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.

11th Annual Soaphunks.net Awards announced!

With six nods each, DAYS' Shawn Christian and OLTL's Mark Lawson led all nominees Wednesday as the 11th Annual Soaphunks.net Award nominations were announced live at soaphunks.net. 80 nominations were announced covering 16 categories.

Both Christian and Lawson placed in the top category, Best Hunk, along with B&B's Brandon Beemer, OLTL's David Fumero, and Y&R's Daniel Goddard.

Lawson won Best Hunk last year, while Fumero won in both 2001 & 2002. Beemer is now only the third person to be nominated for the top award in three consecutive years. This is Christian's second career Best Hunk nod, and Goddard's debut appearance here marks Y&R's first inclusion in the top category since 2005.

A total of 39 soap hunks received nominations this year, a tie for the second-most ever. With 18 nominations, OLTL led all shows for the second consecutive year, helping ABC lead the
networks with 33 nominations. CBS scored 28 nods, and NBC nabbed 19.

Other points of interest:

• The good news for CBS: B&B once again broke its own record for nominations, with nine nods spread amongst Beemer, Don Diamont (scoring his 26th career mention), Texas Battle, and Rick Hearst. Similarly, sister soap Y&R had its second-best year ever, with 14 nominations. (The CBS flagship soap received 17 nominations in 2000.)


• The bad news for CBS: ATWT posted its worst showing in six years, scoring only three nominations. What's worse: the de-hunkified sudser saw all three of those nods (Van Hansis, Billy Magnussen, & Jake Silbermann) in the Most Shamefully Clothed Category. Memo to ATWT's powers-that-be: Shirts! Off! More!

• The nominations for Murray Bartlett and Lawrence St. Victor mark the final nods for GL, bringing its series total to 28 nominations...and no wins.

• Will you guys ever give the boy a trophy? The Soaphunks.net Susan Lucci, Y&R's Thad Luckinbill, is back with two more nominations, extending his unfortunate lead in the no-wins race, with 18 career nominations but no wins.


• AMC's Cameron Mathison, suddenly finding himself eligible for Best Hunk Over 40 honors, picked up two more nominations this year, widening his lead as the most nominated soap hunk ever, with 37 career nominations.

The entire list of nominations can be streamed online, while the text version is also available. Complete year-by-year history of the awards is also available online.

As always, voting begins December 1 at soaphunks.net.

Leyden set for brief Oakdale return

Just how many love interests does Katie Peretti need?

Just as the eminent return of studly Mark Collier was leaked, it's immediately being followed by news of a limited return by Paul Leyden, the Aussie hunk who has played scoundrel Simon Frasier off and on for the better part of a decade.

A 6-time Soaphunks.net Award nominee, Leyden is slated for a return around the holidays.

On your Mark: Collier gets set to go to ATWT?

Just as ATWT is sending hunky Austin Peck packing, we're hearing that none other than dreamboat Mark Collier has been contacted (again) for a return to Oakdale as heroic Mike Kasnoff.

Collier, among the most popular soap hunks on daytime during his tenure with the soap from 2003-07, has been repeatedly asked back to the show over the past two years--always turning them down. This time, though, we're hearing he said yes. No official word yet from the sudser.

Collier is a 5-time Soaphunks.net Award winner, including the Best Hunk prize in 2004. He also won the Adonis 2005 contest.

Austin Peck axed from ATWT

Nine-time Soaphunks.net Award winner Austin Peck has been dismissed from ATWT, in a move being confirmed by everyone except the show itself.

It seems safe to say that Peck's release was not under amicable circumstances, as TV Guide's Nelson Branco is reporting that Peck did not even sit with his ATWT co-stars at last week's Emmys. (Instead he resided with his former compatriots from DAYS.) Where might Peck end up next? Obviously DAYS would be the most logical destination, but no word yet.

Get more of the lowdown in Branco's column.

McCouch back to ATWT; Prescott out

In a surprising development, fan favorite and Soaphunks.net Award winner Grayson McCouch is set to return to ATWT on Sept. 24, less than a year after being killed off the sudser. No word yet on how McCouch's Dusty Donovan will be able to turn up very much alive.

McCouch is known for a very loyal online fan base, who helped him to strong finishes in the Adonis 2004, 2005, and 2006 contests.

In other ATWT soap hunks news, the latest recast for Mike Kasnoff (Jon Prescott) has been axed from the soap for "budgetary reasons." Prescott took over the role earlier this year, following the tremendously popular Shawn Christian and Mark Collier. Soap hunk fans will surely note that while Prescott was in the role, Mike--one of the most frequently shirtless characters in daytime history--went topless a total of zero times.

Second time's the charm

Well, it happened again, FINALLY. Now maybe if we don't make a big deal about this one, maybe it'll be followed by more and more, since it really ought to not be that big of a deal anyway...