Extremely poor judgement by WGA! JP and her team does not deserve any accolade, especially for the horrendous LURE story ending. May be this confirms the extent of homophobia and stupidity existing even among people who are considered to deal with making the right choices and fair judgements.

Thanks so much for the info, Michael. Good to know!

How horrendous that those horrible writers who destroyed the show have been rewarded for that appalling storyline. I watched the show for over forty years and Reid’s death was badly written, pointless and homophobic IMO. The sacrifice of the gay characters in favour of the worthless Chris Hughes proved that the writers had no concept of who the worthwhile and interesting characters were on the show.

The final show was the worst soap finale I’ve ever seen and I’ve probably watched about ten of the soaps’ endings by now.

Ugh. That really depresses me. Writing that sloppy, inconsistent, and offensive should never have been rewarded.

Dear Michael,

Thank you SO much for posting this! You’ve answered a question many of us have been wondering about (even if we were too stunned to email you about it!).

Many people have hypothesized along the way that the ending was plotted to give TPTB a shot at Emmys, and, so it seems at first glance, that they may be right. I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual scripts for these episodes – the “writing” (not the plotting) got more than the usual attention with award submissions in mind.

I think part of the problem with these awards is that inevitably they are taken out of context (I have the same problem with the acting Emmys – how will an actor who is great every day but has no standout episode ever get recognized?). This should not be the daytime drama award for best writing, but rather the “daytime drama award for best writing of a few episodes.”

For anyone parachuting in from outer space to review these episodes knowing only superficial context (Nancy’s history, show ending) then I can see why these episodes would win.

I’ve said before that given the ending (which, obviously, given my screenname, I did not enjoy), I actually adored much of what came out of Luke’s mouth the day of Reid’s death (the script) – I love you and you love me, so many stupid arguments, blaming himself and then correcting himself in Reid’s voice (I actually cheered out loud when he did that!), offering to bring in a specialist like he did for Noah, you’re not going anywhere and neither is your heart. So, on a micro-level, I can objectively see why these episodes would win.

Similarly, we all knew they were going for a poetic, artistic final episode. And so the blatant (and well-publicized) effort to give the finale an “Our Town” feel apparently succeeded. If you watch the episodes without realizing what a major character Luke was, then you probably can’t appreciate the depth of his loss (it would be like..say, Lisa or Emma, not being on the canvas).

Without any knowledge of the show’s history, it’s easy to believe that everyone got their happy ending (the other two submitted episodes notwithstanding) and that the storylines seemingly were (all) neatly wrapped up in pretty bows – i.e., “well planned and thoughtfully considered”.

But short of making the awards judges sit in front of 200 episodes of each show before rendering judgment (a torture I would not wish upon anyone), it seems that the “mis-representative sample” bias will endure.

It just goes to show – you can’t fool all the people all the time, but it’s not so hard to fool some of the people at least some of the time. It’s like why you wear makeup and lose 10 pounds for your high school reunion. A reflection of reality? Not so much.

P.S. Just reread your post. And I see that the phrases “well-planned” and “thoughtfully-considered” came from David Levinson, and not a representative of WGA, and that “thoughtfully-considered” referred specifically to the “final phrase.”

Not to be too cynical, but my response to that is: “DUH!” I started following ATWT again in March after watching off-and-on for 20 to 30-some years. I don’t know when the speculation began, but I have to believe that almost starting from the day the cancellation was announced, fan forums have been dotted with people suggesting “Wouldn’t it be great if Helen Wagner could say the last line – oh, and it should be good night, dear!”

With Helen’s unfortunate passing, the mantle obviously passed to Don Hastings and Kathryn Hays. So to me that final line was no more well-planned and thoughtfully-considered than, say, wearing a raincoat in a raging thunderstorm. Granted, it was sentimentally appreciated, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. But really? How many long-time fans actually DIDN’T anticipate a variation of this as the final line?

As annoyed as I am that they’d win for something as poorly written and disgustingly offensive as Reid’s death, I’m even more flabbergasted by the inclusion of the finale. It was truly one of the worst episodes I’ve ever seen and a horrible way to send out such beloved characters. This is clearly a pity/farewell award than anything based on actual merit. I have no problem with any of the actors getting respect or awards for the number of times they turned the writing into something worth watching, but the majority of the writing team should be ashamed of themselves.

The WGA voters obviously don’t watch the show. They don’t know that the so called family feel of the final episode was only achieved by dragging out people who hadn’t had any screen time for years, or that nothing was done to build up to Reid’s death, so it looked like he died to prop up the vapid relationship of the heterosexual couple. They also didn’t know that Chris and Katie had been slapped together at the last minute, and that their relationship was not developed at all.

