One of the greatest soap operas of them all, and one that was number-one for quite some time, As the World Turns, debuted on this date back on April 2nd in 1956,.

The CBS daytime drama series was beloved by viewers who were fascinated by the town of Oakdale.

Photo: JPI

The series aired it final episode on September 17th, 2010.  The photo that is the header of this post is from the last day of shooting with all of the cast, and crew taking part in one last look at Oakdale and their time together.

Photo: JPI

The series was created by soap icon, Ira Phllips and ATWT had many firsts in the genre.  It was the first show to expand to 30 minutes and it was the first soap to expand to one hour in 1975 and at that time ATWT was number one, as it had from 1958 all the way through 1978.

Photo: JPI

As the World Turns gave career starts to so many actors including Meg Ryan, Julianne Moore, and Marisa Tomei, and it certainly had its share of memorable couples through the years from: Nancy and Chris Hughes, to Ellen and David Stewart, to Holden and Lily Snyder, to Carly and Jack Snyder, to Noah Mayer and Luke Snyder, to Lucinda and John Dixon, and so many others.

Photo: JPI

As we remember ATWT on this day, cast your vote for your favorite all-time Oakdale duo in our poll below! Then in the comment section, let us know what couple you chose and why.  

The Young and the Restless, and returning guest star on today’s episode of Days of our Lives, Greg Rikaart (Kevin, Y&R and Leo, DAYS) has posted a new update in his battle with the coronavirus. The good news is Greg is on the mend!

In his message, Rikaart shared: “I’m doing fantastic, easily like 95 percent better than I was the last time I made one of these messages. The only thing is, I still have a little bit of a lingering cough and I guess I have to work on rebuilding my strength and my energy a bit.  But feeling really good, stronger, and better every day, and wanted to let you all know, first and foremost.

And secondly, I wanted to thank you all for the incredibly kind and generous messages of support you sent my way which really lifted my spirits at a time when they needed to be lifted, ‘cause there was a scary couple of days there.”

Michael Fairman TV sends our thoughts and to ‘get well soon’ to Greg and for soap fans make sure to catch him on today’s April Fools episode of DAYS, where there are plenty of “Leo-isms” to go around!

Share your well-wishes to Greg via the comment section below.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

💪🏼❤️💪🏼❤️

A post shared by Greg Rikaart (@gregrikaart) on Apr 1, 2020 at 11:31am PDT

Will we now ever know just how the lives of Empire’s Lucious  (Terrence Howard) and Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) and their dysfunctional family will resolve now that the series has had to scrap two of their planned episodes in their final season?  The sixth and final season was scheduled to run for a total of 20 episodes.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the production shutdown left them with only 18 episodes tht could be completed.

That means, as first announced during last night’s episode of Empire via voice-over: “Get ready for the shocking final three episodes of ‘Empire,’”  that reveal let viewers of Empire know there was change in plans.”  Now, the shortened season and series finale end on FOX on April 21st.

Reports also note that episode 19 was partially shot and that footage of that unfinished episode will be cut into the finale.

As to what happens with the character of Jamal Lyon played by Jussie Smollett, who everyone knows ran into significant trouble with the law; on last reports executives said he would not be back for the final episodes of the series, although there has still have been mentions of the character throughout season 6.

Come April 21st, there still may be more Empire in our future, if  FOX executives decide to greenlight a potential spinoff headlined Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon; that first came to light earlier this year in January as being in heavy discussions.

So, what do you think of how Empire will wrap-up after 6 seasons? Do you feel short-changed, or glad they are trying to work in everything they shot to deliver some kind of series finale for fans of the primetime soap? Comment below.