As The World Turns Full Episode List

[Brolden]

 

Outstanding! I love finding channels I didn't know about. I see the episode also ends in a "join us tomorrow". There is an 1998 episode, including a "join us again Monday", that I did not yet find elsewhere on the channel as well. Thanks for the heads-up, I made sure to subscribe!

 

I'll add in the info once I get to the complete overhaul!

Sorry it's been a while, these are crazy times we live in.

 

We'll pick things up at November 3, 1987, which is where we got last time.

 

The next confirmed episode number is #7904 on December 9, 1986, which comes from a script. This means there were 19 pre-emptions (which means it's Iran-Contra time!). We know about these 5 pre-emptions:

 

December 25, 1986: Christmas

January 1, 1987: New Year's Day

July 23, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings? [pre-emption confirmed by Dan Region in the credits]

September 7, 1987: US Open

September 11, 1987: US Open

 

For the 14 remaining pre-emptions, I have 17 potential candidates:

 

July 7, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 8, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 9, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 10, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 13, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 14, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 15, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 16, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 17, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 20, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 27, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 28, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 29, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 30, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

July 31, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

August 3, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

August 4, 1987: Iran-Contra hearings?

 

December 9, 1986 - November 3, 1987: 19 pre-emptions, 5 confirmed, 17 candidates. Status: open

 

--

 

The November 7, 1986 episode (Hello, Barbara) is in the P&G Archives as #7884, which means that 2 episodes were pre-empted. We know about both of them:

 

November 27, 1986: Thanksgiving

November 28, 1986: Thanksgiving

 

November 7, 1986 - December 9, 1986: 2 pre-emptions, both confirmed. Status: closed

 

--

 

The April 2, 1986 episode (30th anniversary) is in the P&G Corporate Archives and in the ATAS-UCLA archives as #7729, which means 2 episodes were pre-empted. We know about both of them:

 

September 1, 1986: US Open

September 5, 1986: US Open

 

April 2, 1986 - November 7, 1986: 2 pre-emptions, both confirmed. Status: closed

 

--

 

The March 19, 1985 episode was #7465 according to a script, which means 7 episodes were pre-empted. We know about all 7:

 

September 2, 1985: US Open

September 6, 1985: US Open

November 28, 1985: Thanksgiving

November 29, 1985: Thanksgiving

December 25, 1985: Christmas

January 1, 1986: New Year's Day

January 28, 1986: Challenger disaster coverage

 

March 19, 1985 - April 2, 1986: 7 pre-emptions, all confirmed. Status: closed

 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Brolden

[Brolden]

Our next checkpoint is November 13, 1984, which is in the P&G Archives as #7377. This means 2 episodes were pre-empted in between, which is problematic, because we have already confirmed 3 pre-emptions. Therefore, one of the "confirmed" episode numbers must, actually, be wrong. However, if we take this period and the next three periods (both of which remain open) together, it still works out. These are the three episodes we have confirmed as pre-empted:

 

November 22, 1984: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

November 23, 1984: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

December 25, 1984: Christmas [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

 

To make matters worse, we have a strong candidate for yet a fourth pre-emption in this period:

 

January 1, 1985: New Year's Day [January 1 episodes were pre-empted in every other year since 1974, with the exception of 2004]

 

November 13, 1984 - March 19, 1985: 2 pre-emptions, yet 3 pre-emptions confirmed; 1 more strong candidate. Status: open/error

 

--

 

August 2, 1984 is also in the P&G Archives as #7307. Based on the episode numbers, 3 episodes were pre-empted. We know about 2 of them for sure:

 

September 3, 1984: US Open

September 7, 1984: US Open

 

We don't have any further evidence of possible pre-emptions, but I'm assuming the remaining pre-emption belongs in the period above instead.

 

August 2, 1984 - November 13, 1984: 3 pre-emptions, 2 confirmed, 0 candidates. Status: open

 

--

 

The 7,000th episode is widely reported to have aired on May 20, 1983. This would mean 7 episodes were pre-empted in between. We know about 6:

 

September 5, 1983: US Open

September 9, 1983: US Open

November 24, 1983: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

November 25, 1983: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

December 26, 1983: Extended Christmas holiday [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

January 2, 1984: Extended New Year's holiday [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

 

For the remaining pre-emption, we have no contenders. However, I'm assuming this pre-emption belongs in one of the above periods instead.

