The Soaps Online Bottom Line: Slezak Sticks With OLTL, While Lucci Nixes AMC Offer
We’ve got some good and not-so-good news, soap fans: Victoria Lord will continue to reign supreme in Llanview, but Pine Valley quite possibly will say so long to Erica Kane.
The View to Honor All My Children With Guest Host Susan Lucci
Prospect Park announced on Tuesday the first wave of One Life to Live cast members who have signed to stick with the sudser when it moves to the Internet in January, and the names attached do not disappoint. Among those joining the pioneer online production are daytime vets Michael Easton (aka John McBain), Kassie DePaiva (Blair), Ted King (Tomas), and the aforementioned Slezak.
All My Children‘s Susan Lucci Claims ABC Exec’s ‘Ignorance, Arrogance’ Destroyed Show
Given the confirmation of such strong OLTL players staying on-board the soap, it bodes well that other fan faves will soon follow suit.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for All My Children. According to our sister site Deadline, Susan Lucci has declined Prospect Park’s offer to continue with the show. Though she was reportedly offered a salary identical to the one she drew at ABC, it is said that Lucci requested fewer hours and a deal for a primetime series — demands that Prospect wouldn’t/couldn’t meet.
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Lucci’s reversal comes on the heels of the daytime icon lashing out at ABC soaps boss Brian Frons for a pattern of decision making that all but sealed AMC‘s fate.
How does this news sit with you, soap fans? Are you thrilled to see which stars are sticking with One Life? Or is Lucci’s AMC departure simply too depressing to see the silver lining?
I’m excited about OLTL — and extremely disappointed about AMC. Whether I continue to watch will depend on who signs. It just won’t be the same show without Susan Lucci. And if most of the other cast members decline a deal, then the show as we knew it really, truly is dead.
I’d be more excited if ABC just leaves OLTL on the air. Come ON ABC.
After 40 years of being stuck in Susan Lucci’s shadow, Erika Slezak is now the Queen of Daytime. Bye bye, Susan.
The Daytime Emmys rewarded Slezak in a way Lucci never got. :D
Slezak is a much better actress, IMHO.
I don’t know how OLTL will fare without Kristen and Eddie Alderson to anchor the younger cast. PP get them please. Kristen Alderson is the center of the younger story lines and a vet in her own right.
She’s a horrible actress. I cannot stand to watch any of the younger cast. Could they not find someone under 18 who can act?
You are so right! She has had all these years to learn yet she has no talent! The brother is no better, besides they made him into a murderer. He should be jailed cuz his acting is a crime!
Erika Slezak truly cares about OLTL. Lucci doesnt care about AMC and she should since without it, she would be a nobody.
Please. Lucci has been with OLTL for 40 years! It’s ridiculous to say that she doesn’t care about AMC. She’s 64 years old! Her home and family are all in New York but she flies out to LA for work. How many 64 year old women do you know who travel across the country for work?
Lucci sees the success that Betty White has at 80. But, Lucci is still sexy. She wants to a primetime show. I can’t see why PP can’t try to help her find a primetime show. Victoria Rowell famously starred on the Young and the Restless and primetime’s Diagnosis Murder at the simultaneously.
PP would be smart to offer her a better a deal. The show needs Erica.
Now, OLTL just needs to sign Florencia L., Roger Howarth, Trevor St. John and the rest of the
I totally get the argument Susan might have of the show taping in California and her life really is based in New York. Then say that is the reason you wouldn’t take an offer. Not try to make a deal to get more money for less work.
the online series will never be the same I won’t even attempt it I am so sad AMC is going off air and I have watched since Erica was all hot over Nick witch was many years ago. Don’t insult true fans with a watered down verison available on line No Thank You and Susan Lucci is smart to gracifully say goodbye!
spell check not working on your pc? In addition to making yourself sound foolish for your opinion you prove you are downright foolish in that you cannot spell.
I love Erika Slezak and OLTL. Susan Lucci is a soap girl and quite frankly if she had a prime time show i probably wouldnt watch. Where does Erika end and susan begin??
