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OLTL Says Farewell to its ABC Studios – Exclusive Photos from last tape day via EW.com!

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/ABC

Courtesy/ABC

This just becomes even more real, when you see these newly posted exclusive photos at EW.com from today’s final tape day of One Life to Live at its ABC Studios in New York! In the emotional images featuring Erika Slezak (Viki) Jerry verDorn (Clint), Melissa Archer (Natalie) and the series longtime executive producer, Frank Valentini, the tears were flowing and hugs were all around.

Here is an excerpt of the publications and online platforms first hand report from the set:

“A day filled with tears, laughter, and hugs erupted into applause when the last scene of One Life to Live finished taping in its ABC studio Friday. Today saw scenes moving along at the famously whiplash-like speed common for daytime soaps, but with increasing fanfare and emotion. Then the studio quietly began to fill up in the late afternoon as Erika Slezak (Viki Buchanan) and Jerry vern Dorn (Clint Buchanan, right) started to shoot that last scene (which is not the last one that will be seen on the show’s finale in January) in Viki’s Llanfair living room.

Ever the pro, Slezak was determined not to break down and cry as the time approached, but even as she blinked back the tears, she had hugs for everyone who wanted one, such as Melissa Archer, who played her daughter Natalie and who went straight in for this embrace as soon as the scene was wrapped. “Why bother say goodbye?” said Slezak, who sees this as just closing a chapter. “We will see each other again, someplace, somehow, somewhere.”

“You were all a part of something so extraordinary,” said exec producer Frank Valentini to the cast and crew gathered around when the applause died down after that final scene. He’s also signed on for the online show. “I count us all so lucky and so blessed to be a part of this.”

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This should not be happening. Thanks OLTL for years of memories and entertainment.

I agree, ABC/Frons/Sweeney are just idiots in charge. Iditotic to cancel their #1 soap that has gained hundreds of thousand viewers over last year!
So sad to see those pictures. Imagine being there.

This is truly, awfully upsetting to me!

Yet another BAD move on the part of ABC Daytime. I will never watch the Chew, nor will I watch the lame show that is going to replace the wonderful OLTL. Those shows will NEVER make it, even though the powers that be will do all they can to prove all of us wrong and keep the these shows (that belong on cable) on the air. On a much nicer note, I want to thank all of the wonderful cast and crew of OLTL for many, many years of wonderful television, as I too have been watching since day one. I wish all of you much success in your future endeavors, and hope that you all join Prospect Park online, as I will definitely be watching!!!! Good Luck to Prospect Park in bringing OLTL to fruition online, and I hope you can do the same with AMC at some point. I hope ABC is not foolish enough to nix GH for Katie Couric, but IMO, by the time she gets on the air, one or both of the other shows replacing AMC and OLTL will have already bombed, and GH can just take one of their spots.

Very sad about hearing of the last tape day. I read Michael’s previous post about the actor’s twitter and facebook remarks before I went to bed last night and I was so upset I could not fall asleep. I kept thinking about all of the wonderful actors, characters and storylines that have been on OLTL since I began watching over 40 years ago. I am 54 now and it is heartbreaking to think that a TV show I got involved with when I was about 13 is now being thrown aside. It is like losing an old friend.
Long live “One Life To Live”!

MY HEART IS BREAKING AND TEARS E GOING DOWN MY EYES RIGHT NOW !!!! IVE BEEN WATCHING FOR 41 YEARS AND SPENT MANY MANY FUN DAYS AT THE OLTL STUDIO MEETING ALL OF THEM INCLUDING THIS PAST SUMMER. THIS IS TERRIBLE !!!!!!!!

I can’t believe OLTL has finished taping. It does not seem real. Thank you OLTL for 25 years of intrigue and suspense. I hope you will be able to continue online. The daytime community is losing the best daytime drama on the air. Its a sad, sad day.

I read that the ABC people were at the OLTL farewell party. Can’t believe those a**holes did that. I can’t wait til karma bites them in the ass, and that ABC daytime will not have any passion or controversy anymore and no one will care about it like The Talk and that game show that took over Guiding Light’s spot on CBS.

With OLTL now gone, ABC has lost its last vestige of class. Not that class matters to the likes of Frons and Co. – but it matters to us, the viewers that ABC has no respect for. I wonder if they’ll finally be surprised to find out that the daytime viewers they evidently both take for granted, and despise, are deserting them and their network in large numbers, never to return.

We have loyalty, and we’ll take that loyalty to PP if they come through with OLTL. And the AMC folks will do the same, if AMC is resurrected. (I’m in both camps.)

But a lot of us are DONE with ABC and Disney. They can rot for all I care.

why is oltl gone and not gh.im not dishing gh.but can you tell me why is it all newyork taped soaps being cancelled.gl,atwt,amc i know they moved to la .but that was a scam of some sort. maybe thinging ratings would pass oltl.but oltl beat amc and gh in the ratings. it may be cheaper to do the chew but know won is watching.so no one in there right mined would want to put there product as a comercial in that time slot.

