This article is about the history of As the World Turns

As the World Turns

As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

(ATWT), the second longest-running American television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

.

Storylines

• While babysitting for the Stewarts, Ellen Lowell realized that Dan Stewart is really her son Jimmy.

• Jeff Baker became a piano player in a bar under the name Jack Bailey. Meg Blaine developed feelings for him, then discovered his true identity.

• Penny Hughes and Greg Williams made plans for a date. Meg Blaine, who had gone to Oakdale to tell Penny where Jeff was, overheard.

• Jeff begged Penny to take him back.

• Janice Whipple returned to town with daughters Alice and Debbie after Carl Whipple died. Donald Hughes then married Janice.

• Nancy tried to stop Don from getting back with Janice.

• Chris asked Nancy to stop interfering in Don's life.

• Lisa Hughes gave birth to Thomas Christopher Hughes.

• Lisa made excuses so she wouldn't have to do housework. She also falsely claimed that Pa Hughes disliked her.

• Claire became attracted to Bill Abbott. The two were kissing in a parked car when they were sideswiped by another car. Doug Cassen got angry and Bill left town.

• Ellen Cole became engaged to Jim Norman, but when he found out she was marrying him just to get custody of her son he left her.

• Jeff and Penny were involved in a car crash. Jeff was killed and Penny was in a coma and woke up with amnesia.

• Lisa Hughes had an affair with her friend Linda Elliot's brother Bruce. Bruce, a shoe tycoon, broke off the affair because Lisa wasn't sophisticated enough for him.

• Lisa Hughes became pregnant, but she miscarrid and divorced Bob Hughes.

• Bob Hughes met and got closer to Sylvia Hill.

• Nancy was disappointed that Bob wouldn't give his marriage with Lisa another try.

• Edna Rice's husband died because Doug Cassen didn't get a message on time due to his wife Claire's attempted overdose.

• Chris tried to get Nancy to apologize to Don.

• Interruptions in 1963 for the first bulletins on the assassination of John F. Kennedy
  Assassination of John F. Kennedy
  John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
  
  .

• Don stood up in front of the whole of the Hughes family and accused Nancy of ostracizing his new family.

• Janice and Donald Hughes left town to go to Texas.

• Neil Wade came to town and met Penny Hughes. Neil was a doctor who couldn't save his dying father.

• Neil saved Pa Hughes' life after he chokes at the Hughes' 4th of July
  Independence Day (United States)
  Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
  
   party.

• Doug Cassen was revealed to be Neil Wade's father. Judith Wade, his mother, married Frank Wade because she was pregnant.

• Doug offered Neil a job at Oakdale Memorial instead of Bob.

• Lisa Hughes ran off with Tommy Hughes and put him in military school, but Chris and Bob Hughes brought Tom back.

• Franny Brennan, David's new housekeeper, harbored delusions that they would marry.

• Penny Hughes and Neil Wade got married.

• Judith Wade and Jerry Stevens got married and left town.

• James Lowell almost died while under Neil's care, and Claire Cassen told Doug Cassen to stay away from Neil.

• Neil Wade opened up a bookstore, the Wade Book Shop.

• Judge James T. Lowell convinced Don to return to Oakdale after learning that Janice had died.

• Hurt that Don didn't tell them of Janice's death, Chris sent Don a letter about it, but Don tore it up.

• Nancy encouraged Don to get to know Sara Fuller better.

• Donald Hughes rekindled his relationship with old flame, Ellen Cole.

• Dan Stewart called Ellen Cole mother while delirious with a fever.

• Lisa Hughes went to look for Tommy and got kidnapped.

• Bob Hughes and Sylvia Hill became engaged. She broke it off and later marries Al Suker.

• The Holmes Family (Bill, Ann, and their daughter, Amanda) came to Oakdale.

• Amanda Holmes' mother was really Sara Fuller.

• Ellen Cole and Donald Hughes got engaged, but then David Stewart proposed to Ellen.

• Dan Stewart almost died from encephalitis, but then went off to medical school.

• Lisa Hughes moved to Chicago and married John Eldridge. She returned to Oakdale later that year. (Her story continued in Our Private World
  Our Private World
  Our Private World is an American serial. It was the first prime-time spin-off from a daytime soap . Created by Irna Phillips and William J. Bell, it premiered on May 5, 1965 and aired Wednesdays and Fridays over the summer; the multiple-episode-per-week format was inspired by ABC's hit show Peyton...
  
  )

• Lisa Hughes was going to sue for custody of Tom and tell Bob Hughes that she had married John Eldridge. When Tom didn't want to go with her, Lisa Hughes came to the Hughes' door step demanding Tom, but Penny kicked her out.

