All My Children
Oprah Winfrey Show Finale Today! Where will you be for this shift in the daytime landscape?
Courtesy/HarpoProds
Today is the day that long time viewers and followers of the daytime landscape have known about for over a year and a half…. the end of The Oprah Winfrey Show! After 25 seasons, Oprah is bowing out with her very special finale episode this afternoon. Make sure to check times in your local areas, so you don’t miss it. This morning on GMA and through multiple reports, they are hearing that it is just Oprah herself in the final episode with an invited studio audience at Harpo Studios, who had never had the chance to be at an Oprah taping.
After seven Daytime Emmy Awards as Outstanding Talk Show Host, and we are not even talking about the myriad of awards for her show itself, Oprah eventually decided to pull her name out of the Daytime Emmy race several years ago. The emotional farewell promo that has been running for the last two weeks uses comparisons to other television greats and series final episodes from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, MASH and Johnny Carson. Advertisers are paying over 1 million dollars for a thirty second spot on the Oprah finale, and early predictions are in that that this would be the most highly watched show in daytime history.
USA today took a look at where the daytime landscape is going now with Oprah’s exit, and the upcoming exits of the beloved soaps, All My Children in September and One Life to Live by January 2012. “It’s a jump ball for everybody,” says Oz executive producer Mindy Borman. And it all adds up to a “major disruption” that will leave daytime devotees scrambling for alternatives, says Hilary Estey McLoughlin, president of Warner Bros.’ Telepictures Productions. “There’s really never been this kind of sea change in daytime. There’s never been this many changes in stalwart hosts with this much audience appeal.” Viewers won’t “abandon TV, but what will they watch?”
ABC Daytime President, Brian Frons spoke to his decision to cancel AMC and OLTL in favor of reality and cheaper to produce programming in the changing times. “It’s change that’s generational. Serials for the most part are Baby Boomer programs, and as Boomers age out of the key selling demographic, we need to look at alternatives. Younger viewers are “looking for an upbeat tone, they want entertaining relevance, more talk and reality than scripted drama. They’re looking to us for shows that help improve their lives, rather than escape from their lives.”
However, Stephanie Sloane, editorial director for Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly noted, “the kind of escapism and romance these shows ( the soaps) offer will always be appealing to a group of people. At the end of this decade, if we’re still talking about daytime soaps as regular programming, I’d be happily surprised.”
In the end analysis, today is about Oprah, and many commented on her success and what she did for 25 years in the programming day-part. Oprah was the quintessential news lead-in,” says Emerson Coleman, programming chief at Hearst Television, a major station owner. Her show “impacted your 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts like no other show in television. That’s why stations paid a premium.” The theory: “If the audience trusted me, they will trust the news broadcast that comes after me. She underscored the fact that a television personality could make a difference in the way we approach issues,” Carroll says. “She raised the level of conversation at a time when elsewhere on television the conversation was becoming more strident.” Talk show host, Maury Povich said, “Oprah’s unveiling of her personal life attracted a huge audience, and that was the key to her stardom.”
Watch The Oprah Winfrey Show farewell promo below one more time, and let us know what you thought of today’s final episode!
Alan Dysert, who played Sean Cudahy on ABC’s All My Children has died. He was 75-years-old. The news of his passing came from his wife Michele who shared via a Facebook post that Dysert died back on October 23.
“My heart is broken as I share that my beloved husband, Alan, passed away on October 23, 2026. While I am struggling to imagine life without him, I am forever grateful to have experienced what so many people spend their lives searching for — the love of a lifetime,” Michele expressed.
While a cause of death was not made public at this time, Michele admitted that Alan, “faced more than his share of health challenges over the years, yet he continued to approach life with determination, humor, and gratitude.”
Photo: ABC
Dysert wrote about his battle with a rare, aggressive and incurable cancer in his 2023 autobiography, Lights, Camera, Cancer! He spoke of having undergone four major cancer-related surgeries, and many rounds of chemotherapy and CT scans.
SEAN CUDAHY WAS ‘BAD GUY’ PERSONFIED
On All My Children, Dysert played Sean Cudahy, the con man villain to his brother, good guy, Tom Cudahy played by Richard Shoberg. Dysert played the role between 1980 and 1990 returning for multiple story arcs, which included being revealed to be the murderer of Sybil Thorne. He was also involved in several affairs including with the impressionable Devon McFadden (Tricia Pursley).