 

May 20, 1983 - August 2, 1984: 7 pre-emptions, 6 confirmed, 0 candidates. Status: open

 

--

 

If we take all three of the above periods together, the numbers actually work out (although that's a big if, obviously):

 

Between May 20, 1983 and March 19, 1985, 12 episodes were pre-empted. We know about 11 for sure:

 

September 5, 1983: US Open

September 9, 1983: US Open

November 24, 1983: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

November 25, 1983: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

December 26, 1983: Extended Christmas holiday [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

January 2, 1984: Extended New Year's holiday [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

September 3, 1984: US Open

September 7, 1984: US Open

November 22, 1984: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

November 23, 1984: Thanksgiving [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

December 25, 1984: Christmas [pre-emption confirmed in The Journal listing]

 

For the remaining pre-emption, we have 1 strong contender:

 

January 1, 1985: New Year's Day [January 1 episodes were pre-empted in every other year since 1974, with the exception of 2004]

 

May 20, 1983 - March 19, 1985: 12 pre-emptions, 11 confirmed, 1 contender. Status: open

 

 

 

 

 

 

[adrnyc]

I am currently watching an episode on Oakdalian’s channel “Kirk and Ellie’s wedding.” I started to watch “The death of David Stewart” until Lisa was on the phone with Julie saying “I can’t believe you were going through all that during Kirk and Ellie’s wedding.” I’m wondering if that’s the 6/3 ep you have listed from the P&G archives? Or if I’ve found an episode you don’t have accounted for?

[Brolden]

I have that episode jotted down in a list of undated episodes. Oakdalian's channel only places it in June 1991 I think, without an exact date. 

 

But from what you're saying, it sounds like the wedding had already happened in the Death Of David Stewart episode? Then it would have to be June 3 or June 4 (or May 31, if Oakdalian is wrong about June). Since the June 3 episode is in the archives, it seems like a good educated guess.

 

I'll see if I can dig up something. Thanks for your continued alertness while you're watching these episodes!

[Brolden]

 

 

 

Soap Opera Digest has Maura's debut down as April 11, 1995 (as per one of the recent 5 things that happened today in soap history).

 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Brolden

[adrnyc]

 

Yes, exactly. I watched “Kirk’s Bachelor Party” and then I can never find the P&G archive videos so I went to watch “Death of David Stewart” but I’d seen in a playlist an episode called “Kirk and Ellie’s Wedding.” So when Lisa made mention of the wedding, I went back and watched it. K&E’s wedding def takes place between KBP and DoDS. 

 

Will let you know if I find anything else that could help as I continue to enjoy my way through the 90s.

[Brolden]

We left of on May 20, 1983. The next checkpoint is October 29, 1982, which is in the Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute as #6857.

This means that 2 episodes were pre-empted in between. We got both verified:

 

November 25, 1982: Thanksgiving

November 26, 1982: Thanksgiving

 

October 29, 1982 - May 20, 1983: 2 pre-emptions, both verified. Status: closed

 

--

 

October 6, 1982 is in the P&G Archives as #6840, which lines up perfectly, meaning there were no pre-emptions.

 

October 6, 1982 - October 29, 1982: No pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

--

 

The script of the September 8, 1982 episode is detailed in the book Writing For Soaps as #6821, meaning there was 1 pre-emption, and we have it confirmed:

 

September 10, 1982: US Open

 

September 8, 1982 - October 6, 1982: 1 pre-emption, verified. Status: closed

 

--

 

The script for the May 7, 1982 episode is listed as #6734, meaning there was 1 pre-emption. We know it already:

 

September 6, 1982: US Open

 

May 7, 1982 - September 8, 1982: 1 pre-emption, confirmed. Status: closed

 

--

 

According to Patricia Bruder Debrovner, February 5, 1982 is #6669, which means no episodes were pre-empted.

 

February 5, 1982 - May 7, 1982: no pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

--

 

Patricia also lists February 2, 1982 as #6666, which lines up perfectly.

 

February 2, 1982 - February 5, 1982: no pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

--

 

Unfortunately, following those smooth periods, a few much trickier periods are coming up next...

 

--

 

 

Just for the record: the videos from the P&G archives are not (necessarily) available on YouTube. I included them in the list, because number one: if they are in the archive, that means an episode aired on that date and two: they provided me with many episode numbers (although I'm not sure they are all correct.

 

So it's not you, these videos are not on YT.

Please register in order to view this content

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Brolden

[Brolden]

Patricia Bruder Debrovner has both #6666 and the previous episode, #6665 (February 1, 1982). The next checkpoint I've been using is November 2, 1981, which is the premiere of the "World Turns On And On" theme music. Here's where it gets a bit tricky, because an extensive history of ATWT's theme music states that the previous theme was used for "roughly the first 6605 episodes" (implying the episode number is not set in stone), while later also stating the November 2, 1981 debut of the new theme was #6606 (implying it is).

 

As I stated in the previous post, I am running into some issues trying to straighten out the numbers for the next few periods, so it is possible this number is wrong. It's all I have to go on, however, and around this time checkpoints are getting fewer and farther between, so I will proceed as if November 2, 1981 is #6606, with a note that that could easily be wrong. I will revisit this era later, as I have a few unprocessed numbers from the Dobson papers, that I can't get to work out with anything else at this time.

