‘As the World Turns’ Ended 15 Years Ago: How Did the Iconic Soap Go Out?

When Guiding Light creator Irna Phillips launched As the World Turns in 1956, her own guiding light was a credo she’d written about life and death: “As the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer and the harvest of autumn — the cycle of life is complete.”

And As the World Turns’ life cycle was complete on September 17, 2010, as the daytime drama went off the air after more than half a century, having been canceled by CBS the previous December. And its series finale certainly had fans in their feels…

The final episode had romantic reconciliations and emotional goodbyes

That final episode was a wistful one, according to contemporaneous recaps. As a retiring Dr. Bob Hughes (Don Hastings) packs up his office at Oakdale Memorial Hospital, and in narration, he reflects on the cycle of life he has witnessed over the years.

And those highs and lows continue. Bob’s son Chris Hughes (Daniel Cosgrove), recuperating from his heart transplant, proposes to Katie Peretti (Terri Conn), and she accepts. The engaged couple finds a larger home when Chris and Katie agree to swap houses with Tom (Scott Holmes) and Margo Hughes (Ellen Dolan), who are becoming empty nesters now that son Casey Hughes (Billy Magnussen) is moving away with Allison Stewart (Marnie Schulenberg).

Dusty Donovan (Grayson McCouch) and Janet Ciccone (Julie Pinson) are starting a family, too, with new addition Lorenzo, as are Jack Snyder (Michael Park) and Carly Tenney (Maura West), who become little Lorenzo’s godparents and announce they have a baby on the way. And they realize they’ve settled into a domestic routine. (“Jack! Do you realize what’s happened to us?” Carly exclaims. “We’re normal!”)

Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) continues to mourn the death of Dr. Reid Oliver (Eric Sheffer Stevens), but he brightens up when he gets to use Reid’s stethoscope to listen to Reid’s heart, now pumping in Chris’ chest. Paul Ryan (Roger Howarth) and his mom, Barbara Ryan (Colleen Zenk), amicably end their business partnership over champagne, while her husband, Henry Coleman (Trent Dawson), jumps on an opportunity to buy the nightclub Metro back from Dusty.

And as we start saying our goodbye to Oakdale, a smitten Lucinda Walsh (Elizabeth Hubbard) and John Dixon (Larry Bryggman) return from Amsterdam, and Lucinda gets to work repairing her relationship with daughter Lily Walsh (Noelle Beck) by giving her control of Worldwide Industries. In even better news for Lily, she seems bound for a reconciliation with ex-husband Holden Snyder (Jon Hensley). And back at the hospital, Bob’s colleague Susan Stewart (Marie Masters) bids him farewell, while his wife, Kim Hughes (Kathryn Hays), gives him as much time as he needs in his office. And as Bob leaves, saying “goodnight” in a nod to the “good morning” that opened the show in 1956, while the globe on his desk spins on…

Reviewers shared mixed reactions to that last episode

Once the end credits rolled and the tissues were tidied, fans and critics shared their opinions about that last installment. Greg in Hollywood blogger Greg Hernandez, for starters, raved about Luke’s final scene: “Whatever movies or TV shows or stage plays that Van Hansis does in the future, I want to see them.”

Alby Seeing You blogger Albert Ray Escapay, meanwhile, wished Lily and Holden had a more romantic ending: “It simply wasn’t enough for me to watch them almost say, ‘I love you.’ I wanted them to say it, to know everything would be all right.”

And The New York Times critic Ginia Bellafante observed how As the World Turns went from soapy to saccharine: “All the unseemliness was whitewashed for the series finale, in which only happy things transpired: A heart-transplant survival! A middle-aged pregnancy! Senior citizen love! A bottle-blonde told her husband she feared they were now ‘normal.’ Normal in soap land means it is time to wrap up.”

But on Twitter — now X — the consensus was one of appreciative nostalgia. “Beautiful final episode of As the World Turns,” @lindapare said.

“Well done. Of course, it left me wanting to see more,” @MsElizabethLong wrote.

And @jssmcarlo said, “Goodbye, As the World Turns. As hard as today is, I wouldn’t have missed the last [years] for anything. What a joy it was. Thank you.”