All My Children
A Soap Star Whodunit And It's Not A Soap!
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
As many of you heard in our premiere episode of the On-Air On-Soaps Podcast that All My Children’s Jacob Young, along with his producing and directing partner, Mark Rozzano, have launched the new Soap Star Mystery Theatre in Los Angeles, which features lesser known, yet wildly entertaining works of legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. I attended last night’s opening at the Writers Guild of America in Beverly Hills, where several of Young’s AMC cast mates and other soap and primetime notables headlined the reading of The Unexpected Guest. Jacob had a huge hand in casting the roles of unusual suspects for the play. So I had to ask when he looked at AMC’s Vince Irizarry (David) for the play, did he cast him against type, or can we expect to see his evil ways? Young responded, “He is playing his type.” (Laughs) Ah, my first hint that Vincent was going to end up being the murderer! Adam Mayfield (Scott) plays a servant/nurse who seems to be on the shady side, too! Then I had to ask, who else from Pine Valley would he love to see participate in a future reading. Young replied, “I was speaking to David Canary (Adam) and hopefully we can use him down the road.” Next, Jacob with pride and a bit of sadness also gave his views on Canary’s upcoming retirement from soaps. “He is at a point now where his home is in Connecticut. He has been stationary out here in LA for a while and it was always the plan for David to come out to LA with the move of All My Children for just a few months. Regardless, if he were on the east coast or here in LA, he would have probably retired at the same time. He has had such a wonderful run and is a talented man and a workaholic. He deserves a break. Maybe he will get restless, and knowing David as I do, he might. And I certainly do hope he comes back. Working with David has been such a thrill for me and he is such a giving actor. And I think his wrap-up story is going to be great. When I heard it, I thought it was fantastic.”
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
The actors only had a full rehearsal and run through and that was about it for the Mystery Theatre reading. It was sort of fly by the seat of your pants, which many daytimers are used to. The star of the reading, Stephanie Powers (best known from television’s Hart to Hart) shared with me her utmost respect for the soap genre… something that is nice to hear for a change from someone on the outside of daytime television. Powers stated, “It’s wonderful to work with all these daytime people. They are fabulous. They are absolutely ready to improvise and absolutely ready to keep it going. If you don’t have the dexterity to change on a dime it can be tough, and the daytime stars are amazing. What they do on a daily basis is phenomenal!” So then I asked if Powers would be interested in stopping by Pine Valley and doing some scene work with Susan Lucci? “Yes, but I don’t know if I could cut it. They work very fast.”
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Vince Irizarry filled me in on how he has been so busy at AMC that he was on overload prior to the performances. “To be honest with you a week and half ago I was dreading tonight, because I am working so much right now on All My Children. I did eight shows last week and six the week before, and another six this week. I have been doing it the last month and half. However, I am happy I did this tonight, and we pulled it together.” Vince let me know that having Constance Towers (Helena, GH) up on stage with him as one of the suspects was a delight. And what soap fan would not want to see a smackdown between two of daytime’s biggest all-time troublemakers? And speaking of Constance Towers, she is one of my very favorite people in the world! She stopped by to speak with me about Helena’s… Lucky Spencers! “Jacob Young was my Lucky. I adored him and the first time I saw him, I remember Helena had him in a limousine. I was taking him to revisit all the places he had been with his parents by torturing him and thus torturing Luke and Laura, because I was playing with his mind. We are in the limousine and I looked into that face and those beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair. And the thing about Jacob is his innocence, and he was so dear to work with. And I saw him grow as an actor and he won an Emmy! And now to be on stage with him is fun.” Then we talked about Constance’s current 2010 Lucky, Jonathan Jackson. “He too is one of the nicest human beings you could ever hope to meet. He is a great father and he is clean cut, and an intense actor. You get into a scene with him and he is wonderful. I just expect him to win another Emmy.”
