Michael, you are so right on. It does not stop th sadness in our hearts that something else has come to an end!

Michael. Loved all your insights on the what, why , and how the soaps are being tossed aside for lesser programing. Obviously, besides us die-hard fans, no one else has an investment in years of dedicated and loyal soap watching. You know the soap industry better than anyone. You have covered it and shared your views for so long and I hope you will still have stories to tell and comfort us with your knowledge. Thanks for sharing with us, Michael. You are to be commended!

I have watched soaps sence I was 16 and now Im 63, I set with old people that are at home or in rest homes,we all love soaps,we laugh and cry and get mad as hell,but we love all our soaps,we want them to stay on free TV. Joanne

As a long-time fan (36 years) of “As the World Turns”, and a recent convert to ABC’s “One life to Live”, my heart goes out to all of you ABC soap fans. Those of us who lost our beloved ATWT – and before that Guiding Light – are still angry about the decision of CBS and Proctor and Gamble (both equally responsible for the demise of GL and ATWT) to cancel our 54-year old soap and replace it with an innane, irrelevant talk show for mommies – “creatively”named “The Talk” – hosted by Julie Chen (wife of Les Moonves, Head of CBS who just was rewarded millions in bonuses and compensation on top of his already obscene salary – probably enough to have paid for another year of ATWT) and her dimwitted panel of Hollywood sidekicks. (God help us if this crowd qualifies as capable of passing along parenting advise!) ABC soap fans: cheap-to-produce replacements like “The Talk” which now fills “As the World Turns” old time slot, as well as a remake of “Let’s Make a Deal” which replaced “Guiding Light”, are why AMC and OLTL are slated for cancellation. I honestly think that ABC execs took a look at the CBS model and saw that they also could unload a genre they just didn’t want to invest in and replace it on the cheap. On a personal note, I can only hope that if any of the hosts from “The Talk” on CBS (the pathetic blabfest replacement to Emmy-awarding winning “As the World Turns”) are presenters this year at the 2011 Daytime Emmy Awards to be shown on CBS, they will be greeted by stone-cold silence and absolutely NO applause. I would love to see pickets, protesting, and widespread support of the soaps at the 2011 Daytime Emmy Awards this year – just to let ABC, CBS, NBC, and advertisers know that soap fans may not be their “ideal” demographic, but we are loyal viewers who are committed to preserving our soaps and are more than and willing to switch channels, turn off the TV, or take our buying power elsewhere. (Ironically, as a “Boomer” my peers and I have money to SPEND and time to spend it – unlike the demographic these ill-informed idiots choose to target!) Protests may not have worked with CBS and Proctor and Gamble, but the anger and outrage I sense that is out there right now towards ABC is very strong and may actually make a difference in the end! (And I’ll be rooting for “As the World Turns” to win the 2011 Daytime Emmy because it deserves to, and just to stick it to CBS and Proctor and Gamble for axing this icon of daytime drama in the first place!)

Read the full article. Lovely interview, Michael. So appreciate the work you’ve been doing over a lifetime. I started to respond in here, but then it just kept expanding as I wrote. So, I decided to take it over to my blog, and post the link here.

“The continuing saga of daytime soap opera cancellations” – http://www.celtic-dragon.ca/blog/?p=474

The lyrics of “One Life to Live” tell the tale:

Here’s what you do
When you don’t find the rainbow’s end
This time

Here’s where you going to do
When it looks like the rain end
Don’t cry

There’s always tomorrow
Where you can have a second chance
And after tomorrow
All that you have to remember.

Here’s what you do
When you think nobody cares
For you

Look in my eyes
And see there’s an answer there
It’s true

We’ll find tomorrow
A place for us
I know because

Time only knows
How long forever’s gonna last

Let’s live today
And find someone to share it with
Cause we only have one life to live.

Don’t cry
I’ll give you tomorrow
Let me be the one to share it with

And each day that follows
Cause you only have one live to live!

Of course I will bw watching oltl every day until the end. I do now. I watch it o.line as I am not home in the afternoon. I cant in my heart watch anythi.g else anymore on abc. Not castle, not modern family, not dwts.i dont know if it helps or hurts, but it makes me feel better

I can’t believe AMC is being cancelled! I have been watching it for years! Never disappointed. Do they really think another boring reality show or equally boring cooking show will be able to replace the shows they are taking off?? Reality and cooking shows have been way overdone! They are just a cheap way to fill air space! Save the soaps!!!

I work hard through the busy days and record my soaps at night while I cook for my business. I watch all 3 soaps.They might think of the bottom line but I hope the sponsors think of their bottom line.I WILL NOT PURCHASE ONE ITEM THAT SPONSORS ABC NOR WILL MY FRIENDS BOTH MALE AND FEMALE IN OUR WESTBROOK/PORTLAND MAINE AREA.Being a business owner I like to keeps my customers happy and it’s quite clear ABC does not. When OLTL and AMC are off we are OFF!!!!! I