It’s sad that Jean Passanante will look at this award, and not the cancellation, as validation that she did good work on ATWT.

i too am stunned that they won an award for best writing. as lovelure stated they didn’t watch or know the show to award them this for how they ended it. if they did they would of been laughed out of the race with the Chuckles the clown story alone.

The writers never should have won an award for having the gall for letting Reid die and leaving Luke alone to grieve while all the others had their happily ever after.They gave us the LuRe storyline and then destroyed it after we fell in love with these wonderful men and were so happy to see Luke with a man he loved and who loved and appreciated him.I will never forgive them for the horrendus ending.As a long time ATWT viewer I loved Luke and Reid and their story.It was my favorite of all time , but not the tragic ending.No, no, no! And as far as the storyline of Chris getting Reids heart, that made me sick to my stomach.The whole Chris and Katie story had no substance at all.That was no love story whereas Luke and Reid was.These writers started out with some good ideas, but they had no clue how to follow through.If anyone deserves an award it should be Van Hansis for his wonderful acting when Reid died…the writers might have created Luke and Reid but Van and Eric made them real.No other actors could have done it better ,but you writers screwed up and dropped the ball!

Like everyone before me I am stunned they won for these episodes. The Luke and Reid love story was what they should have won for. Not Reid’s death, which was contrived and plot driven. Luke and Reid were sacrificed for Katie and Chris, who barely even had a story. So the writers will now be justified in writing a crappy ending to a wonderful show, and for sacrificing the gay couple for the straight one.

My GF and me are so glad that we have completely stopped watching American Soaps. This award decided by AWG is a thorough mockery of faithful viewership and travisty of justice. I wish we had never started watching ATWT in the January of 2010. We still do not understand the senseless LURE ending. JP and CG may have friends in high places and win all the awards they want. We have only one question for them. How would they feel if the person they loved the most on this earth was squashed by a train and they had to authorize the donation of the organs of their beloved in a situation where vultures were all around them coaxing them vehemently to sign the legal papers. If JP and CG cou

Wow. I’m terribly offended that they would be rewarded for that homophobic, offensive, and wretched ending. It actually enrages me to the extent that I have a hard time expressing it. I’ve been waiting for karma to take these people down a peg for doing this horrible thing to their audience, and instead they get a reward? Ugh.

Just goes to show what nonsense these awards are much of the time, when the voters are judging only a few episodes completely out of context. The end of ATWT was offensive and unsatisfying on so many levels. Hell, the last year of the show was! They wasted our time with the unending captivity of Babs and Chuckles, Janet’s mob ex, etc., etc. — and Helen Wagner/Nancy Hughes’s death got ONE episode. Appalling. And don’t get me started on Luke being the only character not to get a happy ending. The staggering homophobia in ending with Reid dead, Luke grieving and Noah bereft and leaving Oakdale just astounds me. The ending of the Luke/Reid love story is one of the most disappointing endings of any TV show I’ve ever watched, and I’ve watched a lot. It’s unforgivable. (Which I realize sounds melodramatic and over the top, but that’s how I — and many other fans — feel.)

The testament of this show’s writing is here… we’re still talking about it so it must have had an impact. That’s what writing — good or bad — is all about.

When As The World Turns writers began congratulating each other Saturday evening via Twitter after winning the best writing award at the Writers Guild of America awards ceremony, I have to admit that I felt waves of both happiness and bitterness. Happy because the writers of my favorite show were recognized for their talent and bitter because such a great show – one that means so much to millions of fans – is no longer on the air.

I must also acknowledge that I have launched many tirades in the past about the writing on my beloved show; but I have also often stated time and again that even at its worst, World Turns was better than the others. This is a show that didn’t just focus on the rich and famous, but showcased characters that each one of us could relate to in some way. This is a show that didn’t rely on gimmicks, teen exploitation or the supernatural; instead it focused on family, relationships and everyday people who could have been our best friends or relatives. That’s why World Turns won the best writing award from their peers at the Writers Guild. It is also why this show should not have been canceled.

As a professional writer, I know how tough it is to churn out copy under deadline pressure, but to do it practically 52 weeks a year while fending off criticism from fans, the network, the production company, the producers and the actors is an amazing feat. Fans don’t really understand the pressure these writers are under because all we want, after all, is a good show. That’s what these writers delivered to us most of the time. And that’s why I want to take time to recognize them by name.

Congratulations to: Susan Dansby, Lucky Gold, Janet Iacobuzio, Penelope Koechl, David Kreizman, Leah Laiman, David A. Levinson, Leslie Nipkow, Jean Passanante, Gordon Rayfield, David Smilow; CBS

You do us proud!!

Visit the (unofficial) fansite on facebook: WorldTurnsTv.com
Or on Twitter: WorldTurnsTV
Visit the website: http://www.worldturnstv.com

Let me get this straight.

You’re sitting here typing ad nauseum about two characters from a show that was cancelled SIX MONTHS ago and you’re saying they, and the show, had no relevance to you or others posting here?

