Rumors have been circulating for weeks that ABC was considering shaking up their daytime schedule by possibly cancelling one of their soap operas. All My Children, the lowest-rated soap on the network, appeared to be the most obvious target but many involved with the series claimed that the series was safe.
ABC shocked longtime soap opera fans today by cancelling both All My Children and One Life to Live. This move will leave General Hospital, the eldest of the three, as the only remaining soap opera on ABC.
All My Children began in January of 1970 as a half-hour serial and became an hour-long daily in 1977. Created by the legendary Agnes Nixon, All My Children was taped in New York until 2009 when it moved to Los Angeles. Many, including show veteran Susan Lucci, associated with the soap had to decide if it was worthwhile to uproot their lives and move west. There have been more than 10,600 episodes produced so far and now All My Children is set to say farewell in September.
One Life to Live debuted on ABC in July of 1968. It began as a half-hour show, moved to 45 minute episodes in 1976, and then hour installments in 1978. Also created by Nixon, One Life to Live continues to be produced in New York. There have been more than 11,000 episodes of the venerable program and will go off the air in January 2012.
ABC insists that both programs will wrap up their storylines in a manner that will respect their legacies.
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In a statement, Brian Frons, President of Daytime for Disney ABC/Television Group, said, “All My Children and One Life to Live are iconic pieces of television that have made an indelible mark on our culture’s history. 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.”
He also noted, “More than 40 years ago, Agnes Nixon created both the worlds of All My Children and One Life to Live, worlds that the rest of us have been privileged to live in… Her shows led the way forward, breaking a lot of rules along the way to defy expectations about what soaps can do and the issues they can cover. I am honored to have worked with her.”
The beloved soap operas will be replaced by cheaper lifestyle programs. The Chew will focus on the world of food and The Revolution is a show that will revolve around health and lifestyle transformations. General Hospital, which has been on the air since 1963, will continue as the last remaining soap opera on ABC.
What do you think? Will you be sad to see these soap operas go? How long have you been watching? Which will you miss most?
Image courtesy ABC.
IT’S A SAD DAY IN THE SOAP OPERA WORLD… I STARTED WATCHING” ALL MY CHILDREN AND” ONE LIFE TO LIVE”AT AGE 6 WITH MY BABYSITER. WHEN WE CAN MY SISTER AND I STILL WATCH TOGETHER. I THINK THE ABC NETWORK HAS MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE…. I PERSONALY HAVE NO DESIRE TO WATCH A NEW LIFESTYLE OR COKING SHOW…. I CERTAINLY WON’T BE TUNING IN!…ERICA, VICKY, BO AND BLAIR: YOU WIL BE MISED!!
Shame on you ABC. I can’t believe that the one show on TV that I really look forward to watching every day, All My Children, is being cancelled. I’m a loyal fan who has been watching this show faithfully since the day it first aired. That’s going on 41 years. I guess the fans don’t get any kind of vote on this. What are you going to replace it with? More reallity crap? It really doesn’t matter does it. TV has really been going down hill since the reallity crap has taken over anyway. You’ve definitly lost a viewer. The… Read more »
This really infuriates me!!!the tv execs want to take away the little bit of good tlelvision that still exists!I have watched them both for years,latly i haven;t watched amc just because i have been so busy but i always catch up on one life to live watching online.I just cannot fathom the reasoning of taking off two very good shows that have a very loyal following to put two reality shows on when we are bombarded with them.I watch oltl everyday (even though i know its actors playing a role) they are like family to me. I WILL BOYCOTT ABC… Read more »
I am truely heartbroken. I have been watching ALL MY CHILDREN, since I was in grammer school. I would run home after school and call my Aunt to found out what I had missed. In High school, my best friend lived a half a block from school and we’d run to her home every day for lunch and were late to the next class every day. And as long as I’ve worked, I alway have taken my lunch at noon to either watch or listen (when you could use a t v radio). And still today several ladies watch our… Read more »
I ‘am very upset because that is the only thing I really enjoy watching on ABC in the afternoons. All My Children and One Life To Live will be the last of and soap opera I will ever watch so they may as well cancel General Hospital too because I’am so upset that I don’t care to watch any NO more ever when it happens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙁
I’m not a fan of these soaps, but I grew up with them because my mom would have them on all the time (and she’s part of the generation that was teenagers when the shows first came on). I will say this though; Broadcast Television is gradually getting rid of scripted shows and replacing them with talk/game reality shows, daytime and primetime. They do not care for fan-bases, they care about the money. However, you would think someone would invent a new way to monitor ratings for shows. A huge majority of America alone watch shows via Tivo/DVR playback, online,… Read more »
I don’t even watch soap operas, but I can appreciate fans of any scripted drama. It’s a sad fact of the changing face of television that long-standing scripted shows like this are getting replaced with cheaper, duller “lifestyle” or reality programming. When will fans of traditional programming ever be appreciated by the networks? Or will we continue to miss the days when reality television programs were few and far between, confined to a few niche genres (such as the “wacky video” show).
i am very upset by the cancelling of these soaps my 70 year old mother has watched them since they started and i have watched both of these as long as i can remember. I was hoping to pass this routine on down the line. The decision to cancel these soaps is very saddening.
If the network thought of cancelling these two shows,
it was very unfair for those families to uproot and to now
learn that their who is cancelled … shame shame shame on
the network.
good for those who did not relocate….
These shows better be worth it… Chew and Revolution Please
Are these broadcast that will increase a persons worth?
This is make me sick all I can every remember was the stories. My heart is broken and the fix-it show can not fix it!!!!!!!!!!!!
THERE IS A GOD!!!
THANK YOU ABC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been watching All My Children almost for as long as it has been on. When my girls were old enough they would watch right along with me. It was a tradition I guess you could say. We would make homemade french fries grab some napkins and then head out to the livingroom where we would all sit on the floor and enjoy the show. All My Children really did help me explain some of the harder issues to both my girls. It gave us a starting place for some very interesting and important conversations that needed to be… Read more »
I’m SICK SICK SICK. I’ve been watching all three ABC soaps (and Ryan’s Hope, when it was on, as well as The Edge of Night, when THAT was on) – for over 30 years. I cannot BELIEVE the network is willing to let these shows go. ABC, I’m done with you. No more will I watch a disloyal network, one which throws shows away after half a season (nighttime dramas) – and now long-running soaps. These characters have become part of our lives, people who don’t work during the day LOVE these shows, and I for one am not going… Read more »
boo who woo
Oh, whatever shall they do
watch a gameshow or two
the soap’s are gone
down, down, down
the bubbly blue
I love One Life To Live and General Hospital those are the only two I have ever watched. I still can not beleive they canceled OLTL though it is horrible. Who in the world wants more talk shows not me we have enough of those crappy things