As The World Turns

"As the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer and the harvest of autumn--the cycle of life is complete. What is true of the world, nature, is also true of man--he too has his cycle."

I started watching As The World Turns when my oldest daughter was a baby. It appealed to me because of their sense of family; the way the stories focus on the core family members of the show, while introducing new characters. The original families are still the backbone.

I still haven't decided exactly what to put on this page, but I know I want it to be a tribute to the show somehow! When lightning strikes, this page will grow!

So, stay tuned...

In March of 1999, Elizabeth Hubbard (who plays Lucinda Walsh) was let go from As The World Turns. There was a lot of speculation as to why this happened. The big story going around was that the storyline for Lucinda was unsatisfactory to Ms. Hubbard, because they had her character doing things that were very unlike Lucinda Walsh. It was also being rumored that Ms. Hubbard wanted more control over her character, as she knew Lucinda best. Whatever the reason, Lucinda was gone, and the show suffered for it. I have long since thought that Elizabeth Hubbard was way beyond soap operas. Her talent is just immense. She brings something to As The World Turns the likes of which I've not seen from any other actress, and there are a lot of wonderful actresses on this soap.

I think what happens is that Ms. Hubbard puts a little of her into Lucinda. There is also some spontaneity going on. Having played the character since 1984, I do believe she knows Lucinda best. The storyline before she was let go was pathetic. Lucinda had become involved with and married the notorious James Stenbeck. While I think Anthony Herrera is a fabulous actor, everyone knows the history of his character, and the relationship with Lucinda Walsh. It was a very unlikely thing for them to get together, let alone get married. The story progressed to the point where Lucinda seemed to have lost her backbone. There was speculation that the storyline was heading in the direction of having Lucinda establish a close relationship with James so that she could better control him. She knew what he could do to her family--he'd tormented various members of her family for years. But they also seemed to be showing that she was genuinely falling in love with James, and that just seemed so against character. I adore Elizabeth, and I adore Anthony...I was thrilled when they brought James back. But I did not like this storyline at all.

Right before Elizabeth was let go, she was involved in an accident in her stables, perpetrated by James. The accident was meant for Holden. (James found out that Holden had "killed" his son, and this was his pay-back.) Lucinda went into a coma, and when she came out, she suffered a stroke. She was then shipped off to Florida to a rehab center.

For the five months her character was gone, Ms. Hubbard's fans wrote to Procter & Gamble and As The World Turns, pleading for her return. Things seemed rather hopeless, until Chris Goutman came on as the new Executive Producer. Apparently Mr. Goutman felt just like the fans did, and worked to bring Elizabeth back. Happily, Lucinda is now back on the show. She is leading people to believe that she's not recovered yet from her stroke, but her fans (and a few suspecting characters) know better. It is said that Lucinda has come back anew. I am looking forward to the changes. Hopefully a hint of the "old" Lucinda will be back, but with a fresh new perspective.

One of the things I miss most about the "old" Lucinda was her interaction with Kirk Anderson (played by Tom Wiggin). My desire for things to return to what they used to be with Lucinda brings up another disastrous storyline. I used to love watching the sparring between Lucinda and Kirk. I loved the way she called him a shark, and he even once presented her with a little pet shark that she kept in a fishtank in her office at WorldWide. I thought the decision to let Kirk (and his wife, Samantha) go was a bad one. The way they left was an awful storyline, and very bad timing. Sam had just found out that Georgia was her daughter, whom she'd given up years ago. Considering Sam had just recently found Lucinda (who is her half-sister), family means a lot. Supposedly Kirk and Sam have just disappeared off the face of the earth. In a way this is good, because it leaves the door open to bring back the characters.

Tom Wiggins was playing a character on Guiding Light a while back. He was a cowboy named...Sam. I had to laugh at the choice of name for him. (He now has his wife's name--LOL!) I love Tom's acting, but I had a hard time with him in this role. I kept yelling at my TV screen "Kirk, go back home!!"

I do hope they bring them back, to settle the storyline with Sam and Georgia, but mostly to bring Kirk back to get into some more trouble with Lucinda! Unfortunately, now that Georgia is gone too, that probably won't happen. :-(

This page hosted by

Get your own Free Home Page