Happy anniversary, Nuke fans!

When talking about LGBT representation in soaps, no one can forget As the World Turns’ Luke and Noah. The couple had a rocky start as one of them had difficulties coming to terms with his sexual orientation while the other had been hurt too many times before. After they kiss, in what was daytime’s first-ever kiss between two gay characters, the two finally start dating. They realized they really cared for each other after Noah’s dad tried to shoot Luke. Their storyline quickly became a fan favorite. Eventually the two split, Noah was left heartbroken and Luke found love again with a neurosurgeon, but his happiness ended abruptly with the death of his new boyfriend in a train accident. The ‘Nuke’ storyline came to an end as ATWT was cancelled, and while most of the other characters found a happy ending, that wasn’t the case for daytime’s gay super-couple. Fans are now trying to revive their storyline with an online campaign to develop a film around Luke and Noah.

Check out the fan campaign for a Nuke movie here on Facebook!

When its final episode aired on Sept. 17, 2010, ATWT was the longest-running soap opera still on television. The show, the first-ever 30-minute TV soap, had milestones aplenty during its run, from Walter Cronkite interrupting in 1963 to announce that President Kennedy had been shot to the first gay character on daytime in 1988. And folks in the fictional town of Oakdale certainly had no shortage of drama, with villains like James Stenbeck and Barbara Ryan and supercouples from Lily and Holden to Luke and Noah (Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann, pictured), whose kiss caused a furor a few years ago. The news has knocked fans for a loop but not the earth off its axis, because…you know…the world just keeps on turning.

See the full list here!

Hot button social issues are nothing new to daytime. In 1987, a woman suffering from AIDS made her first appearance in Pine Valley on All My Children. In 1992 on One Life to Live, a gay male teen named Billy Douglas (portrayed by Ryan Phillipe) stirred things up in Llanview. All My Children made headlines again in 2003 when the first romantic kiss between female characters was aired. Yet, it wasn’t until 2007 that As the World Turns made soap history with a lip lock between Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) and struggling-to-come-out-of-the-closet Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann). Once you throw Noah’s strict military dad into the mix, you’ve got the recipe for great daytime drama.

See the full list here!

Clip Credits: LukeVanFan

You can see the kisses that were included in this episode here, here, here, and here!

You can see our episode guide for the day here. We also have screencaps and quotes for the episode!

Here’s a quick excerpt about the Luke/Noah storyline:

DK: Now that it’s been over three years since the gay kiss felt round the world, was it really such a big deal?
JS: What I can’t believe is that it was such a big deal, and that it took until 2007 to show such a kiss. And I’m shocked that in this day and age that [gay] storylines are not more prevalent. As far as I know, there’s no similar storyline like ours. It’s kind of sad.

DK: How does it feel to be part of daytime TV history. Do you think Nuke will be forgotten?
JS: I’m very proud and flattered to have been part of that storyline. I can’t say if it will be forgotten, but it won’t be anytime soon. People still tell me how much Noah has meant to them, that the characters gave them courage to come out. That’s way more than I ever could have hoped from any acting job, to help make lives happier. The writers and producers who decided to tell the story deserve a lot of credit.

DK: Did you lock lips only with Luke or were there other dudes?
JS: For Noah, I think he only kissed Luke. But after the boys drifted apart, Luke began seeing another guy. [Pause.] Um, at least I think my character only kissed Luke. And if I did kiss another guy, he certainly did not hold the same place in my heart.

DK: You and Van had one sex scene, but the action was off screen. Given that the straight couples on soaps are routinely shown in bed together, did that piss you off, or were you secretly relieved?
JS: [Laughs.] I think that many sex scenes in soaps are borderline gratuitous, for the sake of showing a little skin. I’m not trying to sound like a prude. In a dramatic narrative, there’s certainly a place for those storylines. But In Luke and Noah’s case, there were many different ways to tell the story. They were both virgins, and that’s a big event. They showed the two of them afterwards, fresh from a shower, referring to what happened. Some people were upset that they didn’t show the sex.

DK: Do you feel the post-sex scene was a fair enough depiction?
JS: No, I don’t. There was probably a happy medium somewhere in between that they could have shown.

Read the full article here!

