Even though they were all supposed to share the same TV dimension, many TV shows would reference either 'One Life To Live' or 'All My Children', the two ABC soap operas which will be going off the air - as announced at the end of last week.
So Toobworld Central had to accept that TV shows were made about the lives of these "real" people in the towns of Llanview and Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, with actors who bore remarkable resemblances to them.
The IMDb had two such Zonks listed for 'One Life To Live':
'Friends'
"The One with Joey's Award" (#7.18)" (2001)
- The show is mentioned at the Soapie Awards.
'Castle'
"Nanny McDead" (#1.2)" (2009)
- Castle says his first novel was inspired by the daytime soap.
I think mostly because of the influence from Susan Lucci's portrayal of Erica Kane, there were a lot more references to 'All My Children':
'Mystery Science Theater 3000'
1] "Master Ninja II (#4.24)" (1992)
- Servo: "I'm missing 'All My Children.'"
2] "Alien from L.A. (#6.16)" (1993)
- Mike: "Guys, it's Ted from 'All My Children'!"
3] "Angels' Revenge (#7.22)" (1995)
- Crow: "They can get 'All My Children'."
4] "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" (1996)
- Crow: "Quiet everyone, 'All My Children' is on."
Sometimes it was just mentioned by name:
'Seinfeld' - "The Stand-In"
'The Nanny' - "A Fine Friendship" & "Once a Secretary, Always a Secretary"
'Mad About You' - "Just My Dog"
(Jamie also mentions Susan Lucci.)
"Ugly Betty' - "Petra-Gate"
(Henry says that he used to watch 'All My Children' with his mom.)
There was no getting around that 'All My Children' was a TV show in Toobworld as well, not when there were references made to its actual production:
'Friends'
1] "The One Where Eddie Won't Go"
- Gunther says he is a former soap-opera actor: "I used to be Bryce on ll My Children'.
2] "The One with the Race Car Bed"
- Joey mentions he has an audition for a part in this show.
3] "The One with Joey's Award"
- The show is mentioned at the Soapie Awards.
'Just Shoot Me!'
"Hostess to Murder"
- Larry mentions that the script for the murder party is written by some of the writers for this show.
'Twice in a Lifetime'
"Healing Touch"
- Two nurses discuss Susan Lucci not winning an Emmy.
'The Knights of Prosperity'
"Operation: Oswald Montecristo"
- Rockefeller mentions Mark Consuelos's character Mateo from 'All My Children'.
And because of Victoria Chase's background as an actress on soap operas, and especially because she had a long-running feud with Susan Lucci (that "conniving little teacup poodle"), 'All My Children' ended up playing an important role in 'Hot In Cleveland':
1] "Pilot"
- Elka mentions she likes the show with Susan Lucci
2] "Sisterhood of the Travelling SPANX"
- Melanie Moretti gets offered a role on this show
3] "I Love Lucci: Part One"
- Victoria appears on a version of this show
4] "I Love Lucci: Part Two"
- Victoria and Susan film a scene together on the set of this show
We got to see scenes from the televersion of the soap opera in the 'Desperate Housewives' episode "Not While I'm Around" (a clip of Jeff Martin kissing Erica Kane from 'All My Children' was shown on the television during a scene at the prison) and in the 'Modern Family' episode "Chirp".
And it turns out that an entire episode of 'All My Children' as seen in the Trueniverse was really the broadcast of the show from Toobworld, thanks to the participation of Victoria Chase.
Even in the Tooniverse, 'All My Children' had a presence as a soap opera:
'King of the Hill'
"Hanky Panky: Part 1"
- The show is mentioned by name.
I would not be surprised if other TV shows continue to mention at least 'All My Children' long after it's off the air in the Trueniverse. You KNOW that Victoria Chase will be gloating over Lucci's loss of a job!
Finally, 'All My Children' contributed to the expansion of Toobworld with two other soap operas. First there was 'Loving' in 1983 and then 'The City' picked up where 'Loving' ended in 1995 and ran for another two years.
BCnU!
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