And then there were six.
The ailing soap industry took another hit this morning with the announcement that CBS has canceled As the World Turns. The show will end its 54-year run in September.
The move, which comes just three months after CBS bid adieu to Guiding Light, will leave just six soaps on the air. The number could soon shrink to five if ABC axes One Life to Live, as has been rumored.
“We are disappointed and saddened by the news that the show is not being renewed,” said ATWT exec producer Chris Goutman in a statement. ”It will certainly be a loss for all of us, and for the show’s loyal audience.”
Producers are shopping the show around to other outlets, but don’t hold your breath. A similar effort was mounted for GL, and we saw how well that worked out.
ATWT‘s demise wasn’t unexpected, but it still stings. As you probably know, I got my start covering soaps. In fact, my first college internship was at ATWT. To watch the once-mighty industry wither away like this is beyond depressing.
Ok TV writers, come up with something for Elizabeth Hubbard, One of the greatest workingg actresses around. I will sorely miss Lucinda Walsh.
Funny you should mention Elizabeth Hubbard, who is also one of my favorites. One of the things she hated about the demise of “The Doctors” was one of their final story lines about some ridiculous youth serum. Sad to see ATWT using this same ridiculous storyline as it nears its end.
go lucinda!!!! bring back john dixon and they can ride off into the sunset
We are glad Elizabeth Hubbard now plays an interesting part in our Dutch soap Goede Tijden! Hope she’ll stay on for a very long time!
yeah, I agree Liz Hubbard delivers the goods without fail… Now EW has dropped the ball by not identifying the actors in the photo accompanying this story; That’s Michael Park ( Jack) and Maura West( Carly) – who are also excellent actors…I look forward to seeing them in whatever projects they do next…
The picture of Jack and Carly is what really brings this story home. How sad. I no longer watch soaps because of children and work, but I remember this and Another World as my favorites in thier heydey. As well, Days of Our Lives at lunchtime. I am so sad to see this one go. Can we get a primetime story with Jack and Carly?
Here is Variety’s take, also mentioning that Bonnie Hunt’s show will be ending next year- I only saw clips, but loved what I saw, she is hilarious. When she & her show weren’t nominated for a single daytime emmy this year, I was surprised…But her ratings were low, and that’s the name of the game… Onward Bonnie, & cast , crew, and staff of ATWT!
As long as All My Children and General Hospital are still on, Who cares.
Maybe the people who are sick of mob oriented soap storylines and since AMC hasn’t been good since the days of Noah and Julia….nuff said right there.
Ewwww…Noah was a BAD actor. Are you kidding me.
I fully agree that Noah sucked…I actually hated the couple but those days in general were when the soap was last good. I just can’t remember what days those were other than I was in hs. Back when SMG was Kendall and all that…a
I have to agree, Keith Hamilton Cobb was horrible on AMC, but at least he was different. I am so sick of every woman bedding Ryan, I could gag, I haven’t watched my DVR’d episodes of AMC for months now! Say what you want about GH the characters are interesting and there are lots of attractive and very talented actors, plus things move at the perfect pace.
Ugh – Noah & Julia? Those two are why I fled Pine Valley in ’96 (serum-induced-non-death-via-coffin-travel) for Springfield (GL, then home of AmishReva, twins by different fathers, and wonderdrug Lonitrat) full time – but the out of work actors and crew are who have my concern now – ONE soap based in NYC remains – that alone is scary.
Next on the axe list: ‘OLTL’.
It’s only a matter of time for ‘AMC’ and ‘GL’ too. Somewhere in there will be ‘Days’
Last to go will be ‘Y&R’ and ‘Bold and the Beautiful’.
I grew up with ‘GL’ and when it went I knew (accepted) that the days of the daytime drama were severely numbered.
Sorry, meant ‘GH’ in my post – sadly ‘GL’ is already a memory.
As The World Turns was once called a pedigree amongst a group of yapping mutts. Under Douglas Marland, ATWT reached its height as a midwestern, middle-class morality play. About the same time, Port Charles was being frozen by some cartoon character. I have been watching ATWT literally my entire life, and I care.
I remember that Doug Marland era. It was classic, it was golden, it was the template on how soaps should be like. I haven’t watched ATWT since the 90s but I do occasionally read recaps and I did check on all of the fuss about Luke & Noah on YouTube (great storyline). Lucinda & John Dixon. Bring back John Dixon! They had the best chemistry.
