Image courtesy Novelas y Mas
In April, ABC finally killed off “One Life to Live” and “All My Children.” Both soap operas had aired for 40-plus years.
It’s hard for me to pretend to get worked up over every insipid soap’s inevitable cancellation. Still, I know that at least two million viewers tune in daily to watch their “stories,” and moreover, a lot of non-viewers associate daytime network television with Memories of Summer at Grandma’s House. That’s sweet, sort of.
So, because I am not the heartless beast I want you think I am, I can sympathize with the public outcry (but only a little) whenever a daytime soap gets axed.
Here’s the good news: IT’S TIME TO TEACH GRANDMA HOW TO USE THE COMPUTER. “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” have been raised from the dead, maybe, now that each show has been licensed as a WEB SERIES! And reportedly, the shows plan to keep all their castmembers—yep, even Susan Lucci.
I really admire the daring of this whole idea, because it explores heretofore uncharted television territory. Will grandma finally recognize the brilliance of all that newfangled “web streaming” stuff? Will Mrs. Jane Smith finally buy her husband an Xbox? Will advertisers, finally acknowledging that women really do own and use laptops, flood the Internet with commercials for tampons and dish soap? Hooray! Huzzah!