‘Children’ & ‘One Life’ soaps axed
LOS ANGELES – ABC television on Thursday announced it was canceling its long-running daytime soap operas ìAll My Childrenî and ìOne Life to Liveî, hastening the demise of a genre marked by dramatic plot twists, cliffhangers and multiple generations of characters.
ABC said the two dramas would be replaced by new programming focused on ìtransformation, food and lifestyleî, saying that audience research had shown that these issues were of more interest to viewers.
The final episodes of the two shows will air in September 2011 and January 2012 respectively, ABC said in a statement. But ìGeneral Hospitalî, the second-most popular show in daytime TV, will remain on the air, the network added.
Audiences for the two soaps have fallen in recent years. îAll My Childrenî, which began in 1970, currently has about 2.4 million regular viewers, down form 3.2 million in 2006, ABC said.
Thursdayís announcement follows the ending in 2009 of CBS soaps ìGuiding Lightî and ìAs The World Turnsî in 2010.
ìViewers are looking for different types of programming these days,î said Brian Frons, president of daytime programming at ABC, adding they wanted ìinformative, authentic and fun shows that are relatable, offer a wide variety of opinions and focus on íreal lifeí takeaways.î
He said the two shows would conclude ìin a manner that respects their legacies and the long-standing hopes of many viewers.î
ABC said the new shows would be ìChewî, which focuses on food ìfrom every angleî, and make-over series ìThe Revolutionî, with fashion mentor Tim Gunn.
ìAll My Childrenî, about the lives of resident in fictional Pine Valley, made its debut on ABC in 1970. ìOne Life to Live,î set in the fictional town of Llanview, began airing in 1968. Both shows have won multiple awards, including daytime Emmys, and earned praise for tackling social issues including alcoholism, AIDS and illiteracy.
ìItís been a fantastic journey,î said actress Susan Lucci, 64, who has played Erica Kane on ìAll My Childrenî since 1970.
Kelly Ripa, who played Hayley Vaughn on the drama for 12 years, said she felt ìheart sickî that the series was ending.
ìíAll My Childrení was more than a job ó it was my family. It was there that I met my husband; it was there when my first two children were born; it was there where I met many of my life-long friends,î Ripa said in a statement.
Popular culture experts attribute the demise of daytime soap operas to changing social patterns, including women working, the melodrama of some reality TV shows, and cheaper to make game shows and talk shows.
An average of 6.5 million people regularly watched daytime dramas in 1991, compared to about 1.3 million last year, according to Nielsen figures.
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