If you ask me, your comment is absurd, not mine.

I am neither gay nor lesbian, but I was able to relate to this couple’s love story in a way I did not relate to others. Their love story transcended homosexuality as well as the typical way gay relationships are shown in the media. We owe that to the writers.
The fact is, the characters of Luke and Reid and much of their dialogue were really, really good. We owe that to the writers. Another fact is these two characters were created by writers… the same people you now castigate while sitting behind a computer keyboard.

I’m not a writer for As The World Turns, but I can appreciate what they do. Is every story line, every piece of dialogue, every plot twist, every story arc a homerun??? No! But I can appreciate what was good about the show, and I am also fair and balanced enough to say what went wrong.

And that’s all I am going to state. Go in peace.

I cannot believe that JP and her minions actually won for that “can you write better than a fifth grader?” tripe. Yes, a fifth grader could write better than that. I’m not saying that writing is easy; I have been a writer and an editor. However, the last couple of months of the show were beyond ridiculous. The Reid/Luke storyline completely morphed into the Katie/Chris zippo-chemistry storyline with Reid and Luke being the props for that slapped together couple. Katie and Chris, if they had to exist at all, should have been props for Reid and Luke.
The stupidity of the ending left me slapping my forehead. Wow. A train runs into a car stalled on the tracks, but the passenger survives. I know I’m supposed to suspend belief when I watch daytime drama, but I will not suspend my intellect. The writing was cliche, laughable and an abomination. Reid being alive after the crash – impossible. Reid’s organs usable? Don’t think so. Internal injuries and all that, but let’s not let logic get in the way of a contrived ending. It would be an understatement to say there were as many holes in Reid’s death as there are in Swiss cheese. And please, no one send me to Oakdale Memorial if I am awake and suffering life-threatening injuries, because all the doctors will do is stand there and watch me die.
The last day also was horrid. Everyone happy but the poor gay boy with his boyfriend dead. Can someone say homophobia? The spinning globe actually was hilarious. I knew that was coming.
The writers achieved a few things: I ended up hating the Hughes family. I ended up loving all the crazy Snyders, just because I hated the Hugheses. I realized that the matriarch of the show, Nancy, was just a blip on the radar, to again prop up the Chris/Katie pairing. And I realized that these writers aren’t good enough to wipe the dog-do off the late Douglas Marland’s shoes.
I don’t know who was smoking what when they gave these writers an award, but they really need an intervention.

I was mad about the ending. And I didn’t even like LuRe (who. btw. are being called a supercouple a lot here. Um. This is the first soap I’ve watched where a ‘supercouple’ was toted as one and hadn’t even lasted a year. amazing!) I thought it was insulting. The Nuke vs LuRe battles grew nastier than a custody battle. Nuke fans had relationship history and actual soap conflict on their side whereas LuRe had character interaction and a soapy hate into love relationship. Ultimately, the writers had to make a choice. And it was clear to us atwt fans that Luke wanted to be with Reid. So why didn’t they do that? Even as a person who thought LuRe was all talk, no bite, I didn’t get that. I was very confused why they built up Luke and Reid’s chapter in Luke’s story up for nine months, only to kill off a character so brilliantly played by ESS. But homophobic? Please. I remember reading an interview with Van where he almost seemed hurt by those allegations. He knows the people behind the scenes and he mentioned he couldn’t imagine them sitting around and trying to think of the worst possible ending for the gays. I don’t speak for him but you can read it yourselves. These are by the way, the same writers that created three of the least stereo-typical gay men we’ve seen on daytime television. Television period for that matter. They wrote in the first gay male kiss, the first consummation (even if it was offscreen) and when the pretty much wrote Noah off; instead of pushing Luke off the canvas as well, gave him another love interest. Brad was killed off a mere 10 months before the show was done. They didn’t reunite Lilden. Carjack were angst city until they said “I do.” Hell, Janet and Jack had a pretty devoted fanbase themselves. While the timing is ridiculous, I can’t bring myself to call the show homophobic. There are a LOT of pissed off fans. I think why we see LuRe fans everywhere, dominating this thread and so forth, is not because they were the most popular couple of all time but because the majority of them don’t understand how it works on soaps. Granted that’s not the case with everyone but I’ve seen a surprising trend. Luke and Reid had a good run. They even pushed aside the extremely popular ship Nuke because it was so well received. Their relationships focus on love in Reids last day had more airtime than Nancy. Luke himself, a gay character, had a large focus on him the last days. He was surrounded by friends and family and the devastation of losing an almost lover was portrayed as heart breaking (as it was). The fact that he was grieving over his MALE partner wasn’t portrayed as wrong. To me, this really seems like LuRe fans wanting to validate that their heartbreak over their couple not working out was more… Read more »