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It is sad, in some ways it is tragic, to see what has happened to As the World Turns . To see how a television show that was once regarded as the most creative and realistic of all soaps has become trash television. It now embodies everything that it once wasn't. As the World Turns has become a show that is a total embarrassment to watch. No storyline has any sense of imagination. No storyline has an inkling of creativity. No storyline has any structure or balance to it. The appearance of Denise the stripper and the Oasis Club are two recent downfalls of ATWT and the downwards spiral it continues to go on. Could they think of nothing better to write for a new female character? A show written and lead by women sure have a strange way of writing for them. Do they have no self respect for themselves, the characters they create, or the women that watch the show? Remember the female characters created by Douglas Marland? A successful and strong headed woman named Lucinda Walsh, a tough and brassy graphic designer name Neal Alcott, and a freedom fighter named Sierra? Now we have Denise, a stripper that has an abusive boyfriend (that's original isn't it?), Emily, a woman that goes insane over a man, and Carly, who schemes at anything to get what she wants and says that she needs a million dollar mansion and money to raise her child well. What kind of example is that setting? Camille's storyline involving breast cancer could have been a serious, moving and informative storyline. Instead very little time was spent on it. It was used as a vehicle for Camille to have an affair with Brad and ruin her relationship with Ben. Camille had another opportunity before this storyline to have an impact and that was her going back to college. Camille could have shown women how you can go back to school and pursue your dreams but that did not happen. It was turned into the absurd Lew goes crazy storyline. All I read now in previews for the show on various on-line sites and soap magazines are primarily spoilers of Carly, Brad, Julia, Molly, Denise, Ben and Camille. These are all good to average characters but most of them are characters of no depth whatsoever. They have no unique qualities to them that we have not seen before. While these new characters are front and center, veteran characters are either given poorly written and below average storylines that either insult their or our intelligence, or they are completely off screen and only appear on screen to advance the storylines of these unimaginative characters. I feel so sorry for the actors that portray Holden, Lily, Kim, Bob, Nancy, Barbara and Lucinda. Perhaps As the World Turns is simply giving the audience what they want. Perhaps old timers are not watching the show anymore and others have started watching. Maybe fans are watching out of habit and loyalty. I watch, but fast forward or mute the show 75% of the time. I know we are living in a society that tunes into Jerry Springer and Rikki Lake, but I never thought I would see As the World Turns disintegrate into trash TV. I never thought it would, but it has. How has a television show that was once regarded as the most creative and realistic of all soaps become trash television?
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