As the World Turns

As the World Turns
Genre	Soap opera
Creator(s)	Irna Phillips
Senior cast member(s)	Eileen Fulton Don Hastings Kathryn Hays Marie Masters Colleen Zenk Pinter Elizabeth Hubbard Kathleen Widdoes Jon Hensley Scott Holmes Ellen Dolan
No. of episodes	13,850 (as of September 3, 2010)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Christopher Goutman
Head writer(s)	Jean Passanante
Distributor	Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc. (1986–2008) TeleNext Media, Inc. for P&G Productions (2008–2010)
Running time	30 minutes (1956–1975) 60 minutes (1975–2010)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	April 2, 1956 (1956-04-02) – present
External links
Official website

As the World Turns (often referred to as ATWT) is an American television soap opera that has aired each weekday on the CBS network. At the time of its cancellation in 2010, it was the last remaining Procter & Gamble soap opera in production.

Set in the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois, the show debuted on April 2, 1956,^[1][2] at 1:30 pm EST. Prior to then, all serials were fifteen minutes in length. As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, which premiered on the same day at 4:30 pm EST, were the first two to be thirty minutes in length from their premiere.^[3]

At first, viewers did not respond to the new half-hour serial, but ratings picked up in its second year, eventually reaching the top spot in the daytime Nielsen ratings by fall 1958. In 1959, the show started a streak of weekly ratings wins that would not be interrupted for over twelve years.^[4] In the year-to-date ratings, As the World Turns was the most-watched daytime drama from 1958 until 1978, with ten million viewers tuning in each day. At its height, core actors such as Helen Wagner, Don MacLaughlin, Don Hastings, and Eileen Fulton became nationally known. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light.

The show switched to color on August 21, 1967, and expanded from a half-hour in length to one hour starting on December 1, 1975 when The Edge of Night moved to ABC.

The show passed its 10,000th episode on May 12, 1995, and celebrated its 50th anniversary on April 2, 2006. As the World Turns was the last remaining Procter and Gamble produced soap opera on television after Guiding Light aired its final episode on September 18, 2009 on CBS. At that time As the World Turns was the longest running soap opera currently airing on television, succeeding Guiding Light.

On December 8, 2009, CBS announced that As the World Turns was cancelled. The show taped its final scenes (episode #13,858) on June 23, 2010 and its final episode will air on CBS on September 17, 2010.^[5] On October 18, 2010, CBS will replace As the World Turns with a new hour-long talk show The Talk, which resembles ABC's The View.

As the World Turns is notable for having been produced in New York City^[6] for all of its time on television (its first 43 years in Manhattan and in Brooklyn since 2000).

Premise

The original core family, the Hugheses, in the 1980s. Clockwise from top left: Kim Sullivan Hughes (Kathryn Hays), Bob Hughes (Don Hastings), Tom Hughes (Gregg Marx), Margo Montgomery Hughes (Hillary Bailey Smith), Andy Dixon (Scott DeFreitas), Frannie Hughes (Julianne Moore). Center: Chris Hughes (Don MacLaughlin) and Nancy Hughes (Helen Wagner).

As the World Turns was the creation of Irna Phillips who, beginning in the 1930s, had been one of the foremost creators and writers of radio soap operas. As a writer, Phillips favored character development and psychological realism over melodrama, and her previous creations (which included Guiding Light) were especially notable for placing professionals – doctors, lawyers, and clergy people – at the center of their storylines. Phillips wrote: "As the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer and the harvest of autumn—the cycle of life is complete."

And so it was with As the World Turns, with its slow-moving psychological character studies of families headed by legal and medical professionals. The personal and professional lives of doctors and lawyers would remain central to As the World Turns throughout its run, and would eventually become standard fare on all soap operas. Whereas the 15-minute radio soaps often focused on one central, heroic character (for example, Dr. Jim Brent in Phillips' Road of Life), the expanded 30-minute format of As the World Turns enabled Phillips to introduce a handful of professionals within the framework of a family saga.

One of Phillips' innovations was to introduce a sort of Greek chorus to the stories. The primary purpose of characters such as Nancy Hughes (Helen Wagner) was to comment on the crises faced and decisions made by the town's more dynamic residents. This technique contributed to the popularity of the show and continues to be widely used in other soap operas.

Phillips' style favored gradual evolution over radical change. Slow, conversational, and emotionally intense, the show moved at the pace of life itself – and sometimes even more slowly than that. Each new addition to the cast was done in a gradual manner, and was usually a key contact to one of the members of the Hughes family. As such, the show got a reputation as being quite conservative (though the show did showcase the first gay male character on American soap operas, in 1988). During the show's early decades, the content-related policies of its sponsor Procter & Gamble Productions may have contributed to the perception of conservatism. The soap-manufacturing giant typically balked at storylines in which adultery and other immoral behavior would go unpunished, and as late as the 1980s characters from the primary families were still generally not allowed to go through with abortions.

History

As the World Turns premiered on April 2, 1956. It was the first television daytime drama with a 30-minute running time; all daytime dramas until then had had 15-minute running times. By 1958, the program was the number one daytime drama in the United States. As the World Turns continues to run to this day on CBS, and has won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series four times (in 1987, 1991, 2001, and 2003.)

Title sequences

The As the World Turns title card, from April 23, 2007 to June 19, 2009.

The show has changed opening title sequences from the original format six times: in 1981, 1993, 1999, 2002 (with a slight modification of the 2002 visuals redone in 2003), 2007, and 2009.

