"As the World Turns" is axed after 54 years

Soaps might seem silly and obsolete these days but it's sad to see them vanish. A lot of great actors and writers built their chops on these shows over the years.

They were cheesy but there was at least some old-fashioned TV craft involved in making them. Now they're being replaced with crappy talk shows and game show remakes. Shame.

dan c

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B74MX20091208?type=entertainmentNews

 

I liked ATWT until Douglas Marland died, and subsequent writing/production teams turned it into As the World Turns around Carly Tenney.

 

When is the complete series box coming out?

 

Whoo Boy! 54 years x 365 days. You might need a separate room to house the discs(as if the tapes would still exist)!

 

Damn! I was just starting to get into it too.

 

I guess the world stopped spinning

 

Not that I mind that stuff finally being put to bed, but:

2.5 million viewers for a cheap soap isn't worth it to 'em?

 

With that in mind, let me seriously ask: How far back do the archives actually go for this? I'm assuming the first bunch of years were live. I would love to know how a company keeps track of 50+ years worth of a TV series.

 

I would bet the oldest stuff they have in regular archives begins in the mid to late 70s.

Altho, there are probably kinesopes laying around of the occasional black and white episode.

 

Let's not forget one ATWT edition that was broken in on a certain November day in 1963 for one of those events which is oft cited as "changing America forever" . . . (no other words needed).

 

I used to watch this with my mother when I was younger. I remember watching Meg Ryan and Julianne Moore on it. She still watches it now, and was saddened when I told her about the cancellation. She's been watching it since coming to Canada in the '50s.

 

If they treated this show like NBC did to Carson and the game shows of the 60's, they were written over. For some insane reason, they re-used tape.

 

I'd like to know this, too. There's a plot point from a May 7, 1982 episode that I missed the first time it aired and would really like to get straightened out.

Wasn't it As the World Turns that was airing when CBS first broke in with the news that JFK had been shot?

 

I demand Blu-ray!

A good buddy of mine at NBC works on Days of Our Lives, and he says budgets are getting slashed on all the soaps. Times are tough (but you knew that already).

 

Betsy and Frannie!

wow, this show has personal meaning to me.... back when i was in my early teens, i dated a kid whose father played Dr. John Dixon (still might, since he was a longtime veteran), which was what prompted me to start watching.... a couple of years later, my brother got a small role on it, only to be killed off after a few episodes

 

Betsy and Frannie, indeed!

Re: John Dixon... I think he was my favourite character. I still remember when he was supposed to be dead, and 'unveiled' himself at his own murder trial. My mother predicted it.

Interesting about your brother. What was the name of his character? If it was around those days, I might remember him. A close friend of the family still plays the occasional bit part on ATWT. She usually plays a nurse and occasionally has generic line of dialog, but it's still nice to see when she's on. My mother PVR's the whole week, so she'll save it for me to see when our friend is on.

 

At least in the Eastern and Central time zones, yes.

 

It was my mother's favorite soap opera while I was growing up, but even she hasn't watched it in years!

 

It hasn't been worth watching for the last 15 years, since headwriter Douglas Marland died. I started watching it again a few years ago because of gay Luke, but I record it on days I know he's going to be on so I don't have to watch the rest. It really is that illogical and crapulent.

 

My mom used to watch every day and, since it was on, I saw a bunch of episodes in the late 60's/ early 70's. I can remember a couple of things. There was a major character named Lisa Hughes. I think her husband was a doctor. And there was a guy named Tom, possibly Lisa's son, and they changed actors playing Tom at one point.
My mom gave up on the show at one point in the late 70's, I don't know why.

 

Pity, how the historic dramas have lost their place among
the swill that passes for daytime programing these days.

One of the few daytime programs that I enjoyed was also canceled this week,
The Bonnie Hunt Show will not return for a third season.

I know that I was not their target viewer,
but I did enjoy her smart, upbeat, positive, witty banter,
and I will miss it.

It was really too good among the swill programed by networks these days.

 

Wow, that's a shame. I saw her show a few times and thought it was pretty good. It was a lot better than the trash that surrounded her, like Jerry Springer and the multitude of court shows.

 

I used to joke that I just wanted to live long enough to see the last episode of As The World Turns. Yikes.

 

Don't fret, just chalk it up as another accomplishment.