All My Children
Tainted Dreams Creator Sonia Blangiardo: "I Was Struck By The Loss Of This Unique Art Form That Had Been Integral To NYC!" Casts RHONJ Dina Manzo in Role!
Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins
Daytime Emmy winning director Sonia Blangiardo (GH, OLTL, AMC, ATWT) has been hard at work on her first series that takes a look at the behind-the-scenes of a soap opera, Tainted Dreams!
The director created Tainted Dreams after the last of the NYC-based soap operas, One Life to Live, shut down production in November of last year. Sonia related to Celebuzz: “I was struck by the loss of this unique art form that had been such an integral part of NYC for decades. I wanted to somehow capture my own two decades working behind the scenes of three different NYC-based soaps.” And that is exactly what Blangiardo has set out to do with her upcoming project that begins production this May!
In addition, today Tainted Dreams added reality star, Dina Manzo (pictured right) from The Real Housewives of New Jersey to the cast in the role of Allessandra DiGiacomo. Blangiardo explains the casting decision, “I created the role of Alessandra with Dina Manzo in mind, and we are thrilled to have her join our cast.” Allessandra will also have a gay brother on the series played by Anthony Wilkinson. As it turns out, Manzo is also a long time fan of One Life to Live!
Manzo joins the cast which already has included soap stars: Alicia Minshew, Walt Willey, Michael Lowry, Marnie Schulenburg, and Kelley Menighan Hensley!
So soapers what do you think about Sonia’s comments about the terrible loss for New York and the soap industry there once OLTL, AMC, GL and ATWT were all canceled within a span of three years? And what do you think about Dina Manzo being on Tainted Dreams? Let us know!
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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Another World was another great soap shot in NYC. Soaps have a lot in common with theater so it made perfect sense that so many soaps were once shot in a city known for it’s theater. I am sure many actors and backstage people like living on the East Coast rather than the West and having soaps in NYC gave them a chance to do that. It was a sad day indeed when soaps left the Big Apple. But now they have AMC and OLTL being shot out East- maybe not as exciting as NYC, but the tradition is still lives on.
Growing up in the NYC area, I was lucky to see lots of plays and musicals. Always got a kick out of seeing daytime drama stars on the stage or knowing about soap actors that were also doing Broadway or off Broadway shows at the same time as their TV shows.
I saw the original Broadway cast of “Grease” which means I saw Ilene Kristen (OLTL/RH) as Patty Simcox.
I just recalled another example. I saw the Sondeim musical “A Little Night Music” with Patricia Elliott, who we all loved as Rene on OLTL. She sang the song “Every Day A Little Death” with Victoria Mallory who played one of the Brooks daughters on Y&R.
I find it funny that just the island of Manhattan with a population of 1,601,948 could not or would not support the soap operas that were such a part of that city.
The new OLTL and AMC will not be filmed bu cast in Manhattan.
That’s an interesting point, Dave. I am sure that some of the casting will be done in New York City and yet the show will be taped in Connecticut – I guess production costs would be a little less there somehow ~
Can’t wait to see Tainted Dreams. Big fan of Dina and I love the soap stars Tainted Dreams is assembling.
I agree with Michael, I live in NJ and it is fun to see soap stars on Broadway. Just saw Michael Park in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and last year saw Tom Pelrey in the show about Judy Garland, both Tom and Michael are great.
it’s odd and counterproductive that she’d cast someone from rhonj bec the real housewives franchises don’t do anything for primetime soaps and especially daytime soaps. the rh franchises are detrimental to daytime and even primetime soaps bec they are effectively the new daytime soaps. reality tv is a threat to the scripted primetime soap operas and especially daytime soap operas bec reality tv is much cheaper to produce. some of the women from real housewives get a lot of press and more of them are household names compared to your average daytime soap opera actors and actresses. compare b&b to rh of atlanta. I quit b&b but when I used to watch the sets were atrocious and the wardrobe was really dull. and these b&b chars are supposed to be very rich fashionistas. how can the b&b clothes and sets compare to labels and the homes on rh of atlanta? there’s no competition.
I read so much about these new online soap projects but can never find them or keep up with them all. Anyone, help me?
There was nothing like a NYC-based soap for me. They seemed more real to me somehow. I miss them!