Up until early 2011, General Hospital had higher ratings than One Life to Live. It’s only after the cancellation annoucement in April that One Life to Live (and eventually All My Children as well) started to beat General Hospital in the ratings. Of course some problems within General Hospital itself (eg: bad writting, poor storylines, etc) contributed in General Hospital being surpassed by the two other ABC soaps.

So to answer your question: “Why One Life to Live was cancelled instead General Hospital?”. The answer is simple: General Hospital had higher ratings than the two other soaps at the time of the cancellation notice.

Ratings are not the reason that GH was selected to remain on the air over the other two that were canceled.

Michael – just asking – then what was the reason that GH remained on and the others were cancelled? Time slot?

Frons said he kept General Hospital because its was the highest rated soap. And if you look at the Nielsen ratings, it’s true that GH was indeed the highest rated ABC soap at the time. Things would change the next couple of weeks after,

Michael, if you knows something that the rest of us don’t, please let us know. Otherwise, it’s your word against the word of Brian Frons.

I give GH less than a year and the ABC soap hackers will have it cancelled too. I say boycott all advertising products for the replacement shows. More than one way to skin a soap hacker.

Sad day indeed. There have been too many since GL shut down in 2009. I loved OLTL and was a rabid fan during the days of the Craigs and Woleks. The Karen/Marco pairing was so strong, their plots so riveting. I loved Dorian Cramer as she rose from doctor (remember the Mark Toland murder?) to society grande dame. And Viki! From her torment between loves Steve and Joe at The Banner. The arrival of the Buchanans! I could do without all the multiple “lost children” and the silliness of Eterna, and the heavy reliance of multiple personalities, but more than most soaps, OLTL has remained true. Maybe thie Prospect Park thing will allow another life to live after all.

This SOOOOOO SUCKS!!! Wth has ABC loosing all my fav soaps???

This should not be happening Oltl by far was ABC best soap it should have been the last one standing at least Oltl cares about there audience GH doesn’t and I for one don’t understand why its still on and Oltl is gone. Thank you Oltl for your suspense and intrigue that you gave to the viewers daytime is loosing one of the best daytime dramas on the air. Daytime will never be the same ever again.

Because at the time of the cancellation, General Hospital had higher rating than One Life to Live (although this is no longer the case today).

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Susan Flannery and Ian Buchanan Visit the Set of ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’; Daytime Emmy Winners Reflect on Show Then and Now

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Susan Flannery and Ian Buchanan

The one and only Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie Forrester) dropped in to see her former co-stars on The Bold and the Beautiful at their Sunset Las Palmas Studio in Hollywood, along with her good friend and another B&B co-star Ian Buchanan (ex-James Warwick) on Tuesday October 20.

It was the first time in a very long time that The four-time Daytime Emmy winning actress was reunited with Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke), Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy), executive producer and head writer, Brad Bell, Jennifer Gareis and even her TV sister, Alley Mills (Pam, B&B now Heather, GH) showed up for the day too!

Flannery played the Forrester matriarch from 1987 until 2012. It was then that after playing the part of Stephanie for 25 years that Susan made the decision to retire from acting and in one of the most heartbreaking sendoffs, passes away from lung cancer in Brooke’s arms in November of 2012. During her B&B tenure, Flannery won 3 of her 4 Daytime Emmys, the other being for her first soap role as Laura Horton on Days of our Lives back in 1975.

Susan and Kelly

Photo: Bell-Phillip TV

As for Ian Buchanan, he played Dr. Warwick, psychiatrist, from 1993 to 1999.  He returned for other runs in 2014 and 2017.  Buchanan took home his Daytime Emmy in 1997 for his work as James. Soap fans also remember, Ian as mobster Duke Lavery on General Hospital, and Dr. Greg Madden on All My Children,

Both Susan and Ian shared their thoughts on coming back to The Bold and the Beautiful, for Susan 14 years later since he exited and for Ian close to 9 years since his last appearance below.

Susan said, “It’s definitely like coming home in a way, even though it’s not the same studio. It’s really lovely to see old faces and old faces with new faces. It takes you back mentally. You start remembering what it was like back then, even things like how much your feet would ache at the end of the day from wearing six-inch heels. It was just lovely to be back and see everybody.”

Susan Flannery and cast

Photo: Bell-Phillip TV

Ian expressed, “It’s a mind trip, you know. When I was sitting looking at the big Forrester set, it was like stepping back in time, almost. It takes you back mentally, and you start remembering what it was like when you were here before.”

“It’s lovely to see all these people again, even if you don’t know everybody,” explained soap vet Buchanan. “There’s something really special about coming back and seeing the show and the people who have been part of it for so long.”

