The World has stopped turning — at least on daytime TV.

Long-running soap opera As the World Turns is coming to an end after more than half a century on the air, The Associated Press learned Tuesday.

(Somewhere out there a stay-at-home mother just had a conniption!)

CBS is pulling the plug on the midday drama after a steady decline in ratings for the once popular soap coupled with a tough year for the withering daytime industry. This news comes just months after the network yanked Guiding Light, television oldest daytime soap, ending a 70 year run for that classic. The departure of As The World Turns will leave CBS with only two daytime dramas: The Young and The Restless and The Bold and The Beautiful.

“We are disappointed and saddened by the news that the show is not being renewed,” ATWT exec producer Chris Goutman said in a statement. ”It will certainly be a loss for all of us, and for the show’s loyal audience.”

As The World Turns, now in its 54th year, helped launch the careers of a number of critically-acclaimed stars, including Marisa Tomei, Meg Ryan, Parker Posey, and James Earl Jones. The final episode of ATWT will air in September 2010.