Last December, CBS announced that yet another venerable soap opera had been cancelled. After 54 years on the air, As the World Turns was winding down. As a treat for fans, the producers have been inviting some familiar faces from years gone by to return, like Julianne Moore, Larry Bryggman, Jennifer Landon, Jesse Soffer, Cady McClain, and Mary Beth Evans.
There was talk about the daytime drama possibly continuing elsewhere but it seems that won’t be happening. Yesterday, the cast and crew of As the World Turns taped their 13,858th and last episode in Brooklyn.
In a statement to EW, Brian T. Cahill, senior VP and managing director of TeleNext Media Inc., said, “Last December, when CBS informed us that they were canceling As the World Turns, we immediately launched a far-reaching search to find a new outlet for the show.”
He continued, “We have aggressively pursued network and cable outlets as well as syndication options, and have explored many innovative formats and relationships that we hoped would ultimately enable the future success of As the World Turns. Regrettably, we have not found an outlet or platform that will carry the show forward. This is an extremely disappointing outcome to what was a tireless and exhaustive pursuit.”
Cahill concluded, “While we are sad to see As the World Turns come to an end, we remain proud of the achievements the show has made over the last 54 years and are extremely grateful to the loyal fans who invited us into their homes every day. There is still much in store for the show’s well-loved characters throughout the summer, and although the show will go off the air in September, the remaining stories will honor the remarkable history of As the World Turns.”
What do you think? Are your surprised that the soap won’t be finding a new home? Would you follow the characters if they returned in another form — like books, audio dramas, or web shorts?
Image courtesy CBS.
I was so glad to find the finale episode to watch, i missed it. I am surprise the cbs website for ATWT isn’t better, Guilding Lights is much better. I am as upset with ATWT being cancled by CBS as I was When GL was cancled. I have watched these two shows all my life , my grandma started listening to them on radio. Four generations have watched in my family, and all four generations are sad to see them go. I don’t watch any other soaps. and I won’t . I think CBS made a bad choice to cancle… Read more »
I would follow this show no matter what format they would choose. There is no talk show or any other show that could replace the warmth this show had. I’ve watched this show since I knew what a tv show was. I’d come home from kindergarten and my mother would be watching it so I started watching it, I’m now 55.
I could not believe they ended this show! I watched it daily or recorded it and watched it at night. This was the best soap ever and I wish they would bright it back in some form!
how can you just stop after all these years i started whiching when i was 12 iam now 43 and started my 11 year old daughter!!! wheres the ending??? after all these years you could have put together a ENDNG !!!!! CBS what the he******