A World Apart was a daytime drama which ran from March 30, 1970 - June 25, 1971 on the ABC network. The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in Leap years). ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... ABC (disambiguation) ...

The initial stories were written by Katherine Phillips, adopted daughter of soap legend Irna Phillips (Irna allegedly quit her headwriting job at CBS' As the World Turns to help her daughter at the rival network). Soap writer Betty Kahlman (played by Elizabeth Lawrence, then Augusta Dabney) raised her adopted children without a husband, elements similar to Irna's own life. Betty then married Russell Barry (William Prince) and the early focus was on generational conflicts between a newly married middle-aged couple and their confused children. People tried to understand each other but were ultimately "a world apart", echoing the title. Eventually the soap-within-a-soap element was scaled back (and Katherine Phillips was replaced by Richard Holland and Suzanne Holland) and Betty and Russell settled into a tranquil marriage. Irna Phillips (July 1, 1901 - December 22, 1973) wrote and created many of the first American soap operas. ... CBSs first color logo, which debuted in the fall of 1965. ... As the World Turns (ATWT) is the second longest-running American television soap opera, airing each weekday on CBS. It debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30 in the afternoon. ...

Other storylines centered around the Sims family, who were mired in less turmoil than the Kahlmans but still had their problems, as Dr. Ed Sims (James Noble) and his extremely conservative wife Adrian (Kathleen Maguire) struggled with their rebellious daughter Becky (Erin Connor).

The series ran Monday-Friday at 12:30 PM EST, opposite the then-very popular Search for Tomorrow. ABC canceled the show after a little over a year, wrapping up with a moving episode where Patrice Kahlman finally made peace with giving her newborn son up for adoption. Search for Tomorrow was a soap opera which aired on the CBS television network from September 3, 1951 to March 26, 1982. ...

Many future film and television stars appeared during the brief run, including Susan Sarandon (Patrice), Clifton Davis (Matt Hampton), Susan Sullivan (Nancy Condon), Dorothy Lyman (as Julie Stark, a wild flower child), and David Birney (Oliver Harrell). Sarandon in The Banger Sisters Susan Sarandon (born October 4, 1946) is an Academy Award winning American actress. ... Clifton Davis (born October 4, 1945) is an American actor who has appeared on television shows such as Thats My Mama (on which he had the lead role) in the 1970s and on Amen in the 1980s. ... Susan Michaela Sullivan (born November 18, 1944 in New York City) is an American actress, most known for her role as Maggie Gioberti Channing on the nighttime soap opera Falcon Crest. ... Dorothy Lyman is an accomplished television actress, director and producer. ...

Augusta Dabney and William Prince had a long and happy real-life marriage, and had played husband-and-wife on Young Doctor Malone several decades prior.

External link

• A World Apart (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065356/) at the Internet Movie Database