Shark Bytes

I just call "ATWT", "Luke and Noah". Why else would I watch?
I feel like they JTS already though. They broke up over a school election and instead of standing up for his man, Noah ratted Luke out, getting him expelled from college. You'd think Luke would have been the one to break it off! Anyways I still want them back together but by the looks of it we are going to have to deal with maybe-gay grandpa Brian and the return of Jade. Maddie is supposed to show up too so damn it more stalling in the Nuke reunion.
(Speaking of reunions, how dissapointing was Nuke's reunion after Noah got back from Rome? 1:25 after a month+ without them??)

Anyways, they should make a branch off or something as I'm sure no one cares about the rest of the show.

The decline definitely began with Marland's death in '93. But the real jump the shark moment came when they hired Susan Batten to play Connor. Not only did she look about 10 years older than the previous actress, but they then proceeded to ditch the Connor we knew for a boring retread of One Life's Luna.

Truthfully, I only watch this show for Luke/Noah storylines.They are the show's #1 couple, yet they are on MAYBE once a week. What kind of crap is that? And we so know Noah's crazy daddy isnt dead, we knew from the second it was suggested.
Now they are shipping Noah off to "Shoot a film in Rome". COME ON!!! If Jake Silbermann is taking a vacation we understand, but they CONSTANTLY separate these two! Let them get an apartmennt and have ..OMG SEX! Yes ATWT, it's to be expected from a couple who has been monogamous for a YEAR.
How lame, pick it up please, CBS... your fans are leaving!

"then they put her with someone that has the face of a bulldog (Hal Munson, never liked him)."

Can I just say that I strongly, severely disagree A LOT? Now, I admit Hal and Barbara together needed to stop, but the only reason it needed to end was because, in an unexpected turn of events, Emily turns out to be surprisingly perfect for him and vice versa. I really wish reality were different because it is my hope that if Benjamin Hendrickson were still with us, Hal and Emily would have been put back together by now and that would be unbelievably amazing. The show was forced by reality to jump the shark fictionally with the death of Hal. It had to happen because no one else could ever permanently play Hal, but I haven't been able to watch the show much since then.

As the World Turns jumped the shark with the death of Douglas Marland. 1985-1993 was the best period and the show has never recovered from the loss.

I think ATWT jumped the shark after Douglas Marland died. Since then, it has become a shell of its former self. It has utterly destroyed each and every rule that Marland had used on how not to wreck a show; history is either rewritten or distorted just to fit with the plot; all of the stories are so plot-driven and compromise the characters involved. What's worse, TIIC don't seem to care at all.

I stopped watching Guiding Light because of the stupid home ***** type of shooting they are doing. I have vertigo and it makes me nauseous and now ATWT is starting to do the same thing! I can't watch these shows when they do this. They need to find some way to get money back in the shows again. The weddings are nothing like they used to be in the old days. You see 10 extras or so...c'mon. Even poor people have at least 100 people at their weddings. How many people under one roof? They give Nulily a house that doesn't even remotely look like the one she used to have. Storylines and sets just don't match anything in the past anymore.

Jumped the shark when Jack and Katie hooked up.
They continuously pair up couples that all of a sudden have undiscovered feelings for another. They are getting desperate with their hook-ups, coz god forbid they'd have a character actually be single.

Jack and Katie??? Come on...

They need to bring back, Dusty, Gwen and Will, Maddie, and get rid of Sophie, Juicy Janet, and Chris, oh all mighty Chris who's so perfect and everyone loves Chris *vomits*

Why does CBS keep insisting on changing the theme and logo of As The World Turns every few years? I wish they'd go back to the one used in the 1970s--with the announcer saying, "AS THE WORLD TURNS--sponsored every day by The Home Depot...you can do it...we can help...at The Home Depot." Get rid of Procter & Gamble as the sponsor, which has been cutting back its ad budget considerably, and bring on a reputable company like Home Depot instead!