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Robert Newman (Ex-Josh, GL) played the inspector in the piece and was supported in the audience by Kim Zimmer (Ex-Reva, GL) who told me she is hard at work on her book that should be a doozy! When I spoke to Robert, it was the first time I had seen him since the Daytime Emmys and several months since Guiding Light went off the air. I asked Robert if he has finally moved past the mourning process. “Honestly, I think I got a wave of it and then my play Sessions closed in early January, and the next couple weeks it hit me hard. I hit a wall. My body gave up on me for a couple weeks and that came and went. I have been keeping busy. I just shot a Law and Order SVU!” So, I had to ask will Newman plays a creepy guy, like many of the guest stars on the crime drama? “I may play a freak, and it’s a fun group over there.” (Laughs)
Robert and I went on to speak about the last episode of GL. He stands by his opinion, that the ending was the way it was supposed to be. “I think Guiding Light ended the way it was supposed to end. I think it had to be Reva and Josh. I am not sure why the kid was there? (Laughs) Kim and I joke about it all the time. I think it had to be the last line of “Always” and panning up to a lighthouse. ”
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Newman also looked back on how the powers-that-be handled the ending of the series with the cast and crew, and the balancing act that had to be done to finish the series long run. “In the end, I feel like we all handled it quite well and I think they gave us a lot of notice. I have corporate friends who in that world, if they lose their jobs are told to clean their desk that day. They gave us four months or so. I think we just rose to the occasion. I remember the day they told us about it and there was a lot of emotional stuff that went on. And then we went to shoot and that phrase, “We got work to do,” constantly carried us through right till the last day of taping.”
Along with Kim Zimmer there were a few other notables in attendance. First, one of my favorite couples, Juliet Mills (Ex-Tabitha, Passions) and her husband, Maxwell Caufield. Catching up on old times, the three of us couldn’t help but discuss the hard times the US soaps are having as compared to the British ones, especially in lieu of Caufield’s run on the hit UK soap, Emmerdale.
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Caufield expressed, “British soaps are in primetime and they are only a half-hour long so they move a lot quicker. They are able to hold on to their audience, and it’s a different vibe. They air between seven and eight o’clock at night. So they have a huge captive audience. Peyton Place was one of the great American soap operas at night. And I can’t believe the American Broadcasters and networks have not thought about re-tooling these shows to air in primetime. I am just getting over being shot in the shoulder blades by my wife, who didn’t take kindly to having a bigamist husband. (Laughs) It was on Emmerdale. It was shot in Yorkshire and in a beautiful part of the country. There is nothing like consistent work, and that is why everyone wants to jump on these soaps. All the more reason for the networks to cherry- pick some of the vintage actors that are out there. So it’s not all about 20 year olds who are stripping down to the waist!” On a side note, Juliet and Max did just celebrate Valentine’s Day where they tell me it’s always a special day in their relationship! “We actually went out and bought a bed,” laughs Mills!
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Hollywood legends Jerry Lewis and Cloris Leachman came to see Jacob’s creation and were very impressed! (See pic to right) So how was the play you ask? Well I have to say; Jacob Young showed another side of his award winning acting, as the mentally challenged Jan Warwick. He stole the show, and that is hard to do with the likes of the talented performers on the stage. Next month, The Soap Star Mystery Theatre will continue with an all-new Agatha Christie play and some more of your favorites from daytime. If Young and company can get more LA soap actors to get in on this concept (that is their plan), and have them rotate through the proposed eight different Agatha Christie mysteries, it will be a very fun series of shows and evenings for soap fans that could be better than a good old television soap opera murder mystery!
All My Children
‘All My Children’ Movie Writers for Lifetime Revealed: Ron Carlivati, Jamey Giddens and Leo Richardson
This week began and as reported with a spotlight article on Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos and how their production entity, Milojo, has been teeing up the All My Children reboot with Lifetime.
The L.A. Times featured the married couple, co-hosts of Live with Kelly and Mark, and former All My Children cast members (where they met and fell in love) about their plans to bring two All My Children movies to Lifetime and how they are working with the Agnes Nixon estate to make it come to fruition,
On Wednesday, it was revealed by Daytime Confidential, that All My Children reboot producer, Andrew Stearn handpicked none other than Ron Carlivati (ex-head writer, One Life to Live, General Hospital and Days of our Lives) and Jamey Giddens (who is the new co-head writer of The Young and the Restless, following his tenures on the writing teams of Beyond the Gates and Days of Our Lives), as the two scribes who will bring the first of two of Kelly and Mark’s All My Children movies to the page.
