In a twist worthy of a dramatic cliffhanger, ABC's "All My Children" (pictured) and "One Life to Live" are being left to die, five months after the network OK'd a plan to continue the long-running soaps online.
Rick Roswell/ABC/Getty ImagesSoap opera fans soon might see a return of defunct series All My Children and One Life to Live.
The ABC daytime dramas, both canceled in 2011 after 40-plus years before a deal with Prospect Park unsuccessfully tried to revive them online, might find another life on the web after all — and production could begin as early as January.
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The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Prospect Park (the production company behind FX’s Wilfred and USA’s Royal Pains) has reached deals with SAG-AFTRA and the DGA that could bring both canceled series back — online. THR also has learned that Prospect Park is in talks with the WGA.
The news comes on the heels of Prospect Park co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz taking meetings with guilds, actors and managers for some time now in an effort to revive the pair of beloved soaps.
Prospect Park made its licensing deal with ABC in July 2011, shortly before both series went off the air and had planned to relaunch both online (with much of the casts intact) in early 2012. Those plans officially fell through in November 2011.
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The company did not comment on plans to revive the series, but actors from both All My Children and One Life to Live are in discussions with to return for the new venture.
Details on which castmembers are attached to their old series are unclear, but One Life to Live stars Kassie DePaiva, Roger Howarth, Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson have reprised their characters on episodes of ABC’s General Hospital.
In the wake of the two series’ cancelations, all four of the broadcast networks’ remaining soap operas — General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful — have enjoyed ratings growth. All My Children premiered in 1970, and One Life to Live bowed in 1968.
Prospect Park declined comment.
