Beyond the Gates: First Look at Opening Credits (CBS Daytime Soap Opera)

Here's a first look at the Opening Credits for CBS' upcoming new daytime soap opera, Beyond the Gates, which premieres on Monday February 24, 2025. As someone who has been a HUGE fan of soap operas ever since I was a kid, I've really been looking forward to Beyond the Gates' premiere ever since the show was originally announced. As for my thoughts on the theme song and opening credits, I like the theme song, and it's definitely growing on me the more times that I hear it; but I definitely don't love it.

It's pretty hard for me to say what soap opera has my favorite opening credits or theme song. I've always loved the theme song for now canceled the NBC/DirecTV soap opera, Passions. I'm also a big fan of the theme song / opening for the now canceled ABC soap opera, All My Children. WhilIe it's not necessarily a "theme song", I've always loved the Days of Our Lives theme song and opening credits. Days of Our Lives is also the first soap opera that I ever watched when I was a kid, and I still watch it now every day on Peacock.

I've also always been a huge fan of the different versions of the opening credits that I've seen over the years for The Bold & The Beautiful. The Bold & The Beautiful definitely has always been my favorite, when it comes to the theme songs and opening credits for CBS' daytime soap operas that I've watched over the years.

Major Crimes: Hold on tight everybody, because this episode is oozing with family drama (My thoughts on episode 3x11 “Down the Drain”)

Right off the bat, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and I’ve really missed Major Crimes since its last episode (Zoo Story) aired back in August. As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to crime shows, it’s very important that the cases of the week be interesting and engaging, otherwise the show definitely suffers as a whole. Admittedly, I didn’t like the episode “Zoo Story” all that much as a whole because I thought that the case they were working on that episode was kind of boring, but I loved the subplot with Rusty’s mom being in jail and wanting Rusty’s help to get out of jail. While I found that episode rather disappointing for the most part, the last scene of the episode where Raydor visits Rusty’s mom in prison and tells her about the “deal” that she had arranged for her was truly awesome. I can’t even count how many times I’ve watched that scene at this point. Fortunately, when it comes to this episode, I found the case of the week very interesting. I thought it was full of twists and turns, and it definitely had some genuinely sad elements to it as well.

The team found a dead woman’s body in the sewer at the beginning of the episode, and after Dr. Morales examined her body, he discovered that she had recently given birth, and things only got more complicated from there. It turns out that she had been trying to pull off a big surrogacy scam on three different couples by leading them to believe that she was pregnant with their baby. One couple was apparently very wealthy, there was another couple involved and it was clear that the whole scam had put a major emotional and financial strain on their marriage. The other couple was gay a couple (Two men), and being bisexual myself, I think it’s always nice to see LGBT characters on TV.

However, the gay couple is a part of one of the few things that bugged me about this episode, which I’ll get to in a moment. Once the team found out that the baby was with the wealthy couple that she had been scamming, they had to determine which couple the baby belonged to, meaning that they had to do a paternity test. This brings me to one of my only complaints that I have with this episode. The gay couple apparently didn’t know which one of them was supposed to be the father since they had apparently wanted the doctors to randomly choose which one of them would be the father. Personally, I think the whole idea of two men having a child together, but not wanting to know which one of them is the father is something that I feel is a bit cliché when it comes to TV these days. However, it didn’t bug me nearly as much here, because all of the other times that I’ve seen TV shows do this, they’ve been comedies, namely Glee and most recently Marry Me, that have both used this idea as the basis of a joke by having the child be white when one of the two possible biological fathers is African American. Thankfully, the writers didn’t try to work that joke into the episode, which is why it didn’t bother me nearly as much here. The whole issue of the baby’s paternity became even more complicated when the team found out that the woman had a boyfriend in the picture, and Raydor realized that he could possibly be the baby’s father.

Major Crimes: Hang on, Everybody! The team is about to enter the world of ratings-challenged TV shows, self-absorbed actors, bad fan fiction and psycho super fans (My thoughts on episode 3x08 “Cutting Loose”)

I started watching Major Crimes this season, and while I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the entire season, this is definitely my favorite episode of the season. While most of the episodes have been pretty dramatic and intense this season, this was definitely the most lighthearted episode of the season. That was definitely one of the things that made me enjoy it so much. It was definitely different from a lot of the episodes of Major Crimes that I’ve seen at this point, but I think it was different in a good way.