Photo: IMDb
RON CARLIVATI AND JAMEY GIDDENS CONFIRM THEIR BOARDING THE ALL MY CHILDREN MOVIE PROJECT
The second installment is said to be written by primetime writer Leo Richardson whose credits include: Star, Katy Keene and more recently the Penn Badgley (ex-Phillip Chancellor IV, The Young and the Restless) starring series, You.
Richardson also wrote for three years on the U.K.’s long-running soap, EastEnders. All My Children revival fans will recall Richardson’s name was attached as the writer for the first incarnation of the All My Children movies, entitled, Pine Valley.
Ron Carlivati took to X and confirmed he is indeed boarding the All My Children movie project. Carlivati shared, “So excited to share this news! Thanks to Andrew Stearn, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Albert Bianchini and the Agnes Nixon estate for entrusting Jamey Giddens and me with the first of two planned All My Children movies for Lifetime! Stay tuned!”
Photo: Jeremy Smith/imageSPACE
Jamey Giddens confirmed DC’s announcement by taking to his account on X and expressing, “I’ve been booked and busy in 2026. Thanks to Andrew Stearn, the Agnes Nixon estate, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos for entrusting Ron Carlivati, and me with the first of two planned All My Children movies for Lifetime!”
Some fans seemed to question how Giddens could be writing for the first All My Children movie at Lifetime, when he is the new co-head writer at The Young and the Restless with Dan O’Connor. Jamey answered that head on via X and explained, “We turned in our All My Children script months ago. My sole focus as of this past Monday, is Genoa City, Wisconsin! #YR”
ERICA KANE, MARIA SANTOS AND HAYLEY AND MATEO SANTOS TO APPEAR IN THE ALL MY CHILDREN MOVIE REVIVAL?
In the planned stories, Susan Lucci’s Erica Kane and Eva LaRue’s Maria Santos will be two characters whose lives we will get to see for the first time since the series was canceled by ABC back in 2011 after 41 years on the air. As well, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos confirmed they will make brief appearances on-screen; one could assume as Hayley and Mateo Santos.
“It’d be wonderful to give the fans something that they’ve been yearning for so many years,” shared Mark Consuelos to the LA Times. “All My Children gave me my family. I met my wife there. It gave me my start in the business. It gave us so much. It would be a dream to be able to give back.”
So, what do you think of Ron Carlivati and Jamey Giddens getting nod to write the All My Children movie #1 script and Leo Richardson #2? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
All My Children
‘All My Children’ Revival Updates: Lifetime EVP Speaks on Why Proposed Movies are Great Fit, Mark Consuelos Wants To ‘Give Back’ to Fans
The All My Children revival via movies at Lifetime is still in the works from former series stars and marrieds, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, through their production company, Milojo.
The co-hosts of Live with Kelly and Mark were featured this week in a Los Angeles Times article which detailed their efforts to bring some of the citizens of Pine Valley back to your screens.
As previously reported, and reaffirmed by the L.A. Times, the All My Children movies will be set in the present day and focus on what beloved characters such as Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) and Maria Santos Gray (Eva LaRue) are doing now. In addition, Kelly Ripa confirmed that she and Mark Consuelos will also appear on screen briefly most likely appearing in their signature soap roles as Hayley and Mateo Santos.
Photo: ABC
ALL MY CHILDREN MOVIES BRING NOSTALGIA THAT CAN BE MADE TO FEEL NEW AGAIN
Elaine Frontain Bryant, executive vice president and head of programming for A&E, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movie Network said of the All My Children reboot, “Lifetime is always interested in shows that kind of tap into a powerful nostalgia that can be made fresh for today’s audience. There’s a whole generation of women that have missed these stories and these characters.”
As for working with Kelly and Mark on the Lifetime movie versions of the soap, “They’re exactly the kind of partners you want at a brand,” expressed Bryant. “They’re trusted voices because every day they’re talking to their audience, which, a lot of times, is our audience. They bring a real credibility and have an authentic point of view. You meet Kelly and Mark and kind of what you see is what you get, and I think they bring that same authenticity to their development standards.”
