I grew up with All My Children.
Actually, that’s not true. I think I was in my tweens when my mom picked up the AMC habit. I don’t recall how it happened — I know her folks also watched it, but I’m not sure when that began, either. Well, no earlier than 1970, when it premiered.
But I got exposed, of course — bouts of illness meant staying home from school, which meant AMC at lunch time. No other soaps — well, a brief fling with Ryan’s Hope, which came on immediately thereafter. But, really, AMC was “The Story.” As in “I watched The Story today,” or “You’ll never guess what happened on The Story,” etc.
I wasn’t a regular watcher, by any means — school, right? — but I did keep up, vaguely, with developments over time.
In college, things got more serious. There was a TV lounge in Harwood Court, and a dining hall, and it was pretty standard for folks to grab some lunch, then go back and watch TV with it. Some years the Twilight Zone crowd prevailed, but for many years it was All My Children.
I was good, either way.
It wasn’t like anyone thought it was faboo cinema. But the over the top soap opera melodrama was appealing to us oh-so-wise college kids, as something to poke fun at even as we guessed what would happen next, when Brooke would confront Erica about what Phoebe had done to Palmer.
It was around that time frame, or shortly thereafter, that both the grandparents and parents bought VCRs. And, yes, the driver was to be able to record The Story and watch it in the evening. I have to wonder how much soaps drove VCR purchases.
Over the years, I lost touch with AMC, even as the show transitioned away from the story of the warm-hearted but rather boring Martin family (Ruth being the first person perspective on the title). I certainly wasn’t going to be a fanboy on my own (not only did I have my own personal soap opera to keep me busy, but I had room for only one show to obsess over recording, and that was Babylon 5, so there). It didn’t come up in conversation, and I was never one to follow the weekly synopses, let alone the (eventual) web sites.
Every now and again, at home on a weekday, I might flip past it, wonder who that was in a scene with Susan Lucci, and then continue on. Or I’d spot some AMC stars on a supermarket soap opera tabloid.
Still … it was always The Story.
And now … it’s over.
ABC is confirming what has been rumored for weeks: All My Children and One Life to Live will end their storied runs in September 2011 and January 2012, respectively.
[…] Ratings for daytime soaps have been on a steady decline for the past two decades as viewing patterns shifted and audiences migrated to talk shows. In the past 10 years alone, the industry saw the cancellation of As the World Turns, Guiding Light, Port Charles and Passions.
In a statement, suds queen Susan Lucci — who has played the iconic Erica Kane since AMC‘s inception in 1970 — said, “It’s been a fantastic journey. I’ve loved playing Erica and working with [AMCcreator] Agnes Nixon and all the incredible people involved with All My Children. I’m looking forward to all kinds of new and exciting opportunities.”
Ah, well. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Favorite AMC story: As mentioned, the foundation of the Pine Valley soap opera (beyond conniving Eric and haughty Phoebe) was the Martin family. There were any number Martins of various generations, with endless combos of kids and grandkids and spouses and ex-spouses. Wikipedia relates the tragic tale of one Martin kid:
Bobby Martin (Mike Bersell, 1970)
Joe and Helen’s son. Mysteriously disappeared and was never mentioned again. He went up to the attic to wax his skis and never came down. Many years later, Opal was locked in the attic and found a skeleton wearing a ski cap with the name “Bobby” on it. On Oct. 31, 1997, Myrtle Fargate threw a Halloween party and had a skeleton as a decoration. Allie Doyle asked Jake Martin if it was one of his patients. He replied, “he’s just another one of my older brothers.” According to a Jan., 1995 AOL interview with Felicia Minei Behr, then Executive Producer of the show, creator Agnes Nixon had decided “it was one too many Martins to deal with and never referred to him except for one letter from camp.” It is believed that the skeleton is an “in joke.”
Thanks for the memories, All My Children. You were goofy, but you were my goofiness, dagnabbit.
That’s sad. AMC is the only soap I’ve ever watched. I still follow it from time to time. When I worked from home I’d always try to watch it.
Never got into AMC. My mother was into weird things like “Edge of Night” and “Dark Shadows” before settling into the more standard “Young and the Restless” and “Days of Our Lives.” Another big pair were “Another World” and its spinoff “Somerset.”
One of my favorite memories is coming home from school and getting a snack and settling down to watch Dark Shadows in the afternoons.
Yep, used to watch it when I was unemployed….that and “Passions”, which was just as freaky and out this world as “Dark Shadows” ever was.