The case that the team was working on this week involved the murder of a woman named Zelda Lambert, the long-time stalker of a famous TV star, Jonny Worth, who was played by Luke Perry. Right off the bat, I have to say that one of the greatest strengths of this episode was definitely Luke Perry’s portrayal of Jonny. Jonny was incredibly vain, shallow and self-absorbed, and Perry played that quite well. TVLine gave Luke Perry an honorable mention for his performance in this week’s “Performers of the Week” column (Lizzy Caplan & Michael Sheen: Performance in Masters of Sex ‘Fight’ Episode | TVLine), and I definitely think that it was well deserved. Whether he was taking a selfie next to a picture of himself as he was standing next to a picture of himself that was hanging on what he referred to as “the murder board”, which was the board that the team was hanging all of the evidence and writing all the facts pertaining to the case on, or interacting with Rusty, who he initially believed was someone who worked undercover for the bureau, Perry stole every scene he was in.

Due to the fact that Jonny is a famous actor, the team had to be careful with how they handled the situation, otherwise he could “lawyer up” as Raydor explained to Rusty at one point in the episode. Fortunately for Jonny, he was ruled out as a suspect pretty early on in the episode and helped the team as they worked on the case throughout the rest of the episode. One of the many recurring bits in the episode was Provenza’s repeated insistence that Zelda’s husband had to be the person that killed her, saying that “It’s always the husband”. Provenza’s repeated insistence that Zelda’s husband had to be her killer really seemed to annoy everybody, and Raydor pointed out that if he always guessed that it was the husband who killed their wives, he was bound to be right every now and then.

Things didn’t look good for Jonny at first though due to the fact that he apparently had a long history of being stalked by Zelda to the point where he had to file multiple restraining orders against her and Zelda’s dead body was found in a storage container that belonged to him. It was quickly established that Zelda had apparently had a lot of psychological issues though, and she even had spent some time at a psychiatric facility at one point in her life. Due to Zelda’s psychiatric issues, her husband didn’t even bother reporting the fact that she had supposedly gone missing for several days, mainly because she apparently had a history of going off on her own for days at a time, only to come back. This is something that only served to fuel Provenza’s repeated insistence that Zelda’s husband was the one who killed her.

House of Cards: Guest-star related scoop on season 3 from TVLine's Michael Ausiello

Here's some scoop on House of Cards from this week's (Posted on 6/18/14) Ask Ausiello column.

Question: Do you have anything on House of Cards? —Mark
Ausiello: All My Children’s Christina Lind (pictured, right) will appear in the Netflix drama’s upcoming third season, but the show’s Mad Men-esque veil of secrecy prevents me from telling you who she’s playing.

Link to the full article:‘Reign’ Season 2 Spoilers — Catherine’s Daughter Cast, Henry’s Death | TVLine

Smash: Karen, Jimmy, Ivy and Eileen related scoop on the series finale (Episode 2x17 "The Tonys") from TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich

Here's some scoop on Smash from TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich's weekly column Matt's Inside Line for the week of 5/9/13.

Now that Smash‘s Karen told Jimmy that she loves him, will they be getting back together anytime soon before the series finale? And will Jimmy tell Karen that he loves her? –Kristina
Let’s just say the would-be couple has a “moment” in the finale airing Sunday, May 26. You’ll also see the entire cast singing “Under Pressure”; Karen and Ivy will reteam for a musical number; and Eileen’s bad boy squeeze Nick (played by All My Children‘s Thorsten Kaye) will resurface.

 

Link to the full article:‘Grey’s Anatomy’ ‘Scandal’ ‘Falling Skies’ ‘Smash’ Spoilers - TVLine

Grey's Anatomy: Scoop on the Owen/Ethan storyline from TVLine's Michael Ausiello

Here's some scoop on Grey's Anatomy from this week's (Posted on 4/30/13) Ask Ausiello column.

Question: Do you have any scoop on Grey’s Anatomy? —BP
Ausiello: If you are among the few who believe that this Owen/Ethan storyline will have a shiny, happy ending — with the motherless, potentially fatherless lad skipping off to live with his grandma Nancy — I’d like to introduce you to this thing called television. “There are a lot of interesting twists coming up, ones that I did not expect,” All My Children alum Jennifer Bassey, who plays Nancy, tells us. “It will really tear your heart out…. It’s heavy-duty stuff!” In other Grey’s news, Shonda Rhimes tweeted the following finale tease on Tuesday and I can’t get it out of my damn head! “On set at Grey’s. A piece of this scene was so top-secret that I had to whisper it to the director instead of writing it in the script.” Anyone by chance know what supermarket Rob Corn shops at? E-mail me privately at askausiello@tvline.com.

