ABC, the American television network, has reached a deal to develop the defunct soap opera "All My Children" into a primetime series. "All My Children" ran on the Network for more than 41 years before being canceled in 2011.
'All My Children' in primetime
The show's incarnation will be titled "Pine Valley," after the fictional Philadelphia suburban town that the show is set in. "Pine Valley" will be produced by former cast members Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos. The couple played the lovable characters of Haley Vaughn and Mateo Santos, where just like in real life, their characters were married to each other on the show.
The soap opera helped catapult the two actors to stardom. Currently, there are no plans to bring back any of the daytime cast members as series regulars; however, there is a likelihood that some actors may be invited back for guest appearances.
Leo Richards of the BBC's "Eastenders" and original show creator Agnes Nixson's son Robert Nixson; are also attached to the project as executive producers. The new series will follow a journalist new to Pine Valley who is looking to get to the bottom of the town's deadly history but gets caught in the middle of a feud between the town's two prominent families; the Kane and the Santos families.
First attempt at a reboot
The first attempt to reboot "All My Children" as a web series was in April of 2013.
Prospect Park announced in 2012 that it had purchased the rights to reboot both "All My Children" and its sister show "One Life To Live" as a web series. Production of the revamped shows began in February 2013 and premiered on April 29.
Prospect Park secured studios in Connecticut and produced four shows a week. The series was available on Hulu and iTunes.
The initial production called for 220 episodes, but after a drop in viewership later in the year, production was scaled back to just two episodes a week. The show moved to the OWN Network for a limited ten-week run with a series finale. After some litigation with Prospect Park, ABC reacquired the broadcast rights to the show and its characters.
Legendary soap was the longest-running series still in production
The original series revolved around the town's core families, the Cortlandt's, The Martins, The Chandlers, The Montgomerys, The Santos, the Hubbards, and the Kane families. Soap veteran Susan Lucci was famous for her portrayal of Erica Kane, the most recognized soap character of all time. The flamboyant antihero, Erica Kane, was also known for the number of husbands she's had during the 41 year run of 'All My Children.' Lucci was nominated a record 19 times for a Daytime Emmy Award before finally winning in 1999. At the time, Lucci was earning $1 million a year.
"All My Children" originally aired on ABC as a 30-minute serial from 1970 to 1977; it was then expanded to one hour until it was canceled. At the time, it was the longest-running soap opera still in production.