Here’s an excerpt:

While Silbermann gained national fame for his role as Noah Mayer on CBS’ recently-cancelled As the World Turns—as part of daytime’s first gay supercouple (alongside Van Hansis as Luke Snyder)—he was surprised to be given the opportunity to read for the role of Harker, the young man determined to stop Dracula.

“My only stage work was at Syracuse University,” he recalls. When I read for my audition, my accent was terrible, but Paul said I came through, and I’m here. The rehearsal process was a nice change from daytime, because Paul allowed us to try different things. If they didn’t work, you did it again another way. His vision is refreshing.”

At first, the actor was nervous about being part of the production, but he feels totally at home now. “I’m surrounded by George and Timothy, who are so at ease at what they do, and Michel, who is quite the celebrated young Italian actor. They’re three of the sweetest people I’ve known. I’ve grown to really admire Michel, because he brings such energy to everything, even saying good morning. In every stage production, Dracula is different, and with Michel, you have a dashing, charming count.”

Indeed, like his co-stars, Silbermann doesn’t think of the production as a mere revival. “I see it as a rethinking. There’s so much symbolism from the horror and erotic aspects that it’s relevant today. The wonderful thing about vampires is that they’re an invention of the mind. There’re even good vampires! Why not? There’s no limit to what a creative director can do with this play,” he says. “And with the popularity of the Anne Rice books, and Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries, I think there really couldn’t be a better time to revive Dracula.”

Read the full article here!

September saw arguably the biggest departure of the year with CBS’s As The World Turns ending after 54 years and 13,000 episodes. The broadcaster has canceled the soap last year for similar reasons it canceled Guiding Light—low ratings. The two were bottom of the ratings for quite some time and despite revamps on GL—and new modern storylines on ATWT—ratings remained low. As The World Turns was created by Irna Phillips in 1956 and its most high profile storyline of recent years was the gay romance between Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) and Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann). ATV Today marked the departure of As The World Turns with a five-part feature on the romance between Luke and Noah which gripped fans, and won praise, across the world.

Here’s a breif excerpt about the censorship in the Luke/Noah storyline:

AE: After the first kiss, there was a big brouhaha when the intimacy evaporated. Some called it a moratorium. Was P&G buckling under pressure from conservatives?
JS: I remember thinking it was pretty lame. We never officially found out where it was coming from, though it was obvious. At the time we didn’t talk about it, we toed the party line. The issue could have been handled more sensitively, for sure. It’s not my place to point fingers, but the reluctance was there.

AE: Noah and Luke finally had sex, but the action was off screen. Do you feel the post-coital scene, where you came out of the shower, was a fair depiction?
JS: No, I don’t. It could have been directed a number of ways. I understand both sides of the story. The relationship is more about love, not sex. There was probably a happy medium somewhere in between that they could have shown.

Learn more and listen to the show live here!

The site has more information on ticket sales: tickets go on sale Tuesday, November 23^rd. Tickets start at $89.50 with a $126.50 price for premium seats! Get more info here!

The official Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages have also been launched!

The play begins rehearsals this week and will start in December! Some info can be found here but dates and pricing have not been announced yet! As soon as more info comes out, I’ll be sure to post it here!

Check out BlazinRy Radio for more info!

If people at the Knitting Factory recognized Jake Silbermann’s cornflower-blue eyes last month, they were too cool to let on. The handsome Mr. Silbermann, looking considerably more pulled together in a sport coat and sweater combo than most of the 20-somethings attending the Royal Flush film festival at this Brooklyn club, took questions from the small audience following a screening of his short film “Stuffer.”

The word “Nuke” was not uttered once.

At 27 and just three years after quitting his telesales job to join the cast of the soap opera “As the World Turns,” Mr. Silbermann is known to millions (maybe not you, but millions nonetheless) as Noah Mayer. Paired with the equally photogenic Van Hansis, who played Luke Snyder, he was half of daytime television’s first same-sex super couple and the last in a long line of the show’s duos honored with one of those conjoined nicknames favored by adoring fans. Noah. Luke. Nuke….

Read the rest here!

The article also has a slideshow that contains three images of Jake. See the photos here!

Clip credit: LukeVanFan

Clip credit: TheAndyClips / LukeVanFan