Thursday, July 24, 2008

YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME

Starting with their very first supercouple in the late 1950s, when seventeen year old Penny Hughes eloped with Jeff Baker only to have her parents annul the union because Penny was underage, As The World Turns has been a staunch supporter of young, slightly shocking love stories.



Penny's best friend, Ellen Lowell, was also still in her teens when she had an affair with a married man, gave birth to his son and surrendered the baby for adoption. That baby grew up (rather quickly; he was born on-screen in 1958 but turned 26 fourteen years later) to be Dan Stewart, father of Betsy and Emily Stewart, each of whom knows a little something about non-traditional young love affairs. Betsy traded in college for a sizzling love triangle with conniving husband Craig and smoldering step-uncle Steve (Betsy's dad, Dan, married Kim, who, after Dan's death, married Steve's brother, Nick, and raised Betsy with her new husband, thus making Steve a pseudo-relative). Emily did her half-sister one better and blew off high-school to become the much older, much more conniving James Stenbeck's mistress, then dallied with his teen-age son, Paul, on the side.



Also kind-of-related/kind-of-not, were Lily Walsh and Holden Snyder. Lily's biological mother was Holden's adopted sister. For a while, the incestuous overtones managed to keep our star-crossed couple apart. But they eventually got over it. And found other obstacles to keep them apart.

Frannie and Jay (or did you prefer Frannie and Kirk? Marcy and Kirk?), Andy and Courtney (or were you rooting for Andy and Julie?), Chris and Abigail (Adam and Abigail?), Aaron and Lucy (Aaron and Alison? Lucy and Dusty?), Gwen and Will (Gwen and Casey?), the list of ATWT's young couples can go on and on. Which one was your favorite?

And will Parker and Liberty join that list?



Let us know in the Comments section below!

P.S. Am I the only one who sees a resemblance between Teen Paul and Teen Parker?





Both Paul and Parker have some pretty intense relationships with their fashion designing mothers. And both their mothers were married to Hal Munson. And John Dixon. Parker's adoptive dad, Jack, came back from the dead. I don't think I need to draw the parallel to Paul's dad, there. Paul went on trial for shooting dad James, who was attacking Emily. Parker went on trial for shooting Sam, who was attacking Carly. They've both had psychic episodes.

Just something to think about....

And be afraid of.

16 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Luke and Noah are my favorite young couple on ATWT. By the way thank you for leaving them off your little list. Very appropriate, considering that ATWT treats them like the second class citizens of Oakdale.

Shame on PGP and ATWT for your hypocrisy. You claim to be so "committed" to telling the story of Luke and Noah, but you don't even allow them to act like a normal couple their age or have the opportunity of adequate air time to develop and tell their story.

Thankfully, ATWT has been hit hard in the ratings, no doubt, in large part due to the shameful ways you have treated this couple.

TyNuke4Ever said...

I don't think that Parker and Liberty should/will be added to that list of favourite younge couples. Frankly, I can't stand watching them on my tv screen and wish they as a couple would end. Luke and Noah are my favourite younge couple and should be on your list, but I guess that it makes sense they didn't make it cause ATWT and PGP don't treat them like a 'real' couple. It is a shame that they are not getting the attention, airtime, storyline, and romance that other younge couples and frankly all straight couples on this show get. Cut Puberty! Bring on NUKE!!

Erika said...

Luke and Noah are my favorite young couple - in fact, they're the reason I began watching As The World Turns. I'm disappointed that they aren't even mentioned above, while Parker and Liberty are being pushed already as if they're some future supercouple.

Possibly if Noah turns out to be a distant relative of the Snyders, the boys will finally be recognized as a couple by Oakdale's semi-incestuous standards?

AMCHistory said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AMCHistory said...

I have a better picture of Penny & Jeff if you want it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v464/pasha2004/Picture3.jpg

Heather said...

my favorite couple without a doubt would have to be Parker and Liberty.they make for such a good couple.they remind me of a young Lily and Holden back in the day.

nereaderman said...

Luke and Noah are by far my favorite young couple. I can't believe how blatantly hypocritical PGP/ATWT are being regarding Nuke.

The intro to this blog says "ATWT has been a staunch supporter of young, slightly shocking love stories," yet Luke & Noah are not even on this list. TOO shocking, I guess...but Liberty & Parker undressed and in bed with condoms isn't?

For a couple that, early on, boosted the ratings, brought positive media attention to the show, has won the show awards, includes a 2 time Emmy nominee, etc., the so-called commitment to them appears to be more talk than action.

They deserve the airtime, romance, and attention to storyline that reflects the supercouple status they have. Please end the shameful double standard that's going on with this couple. Maybe then the ratings will go back up. In 2008 a gay couple is no longer particularly controversial. It's simply a fact of life.

VanHanFan said...

What?? No Nuke?? Luke and Noah are THE young couple on ATWT right now. Parker and Liberty's "ewwww" factor is even higher than Casey and Emily's!!

Brandon said...
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Brandon said...

Meant to say "Luke and Noah AREN'T on this list" in my original post. And I'm questioning why. They're the only young couple on this show really in love.

Stephanie said...

My favorite is Maddie and Casey.

And no, Parker and Liberty won't join the list. I hate how the show is rushing their relationship just because it's summertime. I thought the show did a great job last summer with slowly building Parker and Faith's connection. I was looking forward to THEM getting closer.

Unknown said...

My favorite young couple on ARWR is Luke and Noah. Parker and Liberty are not a couple in love ... all they want to do is have sex for the first time; wheras Nuke are in love and have been togedther over a year, not two months like Puberty.

chris said...

it is absurd that Parker andLiberty are having sex before Luke and Noah- a huge slap in the face was that they discussed their lack of sex in the SAME EPISODE THAT PARKER AND LIBERTY had sex- come on!!! so disapointing

MissT said...

Will & Gwen are my favorite couple. Jen & Jesse are so talented, they worked well together, and had amazing chemistry. I loved how their relationship evolved over time, from friends to falling in love. I miss them!

TapDancer said...

Will and Gwen were my favorite couple. Sadly, the show did not give them a happy ending. Shame on ATWT for killing off the miracle Munson baby for the likes of Sofie to give birth. Sofie should have been killed off when she was pregnant with her first spawn.