Link to the full article:‘Scandal’ Spoilers: The Mole’s Identity Revealed — and More Scoop in Ask Ausiello - TVLine

All My Children: The citizens of Pine Valley are finally be back! (My thoughts on the online premiere)

I’m not going to deny that I was very skeptical about the idea of All My Children becoming an online soap opera when the news of Prospect Park wanting to take the show, as well as One Life to Live, online for a variety of reasons. For starters, the news that they might be able save All My Children and One Life to Live from cancellation just seemed too good to be true, so sadly I wasn’t all that surprised when Prospect Park announced that they wouldn’t be able to go through with their plans to do that. When Prospect Park announced their second attempt at reviving All My Children and One Life To Live, I chose to remain skeptical just in case things once again didn’t work out.

Even when it was announced that things were indeed going to work after all with taking All My Children online, I continued to feel rather skeptical about the whole thing, only this time my skepticism was more about whether or not the quality of the writing and over all production values for the online relaunch would be good since the quality of online web series has often been hit, miss, or a mix of good and bad in my experience. Given the fact that this relaunch features quite a few recasts for the characters from the younger generation who have been SORASed, as well as some completely new faces, I was also skeptical about of all these cast changes. That being said, I’m very pleased to say that this is the best online production that I’ve ever seen for a show.

With the exception of Eric Nelsen who plays the now teenage AJ Chandler, I was immediately impressed with all of the new cast members. Although, to be fair to Eric and his portrayal of AJ, he did start to grow on me as the episode progressed. He especially started grow on me once I got to his scenes with Denyse Tontz, who now plays Miranda, who’s also a teenager now. As I was watching their scenes together, I got a very strong feeling that AJ and Miranda will become a couple at some point, and I’d like to see that happen since Eric Nelsen and Denyse Tontz definitely have great chemistry together. It doesn’t look like they will be getting together any time soon though since Miranda was obsessing over another guy right in front of AJ. I have to say that I loved AJ’s reaction to Miranda fixating over the guy she apparently has a crush on despite the fact that it sounds like that the guy has pretty much only said hi to her at this point in time.

Given the fact that I’ve watched a lot of teen dramas over the years, such as 90210 and Gossip Girl, I’ve never been one to get too bent out of shape over the age of actors playing teenagers or the age gap between the actors playing teenagers and the age of the actors playing their parents. That being said, I found myself thinking that Eric Nelsen is too old to play a teenager as I was watched this episode. As soon as Eric first appeared, I was instantly reminded of David Hornsby, who’s a writer for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and also plays the role of Rickety Cricket on the show as well. Personally, I think that Eric Nelsen looks an awful lot like David Hornsby, but I digress. Although, for the record, I don’t know how old he is in real life, and I found myself not fixating on wondering how old Eric is in real life as the episode progressed. That being said, based on the preview for the next episode Eden Regal looks too young to be playing the mother of a teenager, if you ask me. Instead it looked like Bianca and Miranda were two sisters talking. I’ll try to reserve judgment about Eden playing the mother of a teenager until I actually see some scenes between Bianca and Miranda though.

Grey's Anatomy: Casting related scoop on episode 9x21 from TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich

Here's some scoop on Grey's Anatomy from TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich's weekly column Matt's Inside Line for the week of 3/21/13.   

Grey’s Anatomy | Just a quick casting nugget: If you are an All My Children fan of any duration,  dahling, know that grande dame Jennifer Bassey (aka Marion Colby Chandler) is set to guest-star in two episodes (starting with No. 21) as the grandmother of a little boy whose parents are both critically injured in an accident. (Owen takes said lad “under his wing” during the difficult time, at least until Grams arrives. Hmm….)

Link to the full article:Supernatural, Smash, Grimm Spoilers — Once Upon a Time, Grey’s Anatomy - TVLine

Castle: Scoop on episode 5x05 "Probable Cause" from TVLine's Michael Ausiello

Here's some scoop on Castle from this week's (Posted on 10/16/12) Ask Ausiello column.

