Courtesy/ABC

As the network television conclusion of the 41-year-old soap All My Children is just around the corner, there is one special performer that On-Air On-Soaps wanted to speak to, and bring to you, one final time just before we say our goodbyes to its amazing run on ABC. And that would be Michael E. Knight. As Tad Martin, we have watched throughout the decades his magnificent balancing act of comedic brilliance and dramatic heart, that has won him three Daytime Emmy Awards and made him one of daytime’s most enduring and endearing actors. And while Michael may be most remembered in the annals of soap history as “Tad the Cad”, he and his alter-ego grew up and matured, and now both Tad and Michael have come full circle. Tad has reunited with his soul-mate Dixie, and Michael is leaving his almost 30 year television legacy behind that was not often easy, and fraught with more cliffhangers than the soap opera itself!

A critics favorite, and beloved by the fans, Michael has seen the once all powerful AMC’s fall from grace from the inside … something that has been frustrating and sad for him all at the same time.  In this very revealing interview, Michael discusses the final day on the set, where the show veered off the tracks, his memories of the late Mary Fickett,  and where he is at now with the harsh sting of reality that the place he had called his ‘home away from home’ is no longer standing, as we know it.

In addition, exclusively here for the first time, Michael discusses his contract negotiations with entertainment media company, Prospect Park, who is set to bring AMC online in the very near future and his feelings on the battle they face to make that transition of relocating Pine Valley to its new frontier. And like a true co-star, he gives credit to where credit it is due to Susan Lucci (Erica), Dorothy Lyman (Ex-Opal) and a few others who have blazed this trail alongside him. We know you will need your hankies by the end of this piece. So be forewarned! And with that, we give you our riveting and emotional conversation with the best of the best, Michael E. Knight!

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/ABC

How was the final day of taping?  I heard you had a speech in the finale?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

I was very honored to be given the requiem speech as Tad.  I think it was beautifully written because it must have come directly from our creator Agnes Nixon or our head writer Lorraine Broderick, because I did not change a word in it.  It was all about home, and what makes a home, and neighbors and family.  And, it was the easiest speech I have ever given in my life.  And at first I thought, “Oh my God. I had this huge responsibility of, ‘Hey.  Here is the limelight.  Say something.’”   I have got to say when I looked at it the night before, it was the easiest thing to memorize.  When I went out on the set, all I had to do was look out at the people.  There were three of us from past, present, and hopefully the future, gathered around and talking about … what is it about Pine Valley that is magic?  And it really is basically each other.  Of course, we had to take two passes because I dropped a section.  But it was lovely and a huge honor.  It made me feel a lot better about a lot of things.

MICHAEL:

So when they yelled, “That’s a wrap!” how did it go for you, and all of your cast mates?  I can only imagine the sadness that was all around the room.

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

It was very emotional for all of us.  We did cast photos with Agnes, and without Agnes. Then Agnes gave a speech in honor of the people who were no longer with us who started the show so wonderfully, like Kay Campbell (Kate Martin).  She talked a lot about what made these people so special, because a lot of them started in television and film way before AMC.  And when AMC started, it was an unknown quantity.  It was about how lucky we were to have people with a kind of skill like that, that started this wonderful legacy.  Kay Campbell had a favorite song, I’ll See You Again, and Agnes sang it to us.  This 82-year-old woman singing to a room filled with about 300 people, and it was really, really sad.  It also made it a little more emotional because it was a very long day and we were all kind of tired.  We really looked around and went, “This is it.”  Then this amazing chef, Richard Ruskell rolled out this cake, who has been a fan of AMC for 41 years.  He baked this cake and on this enormous cake was this tree.  And on the tree were the names of all of the families like the Chandlers, Martins, and the Wallingfords.  You saw all of the family’s branch out and up and out, and it gave you a physical representation of the incredible legacy and history.  And, the reason the fans are so precious to us is because when they see the show, they are the ones that are logging the history.  We are just on a day-to-day basis going, “OK, where do I stand?  What do I say?  And how does this apply to what I said yesterday?”  And so for us, these last moments before we walked out of this studio for good, to give us something like this cake with this incredible representation on it was unbelievable.  I mean, I can’t even imagine what Susan Lucci was feeling.  I mean, Susan was openly weeping at that point.

