According to TV Guide, All My Children fans won’t have to wait long to see the Internet version of the venerable soap opera. The current plan is to launch the new version on Monday, September 26th — three days after the soap says goodbye on ABC.
Current head writer Lorraine Broderick and executive producer Julie Carruthers are expected to stay. Broderick had been working with series creator Agnes Nixon to wrap up all of the major storylines for the finale but, now that the soap is continuing online, that may not happen.
There’s also a report that Susan Lucci has agreed to stay with the daytime drama — though it’s not clear for how long or in what capacity. Most of the other soap’s top performers have yet to begin negotiations but it looks unlikely that all of them will sign on. Reportedly, Michael E. Knight is leaning towards leaving. His representative said, “Michael is looking forward to new roles and new projects.”
Insiders have confirmed to FOX411 what we’ve all suspected. All My Children and One Life to Live are expensive to produce and in order to move them to the web, there will be some serious cost-cutting, including salary cuts for performers and writers.
Both soaps draw About $10,000 per 30 second commercial on ABC and that equals about $250,000 per episode. It’s going to be very difficult for Prospect Park to generate even close to that amount of revenue online.
Brad Adgate, director of research at Horizon Media Inc., believes “Everything is going to be scaled down, from the production costs to paying the writers and everyone involved in the show… It is going to have to be completely scaled back.”
What do you think? Which castmembers/characters are crucial for the show to succeed online?
Image courtesy ABC.
I started watching AMC back in 73 with my sister-in-law. We were fans for a long time, since her passing I continued to watch it because I loved it and it felt like a connection with her. I love AMC and I am really going to miss watching it on TV. I can’t tell you who will be missed because all the characters are a strong part of each of the stories told. I will miss those that will not stay on but I will miss most of all that hour of relaxation and excitement that I had watching AMC.… Read more »