 By the time of his retirement from directing in the 1990s, Auerbach had reached iconic status in New York daytime drama circles, with a career that spanned five decades.He was among those interviewed by Dustin Hoffman for the comedy set on a soap opera studio, "Tootsie".Given the never-ending production cycle of soap operas (without rerun seasons) and the massive number of minutes produced each week (many soap operas are now daily one-hour shows, as opposed to the early 15-, 30-, or 45-minute episodes), It seems likely that Auerbach has directed more dramatic (i.e., non-news) television than any other American director (approximately 3,000 hours).