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.
DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS
