{"id":20735,"date":"2011-04-14T17:59:31","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T23:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=20735"},"modified":"2013-06-04T07:21:29","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T13:21:29","slug":"no-not-the-story-noooooooooo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/04\/14\/no-not-the-story-noooooooooo.html","title":{"rendered":"No! Not THE STORY!!! Noooooooooo!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I grew up with All My Children<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Actually, that’s not true. \u00a0I think I was in my tweens when my mom picked up the AMC habit. \u00a0I 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.<\/p>\n

But I got exposed, of course — bouts of illness meant staying home from school, which meant AMC at lunch time. \u00a0No other soaps — well, a brief fling with Ryan’s Hope, which came on immediately thereafter. \u00a0But, really, AMC was “The Story.” \u00a0As in “I watched The Story today,” or “You’ll never guess what happened on The Story,” etc.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t a regular watcher, by any means — school, right? — but I did keep up, vaguely, with developments over time.<\/p>\n

In college, things got more serious. \u00a0There 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<\/em> crowd prevailed, but for many years it was All My Children<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I was good, either way.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It wasn’t like anyone thought it was faboo cinema. \u00a0But 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.<\/p>\n

It was around that time frame, or shortly thereafter, that both the grandparents and parents bought VCRs. \u00a0And, 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.<\/p>\n

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). \u00a0I 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<\/em>, so there). \u00a0It didn’t come up in conversation, and I was never one to follow the weekly synopses, let alone the (eventual) web sites.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>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. \u00a0Or I’d spot some AMC stars on a supermarket soap opera tabloid.<\/p>\n

Still … it was always The Story.<\/p>\n

And now … it’s over<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ABC is confirming what has been\u00a0rumored<\/a> for weeks:\u00a0All My Children<\/em> and\u00a0One Life to Live <\/em>will end their storied runs in September 2011 and January 2012, respectively.<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0Ratings 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\u00a0As the World Turns<\/em>,\u00a0Guiding Light<\/em>,\u00a0Port Charles <\/em>and\u00a0Passions<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In a statement, suds queen Susan Lucci \u2014 who has played the iconic Erica Kane since\u00a0AMC<\/em>\u2018s inception in 1970 \u2014 said, \u201cIt\u2019s been a fantastic journey. I\u2019ve loved playing Erica and working with [AMC<\/em>creator] Agnes Nixon and all the incredible people involved with\u00a0All My Children<\/em>. I\u2019m looking forward to all kinds of new and exciting opportunities.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ah, well. \u00a0Sic transit gloria mundi<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Favorite AMC story: \u00a0As mentioned, the foundation of the Pine Valley soap opera (beyond conniving Eric and haughty Phoebe) was the Martin family. \u00a0There were any number Martins \u00a0of various generations, with endless combos of kids and grandkids and spouses and ex-spouses. \u00a0Wikipedia<\/a> relates the tragic tale of one Martin kid:<\/p>\n

Bobby Martin<\/strong> (Mike Bersell<\/a>, 1970)<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Felicia Minei Behr<\/a>, then Executive Producer of the show, creator\u00a0Agnes Nixon<\/a> 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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks for the memories, All My Children<\/em>. You were goofy, but you were my <\/em>goofiness, dagnabbit.<\/p>\n