As the World Turns
As the World Turns is the second longest-running American television soap opera. It airs on CBS.Television pioneer Irna Phillips created the show in 1956. Viewers responded to the half-hour serial. (The show expanded to an hour on December 1, 1975.) As the World Turns was the most-watched daytime drama for more than 20 years.
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One of Phillips's innovations was to introduce a sort of Greek chorus to the stories. The primary purpose of characters such as Nancy Hughes (played by 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.
Among the actors who have gotten their start on As the World Turns are Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei, Julianne Moore, Parker Posey, Jason Biggs and Kristanna Loken.
As the World Turns debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30 in the afternoon. Before this show (and The Edge of Night, which premiered on the same day), all soaps were fifteen minutes in length; ATWT was the first half-hour serial. In the beginning, the story focused on the middle-class Hughes family in the small Midwestern burg of Oakdale. Lawyer Chris Hughes (Don MacLaughlin), a partner in a small law firm, was the patriarch of the family. His wife Nancy (Helen Wagner), while a very traditional housewife, was always the strong voice of reason in the household. Chris and Nancy had three children: Don, Penny, and Bob. A fourth child, Susan, was never seen as she died as a result of swimming during a thunderstorm before the series started.
As the show began, Chris and Nancy were debating whether they should have Chris's father, Will (Santos Ortega) live with them. Their daughter, Penny, was angry with Nancy over her decision to prohibit her going on a spring vacation trip with her best friend, Ellen Lowell.
As the show moved into the 1960s, Penny found love with Jeff Baker (Mark Rydell), but he died in a horrible accident early in the new decade. Don married Janice Turner Whipple, but Nancy was strongly opposed to the marriage so he was forced to move away to Texas. Bob (who, by this time, was being played by Don Hastings) fell in love with schemer Lisa Miller (Eileen Fulton). Bob had become a doctor, and Lisa had no desire to stay home, waiting for her husband, so she had an affair, despite recently giving birth to a son. Bob divorced her, and Lisa became a pariah, as dictated by most of the town (headed by Nancy Hughes). She left for a two year span (her son, Tom, stayed with the Hughes family), and came back to Oakdale in 1966. By this time, she was newly rich, and was suddenly interested in her ex-husband when he found new love with Sandra McGuire (Dagne Crane).
While Lisa was a vixen during her formative years in Oakdale, eventually everyone (including Nancy Hughes) forgave her for her past transgressions, and she has reformed into a very valuable member of society (she currently owns half the stake in a boutique, Fashions, with Barbara Ryan).
Notable storylines during the 1970s revolved around the Sullivan sisters, Jennifer (Gillian Spencer) and Kimberly (Kathryn Hays) came to town and shook up the moral fabric. Jennifer died early on, while Kimberly romanced both the devious Dr. John Dixon (Larry Bryggman) and Dan Stewart (John Colenback) before finally settling on Bob Hughes in the 1980s (With his marriage to Kim, Bob had now married both Sullivan sisters). More drama ensued from the trauma Jennifer's daughter Barbara Ryan (Colleen Zenk Pinter) endured by being married to criminal James Stenbeck (Anthony Herrera). After being widowed by Gunnar St. Clair (Hugo Napier), she became involved with, arguably, the love of her life: Hal Munson (Benjamin Hendrickson). After a one-night stand with Darryl Crawford, Barbara was forced to admit that the baby that was conceived (Jennifer, named after her mother) was not Hal's, and he divorced her. In the 1990s, however, Barbara and Hal were to be married two more times.
Today, the popular stories revolve around bad guy Craig Montgomery (Hunt Block). He was a nice guy originally, but the years haven't been kind to Craig. Craig's wife Rosanna (Daytime Emmy winner Cady McClain) has returned to town after she found out that her adopted son was stolen from another family, and she is out for blood; anyone who ever hurt her has to pay the price. Rosanna's sister Carly (Maura West) was in a front-burner storyline with husband Jack Snyder (Michael Park), but nowadays Jack just helps fellow cop Margo Montgomery Hughes (Ellen Dolan) track leads at the police station, while Carly offers the voice of reason to her sister, as well as fellow schemer Paul Ryan (Roger Howarth), Barbara's son with James Stenbeck.Premise
Famous stars
History
The '50s and '60s
The '70s and '80s
The '90s and today