Question: I need a Castle scoop! —Valentina 
Ausiello: I know that many of you are fretting over the next episode, slated for Oct. 29 and titled “Probable Cause,” where, as the team investigates the beautiful victim of a ritualistic murder, Beckett begins to wonder how well she really knows her new lover. Well, I can offer two things: One, the empty platitude: “Keep the faith,” and two, the shiny object that is the guest-casting of All My Children alumna Alexa Havins (aka she of the interminable OLTL crossover baby switch storyline, and the equally turgid Torchwood: Miracle Day) as the deceased’s roommate.

Link to the full article:Spoilers on ‘Castle’ and ‘NCIS’ — Plus Scoop on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Glee,’ ‘Community’ and More! - TVLine

Bones: Scoop on episode 8x02 "The Partners in the Divorce" from TVLine's Michael Ausiello

Here's some scoop on Bones from this week's (Posted on 9/18/12) Ask Ausiello column.

Question: I loved the Bones premiere. Everyone was fantastic and Booth and Brennan’s relationship is my favorite on TV. Do you have any exclusive scoop on what’s coming for them? —Cassidy 
Ausiello: A delayed showdown over her little disappearing act. “Here’s the thing — [Booth] went three months without the person he loves,” explains exec producer Stephen Nathan. “He finally has her back and the last thing he’s going to be is angry. It’s like a honeymoon [period]. Afterwards, other feelings might come up. And believe me, that will be dealt with in [next Monday's] episode. You’ve never seen them like this. There’s tension we haven’t seen before.” Adds series creator Hart Hanson: “It will scare people. They’ll be taken aback.” Anyone want to join me in a chorus of, “Yiiiiiiiiiiikes!” Bonus Spoiler: Soaps vet Melissa Claire Egan (The Young and the Restless‘ Chelsea/All My Children‘s Annie) guest-stars on next Monday’s episode as a “trophy wife” who gets grilled, as a person of interest, by Booth.

Link to the full article:‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Spoilers — Plus Scoop on ‘Dexter’ ‘Mad Men’ and More in Ask Ausiello - TVLine

Cameron Mathison Guest-Stars on Desperate Housewives Season 8-TVLine

One of Pine Valley’s finest is coming to Wisteria Lane.

All My Children alum Cameron Mathison has landed a guest spot on the final season of Desperate Housewives, playing Bree’s next lover.

“[Marcia Cross and I] have a couple of fun scenes,” he tells ABC Soaps In Depth. “I really loved working with her.”

Mathison’s episode is slated to air in late January.

Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…

• The Save Community movement just kicked things into high gear, thanks to a little help from the folks at College Humor. Take a peek at the below “PSA,” which features the entire cast (hilariously) pleading with people to give their show Greendale a chance. (You see, due to “a teensy little attendance problem,” the college is going to have to close its doors “for a few months” — but they’ll be back!) And always remember… Pop, pop!


****Special note: You can watch this video on the page for the original article.****


• “It looks like a beast-fest.” So says TVLine’s own Michael Slezak of ABC’s latest promo for the new season of The Bachelor. See for yourselves by checking out said preview at EW.com. (Warning: There is actual nudity in the clip!)

• The Secret Circle‘s Chris Zylka has been promoted to series regular, EW.com reports. The actor joined the CW series in October as witch-hunter Jake.

• J.J. Abrams and One Tree Hill showrunner Mark Schwahn have teamed up on a drama project for The CW, Deadline reports. The potential series will revolve around the lives of staff members and guests at a Maine inn.

• Funny lady Kathy Griffin has landed a guest spot on NBC’s Whitney, TV Guide Magazine reports. The My Life on the D List star will play a co-worker of Whit’s pal Roxanne.

• Lifetime has given the green light to Sworn to Silence, a two-hour movie/backdoor pilot starring and co-executive produced by Neve Campbell (Scream). Per Deadline, the potential series (based on the novel by the same name) centers on a former Amish woman (Campbell) who returns to her farming community as its Chief of Police.

• Robin Givens (Head of the Class) will play a longtime rival of Cheryl Hines’ Dallas on a March episode of ABC’s Suburgatory, EW.com reports.

• The first of three Ab Fab specials, The Absolutely Fabulous 20th Anniversary Special, is set to premiere Sunday, Jan. 8 at 10/9c on Logo and BBC America, per TVGuide.com.

This article was written by Megan Masters.

