As Cancellation Nears, ABC Soaps Get Good Again

I am a soap opera fan. Possibly more of an addict if you’d ask others. I can probably tell characters' names and the actors who portrayed 
them from oh, most of the past 40 years on both ALL MY CHILDREN, ONE LIFE TO LIVE and GENERAL HOSPITAL. I can definitely talk rabidly about what the soaps were like in the 70s, how they were great in the early 80s, how I missed a couple years in the late 80s because I was studying abroad (for AMC fans, these are the Nico and Cecily years – have no knowledge of this entire storyline), how I loved loved them in the 90s (will anything ever equal ONE LIFE TO LIVE under writer Michael Malone and his groundbreaking AIDS Quilt storyline?) and how ABC was clearly trying to kill them starting in about 2003/2004. Oh yes, it’s taken this long to kill them but ABC did it.

You know, the ABC execs are a little like the Wicked Witch of the West – they knew they couldn’t just kill these shows outright, they would have to do it ‘carrrrreefully’ (if you can hear Margaret Hamilton saying that in case you were wondering). Bit by bit these shows were trimmed of budget and bit by bit network interference ruined story after story and character after character. A baby switch storyline here that betrayed once great characters (Dr. Joe would never have kept the truth from Bianca, the daughter of his long friend Erica Kane), multiple serial killer stories there that killed off fan favorites (killing the gorgeous Gabriel Medina in a toilet – despicable) and a show with the word HOSPITAL in the title that revolved around three very attractive mobsters who had nothing to do with anything remotely surgical (unless you count cutting out viewers who got bored by the violence and misogyny) – these things drove away viewers by the millions and they never came back. If you heard of the fan outcry from shows pulling in 2 to 3 million a day, can you imagine the backlash when ratings were much higher? (Last year I met an actor from the 80s era ALL MY CHILDREN who reminded me that in it’s time the show pulled in 27 million viewers – a day! They weren’t that high ten years ago but still higher than they are today, that’s for certain).

On April 14^th, less than a year after ABC moved the ALL MY CHILDREN cast to Los Angeles, the network announced that it was canceling the show along ONE LIFE TO LIVE (even tho OLTL reportedly comes in under budget on a regular basis). They’ve since revealed that the decision had been in the works for months and that they had been working on over a dozen pilots to replace both shows.

I can tell you if I was an AMC cast member who had picked up and moved my life to the west coast so I could keep my job, only to lose it to these corporate mouse shenanigans, I would be so pissed. Unfortunately given that actors are always scrambling for work, no one can afford to complain much (although one actress from ONE LIFE TO LIVE did and then quickly announced that she was leaving the show this summer due to ‘health reasons’.. uhm sure).

The only upside of announcing end dates for ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE is that both shows have put on their A game and been bringing back fan favorites.

It’s ironic that the headwriters of both shows have proclaimed that they are “going back to basics” upon news of cancellation. Uhm maybe if they had been allowed to do that before, the ratings wouldn’t have nosedived (because really, just how many twisters and shoot outs can we stand before we’re numb with boredom? Whatever happened to “Love in the Afternoon”? – ABC’s iconic ad slogan from the late 70s??).

But I’m trying not to hold on to the bitter – I’m taking my soaps while I can because they won’t exist for much longer. And thankfully both of them are awesome these days.

ALL MY CHILDREN has become good again and has introduced a clever storyline that involves some past crazy characters being let loose in Pine Valley (starting later this week) and a couple ‘back from the dead’ characters tied to old storylines with previous ‘back from the dead’ characters. If the show is going where I think it’s going, head writer Lorraine Broderick is going to tie together several past returns in one very interesting reveal (go Lorraine!).

ONE LIFE TO LIVE on the other hand, started to build a story around a returning actor who had been replaced in 2003. When the actor originally left, instead of simply having the character coming back looking different (as happens all the time), it’s clear the show hoped that the original actor (so deliciously good) would return one day.  So they said that the character had had extensive plastic surgery. How anyone on the show ever really bought this line of BS I’ll never know but it served the story and the show needed this character to continue so it just pressed on.

But the original actor has been back for a few weeks and has been on a Lurking Tour of Llanview seeing what’s happened in his absence. And last week both characters playing the same role confronted each other and it was AWESOME. Later on this week, spoiler alert, the returning actor makes himself known in public to a theatre full of his loved ones while the new guy is present. It promises to be the best kind of soap – where everyone in town is in the same place at the same time and the big reveal happens -- people freak out and women faint. Now that’s good soap.

There is still plenty wrong with both shows (don’t get me started) but at least, for the moment, both are watchable again and it’s better to have them go out in one blaze of awesome glory rather than limp and crawl to the finish line as it seemed to me to be the way GUIDING LIGHT and AS THE WORLD TURNS were at their end –shadows of their former selves. 

On a related note, both ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE have been bought up by the production company Prospect Park for a post network broadcast internet life. Word is that talks are stalled with unions and managers about pay for the actors/staff. I wish I could feel confident that these shows will live on in one form or another but although it’s impressive that the fans’ outcries were heard by a reputable production company (they produce ROYAL PAINS for the USA Network) it’s worrisome that the product may be diluted with cast defections because of pay issues.

But I’m prepared to think of the end of ALL MY CHILDREN on Friday September 23^rd as The End of ALL MY CHILDREN… and I hope that many of our faves get their happily ever after and at least there’s some closure on the things that matter to the fans. The villains are finally defeated, super couples are finally together and all is well with the world. Perhaps there will be a knock at the door on the final episode and Erica Kane goes to answer it and is seen looking surprised at who it is.. and then the show ends. That too would be super awesome.

I will miss my lifelong ritual – watching the shows as I work – it will be weird to turn on the TV at a time of day and see a cooking show instead of Erica Kane brewing up more trouble. So while I can, I’m enjoying these final days. Because nothing like it will come around in my lifetime again.

 

Comments

[Rolando Teco]

1.

"Nothing like it will come around in my lifetime again." Hm. Don't be so sure. We've witnessed over just the past 25 yrs. one of the biggest shifts in media in a long time and it feels as though the dust hasn't yet settled. Who knows what's around the corner? Only time will tell. But one thing never dies: human beings' unending hunger for stories... in all forms: tragedy, comedy, tabloid, suburban gossip. Doesn't much matter what the vehicle is, we all love a good story of the highs and lows that we all recognize as reflections of our own experience. I have a feeling we'll live to see more new forms of the same high drama. :)

[Andrew Altenburg]

2.

Well, I've been watching for 40 years.. it's unlikely that anything that will come along will last that long or that it will hold my interest for that long. I think that's a pretty unique combination that three shows have managed to achieve.

But I agree with you that even though entertainment models are changing rapidly, the need for stories that tickle the imagination, move the human spirit and make one want to 'tune in tomorrow' will always exist. :)

[Jason]

3.

They can still be great shows, if Frons didn't cancel them and wanting to replace them with the stupid shows we keep hearing about, one that is getting on mu nerves. People love the soaps because it gives them a chance to escape reality. We don't want shows that keep us there.

[Toledo spray insulation]

4.

Perhaps there will be a affect at the entrance on one more display and Erica Kane goes to response it and is seen looking amazed at who it is.. and then the display stops. That too would be extremely amazing.