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All My Children

Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Rich Frank Red Carpet Premiere Video Interview!

Courtesy/TOLN

Courtesy/TOLN

The men of the hour at last week’s exclusive premiere of the first episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live, were clearly Prospect Park’s Jeff Kwatinetz and Rich Frank. Through their unique vision of how to revitalize and bring the iconic soaps into a new platform, Jeff and Rich have been heralded by the industry and their colleagues for their relentless efforts in the face of much adversity to bring to the fans the return of two soaps that were gone too soon, when ABC made that fateful decision to cancel both shows in 2011.

In a night of celebration, Jeff and Rich walked the red carpet premiere arrivals and TOLN & Michael Fairman caught up with them to find out their thoughts as they were about to show to the attendees for the first time the initial episodes of AMC and OLTL.  As Jeff and Rich related, getting to this point was not an easy task, but as Kwatinetz says, “Passion is what got us here!”

During the interview, Michael asks the duo their thoughts on the caliber of actors and performances they have gotten to see up close and personal, when often times Hollywood looks down on soap actors, to which Rich Frank replied, “It wasn’t chic in Hollywood to say that actors who worked in this medium were of the same caliber.  And I can tell you from working every day with them, that they are every bit as good as anybody who is doing primetime, and I’ve done it for as many years as these shows have been on the air. They are really, really artists in what they do, and we so appreciate what they have done.”

For the entire playlist of 32 interviews from the red carpet visit the TOLN Soaps You Tube Channel and look for the premiere red carpet videos with Michael Fairman!  Now after the jump, watch Jeff and Rich’s premiere video interview, and then let us know what you thought of it!

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We owe them such a debt of gratitude for bring it back as a winner. I cannot imagine my life without Erica Slezak’s Vicki. I was raised on her.

My hat is off to both these men for believing in the project and making it happen. They are bold innovators. Both shows are first rate, top notch productions. Thank you gentlemen for giving back our beloved shows.

These two men are heros – to us fans, what they have done says they believe in all soaps – not just the ones they persevered to bring back. The quality of what’s on TV and online these days and the people behind them seems to be in the soaps. The passion of the producers, the actors and the fans… You don’t hear of that being the case with the plotless reality TV that’s taken over or all the violent “crime dramas” that run rampart on primetime.

I want to have Jeff’s love babies… he is just so dreamy. Seriously, it’s a dream having OLTL back, and I’m now a first time AMC watcher as well
So much gratitude and thanks to both these men.

I HAVE SUCH GRADITUTE TO THEM FOR BRINGING MY FAV SOAP AND TREVOR ST JOHN BACK.

Kudos to these two. Just love watching my favorite show OLTL.

I cannot thank PP enough for bringing back my shows. They mean the world to me. I will watch everyday. Many thanks for their vision.

To Jeff and Rich: HERO’S

Many thanks for your hard work and dedication to breath life back into this project.
” Where there is a will, there is a way”. And……, you certainly had the ” will ” to find
” the way “.

Here’s to wishing you all the creativeness that you can dream up for many juicy storylines for your hopefully long future, which someday I hope to find myself visiting.
Blessings be unto you.

All The Best,
1loveabcsoaps.

PS> Um….people. There should be allot of comments on this board, praising these men, because when they were trying to get it up on and going there were PAGES of COMPLAINTS!! I’m the 8th comment (only) and this board went up 3 (three) days ago.

Ty,ty,ty,ty. Oh did I say TY PP! It’s almost purrrfect. Now if you could just find a way to get Alicia Minshew back full-time. In time to get rid of Lea and claim back her man Zach! Zendall will always rule. Their is no other for these two. Zach told Kendall she had his heart. No one will ever forget that. Kendall told Zach she would never let them fall apart again. Now divorced? Give me a break! It would never, never ,ever happen. Please re-unite the super couple of the century!!! Zendall fans are in agony every where and will never ever give up on Zach and Kendall. Only Thorsten Kaye and Alicia Minshew can show this extreme friendship, bonding, romance, chemistry and undeniable knowledge of how to act off of each other, script or add libbing instantly. They are it!!!! Please make it happen. Again ty so much for bringing AMC back but please bring it back all the way. This couple will keep it going for decades!!!!

All My Children

Carol Burnett Talks About Being a Superfan of ‘All My Children’ on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’

In a heartfelt reunion, of sorts, the one and only Carol Burnett appeared on Monday March 25th episode of Live with Kelly and Mark.

Burnett had first met Kelly Ripa (Hayley) and Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo) back when they all appeared on All My Children together. Carol played Verla Grubbs first in 1983 and then again in the 90’s.

Host Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley, AMC) noted to Burnett that “we go back a long time”. She also described Burnett’s character of Verla Grubbs, “extraordinary in every way.”

Carol’s love for All My Children is well-documented, hence legendary soap creator, Agnes Nixon, created the role of Verla for Burnett.

