The End Of AMC & OLTL (Again)

Fans of ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE were on pins and needles last week as rumors were flying that Prospect Park was due to make a big announcement regarding the future of the two soaps. Unfortunately, while there has been no official word from the company, a source close to actors from the shows tells Soaps In Depth, “It’s over.” Debbi Morgan (Angie, AMC) essentially confirmed as much when she responded to upset fans on Twitter. “Well we’re all pretty much sad now for real since we’ve definitely been told it’s a wrap,” she posted. “My manager was given the news that we were officially done by PP’s lawyer. Yeah, we’ve been canceled.”

Prospect Park originally bought the rights to AMC and OLTL following their cancelations on ABC, but struggled to bring them to air online immediately following their network runs as originally planned. Fans were elated when financing was eventually secured, cast and crew were hired, sets were built in a studio in Stamford, CT and Hulu.com was set to air the episodes. The OnLine Network originally planned to broadcast daily half-hour episodes, but within weeks, that number was cut back to just two episodes of each soap a week, leading to rumors of production difficulties. Still, both AMC and OLTL were regularly among the top ten most-watched shows on Hulu.com, and many viewers were thrilled to watch as many shows as they were willing to broadcast.

However, while fans assumed the soaps would again be ongoing series, Prospect Park announced in August that both AMC and OLTL would instead have season finales after which production would take a break before beginning a second season. Viewers immediately worried the shows would never return, and after production of OLTL was shelved indefinitely due to the ongoing lawsuit with ABC, it seemed those fears were justified.

And now it seems that this grand experiment to bring the soaps back to life online has come to an unfortunate end. And sadly, because there was no notice or time to plan for the grand finales these venerable soaps deserve, this time they will not be ending with a bang, but with a whimper. And despite returns from the dead being commonplace on soaps, another resurrection for AMC and OLTL seems highly unlikely.