MICHAEL:

You and Susan have been with All My Children for so long.  My heart went out to both of you.  I could see much sorrow in Susan’s eyes in the last few months.

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

My favorite phrase is, “The last few years have been such a circus.”  So you just don’t necessarily see the horizon, because there is a lot of smog and smoke in the way.  And the closer we got at the end, you said, good, bad, or indifferent, for all of the ups and downs this thing has been to me, it has been a gift that nobody else in our industry gets a chance to see.  I mean, what other actor do you know gets to go to work every day for decades. It’s not to say you don’t pay a price, you do pay a price.  It costs a great deal to do this, but one of the benefits you have is that you have a very stable home environment.  I am very lucky.  I happen to know that other soaps have a whole different personality about them.  One of the things that Susan Lucci is so great about is that she is a very respectful, kind, gracious, and loving woman.  And so the tone of that place, even through it’s darkest times, was home.  So I cannot imagine what Susan has been going through.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/ABC

What do you think about Susan’s situation with Prospect Park?  Do you think she said a final “No” to moving online with AMC?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Personally, I feel somewhat angered, because I recently think she has been vilified in the press.  There is someone who has a thing out for Susan, whoever that is.  But from what I know and I understand about the situation with Prospect Park, is that Susan has just asked for a little time.  From what I understand, she has not said “No” to Prospect Park.  The woman has done this show for 41 years.  She has been the face of, not just the show, but of daytime for 41 years!  So if she wants to take a sabbatical, then as far as I am concerned all I want to know is where to send the drinks with the umbrellas in them, because she deserves it. You have to understand Susan fought for this show.  She was actually lied to!  She was out on a book tour toeing the network line knowing that it was just rumors, and saying we are looking forward to the future, and we have invested a great deal of time and money and effort, and we have moved this show from one coast to the other, and don’t believe everything you read.  Then, only to have to two days later (when she gets home) deal with the cancellation notice!  Now I don’t know about you, but as far as I am concerned, somebody must have known!  I doubt over 48 hours they said, “Let’s just pull the plug now!”  Somebody sent her out on the road to be the public face of this show, and in some small way humiliate her.  I think that a woman that has endured this deserves a little bit of downtime and respect.  And I think the fans would give it to her immediately, and she deserves the understanding of people.

MICHAEL:

It is completely understandable that the cast feels jaded.  They were uprooted, they move to L.A., people lost their jobs, they came out here and every moment there were cancellation rumors swirling, there was this and that!  How could that not affect someone at this point?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

God bless you.  I could not have said that better myself.  This is what I would like to say about that.  I am incredibly respectful and thankful to Jeff Kwanietz and Rich Frank of Prospect Park who have the foresight to say, “No. This show isn’t done.”  We have been working for people at ABC, and of the three soaps there, and this is only my opinion, and I am sure I will be blasted for saying it, but we have been treated like the redheaded stepchild of the entire line-up for years! You are exactly right, Michael.  Some people have uprooted their homes, they sold their homes, they took spouses who weren’t necessarily excited about the move, the children they had to put in school, all the while they had people telling them, “We are committed to the brand.”  And only a short year and half later to go, “No, No.  This is not working out.”  People have endured salary cuts, which is totally understandable because the economics of the situation are what they are.  And, how many head writing changes did we have over the last several years?  Six? You could never get a beat ahead, or on top of where you character was going.  Basically, we were working with people who were saying, “We don’t care where you have been.  This is where we are taking the show.  We don’t care what the tone of the matter is, we are going to do Sex and the City or we are going to do this, and that.”   If they were committed to the welfare of this show, and the audience that we spent forty years building, it should be respected.  So you look at a cast and crew of people that have just been bitch-slapped so many times.  First it was, “The show is going off the air.”  Then, it was, “We are not really going off the air. Prospect Park might pick us up.”

