Death of Soap Opera Era: Long-running “All My Children” & “One Life to Live” Canceled for New Lifestyle Shows (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on April 14, 2011
The soap opera world was rocked today when ABC announced that it would be canceling both All My Children and One Life to Live.
All My Children, set in the fictional East Coast suburb Pine Valley, was launched in 1970, and One Life to Live, set in the fictional town of Llanview, Pennsylvania, first aired in 1968. Both shows have been the recipients of numerous awards, including a belated Emmy win for Best Actress for “Daytime’s Leading Lady” Susan Lucci for her role as Erica Kane, and both dramas were created by Agnes Nixon.
Times have been tough and television viewing tastes have changed — daytime TV drama audiences have been shrinking for many years now. Following these cancellations, only four network daytime dramas remain: The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, both on CBS, General Hospital on ABC, and Days of Our Lives on NBC.
From TV Squad, ABC Cancels ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live’:
ABC has pulled the plug on its long-running soaps ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live.’
According to the network, the final episode of ‘All My Children’ will air this September, with ‘One Life to Live”s finale in January 2012. ABC will replace the soaps with two new shows, ‘The Chew’ and ‘The Revolution.’
“‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live’ are iconic pieces of television that have made an indelible mark on our culture’s history,” Brian Frons, president of daytime at Disney ABC / Television Group, said in a statement. “Each of the shows has touched millions and millions of viewers and informed the social consciousness. It has been a privilege to work with the extraordinary teams who brought the residents of Pine Valley and Llanview to life each day, and we thank the cast, crew, producers and most especially the fans for their commitment to the shows through their history.”
AP: All My Children’s Susan Lucci: ‘I Loved Playing Erica Kane’
From People, All My Children’s Susan Lucci: ‘I Loved Playing Erica Kane’:
It’s the end of an era!
With Thursday’s announcement that ABC’s long-running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live will come to an end, one of the genre’s most iconic figures is speaking out – and moving on.
“It’s been a fantastic journey,” Susan Lucci said in a statement Thursday. “I loved playing Erica Kane and working with [show creator] Agnes Nixon and all the incredible people involved with All My Children. I’m looking forward to all kinds of new and exciting opportunities.”
Lucci, 64, has played the character since 1970 and in those years, Erica has had quite the go of it: She was married 10 times (not counting marriages that were deemed invalid), threatened suicide, been accused of murder and forced to go on the run, cheated on one of her husbands with his brother, served time in prison for kidnapping, been facially disfigured in a car accident, beat addictions to prescription drugs and alcohol following a back injury; she was raped, and years later stabbed another husband after hallucinating that he was her rapist; she secretly took birth control pills behind another husband’s back; she also had an abortion – but the pregnancy wasn’t actually terminated. Erica found out later that her doctor stole the unborn child and implanted it in another woman, who gave birth and raised the baby as her own.
From E! Online:
All My Children and One Life to Live, canceled Thursday by ABC, will depart this world after bringing us a combined 20,000-plus episodes of cliffhangers, sudden deaths and unplanned pregnancies.
From US Magazine, Kelly Ripa: All My Children Cancellation “Makes Me Sick”:
All My Children alum Kelly Ripa saw the writing on the wall.
Ten days before ABC announced the end of the soap opera after 41 years, the daytime talk show host told UsMagazine.com she would be “sick to [her] stomach” if the show was canceled.
“I can’t even think about that,” the 40-year-old said. Ripa met hubby Mark Consuelos, 40, on the set back in 1995 when they played a couple on the show; the two eloped in Las Vegas in 1996 and have three children together — Michael, 13, Lola, 9, and Joaquin, 8.
“I can’t even think about that,” the 40-year-old said. Ripa met hubby Mark Consuelos, 40, on the set back in 1995 when they played a couple on the show; the two eloped in Las Vegas in 1996 and have three children together — Michael, 13, Lola, 9, and Joaquin, 8.
From Los Angeles Times, Goodbye, soaps, hello, lifestyle: Tim Gunn, Mario Batali on tap for ABC daytime:
Less Susan Lucci, more Mario Batali.
ABC has just ripped up its daytime schedule with the announcement that long-running soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” will be gone by fall (the former) and January 2012 (the latter). Replacing those decades-old melodramas will be two upbeat, information-based shows devoted to food, health and makeovers starring TV personalities Batali, “What Not to Wear’s” Clinton Kelly, fan favorite “Top Chef” contestant Carla Hall and “Project Runway” mentor Tim Gunn.
ABC executives said today’s audience craves lifestyle shows with a transformational bent, as opposed to the over-the-top soap genre, which has been losing viewers for many years.
Batali’s program, “The Chew,” which isn’t a working title but should be, aims to cover food “from every angle — as a source of joy, health, family ritual, friendship, breaking news, dating, fitness, weight loss, travel adventures and life’s moments.”
That seems to cover ground as varied as the latest nutrition studies or food recalls to liquid cleanses and exotic cuisine. It will feature Batali, Kelly, Hall, restaurateur Michael Symon from “Iron Chef America” and nutrition expert Daphne Oz. The program comes from Gordon Elliot, the Emmy-winning producer responsible for “Paula Deen’s Home Cooking.”
From NY Times Arts Beat, ABC Cancels ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live’:
The demise of one of broadcasting’s oldest institutions, the daytime soap opera, crept closer on Thursday as ABC announced it would end two of its long-running daily serial dramas, “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” The cancellations will leave “General Hospital” as the only soap on ABC, and CBS as the only network with more than one soap on its schedule.
From MarketWatch, ‘All My Children’ and soap operas are dead:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Soap operas are a dying breed., as proved by the expected cancellations of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.”
And network executives all but say to the genre: R.I.P.
Scripted TV, as a whole, may not be too far behind, based on the economics of network TV. Reality shows are much cheaper to produce and they’re increasingly popular with the viewers.
The folks watching at home can get their kicks from watching reality shows. Soap operas have long been an escape and a fantasy world for viewers. But reality shows help them have this kind of psychic release in a much more entertaining way.Young people, in particular, are turning away from the soap operas and moving in favor of the prime-time soaps that reality TV have become.
From Washington Post, ABC kills long-running soaps ‘All My Children,’ ‘One Life to Live’:
Two more iconic daytime soaps have bitten the dust: ABC announced Thursday that it’s driving a stake into “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” to launch two series similar to “The View.”
One of the new programs is about all things food, stars a bunch of foodies (duh) and is called “The Chew.” The other is about weight loss, stars the inimitable Tim Gunn (among others) and is called “The Revolution.”
Yes, ABC Daytime will not only help you put on, but also take off, the weight!
“ ‘General Hospital,’ the second-most popular show in daytime, is not impacted by this announcement and will remain on the air,” ABC stated emphatically — in case you were working up a good head of steam on that front.
The network was quick to add that it will “honor” the “core, passionate audience and their rich history with our soaps ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live’” by plowing them under “in a manner that respects their legacies and the long-standing hopes of many of their viewers.”
About the author
Comments