There was a time when we were worried that there would be no more soaps to write about. But with The Bold and the Beautiful maintaining its grasp on the title of most-watched daytime drama in the world, The Young and the Restless holding on to the No. 1 slot in the Nielsen ratings and Days of Our Lives thriving at Peacock (despite serious issues behind the scenes), we’re breathing a lot easier. The icing on the cake? ABC just restated in no uncertain terms its commitment to and enthusiasm for General Hospital.
Perhaps at long last the network is even ready to reconsider unmaking the grievous mistake that was made in 2011, when it swung the axe at both All My Children and One Life to Live, and replaced them with cheaper but more disposable fare. All My Children vets Kelly Ripa (Hayley) and Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo) have in the works a primetime reboot of their show called Pine Valley. (Watch the video to get an update on the project from no less than Susan Lucci, aka Erica Kane.) And just last year, All My Children alum Walt Willey was invited to reprise his role of Jackson Montgomery on General Hospital.
As for One Life to Live, veteran vixen Kassie DePaiva only recently slipped back into Blair Cramer’s stilettos to give her a new tie to Port Charles and General Hospital (via ex-husband Martin, played by All My Children MVP Michael E. Knight). But there has been no talk of a One Life to Live revival since the short-lived streaming effort came and went in 2013.
No talk that we’ve heard, anyway. Behind the scenes, a shrewd executive could be looking at the television landscape, seeing the audience for network television eroding and asking, “Where have all the loyal viewers gone?” The answer: We’re still here, you just cancelled our shows, doofus. To solve your problem, simply give us what we want: One Life to Live back on the air.
The pieces are all in place. Erika Slezak and Robin Strasser could pick up where they left off as frenemies Viki and Dorian. ABC could keep in the family Roger Howarth by rehiring him as Todd Manning (since he was killed off General Hospital as first Austin and then Franco). DePaiva could obviously still play Blair with one hand tied behind her back. And heaven knows Tuc Watkins (David) is as handsome and funny as ever.
We know just how to kick off One Life to Live 3.0, too: with a splashy murder mystery. If Robert S. Woods wants to stay retired — before The Online Network came calling, he told We Love Soaps, “I’m just fooling around with the plants and chopping wood” — kill off Bo and then sit Hillary B. Smith’s Nora to work cracking the case. The last thing on her mind would be romance, but stranger things would have happened than sparks flying between her and ex-husband Hank, aka Bo’s BFF, as they worked together to bring the culprit to justice! (Stranger things like… this, even.)
And, hey, if new writers needed inspiration for future stories, they could always revisit the past via the Llanview tell-all below.
Scroll through the below photo gallery to revisit the glory days of One Life to Live.
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