All My Children

All My Children went off the air after 41 years on American Broadcasting Company last Friday. ABC is owned by the Disney Corporation so you could say the house of Disney killed All My Children. What had been a rich and entertaining serial drama became a shell of itself as stories focused on the younger demographic. 

Older, more mature characters were displaced by vapid, young, attractive performers with little legitimate experience. Their acting skills had to be honed on the set and in front of the cameras. Instead of giving us stories with substance 'the powers that be' started recycling storylines. It seemed like an attempt to drive long time fans away from their beloved soaps. 


When they weren't able to drive the fans away with shallow storylines, they moved the entire production from the east coast to the west coast. I've no doubt they were hoping the top stars (i.e. Susan Lucci, Cameron Mathison, Alicia  Minshew, etc.) would refuse to relocate. Then they would have blamed the stars who didn't go for the failure of the show. I believe Susan Lucci surprised them by signing on and commuting to the west coast to film each week for a year and a half. She went on a book signing tour for 'All My Life' and promised her fans that All My Children wasn't going to be cancelled. When Miss Lucci came back to AMC from her book tour in April the mouse pounced. 


ABC finally announced they were pulling the plug on two of their soap operas and going to replace them with low budget programs. All My Children was being replaced by The Chew, a cooking show. One Life To Live is going to be replaced next year by The Revolution, a fashion show. I've read rumors that Katie Couric was going to have her own talk show on ABC soon. That would probably knock General Hospital off the air.


A great cry went up from the fans and they sent letters and emails to ABC and Disney protesting the demise of their beloved soaps. The fans raised such a ruckus Prospect Park made an offer to buy the rights to produce the soaps online. ABC had declined other legitimate offers. The deal from Prospect Park is a total unknown. Soap operas have always been on radio, first, and then television. The transition from television to the internet is shifting it into a completely new genre. Nobody knows how this will work. Nobody knows if this will even work!


Now I am surfing the channels looking for something interesting to replace my hour of All My Children. I would rather do that than spend every day angry because I lost my show. Today I am watching Days Of Our Lives. It shouldn't take long to get interested in that. I've already seen a couple of familiar faces from my soaps. 


I don't know if the Prospect Park venture is a ploy to divert all the All My Children fans or if it will really come to fruition. Even if it does go online that is no guarantee that it will survive. They will have to draw back enough fans to make the show viable. I've already heard grumblings about having to buy a box to convert the programs to our computers. If it's going to cost a lot of start up money and paying a subscription fee I doubt I will be interested in watching soaps online. That is sad and depressing.


I don't know why ABC sold out to Disney. It appears the executives at Disney want to micromanage daytime TV and don't care for or respect the daytime audience. Soaps haven't failed over just the past few years. They were being destroyed for decades. I have seen so many 'who's the daddy' and 'dead baby' stories that I am conditioned to accept it without question. You wouldn't believe how many 'back from the dead' characters I have seen resurrected over the years.


It's hard to explain to people who don't watch soap operas why we are so invested in them. The characters become familiar like family members. I've watched Erica Kane evolve and grow over the years. I used to hate her and her pompous attitude. Over the years I have grown to understand her and accept her for who she is. 


Although the writers have been dismantling and sabotaging the characters over the years, I remember when they were more innocent and likable characters. That is owed to the incredible actors who shine through and make you root for them even if the writers seem to be making this crap up as they are smoking crack.


I want to thank the wonderful actors and crew for producing such a wonderful show over the years and for their dedication to the fans. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty when they were forced to relocate and film the program in California. Many actors on soap operas used their down time to work on Broadway when they weren't on the show. Moving to the west coast changed their ability to perform in theater. Despite all that, the actors and some of the crew went with All My Children. 


ABC deserted AMC after 41 years. OLTL has been on the air 42 years. They are like two old divorcees who were dumped by their uncaring and unappreciative husband for a new, upgraded model. The fans will not forget. 


I plan on boycotting ABC after OLTL goes off the air in January. I will never support Disney again. No more Micky Mouse lunch boxes. No more Disney toys for the little kids in my life. No more Disney what-so-ever. No matter what, I am not going to be a watcher of The Chew or The Revolution. They are too lame for words. Yuck!  

The 100th  Edition

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Please don't forget to vote for J.R. Martinez on Dancing With The Stars on ABC. He is a wounded veteran who had a storyline on AMC. He also went to Dalton High School in Dalton Georgia. He is a real sweetheart. 1-800-868-3410

AS ALWAYS

PIO