ON THE SOAP BOX

I don't know if ABC shocked the TV industry by canceling two of their veteran soap operas - 'All My Children' and 'One Life To Live' - but they certainly shocked those shows' viewers. Both had been on the air for over 40 years each. They had attention-grabbing storylines over the years, and 'AMC' created its own headlines when Susan Lucci, who played Erica Kane, went a record 18 years without winning the Daytime Emmy award for Best Actress. Meanwhile, Erika Slezak won six of the statuettes for playing Victoria Lord and holds the record for that feat.



Here's part of the statement released by ABC Daytime president Brian Fons:

“While we are excited about our new shows and the shift in our business, I can’t help but recognize how bittersweet the change is.  We are taking this bold step to expand our business because viewers are looking for different types of programming these days. They are telling us there is room for informative, authentic and fun shows that are relatable, offer a wide variety of opinions and focus on ‘real life’ takeaways."

Yeah, I'll just bet they are.

How do I read that? ABC wants to make more money for their executives (May they be nibbled to death by ducks!) by getting rid of all those expensive actors and by televising schlock instead.

What will replace these shows? 'The Chew', a food-themed talk show, and 'The Revolution' a lifestyle makeover show.

Wow. I bet they will have the audience hooked like 'Lost' used to do....

If those rich corporate bastards are going to be making so much money by putting people out of work, the government should start charging them for access to the airwaves.

Oh, I forgot. The government is owned by rich corporate bastards.

Okay, I admit that I didn't watch 'All My Children', but I did watch 'One Life To Live' for a few years back in the 1980's. (Dan Lauria, whom I knew in college, was in it at the time. And besides, if Mary Brooks like it.....)

And I never watched other recently departed soaps like 'Guiding Light', 'Another World', 'As The World Turns', 'Port Charles' and 'Passons'.  They may have all be losing audiences, but there were many people out there who did still watch them and who invested a lot in those worlds.

Toobworld becomes a little poorer with the loss of these shows.

The last episode for 'All My Children' will be in September of this year. 'One Life To Live' ends its run in January of 2012.....

BCnU!