THE LIVES HE TOUCHED
Alan’s longtime agent Melinda Eisnagule told PEOPLE his death is a “loss to our community and to the acting community at large. He touched so many lives and made the industry and the world a better place every day with his positive energy and kindness.”
Dysert leaves behind his wife, Michele and his two sons Cody and Cooper and will be remembered by those who knew him for a career that spanned the theatre, film, TV and performance coaching, and of course being a part of the legacy of All My Children.
Share your remembrances and condolences on the passing of Alan Dysert, All My Children’s Sean Cudahy, via the comment section below.
All My Children
Mark Consuelos Celebrates Kelly Ripa’s 56th Birthday on ‘Live,’ But Remember When Wendy Williams Outed the Couple as Married Before Anyone at ‘All My Children’ Knew?
On the Friday, October 2 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the morning talk show marked the 56th birthday of Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley Vaughan Santos, All My Children).
During the opening segment, Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo Santos, All My Children) humorously comparing his wife to both Gandhi and Groucho Marx, reflecting on both her comedic ability and peaceful ways.
Later, they went on to discuss the origins of her name and the most popular picks to name babies back in the year she was born, 1970. They were Kimberly, Lisa, and Jennifer for girls and Michael, David, and James for the boys.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Ripa recalled that she learned she was almost named Kim. However, their neighbors at the time had two daughters Kelly and Kim, which is what her parents wanted to call them, but they settled on Kelly and and her younger sister, Linda.
At the conclusion of the episode, Mark rolled out a huge cake for his wife. It was, “Happy birthday from all of us here at Live and at home.” Next, he cut the cake, and Ripa grabbed his face and gave him a “thank you” kiss.
Photo: JPI
KELLY AND MARK TRIED TO KEEP THEIR VEGAS WEDDING ON THE DOWN LOW
All of this brings back memories of how Kelly and Mark’s Las Vegas wedding ceremony went public in 1996 while the two were still on All My Children playing Mateo Santos and Hayley Vaughan. In essence, they were outed by then radio host Wendy Williams! They discussed it on the talk show back in 2024.
In fact, the duo hid their marriage from their All My Children castmates for months, until they found out Williams got wind of the nuptials and spread the intel on the airwaves.
The two recalled their secret wedding on a 2024 episode of Live! “We’d eloped. It’d been a few months at that point. We’d been married for three months, nobody at All My Children knew we were even dating, much less married to each other. We’re brushing our teeth and we’ve got Wendy Williams’ radio show on. We’re listening, and she’s like, ‘I’ve got celebrity dish!”
EYEWITNESS
Next Ripa continued, “The celebrities,’ I guess they had a broad use of the term back then, was the fact that ‘two soap stars from All My Children, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos eloped in Las Vegas.’ There was this eyewitness that worked in the Clark County courthouse that said we eloped, and the news broke, and we had to tell everybody we were married.”
Live With Kelly and Mark airs weekdays in syndication. Check your local listings for times in your area.
Share your birthday wishes for Kelly in the comment section, and let us know your thoughts on how Wendy Williams broadcast the news, unbeknownst to the All My Children newlyweds, that they tied the knot in Vegas? Check out Mark and the ‘Live’ studio audience singing ‘happy birthday’ to Kelly in the post below.
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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.
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I was hopeing she would have her good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger on today her last show, He’s my babie LOL
To answer the question, “Where was I during Oprah’s Finale?”, I was sitting in front of the television watching it.
I am writing this almost one month after the Finale, and only one person bothered to post a comment before me, Uhm….
I don’t really believe anyone in the Daytime industry knows why Oprah was so successful. If they did, they would duplicate it, try to bottle it and sell the bottles. Oprah did what she did her way. There is only one Oprah. Could someone else be successful as a daytime talk show host? Yes. But there is still only one Oprah.
For me, the one thing that set Oprah apart from the rest was the word “TRUST”. Not only did audiences trust Oprah, the people she interviewed also trusted her. I do not think any other talk show host enjoy the level of trust that Oprah did.
There is much anticipation regarding two new talk shows that are beginning with the ambition of filling the huge gap being left by the ending of the Oprah Winfrey Show. I do not believe either show will succeed because there is no trust factor. I expect two huge flops. But only time will tell.
As far as the soaps are concerned. they will survive.