As a testament to the show's unwillingness to change in the early years, the show had the same theme song (an organ-piano tune for the opening theme, and an organ-piano-celeste tune for the long closing theme, which transitioned into pre-recorded versions in December 1973, composed by Charles Paul), and opening visual (a globe spinning in space). During the black and white years, the globe was in the distance and to the right of the camera. As the organ and piano played, the camera zoomed in until the globe was centered. The title card faded up and Dan McCullough announced. For the midbreaks and closing, the globe was on center. The visual was not markedly altered during the 1967 transitions.

Color brought some minor changes. The globe was now always on center. The title zoomed out from the middle of the globe. The organ version of the main theme was used over the color visual until early December 1973, when the theme became orchestrated. During the B&W years and color years prior to some point in 1973, Charles Paul played a celeste composition called "Simple Melody" over the midbreak plugs. At some point in early to mid 1973, organ music was dropped from the body of the show, and Charles Paul played an electric piano only as the background music. However, it wasn't until early December 1973 that the orchestrated opening and closing themes replaced the live organ versions. The color update of the black-and-white visual stayed until October 30, 1981. At the time, closing credits were only shown once a week, if that. At least through the late 70's, during the credit crawl, the job title was shown in Lydian typeface, while the person's name was shown in Arial. This changed once the credits were done on a character generator beginning in 1978. Now, the credits were all done in Helvetica (Guiding Light would also switch its credits to this font in the same year). The letters remained white throughout the title sequence run, but were in all capitals.

The sponsor tags from the show's premiere until the opening sequence was changed in 1981 were hand drawn pictures of the product, or the name of the product, superimposed over the globe. On a 1965 closing sequence, the sponsor tag was an actual photo card of the product. This may have been the practice used on credit days. There is only one known surviving B&W episode with a credit crawl. On non-credit days, the superimposure was used. After the 1981 title change, the sponsor tags were actual photos of the products. This was the usual practice used on the P&G shows. This continues to this day. There have been occasions, where a sponsor was to be plugged, that it would not occur until after the title sequence. This was after the show's announcer was eliminated. A CBS announcer would plug the product.

On November 2, 1981, a new synthesized theme song was first heard, with new computer-enhanced visuals. The globe had now been relegated to an O in the word WORLD, with three beams of light reflecting separate ways. The tune was modified in December 1984 and again in September 1988. The globe was on the center of the screen for the closing sequences. From about the late 80s until the end of traditional closing credits, credit crawls were run more frequently. The closing credits remained in Helvetica typeface, but were now in yellow. The entire credit setup would be in capitals until mid-1984, when production titles and actors' names in the cast list were changed to mostly lowercase. Between April and September 1991, the credit font was changed to an italicized variation of Times New Roman font, which remained in yellow through the end of this title sequence's run.

On February 3, 1993, the theme song and opening visual was changed again. Barry DeVorzon, famous for composing the theme song of The Young and the Restless, composed the theme song. This time the credits were done by computer specialist group Castle/Bryant/Johnsen. In the visuals, the letters of the title slowly passed by, with the seasons illustrated in picture form inside the letters themselves. When the visual finally got to the O in WORLD, a spinning globe fell into its place and the whole title was zoomed out of focus, to be seen by the audience. In 1995, the closing credits ran over original scenes related to events in that day's episode (for example, if a character was seen in an episode, the credits might show them cleaning a room or playing a piano—things too "boring" to be in the episode itself.) By 1997, however, the credits simply rolled over scenes from that day's episode. The globe was used for closing credits from 1993 until they changed to beauty shots. For a brief period, the globe was used to promote the viewer feedback line. Then they would use the beauty shots for the credit crawl. A credit crawl was run almost daily, either short or full crawl. This was the last title sequence to use traditional closing credits. The CBS squeeze started while these visuals were in use. The credits looked like the ones used at the end of the 81–93 titles.

The show changed its music and opening again on November 1, 1999. For the first time, cast shots (both solo and group) were seen, accompanied by music. (ATWT had been one of the last soaps to incorporate cast shots into their openings.) The globe was now made up of clips throughout the show's history, not unlike a process first seen in the movie The Truman Show. Internet fans complained that the sound effects in the theme song that accompanied these credits, which was written by David Nichtern and Kevin Bents, sounded too much like "toilet flushing noises." The closing credits were never seen on the air on CBS, but they were seen in rebroadcasts on SoapCity.com. The visual returned to seeing a spinning globe (the computerized globe of clips from the opening) in space with the credits scrolling in gold italic Times New Roman lettering, ending with the title in the 1993 title lettering setup; the format of the credits (including the title) would accompany the following title sequence's end credits.

