Co-conceived by the prolific Irna Phillips and William Bell, Another World premiered on NBC television in 1964, eventually becoming one of Procter & Gamble's (P&G's) most enduring soap operas. Initially envisioned as a spinoff of one of Phillips and P&G's other creations, CBS's As the World Turns, Another World abandoned this link when CBS opted against airing it.

The introductory narration, "we do not live in this world alone, but in a thousand other worlds," was the signature of Another World's early seasons. Set in Bay City, in a Midwestern state later tagged as Illinois, the program focused on the Randolph and Matthews families in the 1960s, as Phillips and Bell offered timely stories involving illegal abortion and LSD. These topics proved too bold for traditional viewers, however, and backstage adjustments led to the hiring of Agnes Nixon, future creator of All My Children, who devised...