After 35 years, ``Another World'' is going off the air.
While most of New York City was working, a crowd of diehards gathered at a restaurant to watch the 8,891st _ and last _ installment on a giant-screen television and a handful of smaller sets. A box of tissues graced each table, and they were well used. Tears streamed as a massive gorilla broke up the long-awaited wedding between Cass and Lila, who eventually married later in the show.
``I just want to see them happy, finally!'' said a sniffling Mrs. Beauregard, a homemaker from Seymour, Conn.
She sat transfixed, her hands locked anxiously as she awaited each moment that followed ads for diapers, toothpaste and shampoo.
The crowd mobbed and cheered a half dozen stars from the soap as they entered the eatery, called Blondie's. Mrs. Beauregard caught sight of Jonathan Sharp (who played Sergei) and rushed up for a delicate kiss on the lips from the blond hunk in a silver shirt.
Sharp plans to audition for other TV gigs and record a pop music CD, but he and others from the cast will surely miss the regular work.
It's also back to harder times for Taylor Stanley, who played Remy, a young woman who was saved from the streets. Ms. Stanley is bartending again while preparing to appear in a movie.
Four other ``Another World'' actors are luckier, moving on to other daytime shows, including ``As the World Turns'' and ``Guiding Light.''
But for AW's fans, there's just no substitute. Bob O'Konis, a machinist for a jet engine company, said he began watching ``Another World'' as a kid and thinks it stinks that the network is bagging it for ``Passions,'' appealing to a younger audience.
The cancellation is so repulsive to attorney Rosalie Friedberg that she said she ``will never watch an NBC show again!''
For at least one person at Blondie's, life itself won't be the same. ``Acting on 'Another World' has meant everything to me. I made a lot of friends,'' said Spencer Treat Clark, 11, who played Steven. He thumped his hand over his heart and said the show will ``always be right here.''
For Mrs. Beauregard, television will never be the same. ``C'mon, 'Passions' isn't going to have it,'' she said. ``What they're going for now is fighting and sex, ladies taking off their bras and getting into bed.''
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