NEW YORK — CBS canceled “As the World Turns” on Tuesday, putting the company that coined the phrase “soap operas” out of the business of making daytime dramas for the first time in 76 years.
“As the World Turns” has been on the air since 1956 and televised its 13,661st episode Tuesday. Its last episode will air next September, the network said.
It’s the second daytime drama CBS has canceled in a year, after “Guiding Light.” Both shows were produced by a subsidiary of Procter &Gamble, the company for which the term “soap operas” was created because it used the shows to hawk products such as Ivory soap and Duz detergent.
Daytime dramas have been fading as a genre for years with more women joining the work force and the increased number of channels offering alternatives such as news, talk, reality and game shows.
The cancellation will leave CBS with only two daytime dramas: “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and Beautiful.”
Through the years, actors Marisa Tomei, Meg Ryan, Parker Posey and James Earl Jones have appeared on “As the World Turns.” The show follows families in the Illinois town of Oakdale.
“It’s a hell of a Christmas present,” said actress Eileen Fulton, who will mark 50 years playing the character Lisa Grimaldi on the show. Her character has been through nine marriages and Fulton was hoping for a 10th before the signoff.
Procter &Gamble first began producing soap operas in 1933 with the radio show “Ma Perkins,” and has made a total of 20 such programs in its history.
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