Soap Dish: All My Children & One Life to Live Return on April 29

Update: November 12, 2013: Well, it's official... All My Children has been cancelled...again. The scuttlebutt was that the online version of the once-popular sudser was in trouble after it went into hiatus after the end of the first season. One of the show's stars Debbi Morgan (Angie Hubbard) tweeted a few day's ago that the show was finished before Soaps in Depth and the Ausiello Files confirmed that the online incarnation of AMC was indeed history. Sister soap One Life to Live went on an indefinite hiatus a few months ago, reportedly over a legal squabble between the ABC network and Prospect Park, which bought the online rights to both cancelled soaps.

Just like one of the characters on the show, cancelled soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live will be resurrected!

The two venerable war horse daytime dramas were both canned in 2010 by the erstwhile head of ABC daytime, the much-maligned Brian Frons, who brought such "well received" programs as The Chew to the network. Fans of the longtime sudsers were left devastated and bereft by the joint cancellations, which were on the air for a combined total of 84 years.

Prospect Park production company purchased the rights to both programs after their cancellations, but hope grew dim that the shows would see the light again in an online format. However, Prospect Park persevered and both soaps went into production earlier this year, with both shows taping in Stamford, Connecticut. Now, it has been announced that both AMC and OLTL will debut their online versions on April 29.

Fans will once again see the denizens of Pine Valley and Llanview embroiled in all the schemes, tragedies, weddings, blackmail, divorces, murder and mayhem that has entertained over the decades. Loyal viewers will be able to get the latest 30-minute episodes via the free service Hulu.com and on Hulu Plus for those with connected TVs, and various mobile devices. In addition, the iTunes store will offer both series via iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple TV and Mac and PC.

Agnes Nixon, the venerable creator of both soaps, thanked the loyal fans of her shows: “I am so pleased that our dream of bringing these two series back to life is coming to fruition. We wouldn't be here without [the fans]."

Veteran cast members David Canary, Julia Barr, Jll Larsen, Cady McClain and Debbi Morgan, Erika Slezak, Robert S. Woods, Robin Strasser and Hillary B. Smith will be returning to their respective soaps. As of now, fan favorite and Emmy winner Susan Lucci has not signed on to return to All My Children as Queen Diva Erika Kane. 

Exclusive cast photographs can be seen over at Perez Hilton's site.

Because We Only Have One Life to Live: Soap Ends After 43 Years

The long-running ABC daytime drama One Life to Live faded to black yesterday after more than 43 years of being on the air.

The beloved soap was created by the legendary Agnes Nixon, who also created sister series All My Children, which went off the air with a Bang! in October. ABC daytime executive Brian Frons announced last April his plans to ax the two warhorse series to make way for cheaper-to-produce, unscripted "reality" series such as The Chew. (Frons is no longer head of daytime over at ABC after stepping down in December, but alas, too late to save the soaps.)

One Life to Live was set in the fictional town of Llanview, Pennsylvania, and initially followed the trials and tribulations of the Lord and Buchanan families. Popular actress Erica Slezak portrayed the long-suffering character of Victoria Lord Gordon Riley Burke Riley Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter Davidson Banks since 1971. Slezak would go on to win a record six Daytime Emmy Awards for her always-riveting portrayal of Vicki who endured the slings and arrows of life on a soap opera, which included being shot, a cancer scare, multiple marriages and divorces, time travel, becoming trapped in a mysterious, underground city, as well as having Multiple Personality Disorder, when her naughty alter-ego Nicki would emerge.

The soap was an important launch pad for countless rising talent over the years. Stars such as Tommy Lee Jones, Marcia Cross, Laurence Fishburn, Ryan Phillippe, and Roma Downey received their big breaks acting on the show. Who's the Boss' Judith Light won back-to-back Emmy Awards for her searing portrayal of socialite turned hooker Karen Wolek in the early-1980s. (If you've never watched a single scene from One Life to Live over the past forty-three years, do yourself a favor and watch Light's famous courtroom scene below:)

Fans of OLTL that were heart-broken by the cancellation announcement in April were temporarily given a reprieve when Prospect Park purchased the rights to the show and planned to continue the series in an online format. The plans fell through, however, and soap fans around the country heard the death knell for their beloved genre ringing loudly.

As family dynamics and demographics changed over the years, less and less people had time to spend watching an hour long series each and every single week day. With the explosion of the Internet and the rising popularity of cable network television, daytime dramas continued to watch their viewership shrink and decline over the years. During the 1970s, there were 20 daytime dramas on television; with the cancellation of OLTL, there are now only four series left on the air: The Young & The Restless, The Bold & The Beautiful, Days of Our Lives and General Hospital.

My advice to fans of the series still left on the air is to watch and support your favorite. Don't take it for granted that it will still continue broadcasting, no matter how many years you have been an ardent fan...

The Soap Killer: Katie Couric's New Chat-Fest Cleared for 80% of Country

Katie Couric's new talk show won't even debut until next fall, but it has already been cleared for 80% of the US television market!

The imaginatively titled Katie looks set to clear nearly 100% of the potential market by the time it makes its debut in 2012. ABC has already cleared two hours of daytime programming with the cancellation of two of its soap operas, the long-running All My Children and One Life to Live. The head of ABC daytime Brian Frons canceled both programs earlier in the year. All My Children left the airwaves this past September, with One Life to Live ending its forty-five-year run in January.

Rumors that the two soaps would be cancelled were rampant earlier in the year. Many insiders claim the shows were axed so that the ABC network would be able to afford Katie Couric's hefty asking price, which is estimated at over $30 million a season. With the cancellations, ABC has only one soap still on its roster, the California-based General Hospital. News came out last week that a last-ditch effort to save All My Children in an online format had fallen through, although One Life to Live is still expected to make the transition next year.

Katie Couric left as host of The CBS Evening News earlier this year after a five-year run.

Say Goodbye to Pine Valley: Internet Deal to Save Soap All My Children Falls Through

Fans of the long-running American soap opera All My Children, already reeling from the show's cancellation in September, received more bad news today. The soap was picked up by Prospect Park to be featured as an online soap, but now producers have decided that they only have room for one program, so they have opted to produce ABC's other long-running canceled soap One Life to Live instead!

All My Children debuted in 1970 and told the stories of the denizens of fictional Pine Valley, Pennsylvania. The show launched the careers of countless stars over the years and made actress Susan Lucci, who played the often-married, flamboyant Erica Kane, a household name. Both All My Children and One Life to Live were created by the legendary Agnes Nixon, who treated the soaps, the actors and the characters as her own children.

ABC daytime head Brian Frons unceremoniously dumped both soaps early this year, breaking the hearts of millions of loyal soap viewers. Hopes were high that a future for the dying genre of daytime dramas would be found in an online forum, but there were difficulties from the start. Many of the top-earning actors from the series were reluctant to sign on to an online format. The question of funding and advertising was also of concern, many fearing content would suffer in the transition. Prospect Park have assured that One Life to Live will make a smooth transition upon its network cancellation in January 2012.