This show, much like all the other daytime soaps, is so unappealing to a person with an actual life or brain, that it baffles me why people watch it. Oh, that's right--refer to my first sentence. What is the appeal of these shows? A bunch of C-grade actors stand around on a stage set(none of it looks real) and give each other emotional looks. Next-- "Joe, my real name is Bobby, and I'm actually a woman! From Mars!" Joe looks astonished, with a camera zoom to his bewildered face, and silly music playing for dramatic effect.Scene changes, immediately jumping to a 4 X 4 set of a bush and a park bench. Some couple is talking, holding a fake baby or something, and you realize one of them cheated.Scene changes, immediately jumping to some generic living room set piece or office, where some 70 yr. old soap star with plastic surgery and 800 lbs. of makeup says "Dammit! I can't live like this anymore, Isabelle!"Scene changes to some people laying in a bed naked, with the sheets pulled over them, looking all cuddly, talking about getting back to the office.Scene changes to some other manufactured drama, all filmed in the same building, and then leaves you with the same cliffhangers they have been repeating and rehashing for 50 yrs.Some old lady with nothing to do lays on the furniture with bed sores, wondering what will happen next week, then gets senile, forgetting the plot, and so enjoys it again later. Some fat person on welfare, or loser on a lunchbreak, or some guy forced to listen to this drivel in a doctor's office-- about the only people that you would ever find watching this. It is so insanely boring and bad, that it truly makes aliens avoid the planet...

Having just seen an Off Broadway play with Larry Brygmann, I reflected on the 50 plus years of a soap that I watched on and off from 1984 until the end. It was the addition of Elizabeth Hubbard as powerful Lucinda Walsh that enticed me, and through the story lines of Douglas Marland, was a loyal viewer for the remainder of the 80's, admittedly torn between its competition, "Another World" and "One Life to Live". The return of matriarch Nancy Hughes in 1985, along with the focus on long running characters Bob, Kim and Lisa were more interesting to me than characters my own age, Steve and Betsy, and I found Barbara Ryan's change from heroine to mega bitch totally unbelievable. Following two of my favorite "Guiding Light" actors Lisa Brown and Ellen Dolan over, it was interesting to see them not playing sisters. A major stage and film character actress, Kathleen Widdoes, turned a traditional matriarch into something special. I was absolutely furious that they did not utilize Patricia Bruder more as one of the show's core original characters or try to get her back for occasional visits. Coming a year after "Guiding Light's' cancellation, the show only brought back Brygmann's John Dixon, but didn't bring anybody back for Nancy's funeral, including its original leading lady, Rosemary Prinz. Wasting Eileen Fulton as Lisa was also unforgivable. Many vintage episodes of ATWT are popping up, including one unforgettable 1962 episode where " Days of Our Lives" matriarch Frances Reid plays the nasty mother-in-law of Penny, a far cry from Alice Horton. While "Another World" crossed over with the characters of Jake, Marley, Donna and Vicky, killing off Jake was a slap in the face to AW fans. I would love to see more episodes than what is available featuring Ruth Warrick as the Auntie Mame like Edith Hughes, Barbara Berjer as Ellen's long suffering mom Claire, and my favorite neurotic anti-heroine, Susan Stewart. Anthony Herrera's James Stenbeck was the rising phoenix of the show, dying in so many ways on screen (short of being liquefied), while the fascinating John Dixon made several Oakdale women get their groove back. The storyline that got me watching on a daily basis was the Douglas Cummings story, featuring another GL vet, John Wesley Shipp in a very worthy Emmy performance and stage vet Giulia Pagano as the unforgettable Marsha Talbot, showing how soap acting should be done. Between all the New York soaps of the 80's and 90's, ATWT had so much of the best. The networks destroyed much of their credibility when they started canceling the soaps for cheap and pathetic talk shows. Their view was a preview of the death of quality entertainment.

I grew up watching the show. My grandmother, mother and two aunts watched it religiously. Of course, as a boy, I didn't care for it, but I saw many episodes anyway.   I remember November 22, 1963 very well. I was nine years old and out of school that day for some reason. I was sitting in the floor and the TV was tuned to the show when Cronkite announced that the President had been shot.   I recall when my grandmother got her first color TV for Christmas, 1971. We hooked it up and the very first scene was of the show. It was a scene that took place in a car.   I probably hadn't seen a single episode since the early eighties until the 50th anniversary show in April, 2006. I watched it for old times' sake. Then, when Helen Wagner(Nancy) died a few months ago, I began recording it every day, hoping to see some old clips of her. They finally did a tribute show to her a couple of weeks ago. I must say that I was disappointed with today's finale. I was hoping they would show a lot of old clips, but they didn't show a single one. It would have been nice if they'd invited all the old actors(that are still living, of course) back and let everyone pose at the end and say "goodbye" to the home audience. I read that Helen Wagner delivered the very first line back in April, '56. I think it was "Good morning, dear" or something like that. The producers had planned for her to repeat the line on the last show, but of course, that wasn't meant to be.   It's very sad to see it go. 54 years is a very long time for a TV series. BTW, I saw a commercial that said that "Carly" is now a character on "The Young and Restless."

As I was watching As The World Turnss a couple weeks ago, I noticed that one of the characters got their lines messed up. So heres the scene; Emma and Meg are talking about a mysterious key found in Emily's purse. Meg then divulges that she is trying to find Dusty. Emma is suspicious and worried that Paul being let out of jail, will point the finger at Meg. So Emma says: "The police found dusty's gloves with your blood on them" She obviously meant "The police found your gloves with Dusty's blood on them" I was surprised when my mom, ms. As the World Turns fanatic, didn't even notice this. I noticed another screw up in one of the first episodes with Jade in it. I don't remember the exact line, but Jade was talking to Luke. She started to say one line, then paused and started another. After that line, she started the line that she was originally going to say. These aren't big goofs by any means, but they are goofs none the less. And i think this shows that they are human! :D As The World Turns forever!