The Wednesday Word: As the World Turns ...

... taking a chance on love.



chance (chns) n.
1.
a. The unknown and unpredictable element in happenings that seems to have no assignable cause.
b. A force assumed to cause events that cannot be foreseen or controlled; luck: Chance will determine the outcome.
2. The likelihood of something happening; possibility or probability. Often used in the plural: Chances are good that you will win. Is there any chance of rain?
3. An accidental or unpredictable event.
4. A favorable set of circumstances; an opportunity: a chance to escape.
5. A risk or hazard; a gamble: took a chance that the ice would hold me.




From Dartmouth newspaper:



Eisenhower was president, a postage stamp cost 3 cents and Jean Passanante '75 was toddling around her parents' house in Olivette when As the World Turns debuted on Aug. 2, 1956. Now, as head writer, Passanante is helping to usher the soap into its second half-century.

Passanante got the job last April, moving up from co-head writer. Before ATWT, as it's known to fans, she wrote All My Children and was the last head writer for Another World. [She was also part of the early 90s renaissancie of One Life to Live.]

Although she turned out to be a natural, in the beginning Passanante never thought about writing for a soap opera. Born and raised in Olivette in the house where her parents lived for 53 years, she wrote for the school newspaper as early as junior high and performed in high school shows before heading to Dartmouth College to study drama.

Passanante appeared in two movies, including John Sayles' The Return of the Secaucus 7. But living in New York and needing to make a living, she wound up working in theater management for 15 years. Administering the National Playwrights Conference and spending four years as artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop taught her, she says, “so much about writing and about structuring a drama.”

As Passanante worked with writers, including a stint as director of writer development for ABC Daytime, people kept telling her, “You ought to write yourself.” Finally, in 1991, she “decided to give it a shot.”

Executive producer Christopher Goutman is equally enthusiastic about Passanante, with whom he previously worked at Another World.

“Jean is extremely intelligent, extremely thorough, passionate about her work and a great intellect,” Goutman says. “To juggle almost 30 characters, multiple story lines and to try to find new ways to provide entertainment and enlightenment to the audience is a gigantic challenge."




******
Okay, the story of Luke and Noah's love is not perfect and, perhaps, some day soon those who continue to enjoy the continuing stories known as Soap Opera won't have to apologize for liking them. Nevertheless, many kudos are sent to both Chris Goutman and Jean Passanante for allowing this story to be depicted on Daytime television screens. Chances are the story will end soon. The experienced viewer can tell these things.

Speaking of chances, it is laudable that Goutman and Passanante took this chance. Luke and Noah kissed passionately very much like their heterosexual counterparts--a very big deal. It is a wonderful surprise that the passion was once again depicted today and, of course, in true Soap Opera fashion they were discovered by the person who objects the most to the coupling.

Thanks for taking a chance on love.