{alltv} End of 'As the World Turns' impacts Canandaigua's Michael Park

 

As the World Turns signs off Friday after more than 54 years and 13,000 episodes.

Its departure leaves only five daytime soap operas left on commercial television, and draws a close to a show that was part of pop culture fabric. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Walter Cronkite cut into the As the World Turns episode, which is credited with a string of phone calls spreading the word of the shooting.

"They say all good things need to come to an end. I know that's a cliché, and I'm using it, but it's very sad," says Michael Park, the Canandaigua native who played Jack Snyder on the show. Park, who won a Daytime Emmy this year for his role, was in town on Monday night to receive the Spirit Award from the local nonprofit theater group Break a Leg.

"I haven't watched it because it does kind of hurt," says Park, who doesn't know why it's affecting him this way. "I'm usually not that sentimental. ... The fans have been wonderful, and my heart really goes out to them."

Critics point to soap supercouples from the show such as Holden Snyder and Lily Walsh; Steve Andropoulos and Betsy Stewart (whose fictional wedding on May 30, 1984, was watched by 20 million viewers, making it the second highest-rated episode in U.S. soap history); Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer, the first gay supercouple on daytime TV; and the show's stalwart Tom Hughes and Margo Montgomery Hughes.

If the show had continued, Park's character, Jack Snyder, and his on-screen love, Carly Tenney, would likely have joined that list. Maura West, who plays Tenney, also won a Daytime Emmy this summer for her role.

Park, who has returned to the New York City stage for now, says he's not sure what will replace soaps. He suspects that they'll creep back into schedules through syndication, cable or the Internet.

The only question left for As the World Turns this week? Will Carly and Jack's wedding go off without a hitch?

Tune in until Friday to find out.

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