Talks Intensify on ABC Soap Cancellations

According to TV Guide, there has been some “reliable” rumors going around about the possibility of ABC canceling All My Children, and likely One Life to Live as well. The word on the street is that ABC daytime chief Brian Frons has a talk show and a reality show lined up for this Fall, which would put the cancellation pretty soon if it were to happen. Both a talk show and a reality show would be much cheaper to produce for the network. Worse yet, supposedly Mr. Frons has shown a ‘devil may care’ attitude towards this decision, which would be a major shift, leaving only General Hospital as the network’s only running Soap. When contacted for comment, ABC Daytime PR chief Jori Petersen told TV Guide, “I have no announcement, and these are just rumors that you are hearing. I am sorry to hear that they’re escalating but I cannot confirm anything.” Course, he also couldn’t confirm that they were just rumors either.

In the meantime however, the same TV Guide reporter says that they were e-mailed by a studio rep, in an effort by ABC to do damage control after the report came out about the cancellation, that All My Children has hired a new (old) head writer, veteren Lorraine Broderick.

This didn’t come as any surprise however to anyone, since the current head writer duo, Dave Kreizman and Donna Swajeski, didn’t really have much success, and were at the end of their contracts. Broderick, who has a long highly regarded history with All My Children, and has great respect and affection for the show, would actually be the perfect fit to wrap the show up unfortunately.

The representative (who did not wish to be named) claims the Broderick deal is “multi-year”, which made many in the press believe this means All My Children will be safe from the axe, however the TV Guide reporter, Michael Logan, doesn’t believe it. According to him, “I’m not budging on the news I delivered last Friday: ABC Daytime chief Brian Frons has marked both soaps for death.”

Sometimes behind the scenes can be just as dramatic as the Soaps themselves apparantly. It’s one of those ‘stay tuned’ moments, waiting for the following week to see what will happen next. Will your beloved characters and show make it through this dangerous situation? I guess we wait and see!

Will you be upset to see them go? Will you contact Mr. Frons and let him know what you think about his new quest? Let us know below!