Luke, Noah, Mason, and Who's Going to Carve the Pepparkakor

Want to know what else Luke had to say? Click on past the spoiler break.

This post contains massive spoilers about the Luke/Noah/Mason storyline. Only proceed if you want to know what to expect. We also ask that you do not put storyline spoilers in the headlines for your comments.

In what may be the most frank and honest interview a soap actor has ever given upon leaving a show, Forbes March reveals that he's already taped his last scarf-wrapped scene in Oakdale. The soap and sci-fi vet set down with TV Guide and dished on his latest project, and his history in the business.

While showing an obvious frustration to the way his character was used, March tells a story of changing writers, confusion, and a lack of passion for the product on set.

Before you get ahead of yourselves: No, he doesn't get strangled by his scarf in a bicycling accident. In fact he doesn't die at all, so the character is free to come back. But he doesn't think that's likely:

I guarantee you that World Turns will be off the air in a year — if the Procter & Gamble product boycott continues.

It seems the economics of CBS buying their soaps from a products company has a bigger editorial impact than they like to let on. Forbes feels Chris Goutman, the Executive Producer, is committed to telling Luke and Noah's story, but Telenext, which consumer giant Proctor & Gamble owns, just wants to sell laundry soap.

World Turns is caught between a rock and a hard place with their gay storyline. I don’t think they anticipated two vocal, polarizing views on the Nuke storyline. I honestly don’t think America is ready for a gay storyline on a soap. It’s just too hot button of a topic. They're criticized by the gays for not making Nuke gay enough, and then the American Family Association boycotts them. I get the sense that executive producer Christopher Goutman didn’t anticipate this kind of relentless backlash from the far right.

He got hammered from each side. Any time I wanted to put my hand on Noah’s shoulder, several serious discussions ensued whether or not it would pass the mustard. Any body contact had to be cleared from higher-ups. Nothing kills a show faster than a boycott! If you want a show to be taken off the air, boycott the product, which in this case, are P&G products.

So we're back to a twosome at 2pm on one channel.

Nelson asked him about the fact that ATWT seems so much more timid in their characterization of their trailblazing couple, Forbes had quite a bit to say:

Yeah, it was odd. Their gay characters aren’t very gay! [Laughs]. If someone turned on the soap for the first time, I think it would take them a while to figure out Mason was gay. Let’s face it — Luke and Noah are two J. Crew guys, two of the nicest and most wholesome gay boys you’ll ever meet. World Turns needs someone like American Idol’s Adam Lambert. Because I was completely taken with Adam, I went into my World Turns’ audition with black leather pants, rock-star jewelry and snakeskin boots!

I pulled all of that out for the audition to give them ideas. The looks on their faces? A resounding, “Nooo!” Mason is supposed to be a gay indie moviemaker but they ended up dressing him like freakin’ Indiana Jones! Nuke is about as gay as Bill Cosby! [Laughs] Throw a wrench in there, people. World Turns needs an extroverted, effeminate gay man on that show. Give Mason eyeshadow! But they didn’t like that. The only input they accepted from me was Mason’s endless scarf collection.

After reading that, I took a moment to picture the Pride 2008 episode of ATWT, except instead of Cyndi Lauper stopping by Oakdale, we had Adam Lambert. The storyline got a lot more interesting in my head. No offense to Cyndi, who I worship.

So we know that Mason will wrap his scarf one last time during November sweeps, and ride off into the sunset before the pepparkakor is carved for Thanksgiving at the Snyder farm. Missed opportunity for the show? Certainly, but should they have tried to fix it, or was putting it down the kindest solution to the problem?

The full interview, including Forbes talking about his new role in the Degrassi movie, can be found at TV Guide.