Photo: ABC

Speaking on how her passion for All My Children began, Carol told Kelly and Mark, “It started with my kids. They would watch at noon. I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’ I sat down and I started to watch and I got hooked!”

When Carol’s family decided to travel through Europe during one summer, the comedic legend recalled thinking, “How am I going to last if I don’t know what’s going on in Pine Valley?” She revealed she had a friend, “who sent me a telegram to the (different hotels) on Fridays to bring me up to date.”

Photo: ABC

In a hilarious moment from the segment, Carol recalled receiving a late night telegram while in Lake Cuomo when there was a knock at her hotel room door from the hotel manager who was shaking.

Carol related what it said, “Erica is still in a coma. Mark slipped again and ran away from rehab.” As Kelly and Mark broke into laughter, Burnett continued, “Chuck has learned that Donna is carrying his baby, who was once a hooker.”

Check out Carol explaining how she became an AMC Superfan below.

Now, let us know, did you enjoy Carol as Verla Grubbs? What show do you consider yourself a Superfan of? Tell us in the comment section.

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All My Children

Malachy McCourt, ‘Ryan’s Hope’ and ‘All My Children’ Actor, Dead at 92

If you watched Ryan’s Hope through its 14-year-run, you know that Kevin the bartender became a beloved “member’ of the Ryan clan on the defunct ABC daytime drama series. The character of Kevin MacGuiness became so loved by the fans because of the actor who portrayed him, Malachy McCourt.

Sadly, according to his wife Diana McCourt to The New York Times, Malachy passed away on Monday from a heart condition and battling cancer. The actor was 92-years-old.

Playing Kevin on Ryan’s Hope was not much of a stretch for McCourt, because in his lifetime, he was the owner of 1950s Irish pub Malachy’s on Third Avenue in Manhattan. Known as one of the city’s great story-tellers, patrons from longshoremen to the actor Richard Harris would stop in and talk all things Irish with . On Ryan’s Hope, Kevin was best friends to “Ryan’s Bar” owner, Johnny Ryan (Bernie Barrow) and he tried to keep Delia (Ilene Kristen) on the straight and narrow.

Photo: ABC

In his soap opera career, McCourt also was widely-known for his role of Father Clarence McCourt on All My Children especially come Christmastime. Was Clarence, actually St. Nick? That was always the proverbial question. McCourt also appeared on the New York soaps: One Life To Live, Search For Tomorrow and Another World. Other roles included: Devil’s Own, Brewster’s Millions, The Molly Maguires, and Starman, to name 

Later in 2006, Malachy ran for governor of the state of New York as a Green Party candidate. He tackled social issues of the time including being an advocate for gay and lesbian groups to march in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Photo: ABC

McCourt’s childhood was recounted within his brother Frank McCourt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angela’s Ashes, which detailed their mother’s attempt to raise the four of their surviving seven children in poverty in Limerick, Ireland. Later, Malachy wrote his own memoirs: 1998’s Monk Swimming, and 2000’s Singing My Him Song.

Malachy is survived by his aforementioned wife, Diana, daughter Siobhan McCourt; sons Malachy Jr., Conor and Cormac; stepdaughter Nina Galin; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

Share you remembrances and condolences for Malachy McCourt via the comment section, but first check out this scene from a 1983 episode of “Ryan’s Hope” featuring the late actor with Ilene Kristen.

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All My Children

‘Live with Kelly and Mark’s’ Annual ‘After the Oscars’ Show Brings Backstage Interviews, Fashion Review and Red Carpet Arrivals from Movie’s Biggest Night

Monday morning, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos took to the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the talk show’s annual Oscar post show.

However, this time it would be Consuelos’ first time as the co-host of ‘Live’ for an Oscars episode. Mark took over the gig from Ryan Seacrest to team with his wife back in April of 2023 and since then the show has seen a ratings spike hitting several all-time highs.

The After the Oscars show opened with a tribute to the movies were the former All My Children stars took on iconic roles from: Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct to Barbie and Ken in Barbie, to the Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller role’s in the romantic comedy Something About Mary and more.

Courtesy/DisneyABC

During After the Oscars, Kelly and Mark were shown in clips backstage as the first stop for the newly-anointed Academy Award winners including: Finneas and Billie Eilish and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. The Bachelor host, Jesse Palmer was the talk show’s guest correspondent who spoke to the nominees, and celebrities as they were entering the Dolby Theatre on Sunday night.

Singer Andy Grammar took to the stage and performed on Live’s  After the Oscars show as well, and Project Runaway’s Elaine Welteroth shared her thoughts on the night’s Oscar fashion.

You can watch the full ‘Live with Kelly and Mark After the Oscars’ show below, plus the full movie parody below that. Now let us know, what do you think of Kelly and Mark’s first post-Oscar show together on ‘Live’? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

 

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