Okay just a note on the whole gay men on this show as an agenda... did you all miss the character of HANK back in 1980 on ATWT? This is not the first gay story line on this show it's been a part of this show for over 20 years. Why would you call it a jump the shark moment now?

Ugh, DrLauraRocks, you are absolutely ridiculous...

This show has jumped now with guys kissing on daytime TV. Obviously Hollywood has a gay agenda they keep forcing down everyone's throat.


They are not forcing a "gay agenda" down everyone's throats. The fact that some people are gay is just that - a fact. You may be homophobic and have a problem with it, but that doesn't make it any less true. Having a storyline with gay characters is being true to life, not forcing a gay agenda down your throat. Unless, that is, every straight couple on TV kissing is trying to force a "straight agenda" down everyone's throat too.

That being said, the writing on this show has gone rapidly downhill, as well as casting issues. Killing Dusty off, bringing Rosanna and Craig back and then getting rid of them again in less than a year? firing Scott Bryce (Craig) out of nowhere? Now we are going to be losing Gwen, Will & Lily, all within a short period as well? I don't know if the show will recover from that many drastic changes with some of the most beloved characters in such a short period of time.

Also, bringing in a 26 year old actor (Jon Prescott I believe is his name) as Mike, not too long after and older Mark Collier has left the role...come on now, I know that soaps are known for rapid aging and all, but to keep making him younger? That's just ridiculous. Carly lost Nora 10 years ago, and if you add in the rapid aging of Parker who is 14 now, it is beyond ridiculous to have a 26 year old in the role of Mike, even if he can believably play a slighly older age.

The decline of this wonderful gem of Daytime began following Douglas Marland's sudden death in 1993. For about two years after that, it was going OK because Marland's storylines had been played out, and people who worked with him were still in charge. Even Richard Culliton didn't fare that badly, writing the much-acclaimed John/Lisa storyline. Things changed when Laurence Caso was replaced as EP by John Valente, and then Culliton was replaced by Black and Stern- without doubt the worst writers to have graced Daytime (until recent times). It got so bad that some even argued that ATWT had become the worst show on TV. Things did get better, but it's been very up and down ever since.

I was a loyal viewer of ATWT from 1981 until about 1996. I loved the Betsy/Steve/Craig storyline in the early '80s. I used to discuss this show with my mother every day when I came home from school. It jumped the shark when they had the new Betsy/Steve/Craig triangle of the '90s, namely Mike/Rosanna/Carly. Mike and Rosanna were meant to be together, but I understood all the trials and tribulations went into soap characters. However, to split Mike and Rosanna up, out of the blue, they gave her a gambling problem. There was no indication of this before and it came from out of the blue. I think the beautiful Yvonne Perry wanted to leave, but the writers could have come up with a better storyline than this. I thought it greatly cheated the viewers and I haven't been back since.

After watching ATWT for the first time at my grandma’s house I begged my mom for a VCR so I could find out who killed Tad Channing and buried him in cement. I was hooked ever since. I agree with others that the show JTS after Doug Marland died. In spite of this, ATWT didn’t have to turn into the mess it’s become. I just read “How Not to Wreck a Show” and Doug Marland documented in very simple terms the formula for a show’s success. It seems that future ATWT writers ignored it. While I wasn’t in total agreement with every Doug Marland storyline (e.g. stories revolving around the Earl Mitchell Center- boring), I watched because I was invested in the characters and the history of the show. I gave my VCR a rest in 2001 when I found myself disinterested and fast forwarding through most of the episodes. While I still don’t regularly watch, I’ve kept up on some of the storylines and very little is of interest (the show became irredeemable to me after learning they paired Dusty with Lucy … you’ve got to be kidding?!) I agree with a previous responder that the show needs to take the focus off the “annoying teenagers”. Sorry to say, but most of the youngsters these days are watching Days and ABC soaps. So be it. Don’t try to fight it and ruin the show in the process (are ratings any indication of this?). Bottom line: ATWT JTS after Doug Marland died. It still could have evolved over the years yet remained true to the show’s culture but unfortunately, it did not.