Congrats to the OLTL fans. As a AMC fan however I can say that with or without Lucci I would still watch as long as some of the cast goes to PP. My all time fav is Michael Knight (although I would love to see him in primetime) so a show w/o him would kill it for me. Unfortunately it seems that they are losing too many of the current cast to continue as is. JR, Angie, La Lucci, Amanda, Jake, Greenlee all appear to have moved on. Between this and the exodus from the LA move, it seems like the core cast would be David, Jack, Kendall, Biana, Ryan, plus a bunch of real newbies. Afraid this might be the death knell.
I’m not surprised that Susan Lucci turned them down. She could easily get steady work in primetime. She’s the most well-known soap actor there is. It’s time to move on from AMC. It won’t be the same in this new web format, especially since so many popular AMC actors have already found work elsewhere.
To be honest, I am excited to see Susan Lucci branch out and play some new characters. She can play the role of Erica Kane in her sleep at this point. I would like to see her challenge herself and diversify! Would love to see her on shows like Law and Order: SVU and The Good Wife. I’d also like to see her do more comedy – she was very funny on Hot in Cleveland last season. I think AMC’s move to the internet is a blessing in disguise!
THIS
I don’t think it would be that huge of a deal to have AMC without Erica. She really isn’t on that much, takes super long breaks twice a year and has been absent for her daughters’ major storylines. Often she just appears briefly as if to fill a quota and her story is totally isolated from everyone else’s. If enough other people sign on, I think they would do fine. David, Kendall and Tad seem to have been holding it down for a while.
I am thrilled that Erika is staying with OLTL, and bringing Kassie and Michael with her (as much as I like Ted, I could care less about his character)! I am hoping that the Alderson kids come aboard, too, but I heard they are headed out west.
Not that surprised about Lucci…she believes all the hype about what a great actress she is, so of course she wants more money/less worktime! Good luck finding a primetime series…you blew your chances with ABC when you trashed Frons, although it was all true and well-deserved. Guess she’ll have to rely on her outside endevours to make her cash now. But if this holds up AMC as a show, it’s too bad for eveeyone else who was willing to continue.
I am happy to hear about the OLT stars, but I thought Ted King was going back to GH? Wondery why Susan passed on it…who knows maybe she will take a break and come back. But the show can succeed without her. They just need some better couples.. if Angie and Jesse and Tad and Dixie are not there…might as well say goodbye
Darnell is leaving, Debbi Morgan jumped ship to Y&R. Michael Knight had an interview with tvguide.com and he sounded tired. He’s been putting up with a lot for the last 8 yrs. Jacob Young is going to B&B. I don’t think a large group of the veterans are staying maybe one or two?
I had been watching OLTL as a replacement for ATWT then it got cancelled, then picked up again so when Roger Howarth showed up (after being on my soap I came back). Does anyone know how the internet thing will work. Will it be pay for view? Will it be HD?
I believe it will be free to viewers but will contain more ads and product placement than you’d like. If it’s a fee, it would have to be cheap. As loyal as soap fans are, most will not want to pay to watch something on a computer screen.
Excellent news for fans of OLTL. I do have a concern, though: Is head scribe Ron Carlivati staying with the show? Last I read he had made a deal to write for General Hospital after OLTL was cancelled by ABC (but before Prospect Park picked it up).
Honestly, I care more about OLTL than AMC, so I am thrilled that Erika S. has signed on. I hope Melissa Archer is one of the next names to pop up as having signed on with PP, since I want to see her opposite Easton for a long time. Wonder what the chances are they can get Howarth?
AMC, I can’t see it without Erica Kane. It would be strange, have any AMC stars signed onto PP yet?
If the whole core group of AMC leaves it will be hard to sustain the interest and familiarity viewers want. On the other hand, it could be an amazing chance for talented newcomers to reshape the show and launch great careers.
Wonderful news for OLTL fans…congrats to all and looking forward to January!!
I am so excited about OLTL! I love all those actors–especially Blair! And I am so disappointed about AMC! Unfortunately because the show ends this month and then doesn’t pick back up until January a lot of the actors aren’t going to continue–they’ll just get new jobs like Jacob Young already did. I am sad that Susan Lucci has decided to let down the fans of AMC, but her contract is up and she can go and live her life as she pleases. Hopefully Alicia Minshew, Bobbie Eakes and Lindsay Hartley will sign up and bring great, strong female characters to the web!