I’ve been watching it my entire life, also. Same with Guidling Light, but I can see why that was cancelled. I still love ATWT! I’m heartbroken.
that’s when Maura West & Carly were introduced – I thought she excellent from the start…she had some grand scenes and fights w/ the actress who first played Rosanna , Yvonne Perry …
you should care abc will be next, amc is already moving to la which is a sure sign that there is trouble
You’re exactly right. They wouldn’t pick up the whole show and move it across the country if things were going smoothly in NYC. It’s just the beginning of the end for AMC, and once it goes, the rest of the ABC soaps will go like dominoes, just like what is happening at NBC and CBS.
i agree soon all the soaps will be gone and we will be watching game shows and talk shows all day. cant wait till general hospital gets the boot. i am a cbs girl and have been for 32 yrs.
barb – why would you wish ill will on General Hospital, regardless of which station you watch? I’m a CBS gal, too, but I also watch GH. Your comment just doesn’t make any sense.
In this age, the fall of one soap opera is bad for the entire industry, regardless of the network. Your network is losing two long-running, longtime favorites in a year’s time.
Well, this wouldn’t be happening if creators, directors, producers, and studio executives weren’t all writing the same stuff for the same audience. The United States is big place with a lot of different races and cultures. This should be reflected in how the shows are created and produced. Instead we’re getting some of the same-old stuff. I happen to watch the entire ABC block. I’m already sick of AMC. OLTL has jumped a school of sharks and GH should be called Mobster’s Paradise now. I feel sorry for As The World Turns Fans. It looks like day time television is going the way of the dinosaur.
Oh, sure, as long as the shows YOU like are around, who cares. Wait until your favorites get cancelled and someone makes a snotty “Who cares” comment. Grow up, jerk.
Lol. Yeah, I only care about what I like AND I’m ok being a jerk.
Lillah’s shows will be gone in the next 5 years and then we’ll have the last laugh. Soak it up now, Lillah.
Hey, it’s 4 more than ATWT has got.
And five more than Lillah’s total of IQ points.
LOL. Good one!
“Yeah, I only care about what I like AND I’m ok being a jerk.”
No wonder you like “General Hospital.” It’s the perfect soap for narcissists and misogynists, like the people who are writing it and running the ship at ABC.
OLTL is the only thing decent on ABC, since Mob Hospital and its holy hitmen made GH unwatchable, and the Krustal-and-Boob-stravaganza put a stake in AMC. Ryan, Greenlee, Tad, Krusty, the new and decidedly inferior Liza… Who would watch that? Yet OLTL is the one on death watch? What sense does that make?
jules, it doesn’t make sense, really at all… The word is that OLTL is the most cost effective ( money spent /ratings achieved?) soap on the air ( lots have some lard in their casts they could trim) …OLTL gets the lowest ( or almost, tied with ATWT) ratings, which doesn’t mean it isn’t as good as Y&R ..just that Y&R has a bigger budget and a better PR department promoting it at Sony …vs. OLTL’s at Disney /abc….
What a stupid, ill-informed moronic thing to say. I hope you’re not as clueless as your post suggests you are.
Stop, you’re making me blush. Look all of you need to stop pretending that you care about things that don’t effect you. I’m giving my opinion. I don’t watch CBS soaps, so NO I’m not bothered by its cancellation. I respect others rights to be upset, I just don’t. Geez, relax.
It’s called empathy Lilah, something you obviously lack. Something too many people in our only-care-about-themselves country have in common with you. I choose to believe there are more people that do care about things that don’t affect them – at least that is my hope.
Take it DOWN a couple of notches my friend.
Well, good for you Laura that you care about EVERYTHING. Did I not say I respects others’ rights to care that their show is being cancelled. Read first before making your comment. It’s a show not starving children.
I haven’t watched ATWT since the early 90′s but this is really sad. It’s just further proof that a genre many of us loved at one point is about to disappear for good. And that includes Lillah’s crappy shows. She’s just too foolish, self-centered and short sighted to see what this cancelation signals.
Perhaps his wording was a bit harsh, but the flippant, thoughtless “who cares?” deserved a strong response because obviously alot of people DO care and have been watching the show for a long time.
Come on, people. Watch the soap opera; there is no need to live it. Unless you were employed by the show, this should not be a major milestone in your life. And, yes, I grew up watching AMC, stopped a decade ago, and have continued living happily, so I know what it is like to say goodbye to a soap.
@Lillah & Laura–
While you appear to lack empathy for fans of the shows that you don’t watch, how about stepping back and thinking about the families that will be affected by this? In addition to the decently paid actors trying to find work in an ever-shrinking industry, you have hundreds of people behind the scenes, many of whom have been with the show for decades, who are also now going to have to find work. Starving children? not necessarily. But certainly a lot more than people just not having a beloved show to watch.
