Weekend of January 13: So Long, "One Life To Live"

By Sylvia Gurinsky

And so, "One Life To Live" has lived its life.

Now that a Prospect Park rescue seems unlikely, the only thing that is likely is that ABC will replace it with a similar piece of garbage to what they replaced "All My Children" with in September. Total viewership for the two replacement programs won't reach the population of a child's ant farm, but the replacements are cheaper for ABC to air, alas.

Much better, then, to reminisce about Llanview, the town that was the focus of "OLTL." Agnes Nixon, who also created "All My Children," was responsible for this show as well. "One Life To Live" was a bit in the shadow of the more glamourous "AMC" and the more adventurous "General Hospital."

But the show lasted 43 years by breaking ground from the very beginning. It was the first soap opera to feature major African-American and Hispanic characters. It focused on the middle class, and its supercouples tended to be middle-aged. During its golden period - the early 1990s - its storylines educated viewers about rape, incest and homophobia. It won a truckload of Daytime Emmy awards.

It's fitting, then, that four of the top five storylines were set during that golden period. Here they are:

5. The Murder of Marco Dane (1979): The kind of plotline that put the "soap" in "soap opera." Pimp Marco Dane (Gerald Anthony) was supposedly murdered, and Viki Lord (played all except the first three years of the show by Erika Slezak) was indicted. Viki wasn't guilty, but the plotline took a dramatic twist with the revelation of Karen Wolek (Judith Light) as a prostitute - scenes that won Light an Emmy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez79MbbIeFA&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL5BE32849752CC4D0

4. Megan Dies (1992): The couple of Megan and Jake (Jessica Tuck and Joe Lando) charmed viewers with adventure and humor. By 1992, Lando had left "OLTL" to star on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" for CBS, and Tuck also intended to leave the show to try her luck in primetime. A moving storyline had Megan dying of lupus, a connective tissue disease, and Jake being rescued by Rev. Andrew Carpenter (Wortham Krimmer) and coming back in time to be with Megan in her last minutes. The music is a gem in these scenes as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhKMFDp-4oQ

3. Rape of Marty Saybrooke (1993): In 1993, troubled Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell) was gang-raped by several college students led by Todd Manning (Roger Howarth). The aftermath led to major changes in the character of Marty, and certainly raised the awareness of the crime of rape. The storyline also was part of the introduction of the character of Nora Gannon (Hillary B. Smith), who was the defense attorney. Nora would later go on to be part of the most enjoyable romantic duo ever on the show, with Bo Buchanan (Robert S. Woods).

2. Billy Douglas Comes Out (1992): Young Ryan Philippe movingly played Billy Douglas, a teenaged friend of Joey Buchanan who was gay. All sides of what people still go through are shown in these scenes in which Billy tells Andrew, while Marty eavesdrops:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u901Pj69J3c&feature=related

1. Viki/Niki (entire series): Erika Slezak has had fun contrasting the prim and proper (and nice) Viki with her alters - especially Niki Smith:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcGYT_dzq_E&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL6828D1989EA984CA

But there's a serious side to the story: Viki being a victim of abuse by her own father, Victor Lord - triggering multiple personality disorder, which was explored in another excellent 1990s storyline:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YqL9vciXdg&feature=related

And yes, that is young Nathan Fillion ("Castle"), one of the actors to play Joey Buchanan.

If ABC and Prospect Park aren't going to bring back the show in over-the-air form, and ABC plans to end "General Hospital" as well (ABC execs were tight-lipped about that show's future this week, but it's easy to assume they'll pull the plug as soon as Katie Couric's show goes on the air next fall), here's a proposal:

Create an online archive for all three shows, and let those fans who have loved and supported "All My Children," "One Life To Live" and "General Hospital" all these years enjoy the memories of Erica Kane, Viki Buchanan, Luke and Laura Spencer and company in perpetuity.

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See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!