'All My Children' and 'One Life To Live' returning online

Earlier this month, a holiday miracle came early for soap opera fans when it was reported that iconic daytime dramas All My Children and One Life To Live would be resurrected like so many soap opera characters. Once production company Prospect Park brokered deals with the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, preliminary talks began with former cast members and filming is now expected to be underway in Stamford, Connecticut by February. Both shows will be comprised of 30-minute episodes featuring limited advertisements instead of the 60 minutes – with commercials – they ran on ABC. Eschewing an agreement with the Writers Guild of America, the producers plan to use financial core writers who have given up full membership in the guild in order to work on the shows.

In July 2011, Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz's Prospect Park signed a licensing deal with ABC to keep the shows alive for online distribution as part of an online network that was scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2012. Unfortunately, difficult negotiations with the guilds resulted in the company pulling the plug on its plans despite securing a slew of actors to reprise their roles on the long-running soaps. Undeterred by these setbacks, Frank and Kwatinetz never lost hope that they would be able to bring the shows back and quietly worked over the summer to reassemble their plans. As they did previously, Prospect Park is also seeking a traditional television second window for both shows, possibly on cable.

Are you looking forward to the return of All My Children and One Life To Live?