A new sequence, featuring cast clips to a mellower music selection (written by Jamie Lawrence and, again, David Nichtern), debuted on July 8, 2002. The backdrop to complement the actor clips was colored in gold, and was changed to sky blue in November 2003. The music from 2002 remained intact. Several shorter versions of this intro were used from time to time, rotating from day-to-day, featuring different members of the cast in each. In the latter years of the sequence, however, some cast members appeared in more than one sequence. Also, some cast headshots used film (these were most likely headshots carried over from the 1999 to 2002 sequence), while others used videotape, giving inconsistency in the film style for each headshot. There are two versions of closing credits. The globe fades off as the credits run. There is no closing title card, as the background fades up and the crawl runs. The closing logo is the 1993 version, now in white. In September 2006, a temporary intro was introduced to mark the "Ice Storm" theme of the next few shows.^[7]

A new opening sequence premiered on April 30, 2007. The new opening featured a dramatic, piano-based score, accompanied by shots of the main characters (usually paired up with their storyline counterparts — e.g. Jack and Carly, Lily and Holden, etc. — with two characters appearing per shot), and composite images of the characters' histories superimposed over their shots against a gold background. The logo that had been used since 1999 was retired and a new logo was instituted which kept the globe in place of the "O" in "WORLD", but the logo typeface was changed to Helvetica with the "AS THE" in the title aligned to the right instead of the center. A few months later, ATWT debuted another opening, including only the title forming over a black background playing over the previous scene's music, minus the cast montage. It was unknown whether or not it was to be used on days that needs more air time; however, with the departure of several characters featured in the opening credits — e.g. Will, Gwen, Dusty, and Craig — the short opening has become permanent. The closing credits, as seen on AOL Video, also start rolling at fade up. The typeface is changed, and the 1993 title card is used.

On June 22, 2009, the show debuted yet another new sequence, with a spinning globe and one full line of text entering from the right side of the screen to the middle in front of the globe. In the background is a faded version of the show title in larger letters. This new title sequence has a stark resemblance to the original title sequence from 1956 with a modern flair. Production ended on June 23, 2010 in their Brooklyn, New York studios, with the final episode to air on September 17 of that year.^[8]

History of show announcements

Dan McCullough (1956–1982)

From its premiere on April 2, 1956, the show's announcer (and the most remembered of all of ATWT's announcers) was Dan McCullough. His voice-overs were utilized as follows:

• Opening titles--(B&W) "And now, for the next 30 minutes, As the World Turns, brought to you today by... (sponsor)." During the B&W and possibly early color era, there was usually one sponsor plugged, and on many occasions while the show was still performed live McCullough often included "presented live". For some time after the 1975 expansion, the opening spiel was: "And now, for the next full hour, As the World Turns," then whatever sponsor plugs needed to be read that day (at this time, there were usually two sponsors for the first half of ATWT). By 1978, McCullough's opening spiel was simplified to: "As the World Turns. This portion brought to you today by..."

• Mid-program break--"The first part of this program has been brought to you today by..." (A surviving 1972 episode used this practice); "This portion of As the World Turns has been brought to you today by..." (Hour long expansion until 1981), followed by "We'll continue with As the World Turns following station identification" (inception until at least the mid-1970s); "We'll continue with Part II of As the World Turns in just a moment" (mid-1970s until end of the announcer era.)

• Lead-in to second half--"And now the second half of As the World Turns..., followed by "...brought to you today by..." on days where the second half is officially sponsored. All surviving black and white episodes show evidence that both halves were sponsored. Many times, the midbreak sponsor was not a P&G product.

• Lead-in to next-to-last commercial break--"We'll return to As the World Turns in just a moment." This practice was eventually eliminated, although no exact date for that change has been established.

• Closing titles—Black and white, organ color era to possibly the 60 minute expansion: "As the World Turns" has been brought to you today by (sponsors). A plug for fashion providers was done. On credit days, it was done while the crawl rolled. After the hour expansion until the announcer was eliminated, Dan McCullough or Dan Region would say: "This portion of As the World Turns has been brought to you today by..." (on days where the second half is officially sponsored; on days that are not, there would be either no announcement at all or McCullough would invite viewers to "stay tuned" to the next program "on most of these CBS stations"). In many cases, the next program's logo was shown, especially if it was a P&G soap. Until June 1981, Guiding Light's logo was shown as it followed on the CBS schedule. For the last four months of the color globe visuals package, Search for Tomorrow was mentioned instead along with its logo, as at that time Search had moved into the 2:30 pm time slot immediately following ATWT.

McCullough also announced that the program was recorded, after the show was no longer performed live at some point in the spring of 1975. This announcement would continue even after P&G added copyrights to the final title card on June 2, 1980, where "This Program was Recorded" would appear on the last line of the copyright. It would be spoken for the final time on October 30, 1981. On credit days from June 2, 1980 until October 30, 1981, the title logo with copyright information appeared, then the credits rolled. A 1981 episode shows this practice.

McCullough did announce over "The World Turns On and On" title sequences for a short period of time, from its debut on November 2, 1981 until he retired in February 1982. The latest aforementioned changes to the opening, mid-bumper and closing announcements remained in place, but there was no longer a display of the next program's logo in the closing credits effective November 2, 1981. In his final months with the show, McCullough would say "Stay tuned for Search for Tomorrow, next on most of these CBS stations" as the first closing display of the ATWT title appeared over the visuals, before the credit carding or scroll. (Subsequently, the copyright notice would now not appear until the end of the credits, under the last display of the title.)

Dan Region (1982–1998)

In February 1982, after almost 26 years with ATWT, McCullough was replaced by a much younger announcer, Dan Region. This is after Mary-Ellis Bunim became executive producer. His announcements were much like Dan McCullough's.