• Tom Hughes was SORASed and returns from serving in the Vietnam War with a drug habit. He attempted to break into Dr. Michael Shea's office to steal drugs.

• Lisa Hughes Eldridge had a fling with Claire Cassen's husband, Michael Shea. When she becomes pregnant, she tried to get him to marry her, but he refused. She told Claire of their affair, and Claire divorced Michael. Michael blackmailed Lisa (who now hated him) into marrying him.

Characters

The Hughes Family

Will "Pa" Hughes

m.Ma Hughes

c.Edith Hughes Frey

m.George Frey

a.Jim Lowell (RIP)

c.John Hughes

m.Marion

c.Christopher Hughes

m.Nancy Hughes

Nancy Hughes

Nancy Hughes McClosky is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. From the show's inception in 1956 until 2010, Nancy Hughes has served as the core family's matriarch...

c.Donald Hughes

m.Janice Turner Whipple Hughes(RIP)

c.Penny Hughes Baker

m.Jeff Baker

m.Neil Wade

c.Bob Hughes

Bob Hughes

Dr. Robert "Bob" Hughes. M.D. is a fictional character on the American soap opera, As the World Turns. Bob was played by actor Don Hastings from October 1960 until the series' final episode on September 17, 2010...

m.Lisa Miller Hughes

c.Thomas Christopher Hughes

Tom Hughes (ATWT)

Thomas Christopher "Tom" Hughes is a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns. He was played by a number of actors during the character's 49-year tenure on the show, the longest-running actor being Scott Holmes, who took over the role July 3, 1987, and remained until...

c.Susan Hughes (RIP)

The Lowell Family

James T. Lowell

m.Alice Lowell (RIP)

c.Jim Lowell (RIP)

m.Claire Lowell Cassen

m.Doug Cassen

a.Edith Hughes

c.Ellen Lowell Cole

m.Tim Cole

c.James "Jimmy" Cole

Turner Family

Thelma Turner

c.Janice Turner Whipple Hughes (RIP)

m.Carl Whipple

c.Alice Whipple

c.Debbie Whipple

m.Donald Hughes

The Baker Family

Dick Baker

m.Grace Baker

c.Jeff Baker

m.Penny Hughes Baker

The Cole Family

Tim Cole

m.Louise Cole

m.Ellen Lowell Cole

a.Donald Hughes

The Meadows Family

Joe Meadows

m.Anne Meadows

The Miller Family

Henry Miller

m.Alma Miller

c.Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge

m.Bob Hughes

c.Thomas Christopher Hughes

Tom Hughes (ATWT)

Thomas Christopher "Tom" Hughes is a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns. He was played by a number of actors during the character's 49-year tenure on the show, the longest-running actor being Scott Holmes, who took over the role July 3, 1987, and remained until...

a.Bruce Elliot

m.John Eldridge

The Stewart Family

David Stewart

m.Betty Stewart

c.Paul Stewart

c.Dan Stewart (adopted) {Birth Name: James "Jimmy" Cole}

The Rice Family

Ed Rice

m.Edna Rice

c.Carol Rice

The Wade Family

Judith Wade Stevens

m.Frank Wade

m.Jerry Stevens

a.Doug Cassen

c.Neil Wade

m.Penny Hughes Baker Wade

The Suker Family

Al Suker

m.Martha Suker

m.Sylvia Hill Suker

c.Helen Suker

The Holmes Family

Bill Holmes

m.Ann Holmes

a.Sara Fuller

c.Amanda Holmes {AKA: Jennifer Roberts}

The Elliot Family

Bruce Elliot

c.Lisa Miller Hughes

Linda Elliot

Other People

• Tom Pope
  As The World Turns recurring characters
  This article contains synopses for the recurring characters that have appeared on the American soap opera As the World Turns.-Al James:'...
  
  , Penny's love interest
• Mitchell Dru
  As The World Turns recurring characters
  This article contains synopses for the recurring characters that have appeared on the American soap opera As the World Turns.-Al James:'...
  
  , an attorney
• Greg Williams
  As The World Turns recurring characters
  This article contains synopses for the recurring characters that have appeared on the American soap opera As the World Turns.-Al James:'...
  
  , a reporter
• Julie Spencer
  As The World Turns recurring characters
  This article contains synopses for the recurring characters that have appeared on the American soap opera As the World Turns.-Al James:'...
  
  , an attorney who was Mitchell Dru's ward.
• Meg Blaine,
• Bill Abbott, Claire's lover
• Jim Norman, Ellen's fiancee
• Chuck Ryan, doctor who was with Mary Mitchell
• Mary Mitchell,Sylvias closet friend
• Franny Brennan, the Stewart's housekeeper
• Susan Burke, Dan Stewart's girlfriend