In all the turmoil of its later years, the main reason for the show's demise may have been CBS's choice to buy the show from the original sponsor/packager, American Home Products, in 1969. After CBS purchased the show, it suffered from numerous headwriter and producer changes. AHP's primary task after reacquiring the rights to the show in 1974, the year CBS cancelled the show, was to continue the series by syndicating it elsewhere. However, NBC executive Lin Bolen rejected the show in favor of her own project, "How to Survive a Marriage" (which ran for one year and three months on that network), and ABC chose to use its daytime budget to buy out Agnes Nixon's soaps. Thus, American Home Products decided not to continue the show even in syndication, due to the lack of clearances among affiliates in the largest markets to justify continued production. The 5,195th and final episode was shown one week after the show's 20th anniversary.