Archive for the ‘As the World Turns’ Category

As the World Turns

History of As the World Turns

As the World Turns first hit the airwaves in 1956 as one of the first half hour serial dramas on television. Before this soap opera aired, the shows were only fifteen minutes long. It took about a year for fans to become accustomed to the new longer format and eventually the ratings for this show began to climb. By 1958, As the World Turns hit the number one spot in ratings for its time slot and more viewers became engrossed in the goings on in Oakdale, Illinois.

By 1975, the extremely popular soap opera extended from a half hour to an hour long show. Later in 2009, this soap opera will become the longest running soap opera that is currently still on the air in television.

The show consistently held the number one position until the seventies when the ABC soap opera All My Children began to introduce some younger and more titillating storylines. The storylines of As the World Turns have always had the reputation for being conservative and the hip and stylish ABC show stole some of the glory of the older show. But with some scheduling changes and a different configuration of the shows, As the World Turns remains one of the top shows on daytime television.

The long run on television has seen a number of cast members come and go through the years as well as writers and producers. The techniques that were developed on As the World Turns have been used on a number of soap operas over the years. The senior soap opera became the template for soap operas over the years with slowly developed storylines and a pace that mimicked real life. This proved to be a winning strategy for the soap and fans enjoy a well developed storyline and characters that they welcome into their homes each day. As the World Turns shows no signs of stopping or relinquishing its title as the longest running daytime soap opera which it will acquire later in 2009.

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