hooked on ATWT. I really look forward to watching this each day and have that 'I don't want to miss it' feeling. Nothing would make me happier than if we regrouped our soap family togetherness through ATWT. Of course this is an individual decision for each. We'll see how this goes.
Tony, that would be awesome!!! I want our soap "family" back together again. ATWT has the same silly soap conventions as GL -- talking to dead people, time travel, people who have no apparent means of financial support, even when they have a "job" -- but the acting's pretty decent and it "feels" the most like GL than any other soap I've sampled.
I will warn you, it's hard to figure out what's going on and who's related to whom. Ruff, is there a family tree, like we found for GL? I always found that helpful, even though I followed GL in utero, I'd forget things.
I'm so glad you're all trying out ATWT. I have watched and loved it for as long as I did GL. I am one of those "CarJack" fans that Ruff mentioned, and you've all been around long enough to know that Michael Park (Jack) is very dear to me. Ditto Trent Dawson (our "Uncle Henry"), so you can bet that whatever stories are on ATWT at any given moment, I am most interested in theirs.
Ruff did a great job on getting everybody up to speed. I'll be happy to help with any other questions along the way!
OOOHhh...Now I get it --Michael Park = Jack! Now I see why you made that Jack reference! I have heard you talk about Michael Park since I knew you, but I didn't know who he was. Light bulb time!
Jack/Michael is very much worth watching. From the way Amanda talks about Michael, he is also an exceptionally likable person.
Jack has high standards so it is natural that he would be very hard on himself for having shot his brother. It is also a huge factor in the Carjack break up because for Carly, the end justifies the means when it comes to something she desperately wants.
'Tis true! I can never say enough nice things about Michael or his family! And Jack Snyder has always provided a pretty stable moral "compass" (heh!) to the show. I think all of you ATWT newcomers will love him, too!
Okie Dokie, after reading all of this, you all have convinced me to try ATWT again. I used to watch it faithfully years ago, so I shouldn't have a great deal of problem getting back into it again. I will have to record it as it comes on during my "working" hours. But it will give me something else to watch at night when I can't sleep, lol.
Several former GL members are also on All My Children.
AManda, I called a human resources place yesterday and the receptionist said, let me transfer you to Amanda *******. SHE HAD YOUR NAME!!!! Did you move to Denver and start working at a hospital? LOL Lib
Wow! Nope, I'm still in the great state of Virginia. When you got her on the phone, did she live up to the awesomeness inherent in her name? *grin*
Just so happens, there was another baby girl born in the same hospital on the same day as me, and she has my same name, first, middle, and last. Crazy!
There is (or maybe was) another girl with the same name as me who worked here. She changed her name in the global address book back to her maiden name, because she kept getting emails directed at me.
Adding Daniel Cosgrove and his dimples to the mix will definitely help with my education, LOL!!!