Albert Bianchini, executive producer for Milojo, says he knows All My Children is so wildly popular with the fans of daytime. That was punctuated when seeing it in person, and how the energy was off the charts back in January of 2025 when Kelly participated along with Susan Lucci, former head writer, Lorraine Broderick and casting director, Judy Blye Wilson in a conversation with Andy Cohen at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
© Steven Bergman/AFF-USA.COM Credit: AFF/Alamy Live News
“I’ve never seen a crowd like that in my life. People were lined up around the block, recalled the Bianchini. “Everyone wanted to know, ‘When is (All My Children) coming back? We want more.’ We got to see that in real life and Kelly got to feel it in real life, and it made so much sense. I just know that the minute it gets out in the world, people will want more and more and more. There’s just a love there.”
Kelly Ripa added that they are, “working closely with Bob and Sarah Nixon, who are also serving as producers.” She recalled, “She (Agnes Nixon) was so far ahead of her time. She covered topics that weren’t being covered. It was extraordinary the audiences that the show drew, and she served them real stories that were affecting Americans across the country but weren’t necessarily being represented anywhere.”
“It’d be wonderful to give the fans something that they’ve been yearning for so many years,” shared Mark Consuelos. “All My Children gave me my family. I met my wife there. It gave me my start in the business. It gave us so much. It would be a dream to be able to give back.”
THE CANCELLATION AND STOPS AND STARTS OF ALL MY CHILDREN REBOOTS
All My Children aired on ABC from 1970 to 2011. It got a second chance at life when Prospect Park resurrected the show and brought it to The OnLine Network and Hulu for one season in 2013.
Recently, the series made a return through the estate of Agnes Nixon and is streaming internationally on BEONDTV and through their partnership with PlutoTV Canada with episodes starting in 1995. Fans hope original episodes will some day soon be available in the U.S. as well, but that could prove more difficult since ABC owns the rights to the episodes stateside.
Now 13 years later, while there is no word yet on a definitive production start date to the two movies at Lifetime, all the people involved seemed determined to make it come to life.
So, what do you think of the executive vice-president of Lifetime and LMN being enthusiastic about Kelly and Mark’s All My Children movie revivals? Are you wanting to see this come to fruition? Kelly and Mark seem to have made this a very high priority. Do you hope that by 2027 we might be able to get this to the finish the line and into production? Weigh-in via the comment section.
Starting on May 1, All My Children fans in Canada will be able to see classic episodes of the beloved former ABC soap opera when they stream on Pluto TV Canada.
Pluto TV picked-up the All My Children Channel that the Nixon family has created in partnership with BEONDTV +. The show which aired for 41 years on ABC and ended on the network in 2011, had so many memorable storylines and characters; the least of which is the enduring run of Erica Kane played by soap icon, Susan Lucci.
As previously reported, starting with episodes from the year 1995, which was the 25th anniversary of the soap. Pluto TV Canada viewers will be able to catch 8 episodes on repeat per day. With the success of the venture, the Nixons are hopeful that they will bring viewers many more years of the show to come.
Photo: ABC
Sarah Nixon, producer, shared with Michael Fairman TV exclusively, “We are thrilled that Pluto TV has launched All My Children in Canada! Let’s hope the engagement from our incredibly loyal fans across the border will encourage ABC to bring it to the U.S.! We share what Aggie (Agnes Nixon) always felt, that it is the enthusiasm and love from the fans that has kept this legacy beloved and relevant – to this day!”
In addition, 0ne week ago, during Susan Lucci’s visit to Los Angeles promoting her book La Lucci, she was joined by her former Pine Valley castmates, Rebecca Budig (ex-Greenlee, AMC, now Taylor, B&B) and Eva LaRue (ex-Maria, AMC) and the trio posed for a pic. At that time, LaRue shared via Instagram, “NEW All My Children channel streaming classic episodes 24/7 now on Pluto TV Canada! Fingers crossed to watch soon on Pluto US.”
That was also confirmed this week by TV Watercooler’s Jeevan Brar who took to X and expressed, “The All My Children channel begins streaming this Friday, May 1 on Pluto TV Canada.
So, Canadian viewers, excited about Pluto TV’s All My Children channel? United States fans, hopeful from Sarah’s message that perhaps soon, we can see the beloved soap once again as well? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Michael, this is a wonderful update on what Jacob Young is doing and creating, It sounds like great fun for actors and a different spotlight. Nice comments from Robert Newman on GL and its demise. I am sure all those actors are missing that long running show. Michael, you always have such interesting articles and interviews and insights on the soaps. Good work!!
I miss GL! What happen to the person that played Raven Husband? not Josh!