As the World Turns is an American soap opera that aired from, April 2nd 1956 to September 17th 2010. The soap opera centered around the Hughes family and was set in fictional Oakdale, Illinois. Over the years more families were added to the story line. The show was canceled due to low ratings and was replaced with The Talk.

The family centers around the Hughes family, the main characters in 1956 were, Chris and Nancy Hughes along with their children Donald, Penny and Bob. There is also Edith Hughes Frey and her husband George Frey. Other families that were added to the mix were the Lowell family, Turner family, Cole family, Miller and Stewart family. The story lines centered around the Hughes family and their interconnections with the other families listed. There is your usual love, hate relationships mixed with some sadness, hardships and death.

Over the years more families and characters have been added to the mix and older characters have left and came back. Story lines have become more complex and deep. In the 1960′s five more families were added to the show to interact with the Hughes family, the Rice, Wade, Suker, Holmes and Elliot family.

The one character who was the longest show runner was Nancy Hughes, she even spoke the first line of the show, ‘Good Morning Dear.’ She was on the show from 1956 until her death in 2010. The show held a memorial service for her character around the same time of her death. The actress who played the character, Helen Wagner was initially fired because the shows creator didn’t like the way she poured coffee. Due to high demand for her character she was brought back and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest show runner.

As the World Turns was the longest running soap opera and when it was canceled there was a major uproar about it. The show will be missed by many a fan.