Nearly two years ago, news came out that ABC had canceled the long-running soap operas All My Children and One Life To Live. ABC had decided to replace them with food shows, saying the decision was guided by “extensive research into what today’s daytime viewers want and the changing viewing patterns of the audience.”
If daytime TV viewers didn’t want All My Children and One Life To Live, you could have fooled me, because when the news broke, the angry comments flooded the web.
Angry fans can find joy once again, because both shows are making a return, courtesy of Hulu. We have yet to see an official announcement, but TechCrunch is reporting that both will be back in shorter 30-minute episodes each weekday, starting in the spring on Hulu, as well as on iTunes and Prospect Park’s (the production company that licensed the soap operas from ABC) The Online Network, but Hulu will manage the ad sales and package them.
Prospect Park actually announced the shows’ return earlier this month, but didn’t mention Hulu or iTunes (via zap2it):
“We are pleased to confirm that Prospect Park is reviving the beloved soap operas, All My Children and One Life To Live as the anchor programs on The Online Network (TOLN). Today we are also pleased to confirm that Prospect Park has: 1) signed guild agreements with both SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and the DGA (Directors Guild of America); 2) entered into a consulting agreement with Agnes Nixon the creator of All My Children and One Life to Live guaranteeing her active involvement; 3) hired Foz McDermott (coordinating producer Heroes) as TOLN’s head of production, Jennifer Pepperman (Director, One Life to Live) as Executive Producer on One Life to Live, and Ginger Smith (Producer, All My Children) as Executive Producer on All My Children; and 4) arranged the necessary financing to begin production in February on both All My Children and One Life To Live.
Online video has become quite the savior for fans of canceled TV shows, showing that if there is big enough demand, your old favorites might have a chance at returning. Netflix has managed to pull off what many of us thought would never happen, in bringing back the cult favorite Arrested Development, which returns in May. Now, long-running soap operas are finding their way back to fans in what should be a happy moment for a lot of people.