World stops turning: ATWT cancelled

Multiple sources, including Procter & Gamble, are reporting this morning that AS THE WORLD TURNS, the classic 54-year-old CBS soap opera, has been cancelled and will last air in September 2010.

After the cancellations of PASSIONS and GUIDING LIGHT, ATWT had moved into the bottom rung of the Nielsen ratings. Its cancellation leaves CBS with just two soaps, reduces the entire industry to a mere six shows, and takes Procter & Gamble out of the soap business entirely.

On the hunk front, ATWT was near the top of the list, compiling 62 Soaphunks.net Award nominations and 12 wins. It also was the stomping grounds of Mark Collier, one of the premier soap hunks of all time and the winner of this site's Adonis 2005 contest.

Put simply, this just SUCKS.