MICHAEL:

So what do you think of OLTL’s executive producer Frank Valentini heading over to Prospect Park to be their new VP of Serial Dramas?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

God bless Frank Valentini!  I have known him for close to 25 years.  He knows this business from the ground up on everything.  There is not one job that he could not do personally.  One Life to Live was in a totally different place.   It was on much more stable footing… the ratings were better and certainly the economics of the show were better.  So they have also two months on us.  So the transition is a little bit different for them.  And for the rest of us, this is where my heart goes out to Rich and Jeff, because I think they are getting the short end of the stick.  These guys I feel for them, I really do. I think they are kind of looking around going, “One Life to Live was such a lock. What the hell is wrong with AMC?”  They are looking at a bunch of actors who are going, “I don’t know what to think.  I really don’t.”   But I think Agnes Nixon always let you think, “Order comes out of chaos.”   Things do tend to work out.  Agnes was basically given her walking papers and shoved into a closet for the last five years.  She was willing to give notes to say, “This is what is missing.”  And she was basically told, “Thank you very much.  We will take it from here.”  And we all know how that turned out!  That is not to say that it wouldn’t have happened anyway.  So in the end, it may be that something as expensive and as time consuming isn’t meant for network television any more.  That may be the case, but I would argue that I wish we would have gone out on a stronger footing.  I think the sad thing for me is, I look at the amount of press and the outpouring of love of not just from the fans, but critically!  Susan was just on CBS Sunday Morning. This was once a powerful and profitable show for the first 30 years of pop culture.  People are saddened.

MICHAEL:

Where are you with Prospect Park?  What happened with your contract talks?  Have you made your decision to not continue, or would you consider staying on?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

What happened with me was Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz came to me fairly early and said, “We need this.  And, we need this.”  So they offered me a long-term contract hard and fast.  So because of the last few years I have had, where I felt I have had a gun held to my head by ABC a couple of times, I told them I am not going to do that.  However, I do feel I owe a sense of loyalty to Agnes Nixon, my friends in the studio, and more importantly the fans who have kept me on the show.  There were a couple times there over the last few years, where my contribution was being weighed very heavily… and was it necessary to keep this guy around.  The only thing that kept my ass in that studio was the fans.  When Prospect Park came in and offered me a long- term contract, I said, “I can’t do that for all kinds of personal reasons.”  I have to say I am winded.  I am right up there with Susan Lucci.  But I want to help AMC go forward on a recurring basis, or short-term, or whatever.  I realized responsibly how much of the brand Tad is.  You need the Martins in some respect just so you know you are in Pine Valley.  I am not saying or equating them in anyway with ABC’s All My Children.  Let me just say, their offer was generous and it was respectful.  I was somewhat taken aback, because they said to me, “We know who you are, and what you are worth.”  And so I was like, “Wow. That’s a first.” (Laughs)  I have a feeling they may be frustrated and upset with me, so I apologize to them. But I had to base it on the last few years I had.  I had somebody say to me once, “This is what you are worth.  Take it or leave it, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”  I was not in a position at that time to say, “No”.  This is a time where there are very few windows in this lifestyle, where you have a significant amount of personal power in terms of choice, because this is a long-term thing.  I think Rich and Jeff have a lot of work ahead of them. They are still hammering out how to move this thing forward.  I mean, its kind of hard to turn around to actors who have been on this thrill ride for the last few years, going, “We want you to sign for this. And you can’t see who is writing, who is producing the show, and who is directing the show.”  So what you are saying is, “Do this now, and go on good faith. We pay you, so do what we say.”  I have been through eight years of that.  I am not interested right at this juncture. But, I am saying, “Never say never.”

MICHAEL:

I can tell you that the show for the last few years has been unrecognizable.  I could not till recently get through a whole episode!  I would look at the canvas and these characters and go, “What is this?  What show am I watching?”

