All My Children
ATI Exec, Jim Romanovich "Barefoot in Prospect Park : Daytime Soaps Dot Com" piece brings up thought-provoking commentary!
Courtesy/ABC
Associated Television International’s President Worldwide Media and Entertainment, Jim Romanovich has posted a very savvy look and perspective on the Prospect Park/ABC deal that brought All My Children and One Life to Live online, including his thoughts on how the shows will ultimately be reflected on the web, and how they must change with the times and addressing some of the key hold-outs from the various AMC stars.
The complete blog was posted on Baseline Intelligence and here are some key excerpts below!
Romanovich: “Two and half months later Prospect Park announced they had acquired the rights to both All My Children and One Life To Live to continue on the internet. This was huge news. But it also led to a barrage of questions from the public and especially the conspiracy theorists who were working overtime to find some Machiavellian scheme that this was more plotting by the network to torture the fans. I don’t think things are as dastardly as they seem nor as simple. Quite often negotiations occur after a deal is done. I do it all the time simply because issues crop up that were unexpected and you have to disclose these potential obstacles before you attempt to hurdle them. Networks do it with me too. As they say, get them a little pregnant and then hammer out your terms. Although I have no direct knowledge of the closed door sessions between Disney and Prospect Park, I, as a television producer, cannot imagine any license fees were paid to Disney for those rights. If there is a huge cash cow with unlimited funds behind Prospect Park, I could tell you that buying cancelled daytime soaps would have been the wrong move. Quite frankly if I had unlimited funds, I would have invested in something more bankable. But since they did acquire these two soaps, my guess is that it’s strictly on a royalty basis that may have revenue benchmarks due and payable once reached.
Courtesy/ABC
That makes more sense and is a complete win-win for Disney because they no longer have to be responsible for production costs, talent negotiations, or ad sales expectations. Now they just can sit back and collect a quarterly check and still own the show since this is a royalty deal based on episodes produced. Prospect Park gets to access a potentially huge audience for no money down, too. Once, or if, they decline to produce new episodes, the rights revert back to Disney. Now that’s a risk I’d take. Is this the deal they struck? All I can say is if this is a straight royalty deal, then this is how it usually works. That’s the only deal I would have made. According to the July 7th Wall Street Journal article ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live’ Head Online, the following quote reaffirms my royalty/benchmark opinion by stating “The deal gives Prospect Park exclusive rights to the two shows for more than a decade, and pays Disney millions of dollars a year in royalties for as long as the shows are produced”.
So what can fans really expect? For the first three months, pretty much the status quo. They don’t want to rock your boat too quickly. Stories will mirror what they had done for television and many of the same actors will be playing those same parts. Some will not. For that void, you will see new, younger, edgier characters introduced that appeal to more of an online viewer as many stalwart soap fans have rightly commented on several well known soaps websites that their grandmothers would never watch them online nor would anyone in extreme rural communities be able to get them. If true, then the producers may think why bother to write for them. I also believe that these newer characters will be tied into legacy characters. In addition, I think recasting key characters in which the previous portrayer opted to not go on is almost a certainty. For example, Alicia Minshew (Kendall) is one who will not continue when All My Children goes online although she would be open to a recurring role. Well, that does nobody any good because the character is too woven into the show’s framework and a key part of the Erica Kane legacy. With Susan Lucci out, who is irreplaceable, and now Minshew, I would recast Kendall and give her strong material. You cannot create successful story integration within a five day a week soap opera on part time talent. Ms. Lucci, on the other hand, is so iconic that her presence even on a recurring basis would be most welcomed.
The 2.0 versions of these soaps have to take chances that network censors previously had never allowed. I think language and sexuality should be more honest and direct. Look what Showtime and HBO do with Dexter and True Blood. These soaps should take these risks in visuals and storytelling to grow their appeal. Why would anyone invest their money into doing more of the same on the internet when soaps can finally be true to themselves and be the real groundbreakers they were initially created to be? This is where the shows can succeed. This is not about creating shock value. This is still about the core elements of successful storytelling. It is taking Doug Marland’s formula How Not to Wreck a Soap to the utmost level of purpose. In his formula, he states two key issues of success-story and character. I think that is partially true. You also need execution otherwise story and character have no direction. The execution is to hire the perfect writer and producer who envision and create the character who then hires the right actor who will make that creation come to life. That is execution.”
