Another World
About This Show
Another World is a television soap opera that ran on the NBC network from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999.[1][2] It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J. Bell, and was produced by Procter & Gamble Productions in studios located in Brooklyn.
Set in the fictional town of Bay City, the show in its early years opens with announcer Bill Wolff (announcer) (1964-1987) intoning its epigram, “We do not live in this world alone, but in a thousand other worlds,” which Irna said represented the difference between “the world of events we live in, and the world of feelings and dreams that we strive for.” [3] Another World focused less on the conventional drama of domestic life as seen in other soap operas, and more on exotic melodrama between families of different classes and philosophies.
AW was the first soap opera to talk about abortion in 1964 when such subjects were taboo. It was the first soap opera to do a crossover, with the character of Mike Bauer from Guiding Light coming from Springfield to Bay City, and the first to go to one hour, then to 90 minutes, and then back to an hour. It was the first soap to launch two spin-offs (Somerset and Texas) as well as an indirect one (Lovers and Friends, which would be re-named For Richer For Poorer). AW was also the first soap opera with a theme song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 "(You Take Me Away To) Another World" by Crystal Gayle and Gary Morris, in 1987.
Irna Phillips envisioned Another World as a spin-off of her popular soap opera As the World Turns, but CBS did not have room for it and would not allow a spin-off to air on a competing network. Phillips instead sold the show to NBC (eager to snap up a show by the successful Phillips), removing references to ATWT's Oakdale and cancelling plans to have character crossover appearances by the Hughes family, but used the name Another World in reference to its origins. Expectations were so high that Another World had six weeks of commercial time sold in advance.
Creator(s)
Irna Phillips and William J. Bell
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of episodes 8891
Running time 30 minutes (television, 1964-1975)
60 minutes (1975-1979, 1980-1999)
90 minutes (1979-1980)
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run May 4, 1964 (1964-05-04) – June 25, 1999
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