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

When I came on the show, Pine Valley had character to it and you could understand why people would come through the town and go, “This is a nice place.”  That kind of went away and it became more fragmented and it lost a lot of focus.  And another thing that factored into my choice with Prospect Park is that I have lost faith in the ability for Tad to tell story because I am looking at the nature and the structure of the character.  It just seems the evolution of his character is the transformation of his soul from my wicked ways, to Tad the Cad, to the thing that promotes change – realizing that I am not so important, but my children are.  I think Cady McClain (Dixie) and I were one of the last great super couples.  We came along at a great time, but then we started to see the industry change after the year 2000.  Certainly, after 9/11 things started to feel different. And Tad had never been able to pull out of that orbit.  The fact is I felt my character evolved to a certain point, and there was not somebody like Agnes Nixon in the wings to shepherd the character forward.  I think Tad lost his ability to drive story years and years ago.  And that is not to say I did not get amazing surprises along the way.  Two of them were Lindsay Hartley (Cara) and Finn Wittrock, who played Damian.  Those were the two times where I felt like there is something going on with the history of the character to go forward.  One of those was his un-looked-for son.  And, just when we got to the point where Damian starts an affair with Liza… now it’s this middle aged man who has got to live through his karma and understand both his life-long friend, and his son, are both carrying on a romantic relationship … it stopped. We worked so hard on that for a solid year. I think Finn is one of the most talented performers.  He is a classically trained Julliard graduate. This is a kid whose next job is doing Death of a Salesman with Phillip Seymour Hoffman on Broadway.  There was nothing missing in terms of the talent pool in the storyline.  They just decided they just did not want to go there.  So, that investment that Finn and I, and the audience made just went away overnight.

MICHAEL:

By the end of the run, Michael, Tad had become the morale center of Pine Valley.  How did you feel about that?   Because in my book, they could hand you anything and you can make it work.

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Yes.  I became the morale compass of the show.  I became Joe Martin, which I don’t resent.  I had learned to learn a lot of hard lessons about myself over the last ten years.  I was lucky to have this character to play.  You have a very viable function, and in a way kind of fun.  It was relief in a way to be the support for the other characters.  I kind of made peace with that.  But what I didn’t like was that I felt for the last five years that Tad was a tolerated legacy, and under that stewardship his ability to alter, or change the course of events for his family, for his town, was lost.  There were two things that kept this character alive, and one of them was the love of the fans.  I am sure the network asked themselves every time my contract was up if they needed me on the show.  And they looked at the Q ratings and went, “He is part of the brand.  We can’t change that much.”  The other thing that kept the character alive was Tad’s sense of humor because when stuff got boring, he would comment on it.  One of the things I fell in love with, with him, is that he is a pretty eccentric guy.  He is not quite the greatest fit in the world being the family man, but he sure as hell is trying.

Courtesy/ABC

MICHAEL:

When you came home from the final day of shooting, were you drained? You had to be. When did the reality that you will never be going back to that version of AMC set in?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

I felt drained and in shock.  It wasn’t until five days or a week later, that I went, “Oh, I wonder what Bobbie Eakes (Krystal) is doing?”  I realized I would never see Thorsten Kaye (Zach) again in a working situation, or I wouldn’t be able to hug Cady, or joke with Vince Irizarry (David).  These are people that are major presences in my life and for all intent and purposes are now gone.  And Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake)… he was one of the true bright spots for me.  When I went through a horrific time, and I was no longer the prettiest girl at the dance, and thinking, that I don’t know if I belong here anymore, he was there for me.  Here comes this guy who is just as eccentric as I am.  Ricky is a comic genius.  He is just hysterical.  And we are like, “Let’s soup up the Martin brothers!” And… have that weird repartee’.  I just used to adore working with him.  The people back in the heyday would mine the cast for their eccentricities and then they would play to their hand.  These are the Martins 2.5.  They are not your father’s Martins, but they are just a little clumsier at expressing themselves.  I consider myself lucky to have spent the time I did with Ricky.  And, I felt that was the one thing that they could not take away from us.