Link to the original article:Cameron Mathison Guest-Stars on Desperate Housewives Season 8, Save Community Campaign

Chrishell Stause Talks Body of Proof Role, Original All My Children Finale-TVLine

This Tuesday on Body of Proof (ABC, 10/9c), Chrishell Stause – who on All My Children dealt with all kinds of drama, including a cancer scare – must face a possible murder rap, guest-starring as a party planner who’s got a secret or two. TVLine invited the actress to preview her visit to the ABC procedural as well as weigh in on AMC‘s needlessly odd (in retrospect) series finale.


TVLINE | Let’s start with Body of Proof: Who gets murdered? And how do you fit in?
I play Justine, a party planner, and when her boyfriend shows up dead, she ends up becoming a suspect. He was a lottery winner, so there are a few suspects because of the money situation, and Justine is actually preparing a big party for him when the detectives show up investigating his murder – and no one there knows that he’s dead. It all starts with this big lavish party, but obviously he’s not going to show up.

TVLINE | Let’s hope not. What kind of dead is he? Shot, poisoned, heaved off a balcony…?
He’s stabbed, and in a very, very brutal way.

TVLINE | Given the way you’re rocking the motorcycle garb and how you wear the hell out of a party dress, people are going to want to think you did it. How is Justine’s alibi looking?
Welllll…. She starts out as a good girl party planner, but when they go to look for his bike, which has been stolen, a bike chase ensues. You don’t know if it’s a man or a woman [they're chasing], but when the helmet comes off, it’s me.

TVLINE | That doesn’t bode well.
Exactly. That leads to an interrogation and this whole thing….

TVLINE | Did you do any of the riding yourself?
I luckily had a very good stunt double who knew what she was doing, so I just got to look cool. [Laughs]

TVLINE | Who did you get to work with most, John Carroll Lynch (Bud Morris) and Nick Bishop (Peter Dunlop)?
Yes, and they were both so lovely. It was Nick’s birthday the day after I started, so we all went out to celebrate.



TVLINE | I met the entire cast at a party in L.A. this summer, and John is just this big ol’ teddy bear.
He is! What’s funny is that I didn’t know that he was [Drew's cross-dressing brother] from The Drew Carey Show. The one who was in drag with the crazy make-up? That was him!

TVLINE | And Nick, the show’s “big heartthrob,” is almost surprisingly reserved….
He’s a character, in the best way possible. The whole cast and crew, by the end they were hugging me goodbye. You wouldn’t expect that from a different show.

TVLINE | You landed Body of Proof immediately after All My Children wrapped. Did that inform your decision to not sign on for Prospect Park’s online plan? Were you like, “I have some options here”?
No. To be honest with you, that Prospect Park thing was such a disaster. They came to people and gave one offer, and when it came time to renegotiate they never came back to the table. It wasn’t the actors that weren’t trying to make something work.

TVLINE | Were you also skeptical that it would ever come to pass?
I was always open to doing it as long as I could do it while doing other things. I certainly didn’t want [Prospect Park to have] exclusivity. I know how devoted the fans are, and if we could have made that work, it would have been great to do it. I’ve done a web series before, so I thought I could swing it and other projects on the side, but then I just never heard back. [Prospect Park has since abandoned its plan to take AMC and One Life to Live online.]




TVLINE | Let’s talk about that AMC finale. There on the set, was there any talk of, “Hey, maybe we should shoot an alternate version – just in case“?
We did shoot a different version, and I love the version we shot originally. But then the Prospect Park thing came about. We only had Kate Collins [who plays Amanda's mother Janet] for a few days, so we had to shoot our ending with her really, really early. And then the Prospect Park thing happened and they changed the ending to what you saw. What’s sad is that I know what the ending as supposed to be, so I feel like the fans were robbed. We all had these vignettes that were beautiful and really great, so that’s the biggest regret.

TVLINE | Instead, we were left with crazed J.R. firing off some phantom gunshot.
I know…. But the film for the ending that was never used is out there, somewhere!

TVLINE | What’s your plan now? To get in fighting shape for pilot season?
I just wrapped up classes at The Groundlings, which was very challenging and cool, to brush up on my comedy stuff for pilot season. And Luke 11:17 is the web series I did, and we’re going to shoot Season 2 in February. But yeah, pilot season is supposed to be great this year, and I’ve already started some auditions. I’m really excited to focus and hit it hard.

TVLINE | When I heard that you were leaning towards primetime comedy, I found it interesting given all the drama you of course handled on the soap.
I always saw myself doing comedy, so when I got the job on All My Children it was not my thing — I had to slowly get into it. So yeah, I’d like to switch it up, but I love acting in general so I won’t be picky. But the two things I want to check off my list for sure are a comedy, and any kind of scary horror movie. I definitely want to be the killer or the girl screaming away in the forest!

