By VERENA DOBNIK Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - For two-thirds of her life, Fran Beauregard turned on the tube just about every day at 2 p.m. sharp to watch ``Another World.'' The 57-year-old mother raised her three kids through thousands of episodes of the soap opera. On Friday, she was seeing her TV family for the last time. 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.'' |