It’s not “just” a TV show.
There is the fact the between the soon to be gone Charles Pratt and the apparently unfireable Bob Guza, as well as head of abc daytime Brian Frons they exemplify exactly what is wrong with soaps today. An emphasis on new, new, new over history or continuity, violence and misogny on a show whose target demographic is women. An unwilligness to listen to the audience and give them what they want. OLTL is actually the only ABC soap to have increased in viewers in the last couple of years (since Ron Carlivati), in the meantime AMC and GH continue to hemorrage viewers. Agnes Nixon and Gloria Monty have got to be in shock at what has happened to their shows!
Laura are you for real?? You’re actually upbraiding someone for not being empathetic about a TV show that they DON’T watch???? Please take the stick out of your butt and get a life!! GEEZ!
Summer,
Your post was so on the money! Especially the part regarding Bob Guza! That horrid head writer and his equally horrid executive producer (the show runner), Jill Farren Phelps, have ruined General Hospital. I used to watch the show faithfully until 2001…when ABC fired then EP Wendy Riche. What ABC needs to do is bring back Wendy Riche to helm GH again before it’s too late. Too much mob, firing of beloved actors, killing off beloved characters, and bringing in new actors/characters that I couldn’t care less about. I used to watch ATWT in the mid to late 80′s and it was golden…just like when Wendy Riche helmed GH, 1991-2000. I just hope GH won’t suffer the same fate. PS..I did tune in to GH to watch James Franco but the story couldn’t sustain my continued time. Sorry GH, maybe your time has come too.
I love you @Laura, (for that comment).
Lillah and @Laura sound like deluded, narcissistic, self-centered dolts. Bet you both voted for Obama.
Like that is offensive! Sorry to disappoint, but Republican. Well then we’re too idiots in the Republican party. Who knew?
@ Robbyrob
Thanks! I despise Guza and crew in a way that I save for people who prey on children (which he actually does on the show at least), kick puppies and beat elderly people!
I had watched GH since I was about 3 with my nana and I just can’t do it anymore. From the big stuff (glorification of the mob, KILLING every single Quartermaine, nothing happens at the HOSPITAL) to the small stuff like the Nurses Ball and having Steve, then Alan read the Christmas story every year, it just made me too sad to watch any longer. I think if they can’t get Wendy Riche back, they could get Sri Lao, the guy who ran season 2 of Night Shift, there were some rough spots (most likely due to budget) but THAT was what I want to see every day. Hot doctors in slow burning hot romances, history effortlessly woven into the fabric of the show and veterans used in a positive way and not just to prop a bad storyline. (I’m looking at you Luke Spencer and your stupid illegetimate son you had with Holly while married to Laura….as if!)
So anyways, thanks, nice to see some thoughtful and intellegent statements on this board!
And sorry for your loss ATWT fans!
….WHO CARES?
Well, there’s a reason for that. AMC can’t decide who or what it is. The stories are poorly fleshed out and take too long to resolve. The “heroes” aren’t worth cheering for and the “villains” are cartoonlike. Speaking of cartoons, GH is so completely unrealistic that it strains even soap credibility(no-offense). A mobster that takes truckloads of crap off of the women in his life. Mobsters are violent men and they don’t discriminate with whom they’re violent with so Sonny Corinthos is a horrible character. He’s too soft to be a real mobster. Sonny’s right-hand man is even more ridiculous than he is. A rich-boy turned mob hitman is preposturous. Anyway, I can see why a lot of fans are turned off by those shows but I must confess I’m not liking OLTL that much. The Rex-Stacey-Gigi-Schuyler storyline isn’t making me want to tune in the next day. LOL
you may change your tune if all my children and general hospital are next in line
Of course she’ll change her tune, she already intimated that AMC and GH are her faves. DUH
Yes I will, but ’till then….
ACTUALLY I Did not vote for OBAMA. WRONG AGAIN CLOWN!!
wow…that refrain sounds awfully familiar. i think i heard plenty of soap fans (including ATWT fans) espouse the same narrow minded statements back in April when GL’s cancellation was announced. there is very little standing in the way of a rash of these cancellations spreading through the industry like wildfire. game/talk/court shows are and always will be more economical than soaps. no one is safe. you AMC fans should be worried. if this move to LA doesn’t work out, i think you all are next, la lucci or not…
give it time, they will be off the air too. This generation is just not into the soaps.
during the day, they haven’t really kept up with the times…night time soaps push the envelope and are permitted to , while daytime has a lot of content restraints. With cable & internet , a lot more choices are available that are a clearer more complete reflection of today’s world….