This article was written by Matt Webb Mitovich.

Link to the original article:Chrishell Stause Talks Body of Proof Role, Original All My Children Finale

Nikita Casts All My Children's William deVry, Taye Diggs, Kevin Jonas and More to Co-Host Live! With Kelly-TVLine

All My Children alum William deVry has nabbed a recurring gig on Nikita.

The former daytime star — who was seen briefly on The CW spy thriller last week — tells ABC Soaps in Depth that his role is much more pivotal than it may have originally seemed.


“I’m playing a guardian [named Patrick Miller],” deVry revealed. “He’s the keeper of secrets and a very important pawn in the game of espionage… I’m doing all my own stunts, too: running, knife fights, gun shooting, and blowing ‘em up!” The actor is set to appear in at least six episodes of Nikita, which airs its fall finale this Friday and returns Jan. 6.

Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…

• Live! With Kelly has lined up a few more guest co-hosts: Taye Diggs, Kevin Jonas, Michael Bublé and Bryant Gumbel will each take a turn in the tall chairs the week of Dec. 12.

• The CW will launch its virtual bingo game CWingo tonight during a rebroadcast of The Vampire Diaries (airing at 8/7c). Play on Facebook with friends and strangers as the episode airs live to win special badges and potential prizes.

• The revamped Early Show will be known as CBS This Morning beginning Monday, Jan. 9.

• ReelzChannel has ordered True Justice, its first original scripted series, Deadline reports. The drama will star action movie staple, Steven Seagal, as a member of the Seattle Police Department’s hardcore underground unit.

This article was written by Megan Masters.

Link to the original article:Nikita Casts All My Children's William deVry, Taye Diggs, Kevin Jonas and More to Co-Host Live! With Kelly

All My Children and One Life To Live online move officially canceled-From Inside the Box-Zap2it

Canceled soaps "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" have officially gotten the axe -- again.

Prospect Park, the company that promised to start an online network to re-launch the beloved soaps online, announced today that it has run into so many hurdles in trying to negotiate contracts for the soaps' new leases on life that it will be impossible to continue.

Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz of Prospect Park issued a joint statement with the news, saying, "After five months of negotiations with various guilds, hundreds of presentations to potential financial and technology partners, and a hope that we could pioneer a new network for the future, it is with great disappointment that we are suspending our aspirations to revive 'One Life to Live' and 'All My Children' via online distribution."

Although the two had high hopes for launching a new network online, there just wasn't enough time to establish a new type of business model for the shows. "It is now becoming clear that mounting issues make our ability to meet our deadlines to get 'OLTL' on the air in a reasonable time period following its January 13, 2012 ABC finale impossible," say Frank and Kwatinetz. "We always knew it would be an uphill battle to create something historical, and unfortunately we couldn't ultimately secure the backing and clear all the hurdles in time. We believe we exhausted all reasonable options apparent to us, but despite enormous personal, as well as financial cost to ourselves, we failed to find a solution."

Prospect Park admits it was ultimately contractual issues that caused the trouble, saying, "While we narrowed in on a financial infrastructure, the contractual demands of the guilds, which regulate our industry, coupled with the program's inherent economic challenges ultimately led to this final decision. In the end, the constraints of the current marketplace, including the evolution and impact of new media on our industry simply proved too great a match for even our passion.

Earlier in November, reports surfaced that "AMC" wouldn't return until much later in 2012 due to contract disputes, but Prospect Park was still working to bring the show online.

For the record, "OLTL" stars Erika Slezak, Michael Easton, Ted King, Kassie DePaiva and Sean Ringgold had all signed on to stay, while the only "AMC" actors officially on board were Cameron Mathison and Lindsey Hartley.

"AMC" ended its historical run in September, while "OLTL" concludes in January.

This article was written by Jean Bentley.

Link to the original article:'All My Children' and 'One Life To Live' online move officially canceled - From Inside the Box - Zap2it

ON THE BRINK: Online Soap Opera Network May Fold, Spelling The End Of ‘OLTL’, ‘AMC’–Deadline.com

Here's another article about the situation with All My Children and One Life To Live that gives more details about the current situation.




