NEWS: The End of AS THE WORLD TURNS

NEW YORK TIMES: A Fond Farewell to AS THE WORLD TURNS
Ginia Bellafante: "All the unseemliness was white washed for the series finale, in which only happy things transpired: A heart-transplant survival! A middle-aged pregnancy! Senior citizen love! A bottle-blonde told her husband she feared they were now 'normal.' Normal in soap land means it is time to wrap up."

TV SQUAD: A Fond Farewell to AS THE WORLD TURNS
"'ATWT' was a trailblazer," reflected Emmy-winning writer-producer Jonathan Reiner, who spent seven years at Soap Opera Weekly. "It was one of the first half-hour shows and used hallmarks and techniques that the genre became famous for, such as the lingering close-up, exposition over coffee, a greater depth of character so that we knew motivations. This was all thanks to Irna Phillips, writer Bill Bell and director Ted Corday."

SACRAMENTO BEE: AS THE WORLD TURNS: A sad goodbye
Leigh Grogan: "The show's finale was heartfelt. And yes, I cried. Of course, I won't blow the ending for those of you who taped it. Keep it. I recognize television audiences have changed and soap operas - the six of them still airing - are in danger of being forever replaced by 'You and Your Spleen' doctor shows, but watching soaps and feeling a connection to the characters is what I've always loved about them."

A Last Lesson From Dr. Bob: The End of a Television Landmark
Sam Ford: "Today is quite the monumental day in marketing history. Today, one of the most recognized entertainment brands of our lifetime brings its 54-year history to a close. Today, perhaps the most successful example of 'brand-created entertainment' that ever exists draws to a close. Today, we will see the last episode of the most popular soap opera of all-time, AS THE WORLD TURNS."

KDKA: "World" Stops "Turning" As Long-Running Soap Ends
"It was the most difficult thing of letting go of 'Barbara Ryan,' was letting go of my AS THE WORLD TURNS family," said Colleen Zenk, who plays Barbara Ryan on the show.

CBS: AS THE WORLD TURNS Goes Dark
"It's all about the bottom line," explains the show's executive producer, Christopher Goutman. "Scripted drama in daytime is a tough proposition, because it's expensive to produce, and I understand that. We are a victim of the times."


NEWSDAY: AS THE WORLD TURNS Ends Today
A video tribute.

lOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL: AS THE WORLD stops spinning, after 54 years
Keith Runyon: "My mother, grandmother and later other members of my family were immediate fans, and in those days, everybody watched TV together. I used to tease (not without accuracy) that I learned all of the 10 Commandments by watching them being broken on AS THE WORLD TURNS."

ROCNOW: End of AS THE WORLD TURNS impacts Canandaigua’s Michael Park
“They say all good things need to come to an end. I know that’s a cliché, and I’m using it, but it’s very sad,” says Michael Park.

SALON.COM: Everything I learned from AS THE WORLD TURNS
Jennifer Worrick writes: "Like the men in my life, other soaps have come and gone. But Oakdale and its residents -- like Lily Walsh Mason Snyder Grimaldi Santana Snyder Grimaldi -- have remained a constant, wacky presence."

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER: Soap fans lament end of AS THE WORLD TURNS
Thirty-eight-year-old Melanie Cosgrove of suburban Cincinnati says she started watching while pregnant and hasn't missed an episode in 18 years. Cosgrove tells The Cincinnati Enquirer she's already sad her grown-up baby is ready to leave for college, and now she'll lose her TV "friends."

NORTHJERSEY.COM: Longtime soap AS THE WORLD TURNS comes to a halt this week
"It's been around for 54 years. In this day and age, you're lucky if a show goes five years," says Marie Wilson, who has played Meg Snyder since 2005, shuttling between Parsippany and Los Angeles during that time. "When something like that ends, it's like the end of an era. It's very heartbreaking."

GEORGETOWN NEWS-GRAPHIC: The ‘World’ has stopped turning
Byron Brewer: "Enough credit cannot be given to the late writer Marland, who rejuvenated the soap after several lackluster years by re-emphasizing the importance of its core family (the Hughes), returning a plot-driven story to character-based arcs, and crafting complex multi-generational stories."

HUFFINGTON POST: AS THE WORLD TURNS Cancellation Marks the End of an Era
Ed Martin: "I can't help but wonder why CBS and Procter & Gamble, the two corporate giants that made it so vital for so long, would choose to eliminate a product that is so well known it is recognized even by those who don't use it (or in this case watch it)."

PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY: Daytime drama's demise: AS THE WORLD TURNS is latest soap opera to come to an end
Vincent Jackson: "Parents passing down the love of soaps to their children is something that used to happen more often, but the practice has been on the decline as more women entered the workforce. AS THE WORLD TURNS was the No. 1 daytime serial from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s. The show has lost two-thirds of its ratings during the past 30 years. In 1978-79, it was the fourth highest-rated soap opera with an 8.2 rating. In June, the show was the lowest rated of the seven daytime soaps with a 1.9 rating."

PORTFOLIO.COM: The World Stops Turning
Sam Ford: "AS THE WORLD TURNS ends its run as many question the future of soaps. At its close, about two million viewers are tuning into the daily episodes on CBS. But, for the many millions of Americans who at one time or another in their life watched, the characters that have kept us company for so long will be missed. And, no matter what the fate of daytime drama, we see the potential of serialized drama alive and well in prime time, increasingly supported by the type of product placement and integration deals that fueled the creation of the 'soap opera.'"

HUFFINGTON POST: As My World Turned
Jennifer Worick: "While my heart has gone out to Barbara, Chris, and Reid, I'm mostly shedding tears because I have to say goodbye forever to all the residents of Oakdale. And it's not because I'm moving out of town. My town is moving out on me."

DEEP SOAP: Farewell, AS THE WORLD TURNS
Sara Bibel: "ATWT stopped being relevant after Marland died in the mid-1990s. Though in the early part of the ’00s Hogan Sheffer’s stories garnered critical acclaim, in retrospect many of them were arch and self-parodic in a medium that has always succeeded with a mass audience by being deeply sincere. It had a brief chance to reclaim its mantle in the early days of the Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) storyline, which, as daytime’s first frontburner romance among gay men was fresh and unique and attracted new viewers. Alas, many of them chose to watch the show online and were not represented in the Nielsen ratings. The deep conservatism of P&G resulted in a prudish take on the physical aspects of their relationship and storylines that undercut everything that made them appealing."

CNN: Last episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS airs today
As Barbara Bloom, senior vice president of daytime programming for CBS, said, "The true legacy of AS THE WORLD TURNS will be the fictional characters and stories of a small Midwest town that resonated every day with millions of viewers over multiple generations, becoming a treasured daytime institution in the process."