CBS Has Cancelled As the World Turns

[miliosr]

FYI -- Julianne Moore returns to As the World Turns tomorrow to reprise her role of Frannie Hughes. This will be the first time she has appeared on the show since she left in 1988.

I admire her so much for returning to the show that brought her to the public eye in the first place. What a gracious way to honor the show that plucked her out of obscurity now that CBS has cancelled it AND to give the show's fans one last glimpse of Frannie Hughes. Love her to death for doing this.

[dirac]

Moore seems like a class act. Very nice gesture.

[Drew]

I don't even watch As The World Turns and I think Moore returning to the show for a good-bye is lovely...

[canbelto]

Especially since so many actors who got their start on soap operas have acted like it's an embarrassment. Robin Penn Wagner and Meg Ryan are two who will talk of just about anything except for their stints as soap opera actressesa.

[papeetepatrick]

That reminds me, something that comes up frequently with one friend in conversation--that episode of, I think, 'The Secret Storm', where Joan Crawford stepped in for Christina, you see something of it in 'Mommie Dearest'. I mean--we want to see this! Will travel short distances... Anybody know how you see such a gem?

I remember Liz Taylor guesting in 'General Hospital'. That was fun. And Gloria de Haven (I think she's still around) went into them back in the 60s. Yes, just looked it up, Ms. de Haven was in 'Unknown Episodes' of AS THE WORLD TURNS as 'Sara Fuller' in 1966-67.

[miliosr]

Especially since so many actors who got their start on soap operas have acted like it's an embarrassment. Robin Penn Wagner and Meg Ryan are two who will talk of just about anything except for their stints as soap opera actresses.

To her everlasting credit, Julianne Moore has always spoken warmly about her time on As the World Turns. She gave a humorous interview on the subject some years ago. When the interviewer asked her if people still thought of her as her characters of Frannie and Sabrina, she laughed and said, "Until the day I die -- it's my most enduring body of work!"

Nathan Fillion, who plays the title character on the ABC show Castle, also speaks well about his time on One Life To Live (whose fans consider him to be the definitive Joey Buchanan.) He visits the set when he is in New York and appeared on the show as Joey for several episodes a few years ago during the funeral of Asa Buchanan.

[miliosr]

Julianne Moore's return (short but effective):

(By the way, the more senior ladies -- Nancy, Kim and Lisa -- look great!)

[papeetepatrick]

Yes, that was charming to see Julianne sitting between Nancy and Lisa, who do look marvelous (Wagner so chic and thin, Eileen still full and beautiful.) Funny to have that little spat in between the 'scenes of good cheer'.

[canbelto]

Anne Heche also, surprisingly, is one of the actresses who speaks warmly of her days on Another World. (She was fantastic too -- a wonderfully sexy Vicky and innocent Marly.) I also read that she remained friends with some of the AW cast long after she left the show. Kind of surprising, given her wacky and out-there reputation.

Lovely of Julianne Moore to return to ATWT for a farewell.

[sidwich]

Anne Heche also, surprisingly, is one of the actresses who speaks warmly of her days on Another World. (She was fantastic too -- a wonderfully sexy Vicky and innocent Marly.) I also read that she remained friends with some of the AW cast long after she left the show. Kind of surprising, given her wacky and out-there reputation.

Lovely of Julianne Moore to return to ATWT for a farewell.

Yes, Heche has also spoken very fondly of working on "Another World." A few years ago, there was a question of a possible gap of a few weeks in the role of Vicky/Marley; they might have been between actresses in the roles, I think. Much to the chagrin of her agent, Heche actually was in discussion with the producers to return to AW to bridge the gap. It turned out not to be necessary, but she's definitely never looked down on her time on the show, and the veterans speak very warmly of her.

I actually remember watching "As The World Turns" when Julianne Moore was Frannie/Sabrina the first time, and there are times I still think of her in the role when I see her. She looks great, and she can actually still move her face!

[miliosr]

Helen Wagner has died:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/05/02...ml?_r=2&hpw

While I'm sure fans of the show would have loved for her to be a part of the final episode in September, you have to say that she led a rich, full life and she was fortunate to be able to do something she loved up until the very end.