EXCLUSIVE: This is potential very bad news for soap fans who feel thankful this Thanksgiving that canceled ABC series One Life To Live and All My Children may continue online. That now may not be happening. It was considered a bold and risky move when Rich Frank & Jeff Kwatinetz’s Prospect Park in July made a licensing deal with ABC to keep OLTL and AMC alive for online distribution. The transfer from broadcast TV to the Web proved far more difficult than anyone anticipated. I hear that Prospect Park self-financed extensive research and its principals held dozens of meetings with potential investors for their Online Network, which was originally slated to launch in the first quarter of 2012. (The latest plan has been for Once Life To Live to go on first, with All My Children put on hold.)


In a sign of potential hurdles, Prospect Park in late July issued a statement that it was “in the process of working out the essential terms of our proposed collective bargaining agreements with the appropriate guilds and unions, which we must do prior to firming up deals with above- and below-the-line talent.” I hear that those negotiations proved difficult, mostly because there is no existing template for a broadcast program transitioning online. Word is that the guilds have been looking to hold OLTL and AMC to broadcast terms, which is somewhat understandable as the Prospect Park-ABC deal calls for the two series to “continue to be delivered with the same quality and in the same format and length.” But shows produced on broadcast terms are impossible to support with online vs. TV advertising. (ABC, which makes extra money on its soaps from off-network sales to SoapNet and foreign territories, claimed it was still losing money on OLTL and AMC, leading to their cancellation.)


To make the target launch date, the soap writers hired by Prospect Park were supposed to start work earlier this month but they haven’t as there is no deal with the WGA. And all pacts with actors from OLTL and AMC that Prospect Park made over the past few months were contingent on clearances by the unions. I hear that Prospect Park principals are still trying to find a last-minute solution to keep the soap online venture going but feel pressed into a corner after exhausting every possible avenue and may decide to pull the plug as soon as today.

This article was written by Nellie Andreeva.

Link to the original article:ON THE BRINK: Online Soap Opera Network May Fold, Spelling The End Of ‘OLTL’, ‘AMC’ – Deadline.com

Breaking: One Life to Life and All My Children Web Revivals May Be Scrapped Completely-TVLine

This is potentially very bad news for soap fans feeling especially thankful this Thanksgiving that canceled ABC series One Life To Live and All My Children may continue online.

That now may not be happening.

It was considered a bold and risky move when Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz’s Prospect Park in July made a licensing deal with ABC to keep OLTL and AMC alive with online distribution. The transfer from broadcast TV to the Web proved far more difficult than anyone anticipated, as evidenced by PP’s recent decision to put AMC‘s move to the web on indefinite hold.

For more details on this story, visit our sister site Deadline.com.

This article was written by Nellie Andreeva.

Link to the original article:Breaking: One Life to Life and All My Children Web Revivals May Be Scrapped Completely - TVLine

Susan Lucci Addresses Rumors Surrounding All My Children/Prospect Park Deal-TVLine

Susan Lucci wants fans to know that it’s “simply untrue” that she is one of the reasons why All My Children is not moving forward via Prospect Park’s TheOnlineNetwork.com.

“This is simply untrue and not the case,” the daytime legend said Wednesday in a passionate statement posted to her Facebook page.


Lucci went on to explain that she has “been in discussions [to stay with AMC] since Prospect Park first expressed interest in moving the series online, and [in early September] I made it clear that I would be ecstatic to be a part of All My Children in a prominent way if they committed to producing the series for another year.

“I have not heard back from Prospect Park since then,” she revealed. “In fact, I learned of their decision not to proceed with All My Children at the same time you did, through the media.”

One Life to Live‘s Florencia Lozano, Tuc Watkins and Two Others Join Online Venture

Lucci concluded her sentiments, graciously — presumably as a show of no hard feelings — calling her lengthy run with the 40-year-old soap “a privilege and honor.”

Last week, ABC Soaps In Depth reported that Prospect Park has benched AMC‘s online reboot indefinitely, citing a source as saying that the media upstart “only need[s] one soap opera for their new Internet channel,” and that honor will go to One Life to Live. A spokesperson for Prospect Park has yet to comment on that report.

This article was written by Megan Masters.

Link to the original article:Susan Lucci Addresses Rumors Surrounding All My Children/Prospect Park Deal

Report: Prospect Park Halts All My Children Relaunch-TVLine

Prospect Park, the upstart media group which last July announced its plan to rescue both All My Children and One Life to Live from the brink of cancellation, is reportedly rethinking its stance on one of its two ABC Daytime saves.