MICHAEL:

And then came the news just last week that Mary Fickett, who played your on-screen adoptive mother, Ruth Martin for so many years, passed away.  The timing of it as the show came to its conclusion this week was so unbelievable.   How did you find out of her passing?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Agnes told me, (teary-eyed) and it was hard, and in a way it was like the closing of the door.  I’ve got to tell you, love was such a major part of the show, and Mary Fickett was one of the most talented women I ever worked with.  She had this kind of fierce loyalty to her children.  I remember doing scenes with her where Tad was weighing being a Martin, and that woman would be there with tears in her eyes.  She was in the back of my mind when I delivered those lines recently.  When I found out she was gone (teary-eyed) there was a part of me that said, “Maybe it is an end of an era.  Maybe it is time for me to walk away from this.  The timing of her passing was so weird … like is this a sign from God or what?”

MICHAEL:

I know I was thinking, “Mary! What are you saying to us?”  I also look back to when you first came on the show and Opal was played by Dorothy Lyman!

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Oh Dorothy!  I consider her responsible in some way for my legacy on that show.  I remember Tad came on the show and he was “Mr. Preppy” with the Izod shirts and saying, “Everybody wants to sleep with me.”  And I was not comfortable with that.  She said to me, “Honey, this is the closet thing to Summer Stock you are going to get to television.  If you have got something, bring it.”  And I said, “Well, if I have to be a jerk, can I at least make him funny?”  And she said, “Well don’t talk about it, show them.”  So I spoke with our executive at the time, Jacqueline Babbin, and I said, “Can I make him funny?”  She goes, “We will give it shot and see what happens.”  It is that sense of humor that saved the character, because when they wanted to get rid of me they did that poll about, “We are going to do a fantasy episode, and who do you want to see in it?”  So it was, “Let’s get Tad laid by every woman in Pine Valley except his bride.”  That was a direct result of the fans and a direct result of what Dorothy Lyman said to me back in 1982.

MICHAEL:

How would you have liked to see Tad’s story wrap up if you were writing it?  What would you have done?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

I am kind of at peace with what they did because I understand it. I think the fans were entitled to one happy ending.  You see it’s all about couples in soaps; getting them together and breaking them up. Happy endings can be boring on network television.  So this was a perfect opportunity to say to the audience true love does really win out.  The problem with soaps is nobody has a template for a show that lasts 40 years.  You know, one of the things I am most proud of is my work with Lindsay Hartley (Cara).  She came on the show and in a very short period of time just took off.  We had not seen that in a very long time.  She is a very powerful actress.  Tad and Cara kind of made sense.  Here is this middle age guy and this beautiful young woman, and he doesn’t know if he has the right to fall in love with her, but he does.  Then of course, you could have gone into the whole Jake/Tad issue with one brother falling in love with the ex-wife of the other.  It could have created the conflict further down the line.  So given that, if Dixie was really dead and did not return, I might have said, if Dixie came to him, she would say, “It’s time for you to move on.  The love that we shared is a part of you. You have to pass that on to other people. That is your responsibility. You are the character who was the product of second chances.  Your life was over when you came to this town as a child.  And through the love, support and courage around you, you were given a life.  Now it is your responsibility to do that for others.”  And I thought Lindsay was a big part of that.  She was a new beginning.  But to tell you the truth, I kind of liked what Agnes and Lorraine wrote for the end.  So if that was the curtain being brought down on the show, Tad is back with Dixie. We were supposed to be together.  And the Martins are still in that house and they are still going strong.

