The Icon the Mouse Killed

The Icon the Mouse Killed


Sorry dear readers that I have not posted a blog in a while, but the holidays are over, thankfully, and I am ready to get back on my beloved schedule. Today I am going to talk about the death of the soap opera One Life To Live. This topic isn't important to many readers I am sure, but if you have ever stayed home from school or work sick I am willing to bet you have watched at least some or all of a daytime drama in your life time. Perhaps your mother or grandmother watched her "stories" during the day while doing her house work. The cancellation of this American institution is important to myself and millions of others, so bare with us while I mourn.

I began watching daytime dramas very young, at my mother's knee if you will. I remember her watching "The Edge of Night", "Secret Storm", "Days of Our Lives" and "Dark Shadows" before I even began school. My favorite was "Dark Shadows" it still is as I have it cued up on my Netflix, and am eagerly awaiting the upcoming movie starring Johnny Depp. When I started school, I could not wait to get home to watch it and because of my twice-a-year tonsil issues growing up there would be usually two weeks of soap watching with my mom during school and and of course all summer long. Soaps where hardly ever in reruns back in the day. Fast forward to my teenage years. In 1976 I began watching "General Hospital" It was the days before Laura met Luke and they became a super couple that was even talked about in prime time. I had found my own "story", and during the summer I would turn on the television early and watch "All My Children", "One Life to Live", as well as GH. I will admit though, as I grew up I lost interest in All My Children and could never really rekindle a love for it, and One Life to Live became something that was on before General Hospital which I still watch religiously today, until three years ago. That is when OLTL stole my heart yet again.

Starr was pregnant, Todd was being Todd though we found out he was really his twin Victor, and Dorian was just all over the place. If you have never watched the show, you have no idea what I am talking about, but millions of us worldwide know, they have become like family members to us. When we get together we talk about the characters like they are real people, and even if we are strangers, we are bonded together by our Llanview, Pennsylvania family. A year ago after months of swearing that the rumors of cancellation where untrue, ABC the American Broadcasting Company owned by Disney announced that "All My Children" and "One Life To Live" where indeed being cancelled. They stated that the viewers wanted information not entertainment, and commenced to fire thousands of people on both the east coast and west coast that where involved with these shows, replacing them with what they admitted where low budget information shows. "The Chew" starring a couple of chefs who had outlived  their usefulness to The Food Network and "The Revolution" starring Ty Pennington and more people that I personally have never heard of. Millions of viewers cried foul. Campaigns began for fans to email, call, fill out coupons to mail in, and rally at ABC affiliates all over the country, but sadly we could do nothing effective to save our soaps. Then prior to the demise of All My Children a company named Prospect Park appeared to save the day, promising to put our soaps on line. Later when they said they just couldn't make it happen just a couple of weeks ago, did many of us viewers realize it was probably just smoke and mirrors to quiet down the out cry that was causing so much discomfort for the House of Mouse.

So here we sit, 1 week left until One Life to Live ends fittingly on Friday the 13th.  This past Thursday #OLTL trended  on Twitter for the entire time it was on in all the different time zones in the US, Friday it trended world wide. Thursday the drama had me on the edge of my seat and my chest hurting, on Friday I was reduced to sobbing. I realized I felt like I was being divorced, my best friend was moving away or worse passing on to the great unknown all rolled into one. Mainstream media is even writing articles touting that this is the worst mistake ever made by ABC as far as programming goes. So what will I be doing with my time Monday through Friday from 1 to 2 pm CST after this week? Not watching ABC. I still stand with the boycott. The only show that the network airs I watch will be General Hospital. If it is cancelled, ABC and the other channels under Disney will be blocked on all 3 of my televisions. And I will continue to assist in my small way in trying to find a new home for the soaps. After all, my reality, the one life I live  is enough reality for me. I want to be entertained.