THE DECLINE OF THE SOAP OPERA
CBS Cancels As the World Turns, Makes Room For Another Lame Improv Comic's Game Show
Just two months after CBS aired its final episode of Guiding Light, the Tiffany network has announced that its other Procter & Gamble-produced soap opera, As the World Turns, will end its 54-year run in September. Producers are rumored to be shopping the series, which broke several daytime barriers by depicting the first gay male character and first gay relationship, to different outlets. But a network crossover is unlikely given fledgling ratings and growing production costs, especially compared to the relatively cheap game shows that your favorite improv comedians could host. Paging Diedrich Bader!
While CBS has not yet revealed what it will air instead of As the World Turns, CBS has been tapping into a new daytime trend: Out-of-work comics hosting classic game shows. First, Drew Carey took over The Price Is Right and then CBS replaced Guiding Light with a revival of of Let’s Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady. Whatever the cost-effective substitute may be, the soap opera is a withering art form that even performance artist extraordinaire Franco, cannot single-handedly save. While General Hospital is enjoying a slight increase in ratings, ABC’s other daytime story, One Life to Live is rumored to be in danger of cancellation.
So let’s take a moment to celebrate As the World Turns, the longest running soap still on the air, with this groundbreaking 2007 gay kiss:
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