• Opening titles--"As the World Turns. This portion brought to you today by..." (although beginning in the 1990s, Procter & Gamble began to decrease their sponsorship of the program for some days of the week, even though they themselves were the producers. So, on such days, Region would only announce the title of the program right before the first commercial break.) During the O.J. Simpson trial, the title sequence was shortened.
• Mid-program break: "This portion of As the World Turns has been brought to you today by (name and description of sponsor). We'll continue with Part II of As the World Turns in just a moment."
• Lead-in to second half—either "And now Part II of As the World Turns!", or "And now we continue with Part II of As the World Turns!" (the second half from 1981 forward was, for the most part, not officially sponsored, or if it was, it was not a P&G product.)
• Lead-in to next-to-last commercial break: eliminated possibly after the show expanded to one hour.
• Closing credits--"Stay tuned for Search for Tomorrow (February 1982 – March 26, 1982) Capitol (March 29, 1982 to March 20, 1987), or Guiding Light (March 23, 1987 to at least the end of the announcer era.) "next on most of these CBS stations.", or "Join us again tomorrow/This is Dan Region, inviting you to join us again Monday for As the World Turns."

Possibly after the show went into color, or at least by 1972, more than one sponsor was plugged at the opening, midbreak and closing.

Announcers beyond 1998

After the titles were changed again in 1999, for the first time in the series history (for the most part, and for the period prior to at least 2007), ATWT had no official announcer or show announcements, although Martin Bookspan (who had by this time taken over as announcer of Guiding Light) still had to announce the sponsor tags on days where the show was sponsored. Circa 2000, a female announcer would do the tags after the opening titles.

Even in the show's final years, the show still had an announcer (albeit unidentified), although his/her announcements are limited to sponsor tags (for shows that are sponsored). Cast members also made bumper announcements.

Menswear promotional consideration

Also of note, Barneys of New York frequently provided menswear. Dan McCullough (later, Dan Region) would almost daily plug Barney's during the closing, in addition to other providers. During the Dan Region era, preemptions due to special programming (holidays, early-round NCAA Tournament games, US Open tennis coverage, etc.) were announced over the final logo or during the credit crawl. This practice is shown on the many surviving episodes of the era. Dan McCullough may have also followed this practice.

Helen Wagner

With the immortal words "Good morning, dear," actress Helen Wagner (Nancy Hughes) opened As the World Turns on April 2, 1956.^[9] Wagner was tied with Mike Wallace as the second oldest personality on television. Both were born in 1918 and ranked behind Days of our Lives star Frances Reid (born in 1914). Reid was also a former cast member on As the World Turns appearing as Grace Baker. However, Reid died on February 3, 2010, and Wagner died on May 1, 2010, so Wallace is now the oldest living television personality. Wagner also holds the world record for appearing the longest amount of time on one television show as the same character, playing the role of Nancy Hughes since the show went on the air on April 2, 1956, though she has not played the role without interruption. Wagner was dropped from the series after the first six months due to conflicts with creator Irna Phillips. Wagner also left the series in 1981, when she felt that writers weren't interested in the veteran players. She returned as a regular contract player in 1985 after Douglas Marland became headwriter. She was 37 years old when the show started. On the episode broadcast on Monday, August 30, 2010, it is revealed that Nancy has died in her sleep. The next day's episode dealt with Nancy's family and friends remembering her.

Wagner is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as being the longest-running character played by one actor or actress on television.^[10]

Cast and characters

Crossovers

There have been several crossovers between As the World Turns and other soaps.

• 1965
  • The character Lisa Miller Hughes (Eileen Fulton) was used as the basis to create a primetime spinoff soap Our Private World, (CBS's attempt to duplicate the success of rival network ABC's Peyton Place), with Lisa leaving Oakdale and moving to Chicago, where she married wealthy John Eldridge, but had an affair with his brother Thomas. Though Our Private World only lasted a few months, and Fulton returned to As the World Turns in early 1966, after taking a few months off, remnants of Lisa's time on Our Private World were resurrected 26 years later, when it was revealed in 1992 that Lisa had had a son off-camera, hitherto unknown to viewers, before returning to As the World Turns in 1966. Her son Scott Eldridge tracked her down as an adult, and remained on As the World Turns for several years.

• 1999–2003
  • Shortly after Another World was canceled in June 1999, the characters of Cass and Lila Winthrop (Stephen Schnezter and Lisa Peluso), and Jake and Victoria McKinnon (Tom Eplin and Jensen Buchanan) crossed over to As the World Turns briefly. Jake and Vicky intended to move to Oakdale, but Vicky was soon killed off in September 1999, then appeared as a ghost to Jake and Molly from November 2000 to February 2001. Cass only appeared on a recurring basis through 2003 (usually whenever anyone in Oakdale needed an attorney, other than resident lawyer Tom Hughes), and Jake (Tom Eplin) remained as a regular on the series until his character was killed off in 2002. Cindy Brooke Harrison (Kim Rhodes) also had minor appearances in 2000 and 2001. Vicky's mother and twin sister, Donna (Anna Stuart) and Marley (Ellen Wheeler, who at the time also directed episodes of "As the World Turns"), made recurring appearances from 2000 to 2002, and left the show when they gained custody of Jake and Vicky's twin daughters after Jake's death. There were also plans to have a now-teenage Steven Frame (Vicky's son with Jamie Frame) come to Oakdale and live with Jake, but the character was reconceived as teenage Bryant Montgomery, the son of ATWT couple Craig and Sierra.

Since 2005, a number of characters have crossed back and forth between As the World Turns and The Young and the Restless:

• 2005
  • As the World Turns: At the request of Oakdale, Illinois, District Attorney Jessica Griffin, Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) traveled there to serve as the attorney for Jack Snyder (Michael Park) in a custody hearing involving his late wife Julia Larabee's son, JJ. (April 4 – 05, 2005).