I gave up on GH. The Mobsters are the good guys. The police are idiots. And the hospital is rarely ever seen.
Here here. All Bob Guza did was jump on the bandwagon of the Sopranos. Well, sorry to say this, but Sonny is no Tony Soprano. Sonny & company are not Robert DeNiro & Joe Pesci from Goodfellas. He has literally ruined that show. Barney Fife would be smarter than the police department in Port Charles. Bring back Sean Donovan and let him be the chief of police.
I completely agree. I grew up on shows that are long gone (mostly). I remember Santa Barbara, AW, OLTL, GH, Days, and AMC from sick days at school or pre-elementary school. They were utterly ridiculous, but they weren’t…stagnant. There was something going on. GH lost me about six years ago when the mob became more important than the Qs.
I will always be a Q fan because they were the heart and soul of the show. Edward’s hamfisted desire to control everything, Alan & Monica’s everpresent marriage problems, and Lila. Oh, I miss Lila so much. I was heartbroken when the actress was no longer there. She had this quite strength that the show needs. There has to be an anchor and right now, Sonny’s dramas aren’t that. How many girlfriends can die? How many times can Brenda show up? How many baby daddy issues can we deal with? It’s too much. Take away the heart and nothing’s left but repetitive baloney that’s been retread so often that couples don’t matter anymore. (Like, for instance, Spinelli getting Maxie after finally admitting he adored Georgie. Just saying.)
The industry needs to stop rehiring fired head writers and look for new blood if they want to stay on the air. There needs to be more originality. Heck, even the turkey baster in Sunset Beach was memorable at least.
CBS just ruined my day!! I have
been watching ATWT since in began.
It was recorded each day while I
was at work — so that I could
view it in the evening — instead of all the murder and mayhem that is offered in Prime Time — all day
every day. I am now retired (79 years young) very active — and
am taking care of my husband who has Alzheimer’s. ATWT is an outlet
for me each day. I do hope that
it is picked up.
I’m General Hospital fan too but I would still be worried.You never know if General Hospital could be next.
Anyone who watches soaps, on any channel, should care. CBS still has 2 soaps remaining, but as game shows and talk shows are cheaper to make, they are probably doomed, too. And the other networks will wait to see if CBS makes more money in daytime without soaps. If they do well, we can kiss all our soaps good-bye. I admit GL had gone downhill, but that was most the networks fault for cutting its budget down to nothing. But As The World Turns is still good. One of the best casts on daytime. And the stories still resonate with the audience. This makes me really sad.. and mad as h*** at CBS. I considered cutting CBS out of my viewing schedule before, but now, its a done deal. No more CBS for me, day or night.
WE CARE if it were your soap being cancelled you would be very sad….Have a heart for others….we will be soooo lost….
i care and ibet alot of other people do to shame on you for being so rude it is sad////
I will be beyond sad if OLTL goes away…I know one thing, I won’t start watching the dreadful AMC or GH.
Agreed. I’ve watched AMC & GH in the past, but am totally immersed in OLTL. Sad that more people aren’t…
Listening (or rather reading) to some of you hating on AMC/GH does not make me mad. Can’t expect all of you to share my likes. I respect the hate. They may be cancelled but until that day comes, I’m rejoicing in the simple fact that the ones I like are still on. In a couple of months I may be howling but ’till then….
I can’t wait till GH and AMC get the ax. I’d watched AMC since 1971 or so, and GH since 1975 or so. And they’ve both become unwatchable to me. I think maybe Guza’s plan all along was to torpedo the best soaps he had so nobody would care by the time they were canceled and turned into more el cheapo reality programming. OLTL kind of sailed along under the radar because it didn’t have the buzz GH and AMC always got. No Tony Geary or Susan Lucci, I guess. So OLTL, the only one escaping Guza’s torpedos, is actually a very good soap. So of course it’ll be the one that gets canceled.
I’m sure the cast and crew of GH and AMC hope you get fired too.
Amen to the comment regarding Elizabeth Hubbard. It is truly criminal that she has never won an Emmy for this role.
I agree Elizabeth Hubbard is one of the best on the show. I loved her also on the doctors. Her and Nick Bellini were fantastic together. But as for the show now its really going downhill. My favorite is Carley. They should get rid of Damien. He is the worst actor I have ever seen.
Sad, but not shocking. This industry is slowly dying. It is a shame. This show had/has some great actors. Best wishes to the cast & crew!
This is awful. A true TV icon bites the dust.
