All My Children
All My Children 55th Anniversary Panel: Mona’s Favorite Husband for Erica, The Best Crier, Ruth Warrick and Favorite Adversaries
Last week, several of the stars of the iconic soap opera, All My Children took part in a very special panel to mark the series 55th anniversary which was entitled Susan Lucci in Conversation with Andy Cohen: All My Children at 55.
Those who have followed Cohen’s career know that the noted creator of Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise, and host of Watch What Happens Live. is an an ardent and self-professed longtime fan of the soap opera.
Taking part in the walk-down-memory-lane panel live at the The 92nd Street Y, New York included: the aforementioned Lucci (ex-Erica), Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley), Jill Larson (ex-Opal), Eden Riegel (ex-Bianca), Jennifer Bassey (ex-Marian), Francesca James (ex-Kitty/Kelly and a former AMC executive producer), plus former head writer Lorraine Broderick and series casting director, Judy Blye Wilson.
Photo: ABC
As Cohen posed his questions to the panel, plus several from those in the audience, some interesting nuggets and moments emerged which mentioned some of All My Children’s legacy stars.
When asked who was Erica’s all-time favorite husband (she was truly married 8 out of 11 times), Susan Lucci responded, “So many men. So little time. It was a wonderful group of men to work with.” However, Susan recalled that Erica’s mom, Mona (Frances Heflin), had a favorite of her own, and it was Tom Cudahy played by Richard Shoberg. Lucci noted. “She was really rooting for him.”
Photo: Steven Bergman
With a laundry list of husbands that included: Jeff Martin, Phil Brent, Tom Cudahy, Adam Chandler twice, Dimitri Marick twice, and Jackson Montgomery, plus marriages that were deemed invalid to Mike Roy and two to Travis Montgomery, who did Susan Lucci feel was the love of Erica’s life?
When all was said in done, Lucci admitted she felt all roads for Erica led back to Jack Montgomery (Walt Willey). “(He) was the one who wouldn’t leave and couldn’t get out of her life, and she couldn’t walk away from him too much,” recalled Lucci. “Although at the end (in the ABC series finale), she was in the crosshairs of that rifle going after Jack, because she had left him again. ”
Photo: ABC
Speaking of being married 8 times, talk turned to the one and only Ruth Warrick (ex-Phoebe Tyler Wallingford) and her real-life plethora of suitors and husbands! Lucci shared, “In the beginning (of the show) when we would do the dress rehearsals, I had the great opportunity to sit on set and Ruth Warwick would hold court. I was a young actress who thought this was spectacular, because she would talk about all the men in her life and give advice on men.”
Susan added, “Ruth thought one of her children came from Orson Welles! But, to be just out of college and sit there and listen to all these wonderful stories was pretty fantastic.”
Photo: ABC
Andy Cohen wanted to know of all the panelists, or during the run of All My Children, who was the best crier. Susan Lucci felt it was Kim Delaney (ex-Jenny Gardner),”I think she was a good crier!” Francesca James had a laundry list of actresses who could bring the waterworks on cue, citing “Jill (Larson) can, Susan (Lucci) can, Eden (Riegel) can, I’m terrible at it.”
Photo: Steven Bergman
Later, Susan Lucci revealed her favorite on-screen sparring partner, and to not anyone’s surprise it was Julia Barr (ex-Brooke), and those delicious Erica Kane and Brooke English snipes and cat fights. “Without a doubt it was Brooke English” She recalled, “I used to love when they would write the scenes in the ladies rooms at the Chateau when Brooke and Erica would run into each other.”
Photo: ABC
So, who do you think was the all-time best love match for Erica? Did you get a kick of the scenes betweens between Brooke and Erica? Who was the best crier on All My Children? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
All of Erica’s men and husbands were great! You all for got Jeremey who waa one of Erica’s greatest loves even though they never married.At least not to my knowledge! ABC canceling AMC for the Chew a cooking show was the dumbest decision ever on network t.v.! Where is the Chew now? Canceled!
I think it was OLTL that lost it’s time slot to The Chew. It was that other show that lasted only a month that replaced AMC..
If I recall correctly. A horrible lost on both AMC and OLTL nonetheless
GH fan: If I remember correctly, One Life to Live was replaced by some ridiculous show called the Revolution which only lasted about 6 months. All My Children was replaced by the Chew that last around a year or so. As far as I’m concerned, there is no legitimate reason why both All My Children and One Life to Live are not in production and an on the air today.
Yes, you are correct. The Revolution!
The name is kind of funny now, some “revolution”… The Destruction would have been more fitting!
I agree AMC & OLTL was the best and to this day hold so many memories watching.
Wasn’t Erica ever married to Jeremy Hunter?
Please bring back All My Children!!!
Yea bring back all my children
I was definitely all for Erica and Jack. They belonged together.
Loved Julia Barr/Brooke – one of my favourite characters.
Was Brooke English ever kidnapped? Every time I hear the song, “I’ll Be Watching You”, it reminds me of Brooke English getting kidnapped.
I remember the first day AMC came on to ABC. I was in college, and one of my neighbors at the dorms, was sitting in the TV room and said, “I am reserving this room from 12:30 TO 1:00, because my brother is (the original) Chuck Tyler and I HAVE TO watch it”.
When I worked on Herald Square, in NYC, I would have my lunch @12pm at my desk and then walk across the street to one of the dept. stores to watch AMC, along with about 10 other women from around the area every work day. The dept. store did not like it, causewe were blocking the aisles. The next day, all of the tvs were turned off. NOW, how can you sell a TV with them all turned off? So, we went to another dept. store. The next day the tvs were put back on.
When I lived in the Philly area, we were able to get ABC on the radio. I would have lunch at my desk, and listen to AMC (on my radio).
Thank you for reading this to the end. I NEVER missed an episode of AMC. <3
Loved your story Linda! The lengths we’d go through to see our shows back in the day! During the Luke & Laura days I worked afternoons in a law office & at 2:00 I would call home & my sister would turn GH on, turn the volume way up & lay the phone down so I could hear the show! If my boss came in I would pretend to be on hold! I always watched AMC on my lunch hour.
And yes, Linda-that crazy guy-was it Harold or Hal maybe? He kidnapped Brooke & to this day my sister & I think of that when the song comes on!
Hal stalked Brooke, did not actually kidnap her. (I don’t think)
How about the cat fight between Erica and Ceara…”At least my Donna Karan is real!”
I love all my children How can I get to watch from the beginning to the end of the shows reruns
A million dollar question with an impossible answer. Lots of episodes were on videotape and lots of those are lost due to the videotapes being reused
ever married.At least not to my knowledge! ABC calk
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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