The irony in his appearance in the above-mentioned episodes, is that twenty-years before, LeBlanc left the role of Kirk McColl, the youngest son of Lisa's fifth husband, Whit McColl (Played by Wagon Train star Robert Horton, who was killed-off shortly before Fulton's return to the show). So, to many long-time fans of both As The World Turn and The Young and the Restless, it was weird seeing LeBlanc as the character from the latter show. History was also made during LeBlanc's appearance on ATWT, since both shows are made by different production companies (Bell Productions for Y&R; Procter and Gamble for ATWT), although they're on the same network. So, to LeBlanc, it must have been a weird kind of homecoming to the show that gave him his first big break.

• 2007
  • The Young and the Restless: Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz) called on her friend Alison Stewart (Marnie Schulenburg) to help trick Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard) into marriage. After Amber drugged Cane, Alison dressed-up as him for the wedding service. (February 22, 2007)
  • The Young and the Restless: Emily Stewart (Kelley Menighan Hensley) traveled from Oakdale, Illinois to Genoa City, Wisconsin, in search of information on her sister, Alison Stewart (Marnie Schulenburg). Emily met with Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz) at Crimson Lights Coffeehouse, but Amber denied knowing Alison's whereabouts. After Emily was gone, Amber placed a call to Alison as a heads-up. (March 27, 2007)

President Kennedy's assassination

The initial CBS News Bulletin which interrupted As the World Turns at 1:40 p.m. (EST), as Nancy (Helen Wagner) talks with Grandpa (Santos Ortega)

On November 22, 1963, the live CBS broadcast of As The World Turns began as always at 1:30 EST. In this episode, Bob Hughes informs his mother Nancy that he has invited his ex-wife Lisa and son Tom to the house for Thanksgiving. Ten minutes into the program, Nancy and her father-in-law (whom she referred to as "Grandpa") were sitting on the couch discussing the situation:

Grandpa: "Did you ask him why he invited her?"

Nancy: "He said something about not wanting her to have Thanksgiving dinner alone, that he didn't think it was right."

Grandpa: "That's real nice of the boy."

Nancy: "And I thought about it, and I gave it a great deal of thought, Grandpa---"^[11]

At this precise point, a "CBS News Bulletin" slide suddenly came up on the screen and Walter Cronkite gave the first report of an unfolding national tragedy:

CBS then returned to ATWT while the show was taking its first commercial break. A commercial for Nescafé coffee, the first midbreak sponsor bumper (for Best Foods, who had sponsored the first half of the program through its Niagara and NuSoft brands) and a preview bumper for an episode of Route 66 which was to air that evening followed. Then CBS paused for identification of their local affiliate stations. The sponsor bumper for the second half of ATWT was immediately cut off for further information from Walter Cronkite over the bulletin graphic (Both the cameras and the studio lights of the era required some time to "warm up" before they could be used).

At the end of this bulletin CBS rejoined ATWT, which was still in progress as the cast, performing the episode live, was not yet aware of the rapidly developing situation. The scene at this point was in a restaurant with Bob Hughes and David Stewart; this would be the final scene before continuous coverage of the assassination. A commercial for Friskies Puppy Food was featured in its entirety, then the next commercial (for Friskies Magic Sauce Cubes dog food) was cut off. From then on, Cronkite relayed incoming reports as received over the bulletin card (confirmed from a viewing of the episode). At the top of the hour, with the bulletin slide still on screen, Cronkite announced a ten second pause for all affiliates to issue a station identification and join the network. The CBS "eye" logo was briefly shown, followed by the bulletin slide until Cronkite appeared on camera (the CBS logo slide presumably came from the episode, as it always appeared at the end of every As the World Turns broadcast; in addition, the episode continued to be performed to its conclusion despite no one's being able to watch it).

As NBC and ABC, the other two major U.S. TV networks, were not programming at the time (the 1:30–2:00 ET period belonging to their local affiliates), As The World Turns has the distinction of being the last regular U.S. network program broadcast for the next four days as the assassination of JFK and the transition of power to President Lyndon B. Johnson took center stage.

A VHS copy of a kinescope print of the entire episode, with commercials, is available for viewing at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, CA. It is also viewable on YouTube.

Broadcast history

As The World Turns enjoyed a virtually uninterrupted reign as the highest-rated soap from 1958 to 1978, tying for first place with NBC Daytime's Another World (1973–1974, 1977–1978) and Days of our Lives (1973–1974). By the mid-1960s, it was so firmly entrenched that its strongest competition, Let's Make a Deal, despite developing a devoted fan base in its own right and becoming one of daytime's most popular game shows, could not quite come close to matching it in the Nielsens.

Its strength was such that ABC ran hour-long drama reruns in the 1–2 p.m. (noon-1 Central) slot in the mid-1960s, and NBC, after losing Deal to ABC in 1968, ran a total of eight shows, all short-lived (excepting Three on a Match), against ATWT and Deal from that point until 1975.

