As The World Turns alum Eric Sheffer Stevens isn't letting any grass grown under his feet. Fox announced their 2011-2012 primetime line up this week, and it revealed Stevens' comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter was picked up. The show revolves around two BFF's Annie (Jaime Pressly) and Nikki, (Katie Finneran) who are trying to navigate the difficult waters of raising teenaged daughters. Stevens plays Matt, Annie's clueless ex-husband. Watch the preview after the jump! READ MORE

As The World Turns star Eric Sheffer Stevens will guest star on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Stevens' character is embroiled in a murder investigation involving a hot shot on Wall Street. The actor's episode airs this Sunday at 9 PM EST on the USA Network.

Several days ago, I posted an entry about the fallout from the death of Dr. Reid Oliver (Eric Sheffer Stevens) on As The World Turns. There were three central ideas in that piece. First, despite the very legitimate complaints that any given fan might have, ATWT is providing great human drama here at the end of its run. Second, Reid’s tragic passing and donation of his heart to Chris (Daniel Cosgrove) encapsulated that goal mainly by thrusting the Hughes’— the show’s core family since its very debut— front and center toward its conclusion. Third, given the soap opera wrapped production months ago, the idea of kicking a dead horse with unrelenting criticism isn’t going to make it win the Kentucky Derby.

I have not budged one iota from any of those positions and I am about to incur the wrath of a whole lot more of you by making what I know will be a very controversial statement to many: I believe that in these final days, executive producer Christopher Goutman has made mostly the right decisions.

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Before I get to today’s stunning episode of As the World Turns, in which Dr. Reid Oliver dies and donates his heart to his professional nemesis/colleague Dr. Chris Hughes, I have a few thoughts about not only the serial's final days on the air, but also —in a broader sense—fan perceptions about what a soap's last days should be like, themes that will be carried forward as we look toward ATWT's final hours.

First, with less than two weeks to go before its final fade to black, ATWT is ending its 54 year history in perhaps better dramatic shape than almost any serial since the cancellation of NBC's Texas in 1982, a specific observation I will expand upon in a few days. Of course, there is lots to gripe and nitpick about the woulda-coulda-shoulda’s of how the show might have wrapped things up. Many of those ideas are quite good and some are downright ludicrous, but in the final turn of events, all of that stuff is moot. The last scenes were shot, the sets have been struck, and the actors all went along different paths weeks ago. READ MORE

This Week in Daytime,

I teared up at As the World Turns’ tribute to Nancy Hughes (Helen Wagner). The episode contained so many wonderful flashbacks. I was in the midst of patting myself on the back for not letting it get to me when they began Nancy’s Thanksgiving prayer and I knew I was a goner. Of course, that touching scene was immediately followed by Katie’s (Terri Colombino) flashbacks of Nancy. I know each ATWT fan has their own fond memories, but there are three reasons I fell in love with ATWT and Oakdale. 1) I discovered ATWT because it was where my beloved Another World characters ended up. 2) I couldn’t get enough of Jack (Michael Park) and Carly’s (Maura West) on again/off again relationship 3). Katie and Simon’s (Paul Leyden) romance–nurtured by Nancy–hooked me. Share your favorite Nancy Hughes moments in the comments. We miss you Helen Wagner.

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