So, happy to see Susan and Ian with some of their former castmates? Do you think Stephanie and Brooke is one of the greatest frenemy stories in daytime history? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Beyond the Gates

Tabitha Brown and Kandi Burruss Guest Star on ‘Beyond the Gates’ for Dani’s ‘Welcome to Your Life’ TV Special; What Could Go Wrong?

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Kandi Burress, Tabitha Brown, Karla Mosley

As previously announced, Beyond the Gates is bringing chef, author and actress Tabitha Brown and Grammy Award-winning songwriter, singer and actress Kandi Burruss to Fairmont Crest in a special episode of the CBS daytime drama airing Thursday, October 22.

In the episode, Dani’s (Karla Mosley) best friend Pamela Curtis (Cady McClain), arranges a “Welcome to Your Life” television special for her. As it turns out, Brown will play the show’s host, Tia Allen, while Burruss takes on the role of Dani’s first modeling agent, Kalista Kilroy, who turns the celebration of her life into a bad trip down memory lane.

Dani’s parents Anita and Vernon (Tamara Tunie, Clifton Davis), sister Nicole (Daphnee Duplaix), and daughters Chelsea (RhonniRose Mantilla) and Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) all join the show to celebrate and support her but also witness how things so south. Also appearing in the episode are Molly Figueroa as Tatum Stewart and fan-favorite Anita Williams (Tunie) impersonator Jackie Tyree!

Beyond the Gates

PhotoL JPI

THE 411 ON TIA AND KALISTA

Speaking with TV Insider, about their soapy experience in Fairmont Crest, Tabitha Brown previewed about her host with the most, “Tia is very professional, but she’s a girl’s girl. She is a protector of women and wants to tell their stories in a beautiful way, but she also wants to make sure they’re seen in a very good light.”

However, Burruss previews that Kalista arrives with a score to settle. “She’s spicy,” shared the recording artist. “I always love playing somebody that has come to start trouble. It’s always fun to play a villain of sorts, but Kalista feels like she’s been done wrong and she’s hurt by what she feels has been done to her. So Kalista is stirring up trouble, but she feels justified putting Dani on blast. Kalista is ready for some payback.”

Beyond the Gates is produced by CBS Studios, as part of the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble. Created by head writer Michele Val Jean, executive producers include Val Jean, Sheila Ducksworth, Julie Carruthers, Tracey Thomson, Leon W. Russell, Derrick Johnson, Anna Saalfeld and Lela Coffey.

Beyond the Gates is broadcast weekdays on CBS (2:00-3:00 PM, ET/1:00-2:00 PM, PT) and is available to stream on Paramount+**.

So, looking forward to this special episode of Beyond the Gates when Dani is put on a blast during a blast from her past and Welcome to Your Life TV special? Share your thoughts via the comment section.

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Days Of Our Lives

‘Days of our Lives’ Reveals Kyle Pryor Cast as Dominic Marino

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Kyle Pryor

For months now, Days of our Lives has teased the character of Dominic Marino. In recent weeks, viewers learned that Marino is on the down low working with Sami Brady’s (Alison Sweeney) apparent fiancé ‘Dante Vitali (Franco LoPresti), and that he is the never-before-heard-of child of Stefano DiMera (the late Joseph Mascolo) and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall)!

Up until now, the Peacock streaming soap opera has never revealed his face, but that all seemed to change on the Tuesday, October 2o episode of DAYS. In story, Dante met Sami’s parents for the first time, Roman (Josh Taylor) and Marlena.

He shows them a photo of Dominic, which he happened to have on his own phone and even commented he kind of looked like he could be Marlena’s son. The photo, which has quickly made it around Soap Twitter/X, revealed that British-born actor Kyle Pryor is the man in the photo and eagle-eyed viewers actually located said photo on Pryor’s Instagram.

Dominix

Photo: Peacock

Deadline revealed Pryor started taping at the end of 2025 and will first be seen in the role, on air Monday, November 2.  In addition, Days will celebrate its 61st Anniversary with two special episodes featuring Dominic’s arrival, as well the returns of Tony and Anna DiMera, played respectively by Thaao Penghlis and Leann Hunley, on Friday, November 6 and Monday, November 9.

Those in the know, are are that Pryor previously held series regular roles on Australia’s Home and Away, and the UK’s Hollyoaks and guest starred on Emmerdale. In an ironic twist, Pryor appeared in the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand which is the same action series his apparent TV brother, Dan Feuerriegel (EJ DiMera), once appeared in before coming to DAYS.

So excited to see Kyle Pryor take on the role of Dominic Marino as Days of our Lives sets its anniversary story to kick-off with is arrival in Salem? Share your thoughts in the comment section. And in case you missed our latest conversation with Conner Floyd (Chad DiMera) he weighs-in on how Dominic’s appearance will shake things up in Salem. You can check that out below.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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