It was only in April 1975, when NBC, encouraged by the success of its expansion of AW to one hour, did the same to Days, moving its start time to coincide with ATWT. That marked the first erosion ever of ATWT's hold on the daytime crown, but CBS fought back later that year by electing to make ATWT its initial one-hour soap (these expansions incidentally occurring only seven years after the last two 15-minute serials, Search for Tomorrow and Guiding Light, assumed the half-hour format), making ATWT CBS' second one-hour program. To do so, however, CBS had to lose one serial, and it chose P&G's The Edge of Night, which paralleled ATWT in that it premiered on the same day in 1956. Edge lost a large portion of its audience when it changed to an earlier time slot in 1972. P&G, however, wanted to continue Edge, and CBS's plan to expand ATWT in September was held up until P&G cut a deal with ABC, who picked the crime-and-mystery-themed soap for its afternoon lineup. Within weeks of expanding in December, ABC was forced to relocate Deal to noon/11, where it died six months later. However, the last half-hour of ATWT faced that network's successful $10,000 Pyramid (later $20,000) at 2/1, so the expansion did not totally succeed.

Although the eventual hit game Family Feud ran against ATWT from July 12, 1976 until April 22, 1977, it did not become a smash hit for ABC until its move to the mornings. It was only when ABC made its first move to a one-hour soap with All My Children that trouble really began for ATWT (and also Days), since ABC kept that serial's starting time at 1/noon, meaning that fans of that serial who tuned to NBC or CBS would miss the last half of that day's storyline (or, contrariwise, would not, if they watched until the mid-program commercial break and then changed channels, pick up the ATWT or Days activities from the episode's beginning, since ABC strategically placed its break several minutes after the bottom of the hour). Further, AMC's emphasis on youth-oriented, sexier story lines provided a sharp contrast to the domestic, almost quaint tone of ATWT (and, to a lesser degree, the melodramatic, somewhat topical Days). Worse still, on January 16, 1978, ABC ballooned its decade-old One Life to Live to the 2/1 starting time, compounding the other networks' headaches.

On February 4, 1980, CBS decided to move and expand The Young and the Restless to a full hour after the cancellation of the long running soap Love of Life. Y&R moved from Noon/11am to 1pm/Noon (the former affiliate break timeslot) and ATWT was bumped up to 2pm/1pm and Guiding Light to 3pm/2pm. CBS wasn't satisfied with this schedule against ABC and NBC and it lasted just a little over a year. On June 8, 1981, ATWT returned to its longtime 1:30/12:30pm start time with Search For Tomorrow following at 2:30/1:30pm and Y&R leading off the soap lineup at either Noon/11am or 12:30/11:30am (depending on affiliate preference).

ATWT remained at 1:30/12:30pm until March 20, 1987, when CBS scrapped the five-year-old Capitol in favor of The Bold and the Beautiful. Believing that B&B would do better running in tandem with Y&R (especially on Eastern Time Zone affiliates), CBS scheduled it at 1:30/12:30, and finally settled ATWT at 2/1, where it has remained since that time. Although facing the full length of AW and OLTL once again, the Douglas Marland era of 1985 from 1993 saw a resurgence in ratings, and by 1991 it was back in its once habitual top-four placing. ATWT would survive NBC's cancellation of its sister AW in 1999 in favor of Passions, which itself was canceled in September 2007 and sent to DirecTV. ATWT and OLTL were the only network programs airing in the 2/1pm timeslot until September 2010. After the ATWT cancellation, OLTL will be the only network soap airing in the 2/1pm timeslot.

Ratings

ATWT Ratings: 1956–2010

One example of the drastic change in daytime television can be found in the following:

• Daytime history: Highest rated week (November 16–20, 1981)
• (Household ratings- Nielsen Media Research)

1995 ratings

As the World Turns spent a record breaking 20 years on top of the Nielsen ratings for American daytime soap operas. They would retain this record until The Young and the Restless broke it in 2008 when it remained #1 for 21 years and counting.

Years as #1 series

Record Low: 1,773,000 viewers on December 25, 2009. (Nielsen Media Research)

Schedule

CBS:

• April 2, 1956 – November 28, 1975: 1:30–2:00 PM (12:30–1:00 PM, CT/PT)
• December 1, 1975 – February 1, 1980: 1:30–2:30 PM (12:30–1:30 PM, CT/PT)
• February 4, 1980 – June 5, 1981: 2:00–3:00 PM (1:00–2:00 PM, CT/PT)
• June 8, 1981 – March 20, 1987: 1:30–2:30 PM (12:30–1:30 PM, CT/PT)
• March 23, 1987 – September 17, 2010: 2:00–3:00 PM (1:00–2:00 PM, CT/PT)

Main crew

Executive producers

• 1956–1965: Ted Corday
• 1965–1971: Mary Harris
• 1971–1973: Fred Bartholomew
• 1973–1978: Joe Willmore
• 1978–1980: Joe Rothenberger
• 1980 – fall 1981: Fred Bartholomew
• Fall 1981 – October 1984: Mary-Ellis Bunim
• October 1984 – October 1988: Robert Calhoun
• October 1988 – May 1995: Laurence Caso
• May 1995 – November 8, 1996: John Valente
• November 11, 1996 – June 4, 1999: Felicia Minei Behr
• June 7, 1999 – September 17, 2010: Christopher Goutman

