All My Children
Carolyn Hinsey's Tell-All: "Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter" due out in 2011
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Big news today, when TV Guide exclusively announced that Carolyn Hinsey, long-time noted soap opera journalist and columnist (Soap Opera Digest and the New York Daily News) has a new tell-all book coming out that should rip the lid off of some of the backstage drama that soap fans will want the real inside scoop on. Hinsey teased TV Guide with a few nuggets from her book titled: Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter scheduled for release in 2011.
Hinsey stated:”Guiding Light wasn’t canceled, it was murdered. After 20 years covering this crazy genre, I know where the bodies are buried. I think fans would be more understanding of certain changes if they knew an actor was let go, for example, because he was too drunk to remember his lines. By the same token, when All My Children mangles its negotiations with big stars like Eden Riegel [Bianca] and Thorsten Kaye [Zach], they deserve to know that, too.”
TV Guide also mentions that, “Along with that wisdom and advice, Hinsey promises heavy doses of scandal and dish.” Hinsey elaborated, “‘I plan to put a light on the entire industry from a loving, informed place. The roaches will scatter, and the stars will shine.”
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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Carolyn is great
This should be a great read. Noticed AMAZON.com already has it available for pre-order. I am hoping she sheds light, and lots of it, on Brian Frons and his involvement with all three ABC soaps, particularly One Life To Live and why they are preceived (rightfully so, I think) as the red headed step child. I am curious what really happened with KISH, why there is no promo for OLTL and why the vets are sacrified in favor of the younger, newer actors. Also hope to find out what happened to some really big soap faves (Bobbie Spencer on GH, I think Jacqueline Zeaman is her name. Same with Lucy Coe on GH, played by Lynn Herring. Dicie, Cady McClain, on AMC. ) The truth about Robin Strasser and ger past diva-like behavior; Victoria RowelI and what castmates think, etc. I could go on and on. Hope the book addresses all this and more. This book could be explosive!
You don’t need her book to get info on Strasser’s diva behavior. She had a hotline where she bashed OLTL routinely, and she was still on OLTL at that time. Talk abt being professional! I don’t think OLTL is that “red headed step child” that some soap bloggers depict it as such. Zimmer joined it. They moved to AMC’s studios. They’re going HD. B&B isn’t even in HD, and it has much higher ratings than OLTL, w/o even factoring in B&B’s global ratings. If anything, the portrayal of OLTL as being “neglected” by ABCD and Frons is questionable. As for Kish, there was such a brouhaha abt their axing. There were months of reporting abt it from the soap press or places like afterelton, w/c only report on lgbtq aspects of soaps and know nothing abt Daytime. Yet OLTL axed more racial minorities, and continues to do so, w/ Terrell Tilford. Yet there’s not a squeak or complaint abt the “ethnic cleansing” on OLTL.
I am only vaguely familiar with Robin’s antics that you spoke of. I know that she is a great actress and OLTL is lucky to have her.
In terms of ABC soaps, I think it is hard to argue that OLTL receives the same treatment as AMC and GH. They do not get even half the promotion as the other two shows.
I agree that OLTL has let some really good actors go, a few that I would have loved to see stick around. Terrell Tilford is not one of them. My guess is there not any issue over his being let go because his acting was not up to par, and that became very obvious to viewers as his role increased with the Eli storyline. This particular action. I think was justified in regards to TT.
But Charles: if acting talent was the basis for letting go of an actor, then David Gregory should have been fired months ago! He’s awful, but instead, they’ve actually built a family around his char! OLTL seems heavily invested in the Fords and not in their racial minority chars. They even gave the Ford brothers a sauna sequence w/ an incestuous vibe. If acting talent was the only basis for soap actors, then many of the younger actors and some of the older actors on soaps would not even be hired. This is true for all soaps. As for promotion, it’s already grating how people act like ABCD never promotes OLTL. They ripped of Glee, arguably 1 of the most buzzed abt shows ever, and had them sing on The View. But AMC and GH get more buzz bec they had more going for them recently. AMC had the move to LA, the retirement of Canary, the returns of Budig, Barr, etc. Nouri joined as Caleb. And then GH of course had Franco and Vanessa Marcil’s return.
Rick Springfield has a book out on October 14 that should have some GH dish.
If she’s going to share behind the scenes stuff I hope its all both relevant and true and none of it is an excuse to spread nasty things about people she holds grudges against. I don’t know enough about Hinsey to know whether or not thats her style but its a common enough practice in the entertainment industry.
I’m sorry but I don’t trust Ms. Hinsey when she say she is coming from a “loving, informed place”. In the past I have noticed that she plays favorites when it comes to soap stars (Thorsten Kaye) and trashes others for no good reason. The only stars that will be shining will be the ones that she wants to shine.
Of course she name dropped Thorsten Kaye. I bet she’ll be completely unbiased abt him. LOL! I agree w/ everything you wrote. People should consider the source whenever they read abt Daytime. I think Michael Logan is probably the most unbiased. I think he mentioned in a Daytime Confidential podcast that he wasn’t invited to ATWT’s finale. Yet in that same podcast he praised Goutman and ATWT for everything they did up to the finale.
I disagree w/ Hinsey that the audience will choose to come back to soaps over reality shows bec soaps are “like a beloved family member”. If any person feels like soaps or the chars on soaps are like family members, then your family must be completely nutty. LOL. More importantly, reality shows have basically appropriated what soaps (used to) do best, but beat them at their own game. The examples are numerous. How can scheming Daytime villains compare to Project Runway’s Santino or ANTM’s bitches Jade, Bianca, Renee, etc? How can the infidelity and betrayal of soaps compete w/ the drama of an episode of Cheaters, w/c has shown a woman in a short skirt jumping on the hood of a car to stop her lover from leaving her, a drive by slapping between 2 men, a gay guy pushing his shirtless, unfaithful partner into a lake, a gay guy ripping off the wig of his cheating boytoy in drag and an actual wedding being halted by a jilted girlfriend? People get instant gratification in a single ep, w/c portrays all the drama of an infidelity arc on a soap. The difference is that soaps would need to build that storyline for weeks or even months. How can soaps compete w/ the real catfights on Bravo? Can any soap catfight top the reunion where 1 of the NJ housewives threw the gay host to his chair? Can any Daytime catfight top the wig pulling on housewives of Atlanta? How can the wacky, over the top chars of soaps compare to the trashiness and tackiness of the media whore housewives of ny? Can any alcoholic outburst on Daytime compare to the overtanned drunks from the Jersey shore? Reality shows borrowed what soaps do, but brought them to a whole new level of outrageousness. Heck even former Daytime actors have their own reality shows. People are getting elsewhere what they used to get only from the soaps.
I used to enjoy watching ‘As the World Turns’ and ‘Guiding Light’. I believe CBS (along with P&G) made the worst mistake of ending its long-running soaps. I’ve taken notice that we’re in the midst of (what can be labled as) a “reality TV over-load”. I don’t understand why we need more talk shows, game shows, and courtroom/legal shows… which we’ve already got plenty of. I don’t believe this is what legendary soap writer and creator Irna Phillips had in mind.