[papeetepatrick]

The Times obit has been updated to give the cause of death as cancer, which I suspected, although without really solid reason. When I saw the clip you put up, miliosr, she reminded me of an old lady friend of mine who died at the same age almost exactly a year ago, although she had not had cancer, but rather heart problems, and 30 years previous had been very overweight. It's quite extraordinary that she was on the show just over 3 weeks before her death, and with such a sunny presence.

[miliosr]

It's quite extraordinary that she was on the show just over 3 weeks before her death, and with such a sunny presence.

Agreed.

As I said in my prior post, it would have been wonderful to have her speak the very last words in the final episode. (She did, after all, speak the very first words on the show in 1956.) But it was her time to go so I mustn't be selfish.

[papeetepatrick]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/arts/mus...?ref=obituaries

miliosr, do you think she might also have played the old openings to As the World Turns and Love of Life? (and possibly some others I don't remember as well). The former used to have a 2-octave or so ascending D Major scale on the organ, although I don't know how long that lasted, or even if it ever disappeared (probably.) The opening of 'Love of Life' was this rather ridiculous Diminished 7th chord which resolved immediately into a C Major theme. Secret Storm always had the Brahms, that's all i can remember now. Fascinating story, and yet another long-lived lady of the week.

[miliosr]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/arts/mus...?ref=obituaries

miliosr, do you think she might also have played the old openings to As the World Turns and Love of Life? (and possibly some others I don't remember as well). The former used to have a 2-octave or so ascending D Major scale on the organ, although I don't know how long that lasted, or even if it ever disappeared (probably.) The opening of 'Love of Life' was this rather ridiculous Diminished 7th chord which resolved immediately into a C Major theme. Secret Storm always had the Brahms, that's all i can remember now. Fascinating story, and yet another long-lived lady of the week.

I can't say but 107 (nearly 108) . . . WOW! (She looks a bit like the actress Eileen Brennan in the photo.)

Michael Logan, the soap columnist for TV Guide, has a nice appreciation of Helen Wagner in the current print edition.

[miliosr]

Actor Larry Bryggman returns as Dr. John Dixon on August 27th. Apparently, he is returning at the specific request of Elizabeth Hubbard (Lucinda). So, another fan favorite returns before the end.

Five weeks from today and it's over . . .

[dirac]

Time marches on, etc. Still hard to believe, though.

[miliosr]

Time marches on, etc. Still hard to believe, though.

Yes, it does. And, having watched an episode last week, I can't argue with the decision to cancel the show given the show's noticeably reduced production values. In the episode I saw, several characters were dining at a local Oakdale restaurant. Once, the set would have been packed with extras playing other diners, waiters, etc. Last week, the only extra was a lone bartender. Obviously, the money just isn't there any more to make Oakdale a "real" place.

This is the point Kim Zimmer (Reva Shayne) on Guiding Light made toward the end of that show's tenure. By the end, Guiding Light didn't have the money for extras, elaborate sets, or even being able to assemble the entire cast for special events. As a result, the show could no longer stage the kind of things soaps did best -- weddings, funerals, parties, etc. -- and it lost all of its distinctiveness.

[miliosr]

Final week ratings for As the World Turns:

Households: 2,593,000 viewers

18-49 demo: 1.9

ATWT saw some increases in households and the all-important 18-49 demo at the end as some lapsed viewers tuned in to see how things would end for their favorite characters. But, truthfully, the increases were fairly modest -- viewership only rose about 300,000 from mid-summer and the show couldn't even reach a 2.0 in the 18-49 demo. This tells me the show was done -- there just wasn't any more life left in it.

So, now there are six soaps left: Days of Our Lives (NBC), The Young and the Restless (CBS), The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS), All My Children (ABC), One Life To Live (ABC) and General Hospital (ABC). By say, 2020, I think they will all be gone. Here is my prediction for the boot order: Days, OLTL, AMC, GH, B&B, Y&R.

[miliosr]

The New York Times published a lengthy update regarding what the former cast members of As the World Turns are doing these days:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/arts/television/07soap.html?_r=1&ref=arts