List of characters who were part of the original cast: Like many daytime dramas of the period, the show entered into a mixed experiment with heavily youth-oriented action-adventure storylines in the early 1980s under producer Mary-Ellis Bunim and writers Bridget and Jerome Dobson.
One of their juiciest stories centered around the various and sundry traumas endured by Jennifer's daughter Barbara Ryan (Colleen Zenk Pinter) - during the years of her marriage to the charismatic criminal James Stenbeck (Anthony Herrera) (This was after she had left Tom Hughes at the altar in June 1980).
When she realized what had just happened, a horrified Dee believed John had sexually assaulted her and took him to trial for rape—a knockoff of the Dobson's highly successful marital rape storyline on Guiding Light in 1980.
John also would learn along the way that he had a daughter he never knew (Margo) via a long-ago affair with nurse Lyla Montgomery (Veleka Gray, then for a decade, Anne Sward), who was Maggie Crawford's sister.
Cricket while still in high school got a job working as an assistant for a movie company and got pregnant, but tried to pass off the child as Brad Hollister's handsome younger brother, Eric (played by Peter Reckell).
The Dobsons departed after a few years but the show managed to remain a strong Emmy contender, while increasingly sagging ratings and introducing the world to actress Meg Ryan as well as Marisa Tomei.
After what had been several years of standoffs between Bunim's production office and the cast over long-term story direction, the program was finally returned to its roots under Marland and executive producers Robert Calhoun and later Laurence Caso.
Meanwhile, Bob's daughter Frannie, played by this time by future movie star Julianne Moore, fell in love with mysterious restaurant owner and widower Douglas Cummings (John Wesley Shipp) and nearly married him.
Cummings was revealed to be Kim's stalker and killed three characters who knew his secret, a young woman named Marie Kovac (Mady Kaplan), Cal Randolph and his psychiatrist Henry Strauss (who was run into in front of the Hughes home).
He then dipped into history yet again to have Kim and Bob track down the daughter they long believed was dead, Sabrina, played originally by Julianne Moore in a dual role and then solely by Claire Beckman from 1990 to 1991.
When Earl disappeared for an extended period in 1988, Lisa's friends and family assumed he had left her, and she herself had begun to eventually accept this herself, but then she began receiving mysterious phone calls and messages.
Many of the stories during this period revolved around Lucinda Walsh (Elizabeth Hubbard; she had been created shortly before Marland arrived at ATWT), a tough-as-nails businesswoman whose tremendous confidence, savvy and success in the boardroom masked a deep pain and vulnerability over her failings as a mother and romantic partner.
Lily was dating safe, kindhearted Dusty Donovan (then played by Brian Bloom) in 1985 when brooding stable boy Holden Snyder taught her how to ride horses.
During his tenure, the citizens of Oakdale encountered AIDS, homosexuality, Native American land rights, incest, euthanasia, and menopause, in addition to the more typical soap opera tribulations.
Young heroine Georgia (Jaime Nicole Dudney), Lucinda's niece, had been the culprit, as she had gone to visit Wallace to talk to him and accidentally shot him as she struggled to get a gun away from him (all the while, Margo lay passed out in his bed).
Given the extenuating circumstances, she was cleared of charges and married her boyfriend Eddie (Nathaniel Marston) in a dual ceremony with Tom and Margo, who also renewed their vows after a year of separation.
Sheffer had been brought in to clean up Leah Laiman's storylines (Lily and Simon's months spent on the deserted island, among other stagnant plots) that had been progressively upsetting the show's fans.
At the 2000 Halloween party (the theme was Roaring Twenties, ) Katie (Terri Colombino) and Simon (Paul Leyden), having been scorned by the objects of their affections (married duo Holden and Lily, respectively,) had a one night stand in the back of a car.
Lucy (then played by Peyton List), meanwhile, began dating the much older Dusty (who had been lovers with her Aunt Lily fifteen years earlier), a romance that was popular with a subset of viewers who dubbed them "Lusty".
During the early 2000s, As the World Turns was praised for bringing African-American characters like Jessica, Marshall, Ben, Bonnie (Napiera Danielle Groves), and Isaac (Paul Taylor) to the forefront.
Jessica reunited with Ben, leaving them the only two African-American leads left (besides Walker Daniels Real Andrews, a doctor who helped treat Barbara when she had a bout with brain cancer in spring 2004.
Rafael Ortega (first AJ Lamas, then Michael Cardelle), Lucy's best friend from Montega, and his younger sister Celia (Alyssa Diaz) appeared for the first time, and immediately dominated storylines.
While the hijinks at Oakdale Latin High School continued, Lucinda's daughter Sierra (now played by Mary Beth Evans) became a regular on the show (after making only sporadic appearances for most of the past few decades).
Paul then began a relationship with Rosanna (Cady McClain), who was fresh off a divorce from Craig (Hunt Block) and then became involved with Jordan (Chris Beetem), the father of her young adopted son, Cabot.
Lisa Connor, Paula Cwikly, Charlotte Gibson, Hogan Sheffer, Trent Jones and Frederick Johnson (both ex The Young and the Restless, Emmy and WGA Award winners) all served as associate head writers during 2005.
Rosanna was rendered comatose and Craig was shipped off to jail (written off the show, his trial presumably happening off-camera, though none of the other characters, including his sisters Katie or Margo ever referred to it), which kicked off an umbrella story focused on the struggles of those most affected by the baby switch.
In September 2005 Procter & Gamble announced their daytime division head, Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin was leaving and the position was being eliminated, which led some fans to doubt about whether or not they wanted to continue producing As the World Turns or Guiding Light.
Lily, discovering at the last minute that Damien had lied to her about the true purpose behind Krieger's "de-gaying" camp and regretting her alignment with him, rushed home in an attempt to reconnect with Luke.
Still hurt and angry at his mother's continual rejection, believing she alone was behind the idea to send him away, Luke pushed a pregnant Lily away from him causing her to fall down a long flight of stairs and lapse into a coma.
Noah is badly hurt after being hit with a tire iron, but Luke manages to protect his friends, and prevents the men from kidnapping Ameera until Holden and Lily stumble across the scene and help.