MICHAEL:

What would you say to people, who may not ever see you back as Tad again?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

Number one, I would say, “Keep the faith.”  Things evolve the way they are supposed to. I think things are in a state of flux.  Jeff and Rich are trying to get that show on as quickly as they can because they know their audience wants it and they know they deserve that. I respect that.  But I think Tad had been played, I really do.  I will forever be wondering if I went as far as I could under the regimes that were there.  That is why Vince Irizarry is so good.  A bad guy is so good, and can do whatever he wants.  That is why Adam Chandler was wonderful.  David Canary (Adam/Stuart) is the best actor this industry has ever seen, because his character is damaged enough that he can go off the rails.  Tad you can’t do that with.  He is too lovable a guy.  His lessons are too set in stone.  So I just don’t see what they could do with Tad that would alter that.  The audience would love Tad the way he is.  So if I am the Joe Martin, then I am prepared to be there as a part of the brand, so that people know they are in their beloved Pine Valley.  I would be open to come in and out, and if the show is run well …“underlined” I would consider it.  I don’t think I am the only one, I know others in the cast feel beat up as well.  It was unpleasant, tiring, and the move was one of the biggest stressors in life, and for me, I would understand if Rich and Jeff said, “I am sorry you had your shot.”   They have the right to play the game on their terms.  I want to be part of it going forward, just not right now. So we will see.  The future is never what you think its going to be and thank God for that!

MICHAEL:

As AMC airs its final episode tomorrow, what would you want to say to the loyal fans?

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

We are going to do the “Best of “ Pine Valley, I call it! (Laughs)  But it’s a lot of the great guys that will be appearing in a Tribute to Pine Valley, like Walt Willey (Jack), Cameron Mathison (Ryan) Vincent Irizarry, and it’s a lot of really good people. I will get an opportunity to have some time with our fans coming up.  Guys like Prospect Park’s, Rich and Jeff are not fools… between them they know this industry inside and out. The only reason men like this would put themselves on the line is they know there is nothing in the world like a soap audience.  And for a lot of fans, I feel so sorry for them, because it is like losing a friend, and knowing that you are no longer going to see these people, or be part of that family, or go back to Pine Valley.  It is a loss, and that is the reason the show stands a chance going forward.  People were not given as much respect as they should have been.  They were looked down upon or force-fed by the last administration.  The fact that this stands a chance in hell is because of the remarkable dedication of the audience that they showed to us.  They stuck with us through the unrecognizability of the show.  I just say to them, “There is none better.”  I owe them everything.  I owe them my life. I have had a thirty year run off and on, and I think it factors out to be 27 years there, but I have had a job.  I am forever beholden.

MICHAEL:

I just want to say this to you in closing.  You have been so important to so many people who have loved Tad and have loved you. You have brought a lot of smiles, and tears, and joy to so many.  For million of viewers, you will always, always hold a special place in their hearts.  That alone, must be a very unique and special takeaway from being part of the legacy of All My Children.

MICHAEL KNIGHT:

Courtesy/ABC

One of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned is from Susan Lucci.  I watched Susan with her fans at the ABC Super Soap Weekend one year.  There was a woman who came up to her to get her book signed, and she broke into tears.  And the Disney guys are going, “Well, we have got to move the line along!”  And Susan, all 5’ft 2” of her, comes off her podium and comes to the stairs and to this woman and just holds her and hugs her.  She gives her a kiss and these guys start to come over to her!  Susan looked up … and there is nothing more dangerous than a 5 ft 2’ Italian, let me tell you!  She looked at this guy and said, “I am going to be here for a minute!”  And he kind of evaporated.  I commented on that to her later.  She said, “Mikey! They have loved you for 30 years. All they want you to do is love them back for 30 seconds.”  That was profound!  One of the most amazing things about this is that I meet people from all walks of life.  I was having dinner with Catherine Hickland (Ex-Lindsay, OLTL) and some friends and a woman came by and said, “I am going to miss you.”  And I said, “I am going to miss you too.”  The greatest thing about this job is you get to make somebody’s day just by smiling.  And they walk away a little happier, and that is another best thing about the job.  You just never know what something so simple and so easily dismissed can mean to so many people.  If this soap is their guilty pleasure, then god bless each and every one of them.  I count myself blessed to have been able to be a part of it.  If the fans of the show stood in line, no matter how long it would take, I would hug each and every one of them.