As The World Turns' gay gamble sure paid off.

Despite all the conservative outcry over gay teen couple Luke and Noah, the long-running soap's storyline has bucked the trend and garnered new viewers, reports the hilariously disinterested Gina Bellafante:

Soaps have been shedding audiences for years now. The young, especially, have found their absurdities elsewhere; there is almost nothing put forth by the writers of All My Children that could, in a stupidity contest, outrank a single moment of The Hills.
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Since its introduction of a gay-theme story line last summer As the World Turns has actually gained viewers, specifically younger viewers, some of whom turned to the show, unpredictably enough, after following the romance of the college-age characters Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) via YouTube clips posted by fans — new media reviving fossil media.

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