ATWT: Canceled

Earlier this week, it was announced that “As the World Turns” was canceled. The show, which was created by Irna Phillips, premiered in 1956 on CBS, and was produced by Procter & Gamble (now TeleNext). It will end its run in September, with taping to end before summer.

Even though for many of us, this news was inevitable, it doesn’t mean it isn’t sad. I had hoped it would get “retired” at 55, but alas that wasn’t to be. TeleNext is saying they are going to look for a new home for the show, as they still claim to be doing the same for Guiding Light. I’m skeptical that either would be picked up in the future, and if one was it may be radically different. With As the World Turns still in production, if they did find a new home, there is a better chance that things would be closer to what is airing now.

Much has been said about the remarks Les Moonves made on CNBC. “The days of the soap operas have changed very much. GL left last year. World Turns will leave this year. They had long and distinguished runs. And their day is over. Is it the end of an era? Sort of. Only the special soaps are going to survive. It’s certainly the end of the client-owned soap. All good things come to an end, whether it’s after 72 years or 54 years or 10 years. It’s a different time and a different business.” My first thought was how CNBC got an interview with the head honcho of a competing network. My second was how do we define special, is something that aired for many years by definition special. My third was client-owned soaps are still on CBS, Young & Restless and Bold & Beautiful. The only network that airs soaps they own is ABC. Even with Moonves being so anti-soap, I appreciate that even if it was ugly he spoke his mind. I think whenever something ends after a long time, an era is coming to a close.

My heart goes out to the people who work at ATWT and their families. Being told about imminent job loss during holiday time doesn’t make things easy, as presents may already have been purchased especially for those who celebrate Chanukah as it is later this week. Having the news come out months before the end, is only a positive in the sense that there is more time to look for new employment. Whenever a business closes, things change for all involved and the adjustment process takes time. I hope those who have friends and family members who work at the show now, are able to console each other.

Soaps were once a world without end, and the one in Oakdale is coming to a close. Saying goodbye to something, after over fifty years is hard. In some families, ATWT viewing was passed down among family members. I feel for the fans that have to break the cancellation to their older relatives, who may have not heard the news. I feel for those who have lost relatives and their last link to them was their shared love of ATWT, as seeing the long-term characters remind them of this beloved person. I feel for those whose lives were shaped by the program, the ones who ran home to see it, received comfort and entertainment from it. From early on in its run until the late 70s, ATWT topped the daytime ratings. A program has to be pretty popular if the network decides to make a prime time spinoff.

I have many good memories of ATWT, though much of it is scattered as even in high school I could only see full episodes over the summer. My biggest memory of the episodes I saw before high school was the size of the cast and the wonderful way everyone interacted. We saw parents, children, grandparents all involved in each other’s lives. There used to be a “warmth” in soaps years ago, that we seldom see today. It is hard to explain, but perhaps it is the sense of family and community. On ATWT I saw something I didn’t have which was a large extended family. Due to school, I only started watching the program with more regularity in the early 90s even if I saw some episodes and was familiar with it before then, so I knew about the triangle of Holden, Lily and Dusty, Paul, Andy, the love affair with Casey and Lyla, Emily and Brock, Lucinda, Craig, Margo, Tom, Lien, John, Lisa and the Synder farm with the pond, where it seemed like any time I watched there were more relatives and new people becoming intimate there.

I remember when Lily came back, Malta and singing, “I can make you love me”, which I equate more to ATWT than Bonnie Raitt. I remember when Margo faced the possibility she was HIV positive after being raped. I remember seeing the Hughes family together with Bob and Kim and Nancy. Susan working as a doctor falling in love with a younger colleague, Lucinda being tough in the boardroom and finding family she never had, while trying to look out for her daughters. I remember Montega, that island nation, being part of the show, though I never understood why there was an island as wasn’t Oakdale in Illinois. I remember when Duncan went to the airport to get his wife expecting to see Jessica, and seeing his deceased wife Shannon. Now that was a shocking development, and one of the few after 1990 that wasn’t spoiled in the soap magazines. The television station WOAK, Mona Lisa, Fashions, the family homes, the police station with Hal, Margo and later Jack. Oakdale was a bustling community filled with people of various economic stations with intersecting lives.

That said I gave up on watching ATWT regularly in the last decade. Nothing was grabbing my interest, and time was short. I had months of unwatched episodes saved on videotape that I still possess. Once an entire drawer was filled, I realized it was time to let go, which I did instead of jumping back in and continuing on with the show. These unmarked tapes are something I will have to being to explore one of these days. I may write about some of these episodes, and other things I enjoyed on As the World Turns over the years in the coming months. There were times I was tempted to go back, but something stopped me. I figured I would eventually start again, but now that can’t happen except to say goodbye.

The many people who have worked or have watched the show will not forget the impact of As the World Turns. I hope in its final months resolution is brought to the current viewers and the show’s rich history is honored. I want to be able to say farewell to all of the inhabitants of Oakdale from today and yesterday.