 

With that said, 6 episodes would need to have been pre-empted. We know about three:

 

November 26, 1981: Thanksgiving

December 25, 1981: Christmas

January 1, 1982: New Year's Day

 

For the other three pre-emptions, I have no leads. 

 

November 2, 1981 - February 1, 1982: 6 pre-emptions, 3 confirmed, 0 leads. Status: open

 

--

 

August 25, 1981 is in the P&G archives as #6559, meaning there were 2 pre-emptions. We know about 1:

 

September 7, 1981: US Open

 

NOTE: Archived TV listings confirm that the second pre-emption is NOT the US Open Friday, common in later years! I have no leads for it.

 

August 25, 1981 - November 2, 1981: 2 pre-emptions, 1 confirmed, 0 leads. Status: open

 

--

 

Here's where things get really strange. The next checkpoint is August 27, 1980, which is in the P&G Archives as #6300. Although that's nearly a year before August 25, 1981, these episode numbers line up perfectly, suggesting that no pre-emptions occurred. We know this is wrong, as there were at least three:

 

September 1, 1980: US Open

December 25, 1980: Christmas

January 1, 1981: New Year's Day

 

In addition to those, I have another, shall we say, strong suspicion:

 

November 27, 1980: Thanksgiving

 

August 27, 1980 - August 25, 1981: 0 pre-emptions, yet 3 confirmed, 1 strong contender. Status: error

 

--

 

Some people have suggested that back in the day, episode numbers were assigned on pre-empted dates as well. If that is the case, the shift from that practice to only assigning numbers to airing episodes likely occurred during one of the above eras.

 

Beyond this point, it is almost impossible to make anything work, although there are smaller eras around 1970/1971 that work out. Therefore, I will continue marching towards April 2, 1956 in 13 more steps, before I start updating the first few pages of this thread. But it won't be pretty...

 

 

 

[Brolden]

The next checkpoint is June 17, 1980, which is in the P&G archives as #6260, meaning 11 episodes would have been pre-empted in two months, which is highly unlikely. So either the August 27 number, or the June 17 number, is likely off (or both). However it may be, we have no pre-emptions confirmed, nor any leads for this period.

 

June 17, 1980 - August 27, 1980: 11 pre-emptions, 0 confimed, 0 leads. Status: open/error

 

--

 

The April 27, 1979 episode is in the P&G archives as #5963, which lines up perfectly with June 17, 1980 being #6260. This means there would have been no pre-emptions, yet we already know about 4 (fueling the theory that numbers may have been handed out to pre-empted slots in those days):

 

September 3, 1979: US Open

November 22, 1979: Thanksgiving

December 25, 1979: Christmas

January 1, 1980: New Year's Day

 

April 27, 1979 - June 17, 1980: 0 pre-emptions, yet 4 confirmed. Status: error

 

--

 

The next confirmed episode number is found on December 24, 1971, nearly 8 years prior. According to a comment from a user named 'Soapluvva' on a video uploaded by 'Danny Hill', that episode is #4072. If that is true, 24 episodes would have been pre-empted in between '71 and '79. We know about 13:

 

January 1, 1974: New Year's Day

November 28, 1974: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1975: New Year's Day

November 27, 1975: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1976: New Year's Day

September 6, 1976: US Open

November 25, 1976: Thanksgiving

September 5, 1977: US Open

November 24, 1977: Thanksgiving

January 2, 1978: Extended New Year's Holiday

November 23, 1978: Thanksgiving

December 25, 1978: Christmas

January 1, 1979: New Year's Day

 

For the remaining 11 pre-emptions, we have 9 contenders:

 

January 1, 1973: New Year's Day

June 5, 1973: Watergate

June 25, 1973: Watergate

June 26, 1973: Watergate

June 27, 1973: Watergate

June 28, 1973: Watergate

June 29, 1973: Watergate

November 22, 1973: Thanksgiving

September 4, 1978: US Open

 

December 24, 1971 - April 27, 1979: 24 pre-emptions, 12 confirmed, 10 contenders. Status: open

 

 

 

 

[Brolden]

The same comment (from 'Soapluvva' on 'Danny Hill's' video) indicated that the December 20, 1971 episode is #4068, which lines up, meaning no episodes were pre-empted in between.

 

December 20, 1971 - December 24, 1971: 0 pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

--

 

The September 23, 1971 episode in listed as #4007 in a script, which means 1 episode would have been pre-empted in between. We don't have any leads as to what it might have been (Thanksgiving aired both days that year).

