Classic Soaps All My Children

[cijimccashin]

This show has such a special place in my heart. All My Children is without a doubt my favorite daytime soap opera, and i welcome you all to come in and share your memories along with me.

AMC was on the air for 41 fabulous years, and was created & written by the incomparable Agnes Nixon. This show broke so many barriers for being socially conscious, focusing on young love stories, it's larger-than-life comedic character, and its strong career-driven women characters.

All My Children had such an odd mix of themes that just work. While other soaps cater to a specific audience, I felt AMC had something for everyone.

Who else has watched this classic daytime drama?

 

[cijimccashin]

The show has been off the air for 12 years now, 10 if you count the short online reboot. I always thought the show was underappreciated within the industry and genre.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Admittedly, I was never a big AMC watcher when it was on the air. I was mostly a CBS viewer at the time, but having gone back in recent years and watched numerous clips online I do agree that it was a highly underrated and under appreciated show.

What stands out to me more than anything was Erica. Without Susan Lucci there is no AMC. For me, the greatest vixen to ever grace our daytime television screens. Even if it was a show you weren’t watching back then, everyone knew who Erica Kane was and what she was up to.

I remember her quite often being referred to as “the J.R. Ewing of daytime” back in the 80s and I think that perfectly sums up what she meant to the genre.

 

[Daniel Avery]

When introducing herself to people, Erica had a habit of saying "I'm Erica...Erica Kane," so I recall people online jokingly referring to her as "EEK". I also recall being amused at how dialogue writers in the later years did verbal gymnastics to avoid using a certain word when referring to Erica's relationship to Bianca's and Kendall's children. They were "Erica's daughter's children" or "the baby" but no one (at least in the writers' room) ever dared call her grandmother. Was it contractual, a professional courtesy, or just a running gag? I never did find out.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

I watched in the 1990's and enjoyed it. A good place for many Dallas alumni. Steve Kanaly played Seabone Hunkle and Kimberly Foster played Liz Sloan during the same time in 1994-'95. Obviously Susan Lucci was on Dallas in it's final season as well as a brief cameo from Eva LaRue during season 14.

David Canary and Michael Nader were some of my favorite actors on AMC.

 

[AndyB2008]

The show has been off the air for 12 years now, 10 if you count the short online reboot. I always thought the show was underappreciated within the industry and genre.

It was taped in NYC for most of their 40 years, until ABC moved production to Los Angeles.

The LA move wasn't enough to save it. Of course AMC moving to LA meant One Life to Live was the only NYC soap.

The reboots were taped in Connecticut, as that state had tax incentives for TV and film production.

 

[cijimccashin]

@DallasFanForever
Erica Kane was an phenomenal character. She was so awe inspiring, courageous, and full of life.

There are quite a few episodes on YouTube. I could recommend a few storylines or years to watch, if you don't mind.

@Daniel Avery I remember a scene where Erica was on the phone with Kendall's son Spike, Bianca asks him who's he talking to? And he says "Your Mom"! Lmao

@Michelle Stevens I loved David Canary and Michael Nader. Both played incredible characters. James Mitchell was probably my favorite actor on the show, even though I loved so many of them because AMC always had a great cast of actors. James could play comedic, romantic, and villain. I adored him!!!

@AndyB2008 I do not think TPTB gave the show enough time to find its footing in LA. Just a little over a year. Gone too soon! The show was so good in Connecticut.

 

[cijimccashin]

Similar to Knots Landing, All My Children is a show you'll love the entire ensemble. But Erica's main nemesis Brooke English is the character I connected to the most. Julia Barr is not only the greatest actress on the show, but the way she played this role snatched my soul!

 

[DallasFanForever]

@DallasFanForever
Erica Kane was an phenomenal character. She was so awe inspiring, courageous, and full of life.

You’ll never get an argument from me on this!

