As The World Turns
| As the World Turns | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | 'ATWT' |
| Genre |
Soap opera Drama |
| Created by | Irna Phillips |
| Written by |
Jean Passanante (2001–10) Leah Laiman (1999–2010) |
| Directed by | See below |
| Starring | Series cast |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 54 |
| No. of episodes | 13,858 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Ted Corday (1956–65) Mary Harris (1965–71) Fred Bartholomew (1971–73, 1980–81) Joe Willmore (1973–78) Joe Rothenberger (1978–80) Mary-Ellis Bunim (1981–84) Robert Calhoun (1984–88) Laurence Caso (1988–95) John Valente (1995–96) Felicia Minei Behr (1996–99) Christopher Goutman (1999–2010) |
| Producer(s) | See below |
| Running time | 30 minutes (1956–75) 60 minutes (1975–2010) |
| Production company(s) |
Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc. (1956–2008) TeleNext Media, Inc. (2008–10) |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | April 2, 1956 – September 17, 2010 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Our Private World |
| Related shows | |
| External links | |
| Website | |
As the World Turns (often referred to as ATWT) is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light. Running for 54 years, As the World Turns holds the second-longest continuous run of any daytime network soap opera on American television, surpassed only by Guiding Light.As the World Turns was produced for the first 43 years in Manhattan and in Brooklyn from 2000 until 2010.
Set in the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois, the show debuted on April 2, 1956, at 1:30 pm EST. Prior to that date, all serials had been 15 minutes in length. As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, which premiered on the same day at 4:30 pm EST, were the first two to be 30 minutes in length from their premiere. At first, viewers did not respond to the new half-hour serial, but ratings picked up in its second year, eventually reaching the top spot in the daytime Nielsen ratings by fall 1958. In 1959, the show started a streak of weekly ratings wins that was not interrupted for over 12 years. The show switched to color on August 21, 1967, and expanded from a half-hour in length to one hour starting on December 1, 1975, when The Edge of Night moved to ABC. In the year-to-date ratings, As the World Turns was the most-watched daytime drama from 1958 until 1978, with ten million viewers tuning in each day. At its height, core actors such as Helen Wagner, Don MacLaughlin, Don Hastings, and Eileen Fulton became nationally known. Three of these actors – Wagner, Hastings, and Fulton – are also the three longest serving actors in the history of American soap operas.
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Wikipedia