Fans and actors have grown old with "As the World Turns"

Half a century ago, Helen Wagner's perky character Nancy Hughes spoke the first words ever aired on "As the World Turns" — "Good morning, dear. What would you like for breakfast?"

Huh? Whaddya know? That's just how I start every new day, too!

OK. Not really. And I can't say I was around for those groaningly groundbreaking words back on April 2, 1956, either. But as an off-and-on fan of "Guiding Light" (and the daughter and granddaughter of two stalwart CBS soap fans), I have caught more than a few of the 12,000 or so episodes of this epic daytime drama.

Plus, I got preview tapes and a press kit.

And that pretty much makes me an expert.

Staying power

One of the nicest things about "As the World Turns" is that even if you miss it for a week — or a month, or a year — you will recognize someone when you come back. Sure, there are goofy teen stories starring newbie actors in the midst of on-the-job-training, as well as the requisite soon-to-be SORASed kids (SORAS = Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome), but this show is known and loved for its longtimers.

Show matriarch/conscience Wagner, who actually is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for "longest time in the same television role," leads the pack of venerable veterans, but all these talented stars have paid their dues and still show up in front-burner story lines:

• Eileen Fulton (Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi — yes, that's seven husbands; 46 years)

• Don Hastings (Bob Hughes, 45 years)

• Marie Masters (Susan Stewart, 37 years)

• Kathryn Hays (Kim Hughes, 34 years)

• Colleen Zenk Pinter (Barbara Ryan, 28)

• Elizabeth Hubbard (Lucinda Walsh, 22 years)

• Kathleen Widdoes (Emma Snyder, 21 years)

Soap springboard

You don't often hear them bragging about it — though soap fans love it when they do — but a lot of big-name Hollywood celebrities moved there from Oakdale, Ill. Back when I watched, Julianne Moore was juggling the dual roles of twins Frannie and Sabrina (yes, a bit of a soap cliché, but she was good!); Meg Ryan's Betsy was marrying hunky Steve; and Ming-Na had popped up at Tom's doorstep to announce — surprise! — she was his daughter Lien, a special bonus from his time in Vietnam.

Others who have passed through:

• Dana Delany

• Parker Posey

• Lauryn Hill

• Steven Weber

• Margaret Colin

• Jordana Brewster

• Jason Biggs

• James Van Der Beek

• William Fichtner

Accolades, influence

and firsts

You just know you're cool when you're spoofed by Carol Burnett ("As the Stomach Turns") and Eminem "samples" your title for a song. As if that weren't enough, the show also:

• Was named best soap of 2005 by TV Guide. (In the Nielsen ratings, it seems to linger around fifth, sixth or seventh place, out of nine soaps.)

• Was just honored at the Museum of Television & Radio in New York City last week.

• Is up for 12 Daytime Emmy awards this year, including Outstanding Daytime Drama, which it has won four times.

• Held the top spot in the daytime ratings for a record 20 years, from 1958-78.

• Is home to daytime's most-recast character, Tom Hughes, who has been played by 13 actors.

• Is the second-longest-running drama on TV (first is sister soap "Guiding Light").

• Is the only daytime drama to have inspired a prime-time spinoff — "Our Private World," in 1965, which lasted five months.

Keeping up with the Hugheses

Nancy Hughes might still be chipper after 50 years, but these days soap conversations are more likely to focus on teen sex than breakfast. Still, for the most part, even in an era of shrinking fan bases "ATWT" sticks with what works: family-centered stories, deep characters, topical issues, glamour and intrigue. And teen sex!

Among the changes:

• Former head writer Douglas Marland, who died in 1993, is revered for his groundbreaking work on the soap. He refocused the show, revitalizing core characters and even developing a whole family (the Snyders); diversified the cast; introduced daytime TV's first gay male character; and actually addressed — rather than simply mentioning — timely, controversial subjects.

• There might be fewer fans these days, but they are no less fervent. Forums abound on the Internet, as well as sites devoted to spoilers, late-breaking news, reviews, recaps, casting updates and polls. It's said that even high-level producers peek into the more popular fan forums, like the ones at www.mediadomain.com, to see how things are going over.

• Starting this year, the show is podcast at CBS.com/netcast and itunes.com

• In conjunction with the show's 50th anniversary, Pocket Books will release a novel called "Oakdale Confidential" Tuesday. The book will be incorporated into the show's story line, with characters discussing "a scandalous novel" — and speculating on its anonymous author.

The celebration

Doesn't it just figure? The show's actual anniversary is Sunday, a nonsoap day, so CBS will milk this holiday for all its worth, with two special episodes bordering the actual anniversary. (Here's where my preview tapes come in!)

• Today's show injects Oakdale's core families into TV's classic sitcoms — "The Snyder Hillbillies," "I Dream of Carly," "The Munsonsters," "I Love Katie" and "Happy Oakdale Days" — complete with canned laughter. Yes, it does sound a bit strange. And frankly, to anyone but the truest fan, it probably will be. Still, though, Katie is cute as Lucy, Carly is darling as Jeannie — and I still would watch Holden do purt-near anything, even ham it up with a hillbilly twang.

• Monday's special episode, called "Seven Divas," sends Oakdale's grand ladies to Chicago on a bus — and on a flashback-filled sentimental journey.

You'd be wise to expect a bump or two in the road by bringing together Nancy, Lucinda, Susan, Kim, Lisa, Emma and Barbara, but never ever would you expect this brilliantly perfect, only-in-the-soaps line of dialogue. Says Lucinda: "If I had to do it again — if I had to be stuck in a ditch and threatened by a bear and trapped in an exploding bus — I would take you six dames over any man on this planet."

Her companions applaud. These are true stand-by-your soap women who each have devoted more than 20 years of their lives to a show that has stood the test of time.

Applause, indeed.

Sandy Dunham: sdunham@seattletimes. com