So what do you think of Jim’s look into the Prospect Park deal and the soaps moves online? Let us know!
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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Folks, call Prospect Park and ask them to also air AMC & OLTL on TV. I did this earlier today (it’s one of the tasks being posted on fb) and the woman I talked to was very nice and she said they are considering, but that we have to keep up, and keep those calls coming!
1) First, #AMC needs to move back to NYC or NJ. Most of the #AMC actors have their roots here. They may be willing to take less in salary if they can be near their loved ones.
2) Soaps need to return to what they excel at. Soaps have 5 hrs per week to tell stories. They need to use this time. This means no short scenes. It means long, loving dialog. Here are two examples from Liz Keifer/Maureen Garrett from GL. This is amazing soap and amazing TV. We don’t get this anywhere anymore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFAExYc9bxw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r2eeo5Ohds. These are the kind of scenes that set soaps apart and made them viable. Please bring this back!
I agree with you that AMC needs to head back to NYC. It seems as if, that is a concern for most of the talent. And I do agree with what the man stated as far as recasting on AMC. We, as fans, may not want to see some of our faves recast, but as long as it is approached in a smart manner, unlike the Liza Colby recast, it would be ok. I personally believe that Beth Ethlers got a raw deal on AMC….she would have made a much better Liza than Jamie Luner….besides that, she actually had chemistry with Michael E. Knight.
And I also agree that scenes, like the ones you posted are not readily available on soaps anymore. It’s all a bunch of quick unimportant scenes thrown together to make a show. And I’ve stated this before, but why is it that on AMC right now, just about every character on the show is circling around the Orpheus story line? Shouldn’t there be some separation of stories? I mean, it’s like the story is being beat into the ground. I mean, you’ve got JR, Krystal, Angie, Jessie, Ryan, Greenlee, Cara, Griffin, Tad, Dixie, Zach, Kendall, Erica and I’m sure I’m missing someone….but my point being, Project Orpheus is all that is discussed between all of these characters. It’s a waste of talent and time to have all of these characters focusing on one story line. It’s one thing if it were a who-done it story, where all of these characters were suspects, but come on…..
I wish to God that I could be a member of the writing staff, cause I am so sick of recycled writers from cancelled shows bouncing around making matters worse for our shows. I just hope PP has some fresh ideas that honor the history, talent and audience of both shows.
Wow, what great scenes between those two! I agree, why can’t they be like that anymore? God I miss GL. Wish it was saved, wish it could go online also! That was my favorite!
I don’t agree with the consensus that “grandmothers” will not watch online. I am in my early 50s (old enough to be a grandmother or a great-great grandmother in soapland–LOL) and I have no problem watching shows online. I have been doing it for quite awhile. My 77 yr old mother is pretty handy on a computer. She watches you tube videos that interest her and does FB etc. This sounds so cliche–but this notion that anyone over a certain age won’t follow t the soaps to the internet smacks of ageism. I do understand that there are some folks without computers–but in this day and age most folks have them and access to the internet.
Personally, I think it would be a huge mistake to get rid of the vets and just write for the young cast because that is who the producers think will be watching. They tried that sh-t on the tv soaps and just lost loyal viewers. Soaps thrive on multi-generational storytelling. There needs to be stories for each generation, These storylines need to intertwine with each other. Doug Marland used to do that very well. When soaps started going for the bubble storylines with 5-6 characters and these sl had nothing to do with the rest of the cast–they usually failed. That’s what happened quite a bit on AMC.
Just one more thing–I got hooked on AMC in college. The characters that hooked me were Palmer, Myra, Phoebe, Mona and so on. These actors were about 40 yrs older than me. But, I can tell you–the whole dorm used to wait for Mona/Phoebe to get into it over Dr Tyler. We were fascinated by it and just loved those scenes!! We were riveted by what Palmer would do next to thwart Nina’s romance. And when Daisy showed up–it was awesome. I am telling you that kids from 18-22 loved the older characters just as much (if not more) than the younger ones.
What a great interview. He has a lot of great ideas, true what he said about Kendall and everything else.
Will AMC continue online & if yes ( i cant see why not) when will it start, what is the url to go to, and what time? I cant believe after watching this show since i was 7 years old its going to end the way it did. Really? JR shooting someone and thats it? Are all the Tyler members dead that none where brought back to the reunion? Is this the same end in store for OLTL which by the way I started watchng and the same time?