As reported by ABC Soaps In Depth, Prospect Park has indefinitely put on hold plans to relaunch AMC via its new web hub, TheOnlineNetwork.com, which itself is scheduled to (hopefully) go live in early 2012.

As OLTL’s ABC Finale Nears, Kassie DePaiva Has Endgame Wish for Todd/Blair, Laments MIA Max

SID‘s sources say that Prospect Park has decided “they only need one soap opera for their new Internet channel,” and since they’re currently further along in developments for a OLTL reboot — having already signed 13 of that sudser’s cast members, including heavy hitters Erika Slezak (Viki) and Kassie DePaiva (Blair) — AMC has been benched.

Thus far, Cameron Mathison (Ryan) and Lindsay Hartley (Cara) are the only AMC vets signed on to participate in the prospective online continuation of their former ABC serial. And while others are in negotiations, In Depth reports that all such talks have come to a halt.

One Life to Live‘s Florencia Lozano, Tuc Watkins and Two Others Join Online Venture

A Prospect Park spokesperson did not immediately respond to TVLine’s request for comment.

This article was written by Megan Masters.

Link to the original article:Report: Prospect Park Halts All My Children Relaunch

All My Children Online Update, Psych Season 6 Ratings Boost-TVLine

Let’s hope this really is a done deal: All My Children‘s Lindsay Hartley has revealed via Twitter that Darnell Williams (aka Jesse Hubbard!) is set to join her when (or if?) the soap relaunches on The Online Network next year.


Prospect Park has yet to officially confirm the news, but should it prove true, Williams’ casting would bring to three the number of Pine Valley faves following the former ABC soap to the web. (Cameron Mathison previously signed on.)

Sadly, Jesse will be without his Angie (at least the original one) in the new P.V., as Debbi Morgan is now stirring up trouble on CBS’ The Young and the Restless.

More One Life to Live Stars Join Online Venture

Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…

• USA Network’s Psych, now facing especially stiff competition on Wednesday nights from the likes of Revenge, CSI and American Horror Story, is seeing some mighty gains with its Live+3 DVR numbers. In total audience, Episode 2 of the long-awaited new season surged 60 percent, to nearly 4 million viewers, while the dramedy’s 18-49 numbers exploded 73 percent to 2.2 mil.

• A&E has announced that Stephen King’s much-anticipated miniseries, Bag of Bones, will premiere Sunday, Dec. 11. The four-hour saga stars erstwhile James Bond Pierce Brosnan, Melissa George (Alias), Jason Priestly (Beverly Hills, 90210), Annabeth Gish (Pretty Little Liars) and Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls).

• Beginning Nov. 10, Michael Learned (The Waltons) will temporarily fill in for Young and the Restless vet Jeanne Cooper as Katherine Chancellor. The Genoa City matriarch is on leave for non-serious medical issues, EW.com reports.

Ultimate Male Law-Enforcement Crushes Bracket Tourney Begins With Psych, Bones, NCIS and CSI

• HBO and frequent collaborator Tom Hanks (Big Love, Band of Brothers, John Adams) are developing a half-hour comedy that centers on college athletes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

• True Blood creator Alan Ball is developing a medical drama for HBO about an abortion doctor in Kansas, per The Hollywood Reporter.

• Nick at Nite has given the green light to its first original scripted pilot: the multi-cam comedy, Daddy’s Home, starring Scott Baio (Charles In Charge), per Deadline.

This article was written by Megan Masters.

Link to the original article:All My Children Online Update, Psych Season 6 Ratings Boost

Susan Lucci Joins Lifetime's Army Wives in Season 6-TVLine

Erica Kane and Jenny Gardner, together again!

In her first post-All My Children role, Susan Lucci has landed a multi-episode arc on Army Wives opposite fellow Pine Valley alum Kim Delaney, sources confirm to TVLine exclusively.

The suds queen will play the wife of a retired general who gives Delany’s Claudia valuable advice on how to deal with a potential rival (played by Lie to Me‘s Kelli Williams).

Which All My Children Vet is Joining Young and the Restless?

Lucci will appear in at least two episodes during the Lifetime drama’s upcoming sixth season. Williams, meanwhile, is on board for at least seven episodes.

Her casting — and reunion with Delany — should provide some comfort to All My Children fans disappointed that Lucci opted out of continuing with the soap when it (presumably) relaunches online next year.

This article was written by Michael Ausiello.

Link to the original article:Susan Lucci Joins Lifetime's Army Wives in Season 6