This is very sad !!!!
Heartbreaking news. Only leaves one standing NYC-based soap, an industry which used to keep theatre afloat by giving half the theatre community day jobs. And also clearly pointing to the demise of the genre (which I love).
Exactly Kim. I work in the NYC Theatre Community and have always been grateful to soaps for allowing struggling actors to earn a steady paycheck. It also provides these actors with exposure to a wider audience, many of whom follow their favs to the stage for a chance to see them in a new light. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is, for everyone, when a fan waits outside the stage door and tells that actor “I love you on [insert soap here] and I’ve never really been into theatre but I came to see the show because of you, and now I love it.” Or something of the like. There is a strangely symbiotic relationship between these two industries. I fear a mass exodus to L.A. in search of a paycheck. Personally speaking, I love soaps and I hate to imagine the TV landscape without them.
Thoughtful, thanks.
This is horrible! The worst part about this is how much it hits us GL fans who also watch ATWT…this comes right after the soap nabbed GL faves Daniel Cosgrove and Tom Pelphrey! It also really sucks for me because Port Charles is one of my alltime fave soaps and every day on ATWT is like a little PC reunion!
Hopefully this will be replaced by the rumored new daytime Password?
Sorry, meant Pyramid, not Password.
That’s what I’m waiting for…the new Pyramid. Sorry to see another soap go by the wayside, but I’m ready for the Pyramid revival. Hopefully it will be revived once more.
No more goddamn game shows! There is a reason I don’t watch them. They are boring and idiotic. The only two game shows I will watch are Cash Cab and Jeopardy and that’s because at least there is some thought put into answering the questions. They need to stop replacing shows that require writing and acting and so on and so forth…and most importantly…some form of creativity…and replacing them with boring inane drivel…and as sappy and cheezy as soaps are…they are ever so entertaining.
please tell me they are not taking atwt off and putting another game show where it was it just is not right please can we not do somethingleave it on.
I grew up on watching soaps with my grandmother. The CBS soaps were our faves. First, GL and now ATWT. So sad.
Im on the exact same page. I called my grandma as soon as i heard and she was so saddened. which breaks my heart. she’s invested in the characters longer than ive been around! (34 years) and my memories of spending summers watching them with her.. I hope John & Lucinda ride into teh sunset after resurrecting and killing James Stenbeck ONE. LAST. TIME.
……And your Grandmother need to get a life.
YOU…
I don’t know what your definition of a life is. You are probably the only person trolling the ew site who doesn’t have a tv and doesn’t stoop to watching it, right? I’m only an occasional soap watcher, but like Gale and DEE my grandmother has watched this show from the beginning. In the summers I would watch it with her, and anything that bring a teenage girl closer to her grandmother is a good thing in my book. And if they are sad that its ending, how the heck does that hurt you? Why don’t YOU go get a life instead of posting snarky comments about something you say means nothing to you. Thats way more pathetic than people saying they are going to miss a show that has been on the air longer than some of us have even been alive.
You,
Why would you make a cold-hearted remark like that to Galen. That was just cruel and you owe ‘G’ an apology.
Please don’t cancel OLTL!
….NavyResGirl and Missy need lives as well. Nope, no apologies, and btw I actually have 4 tvs and loooooooove watching tv Miss Missy. How does it feel to be a pathetic loser AND wrong??
OH SNAP!
You are atroshes!!
Calm down Missy, it’s REALLY NOT that deep!
I wouldn’t be surprised if, by 2020, there are no more soaps on the air. Sad to see this genre die off.
This is the only soap I watch, and though I knew this day was probably coming, it doesn’t hurt any less. I feel a chill coming on…
ba. ba. ba. another one bites the dust…
because As The World Turns is the last true soap opera left, it makes what CBS did all the more heartbreaking. I’m devastated over CBS’decision to cancel Guiding Light, now to be hit with this.I feel as though my heart has been ripped out. Why,I don’t understand why? We are loyal viewers. Don’t we matter? I am deeply saddened by this, words are inadequate and don’t begin to express the overwhelming loss I feel over this. Please save this program; find another medium,venue,or make some other arrangement. Programs such as ATWT are necessary they serve a purpose Thankyou Denise Moore
I,m deeply saddened over the loss of As The World Turns,words are inadequate and don’t begin to express the overwhelming loss I feel over this. This program and programs such as Guiding Light are necessary and serve a purpose.Please find a way to keep ATWT on the air.Please find a way to save it,find another medium, venue; or make some other arrangement to help keep it on the air for many years to come. Thankyou Sincerely, Denise Moore