A World Apart (TV series)


A World Apart is an American daytime drama that ran from March 30, 1970, to June 25, 1971, on the ABC television network.

Overview

The initial stories were written by Katherine Phillips. The story concerned a soap opera writer who adopted two children, a fictionalized version of Irna Phillips' life.
Soap opera writer Betty Kahlman raised her adopted children without a husband. Her sounding board and friend was fellow soap opera writer Meg Johns, played by actress Anna Minot. Betty married Russell Barry and the early focus was on generational conflicts between a newly married middle-aged couple and their confused children. People tried to understand each other, but were ultimately "a world apart", echoing the title. Eventually, the show-within-a-show element was scaled back, and writer Katherine Phillips was replaced by Richard Holland and Suzanne Holland. At that point, Betty and Russell settled into a tranquil marriage.
Other storylines centered on the Sims family, who were mired in less turmoil than the Kahlmans, but still had their problems, as Dr. Ed Sims and his extremely conservative wife Adrian struggled with their rebellious daughter Becky.

Cast

Many of the show's performers went on to later notability as actors, including Susan Sarandon, Nicolas Surovy, Susan Sullivan, Dorothy Lyman, and David Birney. James Noble would eventually play Governor Eugene Gatling on the television comedy Benson alongside Robert Guillaume. Clifton Davis, who played Matt Hampton, would later appear in both That's My Mama and Amen, where he played Reverend Reuben Gregory. Jane White and Davis played mother and son on both A World Apart and Amen.

Broadcast history

The series ran Monday through Friday at 12:30 pm EST, opposite CBS' then-popular Search for Tomorrow and NBC's The Who, What, or Where Game. ABC canceled the show after a little over a year, wrapping up with a moving episode where Patrice Kahlman finally made peace with giving her newborn son up for adoption.