I'm heartbroken and shocked over ABC’s cancellations of All My Children and One Life to Live. I've watched both shows for over 34 years. I began watching with my mother, who shared her love of both daytime (i.e., All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital) and nighttime soaps (e.g., Dallas, Dynasty) with me. My brothers were fans of soaps too, especially all the spy storylines on General Hospital in the 1980s and 90s. Many of my favorite memories of my grandmother are of us watching soaps together and discussing the storylines, romances, and characters.
When I was 13, my family moved from Canada to Texas, and in my struggle to adjust to a new environment, I held onto my soaps as one of my constants in my changing world. I have hundreds of treasured VHS tapes saved from those years and clippings from soap magazines. The women on soap operas inspired me to be the strong, articulate woman I am today. I would watch Susan Lucci’s Erica Kane on All My Children, Erika Slezak’s Viki Buchanan and Robin Strasser’s Dorian Lord on One Life to Live, and Finola Hughes’s Anna Devane on General Hospital and know that I could build my own successful career, have a great personal life, and fall in love with a wonderful man. I achieved my dreams. I’ve earned a Ph.D. in biology; I have a great career, a wonderful husband, and a family who support my dreams. All along my journey, I always kept up with and watched my soaps. My husband often watches soaps with me now.
I've always been loyal to ABC, and I'm sickened by how they've treated their viewers. Just think about how many soap fans watched the initial seasons of Dancing with the Stars to root for their favorite soap stars and how many soap fans supported the SOAPnet cable network. Soaps are still hugely successful in Mexico and England, as they were in the US in the 1970s and 1980s. I think ABC soaps should be promoted as much as their primetime shows. While watching a soap opera, you’ll view dozens of ads for ABC’s primetime shows, but when watching a primetime show, there are never ads for ABC daytime. I’ve always felt that was a huge mistake. In spite of the lack of advertising for soaps, they still have a huge following. Just this week, Susan Lucci's biography "All My Life" debuted at #15 on the New York Times Best Sellers List!
I’m disgusted at how Brian Frons, the head of ABC daytime, broke the news to the actors and casts of All My Children and One Life to Live minutes before the press release to the public. I have such sympathy for the casts and crews of both shows. I find it offensive that these wonderfully creative programs will be replaced by cheap, hackneyed filler. Does ABC honestly think a food or lifestyle show will be around in 40 years time, or that these new shows will have loyal fans like soap opera fans? I don’t need a focus group — It’s clear, they won’t.
Why are soap operas looked down upon? Is it because they star strong, intelligent female leads? Why are soap opera fans looked down upon? Is it because so many soap opera fans are women? Why should we be looked down upon as less than sports fans, for example, or any other type of fan group? Soap fans don’t fit inside a simple box. They come from all walks of life and backgrounds, and soaps and serials are a valid, legitimate form of entertainment. Soap opera fans are loyal, smart, savvy people, who love good, long-term storytelling.
Agnes Nixon, the creator of All My Children and One Life to Live, built these wonderful worlds of stories for all of us. How can they be dismantled and tossed aside so callously? I’ve had other shows I liked that came and went, but nothing has ever effected me as the news of All My Children and One Life to Live’s cancellations have. I honestly can’t imagine television without the Kanes, the Cramers, the Buchanans, the Martins, the Hubbards, and the Chandlers.
That’s why I’m working so hard to save my soaps now.If you're a so fan, I hope you'll fight for them too!
imasoapfan