Awesome news regarding OLTL. Excited to see how the new version of the show comes together.
Let AMC go and try to bring back As the World Turns. Maybe P&G would be willing to talk now.
What if the Snyder’s, Jack/Carly, Holden/Lily, Molly, and all their kids were to move to Pine Valley? I’d watch then.
YEA about the OLTL news. I hope to hear about more actors deciding to try the online version of the show.
OLTL is the horse to bet in this race. I’m very happy to see this first list of actors (tho I thought Tomas was out) — now to get more of the cream of the crop to sign.
AMC can be cut down to a half hour and tightened up considerably.
So people are smashing Susan Lucci cause she trashed Frons or disagreed with him? REALLY ???? Well even though Lucci was right & he is wrong. See that’s what’s wrong with this country. You can’t speak the truth anymore cause heaven forbid you step on somebody’s little toes. OMG people this is so not a free country!!!!!
So let me get this straight. Susan Lucci at age 66 thinks she is going to get handed a prime time series? Get real. She had a cushy well paid job for decades, and pays the company (ABC) back by bad mouthing their execs? Nice way to burn a bridge with your former employer. 66 year old actresses are hard pressed to find work unless it is as a grandmother or old lady character actress. Welcome to the real world of acting and unemployment Ms. Lucci. Let’s see how far you get.
Are you serious, do you know how loyal Lucci has been to AMC taking MASSIVE pay cuts to keep the show on the air. Do you know she has been the centerpiece of the show since its inception. Frons screwed her over after she dedicated 40 years to ABC, so she can do whatever she wants to at this point, she earned it.
One Life to Live is the stronger of the two shows. Slezak, Easton and DePaive are all great, now bring back Robin Strasser. Lucci is a bad actress and AMC is a shadow of it’s former self. To many of the core cast have left or are leaving, Michae Knight is the real heart of the show but I’m not sure if he alone can save it. Prospect Park should focus on making One Life to Live stronger.
IMO bringing back Roger Howarth was a big PLUS. I didnt like the other todd (VL jr.).
I think this is very good news for OLTL, and I would expect many more fan faves to sign on after “Viki” has. I wouldn’t mind if they lose Vimal, Rama, Aubrey & Cutter, and even Shaun and the characters tied around him. Those storylines bore me. But the Buchanans and the Kramers/Mannings and integral characters to those storylines can stick around as much as possible. I hate that Trevor St. John is gone and wish there was a way for them to bring him back. I would have preferred to see Victor and Todd, then a dead Victor. Oh well, Emmy performances for the actors involved.
As far as AMC goes, I’m not a huge Erika fan and I think the show will do fine without her. She is a legacy to the show and it’s a big lose for the show and the longtime fans. But I can’t remember if I ever enjoyed an Erika storyline. But thinking about it, there’s not a lot about the show that is great anymore. They don’t really have much of a young cast anymore, especially going on to the internet. I don’t think “Greenlee” will be going, and not “Zach” unless his family has decided to relocate to the west coast now. I have no idea what “Dixie” is planning to do, but getting her back and then losing her again would suck for the fans. I heard Amanda & Jake are gone, which is another big lose. JR gone too is no good. Colby’s storyline has sucked for a while. I can’t stand the recast Bianca & Marissa. Love Tad, but he’s getting old and needs a good storyline now. Maybe that can do something better with Cara & Griffin now to keep it interesting. If “David” sticks around, then there’s sure to be plenty of hijinks. But it looks like AMC could be losing a lot of people and the storylinese are already not great. It’s been good over the summer with all these old characters coming back, but that’s going to stop as soon as they move online and they’ll probably lose some of those characters all over again. So the writers are going to have a lot of work in their hands to get the show back to a higher level of entertainment. If only “Babe” and “Jamie” were staying, but I doubt it.
I’d say, outlook not so good for AMC, but looking up for OLTL.