There are quite a few episodes on YouTube. I could recommend a few storylines or years to watch, if you don't mind

Don’t mind at all! I appreciate your recommendations. It’s fair to say I’ve skipped around a lot and I often find myself wanting to kick myself for not getting into this show back in its heyday.

 

[cijimccashin]

You’ll never get an argument from me on this!



Don’t mind at all! I appreciate your recommendations. It’s fair to say I’ve skipped around a lot and I often find myself wanting to kick myself for not getting into this show back in its heyday.

1. Michael Delaney comes out of the closet to students. a great umbrella storyline with a climax that shoots waves through the canvas.

2. July 1994 Tornado. Another umbrella story: secrets are revealed, alliances are formed, and relationships are tested. I believe they used this event to push forward the storylines in an unexpected way. You will see Sarah Michelle Geller as Kendall, a coma patient interacting with dead fan favorites, a family home is ruined just in time for a remodel to host the show's upcoming 25th anniversary with a housewarming.

3. Cindy's aids storyline that kicks off late '87 is powerful. There are many other great stories being told at the same time Marks cociane addiction, Natalie and Ross affair turned to rape, Adam and Brooke's courtship, Erica probably being the happiest I ever seen her being married to politician Travis.

4. '80-'84 considered as the shows golden period. You won't go wrong watching anything from this era. You have many of the shows greatest love stories, Cliff and Nine, Greg and Jenny, Angie and Jesse, and Chuck and Donna. Bad girl Liza, Tad the cad sleeping with mothers and daughters.

Erica quest to become a rich celebrity, Brooke grows from a confused bad girl into a upstanding journalist, eccentric characters like Billy Clyde Tuggle, Ray Gardner, Opal, and Langley Wallingford, etc.

5. Natalie in the Well, aired summer of '91, ushered in a second golden period for the show. Dimitri and the Wildwind sagas were connected to this storyline.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

There are quite a few episodes on YouTube. I could recommend a few storylines or years to watch, if you don't mind.

I was actually coming here to ask for any recommendations of good Erica-centric arcs that are available online, so all suggestions are welcome.

Despite AMC never airing in Ireland and the UK (the ABC soaps didn’t air with the same frequency that other networks’ soaps did here), I was still familiar with soap queen Susan Lucci through talk show appearances and later, online. It’s interesting to hear that it’s considered under-appreciated as I always assumed it was one of the top soaps for a time, solely off the back of Lucci’s prominence.

 

[Daniel Avery]

....and then there was Erica's "un-abortion," which still ranks as one of the most ill-advised plotlines ever devised on a daytime soap.

Ya can't win 'em all.

 

[cijimccashin]

I was actually coming here to ask for any recommendations of good Erica-centric arcs that are available online, so all suggestions are welcome.

Despite AMC never airing in Ireland and the UK (the ABC soaps didn’t air with the same frequency that other networks’ soaps did here), I was still familiar with soap queen Susan Lucci through talk show appearances and later, online. It’s interesting to hear that it’s considered under-appreciated as I always assumed it was one of the top soaps for a time, solely off the back of Lucci’s prominence.

I got you! I will send a few Erica-centric playlists to your Dm to try not to flood the thread LOL.

All My Children was incredibly successful, they were the #1 soap in '79, and was the consistent and reliable #2 soap, most of the 80s, they slipped down and rebound back to #2 in the 90s. There was even reports of the show being the most Vcr show at that time.

AMC had a special flavor in the 80s and everyone didn't get it! Some of the soap press did criticize her for overly using comedy characters, it was almost the Anti-soap. Think about how hard it was for a show like that to win awards going up against the heavy drama shows (Y&R, ATWT), very difficult to do. They didn't win their first best drama/show Emmy until the 90s when they purposely switched their style, in cooperating with some of Bell's Uber serious soapy tone.

 

[cijimccashin]

....and then there was Erica's "un-abortion," which still ranks as one of the most ill-advised plotlines ever devised on a daytime soap.

Ya can't win 'em all.

