Trivia / As the World Turns

• Actor Leaves, Character Dies: Brad was killed off when the last actor playing his was released from his contract.
• Breaking News Interruption: As noted on the main page, CBS interrupted this show in the Eastern and Central time zones to report on the shooting and eventual death of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. (A repeat of the sitcom The Real McCoys was interrupted in the west.) Ironically, none of the actors who were performing in the episode (the show was done live during those days) were told of the tragic events that were unfolding during the time they were performing, only learning of the events after the show was finished. The sequence of when CBS cut to the bulletins are so engraved in US history that any account could tell you the very words that were said in the episode before the network interrupted, the commercials that played, what Walker Cronkite said during that initial interruption, and what scenes were shown while events were taking place.^note  “And I’ve thought about it, and I gave it a great deal of thought, Grandpa ——”. Cut to slide that would make history.
• The Cast Showoff: Eileen Fulton sang in a few episodes. As did Martha Byrne.
• The Character Died with Him: Chris Hughes(Sr.), Nancy Hughes (Helen Wagner died months before the final episodes in 2010), Hal Munson (after Benjamin Hendrickson died from self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head in 2006).
• Defictionalization: The Man From Oakdale, which credits Henry as co-author.
• Dramatic Half-Hour: The first example in the daytime soap opera genre, premiering the same day as the second half hour soap (The Edge of Night). Before its premiere in 1956, soaps aired (as they had on radio) for 15 minutes each day. Most of the 15 minute soaps expanded to a half hour within 5 years of ATWT's premiere, with the last two (Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow) expanding in 1968.
• Fake Nationality: Vienna is Swedish, but played by a Norwegian actress.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The episodes have no official release (and some episodes are missing), but many of them can be found on YouTube, especially those that aired during the last 5 years of the series.
  • Ironically, the episode that was interrupted for the JFK assassination coverage (complete with the interruptions themselves) has been reported to be in the Smithsonian Institute, given how much of a role that episode has in American history.
• Missing Episode: Many of the early episodes don't exist because were destroyed in a fire.
• The Other Darrin: Many characters had more than one actor playing them. In his last appearance, Adam's excuse was having had Magic Plastic Surgery.
  • Special attention must be drawn to the fact that from about 2002 to the end of the run, the bulk of the recasts were ex-ABC stars.
• Romance on the Set: Teri Conn (Katie) and Austin Peck (Brad).
  • Jon Hensley (Holden) and Kelley Menighan (Emily).
• Typecasting: Averted in a strange way by former co-star Brian Bloom—he does not list the Daytime Emmy he won for this show to avoid being typecast as a soap star.
  • Many of the actors previously acted in other soaps and/or went onto others after leaving ATWT.
• What Could Have Been: The very first line of the very first episode of the show was spoken by Helen Wagner (Nancy) to her husband: "Good morning, dear." If she had not died just before filming the final episodes, the intention had been for her to get the last line of the last episode: "Good night, dear."

---