Head writers

• 1956–1965: Irna Phillips
• 1965–1966: Irna Phillips and William J. Bell
• 1966–1970: Katherine Babecki
• 1970: Joe Kane and Ralph Ellis
• 1970: Winnifred Wolfe
• 1970: Katherine L. Phillips
• 1971: Winnifred Wolfe and Warren Swanson
• 1971: Warren Swanson, Elizabeth Tillman, and John Boruff
• 1971–1973: David Lesan and Irna Phillips
• 1973–1978: Robert Soderberg and Edith Sommer
• 1979: Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt
• Late 1979: Douglas Marland (13 weeks, before moving to Guiding Light)
• Late 1979–1981: Bridget and Jerome Dobson
• 1981: Paul Roberts
• 1981: Tom King
• 1981: K.C. Collier
• 1981: Jean Rouverol, Chuck & Patty Dizenzo, David Cherill, and Tom King
• 1982–1983: Bridget and Jerome Dobson
• 1983: Caroline Franz and John Saffron
• Mid 1983–1984: John Saffron
• 1984 – November 1984: Tom King and Millee Taggart
• November 1984 – April 1985: Cynthia Benjamin and Susan Bedsow Horgan
• April 1985 – November 1985: Susan Bedsow Horgan
• November 1985 – April 1993: Douglas Marland (died) (Robert Calhoun during 1988 WGA strike)
• April 1993 – January 1995: Juliet Law Packer and Richard Backus
• January 1995: Juliet Law Packer, Garin Wolf, and Richard Culliton
• January 1995 – January 1996: Richard Culliton (Fired)
• February 1996 – late 1996: Stephen Black and Henry Stern (Fired)
• Late 1996 – May 1997: Stephen Demorest, Mel Brez, and Addie Walsh
• May 1997 – fall 1997: Jessica Klein
• Fall 1997: Stephen Demorest, Mel Brez, and Addie Walsh
• December 1997: Addie Walsh
• January 1998 – June 1999: Lorraine Broderick, Hal Corley, and Addie Walsh (co-headwriters)
• June 1999 – June 12, 2000: Leah Laiman and Carolyn Culliton (co-headwriter)
• June 13, 2000 – July 2001: Hogan Sheffer, Carolyn Culliton, Hal Corley, and Stephen Demorest (co-headwriters)
• July 16, 2001 – September 2002: Hogan Sheffer, Jean Passanante, and Carolyn Culliton
• September 2002 – May 2005 Hogan Sheffer and Jean Passanante
• May 2005 – October 2007: Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, and Christopher Whitesell
• October 2007 – January 24, 2008: Jean Passanante and Leah Laiman
• January 25, 2008 – April 17, 2008: Christopher Goutman (2007 WGA strike)
• April 18, 2008 – January 2010: Jean Passanante and Leah Laiman
• January 2010 – March 12, 2010: Jean Passanante and David Kreizman
• March 15, 2010 - September 17, 2010: Jean Passanante and Lloyd Gold

Crew at cancellation

• Writing Team: Jean Passanante, Lloyd Gold, Leah Laiman, Cheryl Davis, Susan Dansby, David A. Levinson, Gordon Rayfield, Dan Mooney, Gigi Swift, Janet Iacobuzio, Josh Griffith
• Producing Team: Christopher Goutman, Carole Shure, Jennifer Schacor, Vivian Gundaker, Sarah Shaker, Sonia Blangiardo
• Directing Team: Michael Eilbaum, John O'Connell, Jennifer Pepperman, Maria Wagner, Habib Azar, Sonia Blangiardo, Ian Toporoff, Christopher Goutman, Michael Kerner, Carol Sedwick, Janet Andrews, James Kowal, Brian Lydell, Jennifer Blood, Nancy Barron, Alexandra Roalsvig, Brett Hellman
• Casting Director: Mary Clay Boland

International broadcasts

The Netherlands has aired the show on RTL4 since 1990 (9:00 am and 5:00 pm) and on RTL 8 since 2007 (10:30 pm). RTL4 airs the episodes from one year and seven months ago. ATWT is the most popular foreign soap in the Netherlands and has about 800.000 Dutch viewers (with a total population of 16 million) each day, it's the second popular soap of all soaps in the whole country, after GTST. ATWT actor Todd Rotondi (ex-Bryant) had a cameo role on the Dutch soap Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden (Good Times, Bad Times) and Elizabeth Hubbard was a guest in the RTL talkshow Jensen! and in Mooi! Weer de Leeuw. In July 2009, Hubbard plays a guest role on GTST, she plays the role of sexuologe Sair Poindexter, the mother of main character Irene Huygens. GTST announced a return of Sair Poindexter in December.

In Canada As the World Turns currently airs on Global TV and on NTV in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In Italy As the World Turns, under the title Così gira il mondo, started to air in 1986 on Canale 5, in the afternoon after Guiding Light time slot, with episodes three years behind the U.S. In 1987 it was moved to another channel, Rete 4. The show was canceled in 1992. At that time, episodes were four years behind the U.S.

In Mexico, the show is currently shown on American Network, a subsidiary of Televisa Networks and it airs in the same time slot as in the US. The cable channel is available all throughout Mexico on the main satellite system and dozens of cable companies.

In Bulgaria, the show was aired on Efir 2 from 1993 to 1995. Diema Family will continue with the episodes from 2004, starting on April 8, 2008.

In Jamaica As The World Turns will air on Television Jamaica Monday to Friday 1:00pm beginning in 2011.

In Serbia, the show began airing on TV Avala on August 10, 2009, to very little publicity. It currently airs weekdays at 8:00 am, as well as Saturdays at 5:15 pm. The reruns air occasionally (depending on the rest of the late-night programming) around 3:15 AM. Broadcast canceled on April 25, 2010, for unknown reasons.

In Albania, the show will be seen on Vizion+,^[12] beginning with episodes from 2006.