 

September 23, 1971 - December 20, 1971: 1 pre-emption, 0 leads. Status: open

 

--

 

The July 1, 1971 episode is listed as #3947 in a script, which lines up perfectly, meaning no episodes were pre-empted.

 

July 1, 1971 - September 23, 1971: 0 pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

--

 

The June 28, 1971 episode is listed #3944 in a script, which lines up perfectly as well, so no episodes were pre-empted.

 

June 28, 1971 - July 1, 1971: 0 pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

[Brolden]

The February 10, 1970 episode is listed in a script as being #3589, which means 4 episodes were pre-empted in between. We know about 1:

 

January 1, 1971: New Year's Day

 

February 10, 1970 - June 28, 1971: 4 pre-emptions, 1 confirmed, 0 leads. Status: open

 

--

 

The January 30, 1970 episode is listed in a script as being #3582, which lines up perfectly, meaning no episodes were pre-empted.

 

January 30, 1970 - February 10, 1970: 0 pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

--

 

The August 25, 1967 episode is in the Research Collection at New York Public Library Annex as #2962, which means 15 episodes were pre-empted over those 2,5 years. We know about 5 for sure:

 

November 23, 1967: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1968: New Year's Day

November 28, 1968: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1969: New Year's Day

November 27, 1969: Thanksgiving

 

For the remaining 10 pre-emptions, we have 1 strong possibility:

 

January 1, 1970: New Year's Day

 

August 25, 1967 - January 30, 1970: 15 pre-emptions, 5 confirmed, 1 lead. Status: open

 

--

 

The Research Collection at New York Public Library Annex has every episode between August 7 (#2948) and August 25 (#2962), meaning August 7 will be our departure to the next checkpoint, which is January 16, 1967 (#2812). 9 episodes were pre-empted, which seems a lot for a few months, but is due to a strike. We know about 6:

 

April 3, 1967: AFTRA Strike [replaced with Candid Camera reruns]

April 4, 1967: AFTRA Strike [replaced with Candid Camera reruns]

April 5, 1967: AFTRA Strike [replaced with Candid Camera reruns]

April 6, 1967: AFTRA Strike [replaced with Candid Camera reruns]

April 7, 1967: AFTRA Strike [replaced with Candid Camera reruns]

April 10, 1967: AFTRA Strike [replaced with Candid Camera reruns]

 

That leaves 3 pre-emptions unaccounted for.

 

January 16, 1967 - August 7, 1967: 9 pre-emptions, 6 confirmed, 0 leads. Status: open

 

--

 

The January 3, 1967 episode is #2803, which lines up perfectly, meaning there were no pre-emptions.

 

January 3, 1967 - January 16, 1967: 0 pre-emptions. Status: closed

 

--

 

Unfortunately, that is the last confirmed episode number I have. Since we know April 2, 1956 was #1, it would seem that only 4 episodes were pre-empted in those 11 years, which seems incredibly unlikely and we actually already know about 8 pre-emptions, with 13 more suspected ones. So either the 1967 episode numbers are wrong, or, as I've speculated, pre-empted episodes were given episode numbers in those days. Either way, these are the 8 pre-emptions we know about:

 

August 13, 1956: Democratic Presidential Convention

August 14, 1956: Democratic Presidential Convention

August 15, 1956: Democratic Presidential Convention

November 22, 1956: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1957: New Year's Day

January 21, 1957: Eisenhower Inauguration (second term)

January 1, 1959: New Year's Day

November 24, 1966: Thanksgiving

 

And these are the 13 dates I suspect may have been pre-empted as well:

 

November 28, 1957: Thanksgiving

November 27, 1958: Thanksgiving

November 26, 1959: Thanksgiving

November 24, 1960: Thanksgiving

November 23, 1960: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1962: New Year's Day

November 22, 1962: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1963: New Year's Day

November 28, 1963: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1964: New Year's Day

November 26, 1964: Thanksgiving

January 1, 1965: New Year's Day

November 25, 1965: Thanksgiving

 

April 2, 1956 - January 3, 1967: 4 pre-emptions, yet 8 confirmed, 13 more suspicions. Status: error

 

--

 

I hope to update the actual list on the first few pages over the next few days

Edited April 19, 2020 by Brolden

[Brolden]

 

2010 section updated

[Paul Raven]

January 1 1958 was pre-empted for the Orange Bowl football game from Miami.

[feuxdelamour]

I've carried out some research about the preemptions during the Spring / Summer 1987, during which the Iran-Contra hearings caused preemptions for soap operas.

 

I've compiled the information I obtained on this page :

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1trpdN7MD32DuQndhzfNFJI7ZBb-sLNQI9bPM3p_zMj4/

 

Any info to complete or correct this document will be highly appreciated!

[Brolden]

 

2009 section updated

 

 

Thanks! Will add that in. It will show up in the update.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Brolden