Thank you for mentioning it because this helps my argument about the show being misunderstood. That storyline was from the show's final years, at a time when they lost focus on the purpose of the show. Once Brian Frons took over as president of Abc daytime, AMC was never the same. He once said he didn't get Amc and couldn't identify it so by that he was trying to throw everything under the sun to make the show into something it wasn't.

If he knew the history he would know not to toy with that storyline, female rights have always been an undercurrent theme of this show!

 

[Daniel Avery]

It was the viewers he didn't understand. Just as store owners stock the products they know will sell, his job as Head of Daytime was to help the producers deliver shows the viewers will like. He seemed to think that he was there to get the producers to deliver what HE liked. And he had a terrible concept of what the viewers wanted to see.

Seeing Michael Delaney's face in that YT link reminded me of how visibly uncomfortable Chris Bruno was in that role at times. It was said that AMC had not told him their plans for the character when he was hired, so I can understand his discomfort somewhat. Being in such a plotline is a big responsibility, and not everyone wants that sort of responsibility thrust upon them; they did not allow him to make an informed decision when offered the role. He had done good work as supporting character Dennis Wheeler (Iris's son) on Another World, so being hired to play a similar supporting role of "Laurel Banning's brother" is a different thing than being hired to play "front-burner gay teacher being persecuted by the school board".

I also recall they introduced him as Laurel Banning's brother to help 'humanize' her a bit, since the character was being pushed really hard by the writers when the fans didn't like her. People took to using the term "L______l" in AMC chatter online. A contingent of viewers had decided they hated her so much that they would not even write her name, and had adopted L____l" as her pet name. So my inner voice always read Laurel as "lull".

 

[cijimccashin]

@Daniel Avery I loved Michael Delaney, and his storyline was great! I thought it was awesome of them to cast someone who looked like him in that role. I would have done anything for him to stick around longer! Yes, I'm well aware of how the internet felt about Laurel, I didn't hate her just felt she wasn't a good fit for the orbit she was in. Laurel was being pushed because the actress was good friends with the head writer around that time, Megan McTavish. It's true, the show did wait until the last minute to tell him (Bruno) about the character's sexuality. They did the same thing to Eden Riegel while casting for Bianca.

Here's a video of soap legend Vincent Irizarry speaking on Brian Frons micromanaging @ 30:00

 

[Daniel Avery]

Megan McTavish was by far the worst hire AMC ever made, sort of the "anti-Lorraine Broderick".

With all the recent overtures being made to AMC fans on General Hospital lately, VI's Dr. David Hayward would be a great addition to GH's cast. I just fear the current writers (well, the contract writers currently on strike) would not know how to satisfactorily mine all that character's history. GH needs a charismatic villain now that Victor Cassadine is kaput.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

@Michelle Stevens I loved David Canary and Michael Nader. Both played incredible characters. James Mitchell was probably my favorite actor on the show, even though I loved so many of them because AMC always had a great cast of actors. James could play comedic, romantic, and villain. I adored him!!!

Agreed! Palmer Cortlandt was one of my favorites as well.

I remember Noah and Julia and Trevor Dillion and Janet from Another Planet. I loved my 1990's AMC.

 

[Daniel Avery]

 

[cijimccashin]

@Daniel Avery while I adore Lorraine Broderick! I would have to disagree with your statement that McTavish was AMC's worst hire. I guarantee you that most fans would give Charles Pratt that title! Megan comes with her faults, all writers do imho. But overall, I believe Megan was good for the show, she certainly did more good than bad. And she was one of the few that understood what made the show "TICK" . She loved writing for Erica and her daughters. She was a courageous writer who wasn't afraid to take chances.

Megan was also responsible for rebuilding the show in the 90s and giving them a second wind at the top of the ratings! Those were her story ideas.


@Michelle Stevens 1990s had so much good stuff! Dawson's Creek, One tree hill, and Pretty Little Liars have AMC to thanks for their success. I loved Trevor and Janet too, I wasn't the biggest fan of Noah and Julia.