THE END OF SOAP

The subject of writing, and in particular performance writing, is an extremely broad field. Writing for a serial, or what has become known as ‘the soap opera’, is an extraordinarily difficult task. It also requires teams of writers to deal with the interweaving of story lines and characters.  Leah Laiman, was associate head writer, head writer and co-head writer on the As The World Turns soap for several stints from 1999 to 2010. No one can do the job continuously, so it’s done in shifts. She won an Emmy for Best Writing for As The World Turns in 2001. Jean Passanante is also part of that group of writers, having worked with Laiman and having also won Emmys in, 2002, 2004 and 2005 as Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team for As the World Turns.  All the team have worked on a number of different soaps, including All My Children, Another World, One Life to Live, Guiding Light, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, etc. It is no mean feat.  In any event the changing attitudes towards soaps, has seen their demise. As the world turns, so do people’s concerns, and the world of the soap opera has apparently moved from fantasy to reality shows, talk shows, cooking, housing makeovers and the odd bit of travel. What brings this all to mind is the 2^nd April.

On the 2^nd April 1956 As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS-TV. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.

As the World Turns (often referred to as ATWT) is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from 2^nd April, 1956 to 17^th September, 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 in American history, surpassed only by Guiding Light. As the World Turns was produced in New York City for all of its time on television (its first 43 years in Manhattan and in Brooklyn from 2000 until 2010).

Set in the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois, the show debuted on 2^nd April 1956, at 1:30 pm EST. Prior to that date, all serials had been fifteen 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 thirty 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 would not be interrupted for over twelve years. The show switched to colour on 21^st August, 1967, and expanded from a half-hour in length to one hour starting on 1^st December, 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.

The show passed its 10,000^th episode on 12^th May 1995, and celebrated its 50th anniversary on 2^nd April 2006. On 18^th September 2009, As the World Turns became the last remaining Procter & Gamble produced soap opera on television after Guiding Light aired its final episode.

On 8^th December 2009, CBS announced that it cancelled As the World Turns because of low ratings. The show taped its final scenes on 23^rd June 2010, and with a sad dramatic storyline finale, its final episode aired on 17^th September 2010. On 18^th October 2010, CBS replaced As the World Turns with The Talk.

The Edge of Night (also known as Edge of Night or sometimes Edge or EON), also produced by Procter & Gamble, ran as a live broadcast on CBS from 2^nd April 1956 until 28^th November 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from 1^st December, 1975, until 28^th December, 1984. There were 7,420 episodes.

 

The Talk is a talk show created by actress Sara Gilbert, who also serves as the executive producer. The show premiered on 18^th October 2010, and airs on CBS as a part of CBS Daytime. Sara Gilbert plays the character of Leslie Winkle on The Big Bang Theory.



Mind you, it's not surprising the world has turned. Here is part 1 of the final episode. It does make one wonder about America and Americans who tuned in in such numbers for all those years.