In the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, the show will begin airing on December 15, 2009, Monday to Friday at 12:15 on Sitel

Belize's Great Belize Television is the sole broadcaster of ATWT, at 2:00 pm Central Time on schedule with the U.S.

InTurn

In 2006, CBS launched a reality show called InTurn on their broadband channel innertube, the winner of which would go on to receive a 13-week acting contract on As the World Turns. The eventual winner of InTurn was Alex Charak, an 18 year old "Student/Pizza Transportation Artist" from New York.^[13] Charak made his debut as the character Elwood Hoffman on September 26, 2006. A one-hour "best-of" show aired on CBS on November 24, 2006.

CBS launched InTurn 2 in the summer of 2007. For the new season, the age restrictions expanded to allow for middle-aged viewers to participate, and there were nine competitors instead of eight.^[14] The winner of the second season was Ryan Serhant, a recent graduate of Hamilton College. Serhant made his debut in the contract role on November 7, 2007. He plays Evan Walsh IV, son of Evan Walsh III. He is a young hotshot biochemist prodigy who comes home to Oakdale to try to convince Craig Montgomery to invest in the cutting edge biomedical tech field. He began taping on September 24, 2007, two days after the close of his off-Broadway play, Purple Hearts.

Inturn 3 began airing in April 2008 and featured 17 episodes.

Awards and records

Writers Guild of America Awards

• 2007 "Best Daytime Serial" Written by Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, Christopher Whitesell, Courtney Simon, Anna Cascio, Lisa Connor, Paula Cwikly, Hogan Sheffer, Judy Tate, Bettina Bradbury, Richard Culliton, Susan Dansby, Judith Donato, Josh Griffith, Elizabeth Page, Melissa Salmons, Charlotte Gibson; CBS Daytime

Daytime Emmy Awards

Show

As the World Turns has won 43 Daytime Emmys:

• 2007 "Outstanding Directing Team"
• 2005 "Outstanding Writing Team"
• 2005 "Outstanding Achievement in Casting for a Drama Series"
• 2004 "Outstanding Writing Team"
• 2003 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 2002 "Outstanding Writing Team"
• 2001 "Outstanding Writing Team"
• 2001 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 1999 "Outstanding Original Song" (Tied with General Hospital)
• 1993 "Outstanding Directing Team"
• 1991 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 1987 "Outstanding Drama Series"

Individuals

• 2010 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Michael Park (Jack Snyder)
• 2010 "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" Maura West (Carly Tenney Snyder)
• 2010 "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" Julie Pinson (Janet Ciccone Snyder)
• 2008 "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" Jennifer Landon (Gwen Norbeck Munson)
• 2007 "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" Maura West (Carly Tenney Snyder)
• 2007 "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" Jennifer Landon (Gwen Norbeck Munson)
• 2006 "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" Jennifer Landon (Gwen Norbeck Munson)
• 2004 "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" Cady McClain (Rosanna Cabot)
• 2004 "Lifetime Achievement Award" Helen Wagner (Nancy Hughes)
• 2004 "Lifetime Achievement Award" Don Hastings (Bob Hughes)
• 2004 "Lifetime Achievement Award" Eileen Fulton (Lisa Grimaldi)
• 2003 "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" Benjamin Hendrickson (Hal Munson)
• 2001 "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" Martha Byrne (Lily Walsh Snyder/Rose D'Angelo)
• 2001 "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" Lesli Kay (Molly Conlan)
• 1990 "Outstanding Juvenile Male in a Drama Series" Andrew Kavovit (Paul Ryan)
• 1988 "Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series" Julianne Moore (Frannie Hughes/Sabrina Hughes)
• 1987 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Larry Bryggman (Dr. John Dixon)
• 1987 "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" Gregg Marx (Tom Hughes)
• 1987 "Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series" Martha Byrne (Lily Walsh)
• 1986 "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" John Wesley Shipp (Doug Cummings)
• 1985 "Outstanding Juvenile Male in a Drama Series" Brian Bloom (Dusty Donovan)
• 1984 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Larry Bryggman (Dr. John Dixon)
• 1984 "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" Justin Deas (Tom Hughes)

Daytime television firsts

• As the World Turns ran for 30 minutes along with The Edge of Night, which premiered the same day.
• In 1988, the serial made daytime television history by introducing daytime television's first gay male character, Hank Elliot (played by Brian Starcher). The show made history again, in 2007, when Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer (played by Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann) shared a kiss and formed a relationship, becoming the only gay male couple on daytime television. On January 12, 2009, after a long and tumultuous relationship, Luke and Noah finally consummated their love, giving ATWT another daytime first.

Super couples

• Holden Snyder and Lily Walsh
• Jack Snyder and Carly Tenney
• Bob Hughes and Kim Sullivan Hughes
• Tom Hughes and Margo Montgomery
• Craig Montgomery and Sierra Estaban
• Simon Frasier and Katie Peretti
• Steve Andropolous and Betsy Stewart
• Will Munson and Gwen Norbeck Munson
• Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer

Other awards

In 2010, As the World Turns was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Daily Drama" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.^[15]

See also

• The 50s
• The 60s
• The 70s
• The 80s
• The 90s
• 2000–2007
• 2008
• 2009

References

External links

• CBS-TV: ATWT
• Official website
• "As the World Turns"-Yahoo! TV
• Soapdom: ATWT
• As the World Turns at TV.com
• As the World Turns at the Internet Movie Database
• As the World Turns (Dutch) at RTL 4, Netherlands
• Full episodes of As the World Turns