Classic Soaps One Life to Live

[Carrie Fairchild]

One Life to Live does not appear to have its own thread for me to post this in, or for any general OLTL discussion. It’s one of the US daytime soaps that I probably know the least about bar Erika Slezak being its leading lady as Viki Lord.

What brought me here is that I was reading up on Kim Zimmer’s return to the show in 2010, after the cancellation of Guiding Light and I’ve discovered that the last three years of OLTL’s network run is out there to watch. Are those final years worth investing in or would I just be watching a soap on its last legs?

 

[Daniel Avery]

I watched the show (courtesy of SoapNet) in its last 3-4 years, and it was a mixed bag. ABC was being run by the infamously inept Brian Frons, whom we later found out was actively working behind the scenes to sabotage the soaps in order to have an excuse to cancel them and add talk shows and other programming to replace them. So OLTL and AMC were in an uphill battle. Ron Carlivati was Head Writer and Frank Valentini (currently with General Hospital) was the Exec Producer. RC had this tendency to lean too hard into a story that's not working rather than just admitting defeat and moving on. This is quite evident in some of the OLTL stories in 2010-11. He and FV also went a bit overboard with the hiring and promoting of young, handsome men with great bodies but less-than-great acting skills. "Young shirtless hunks" are a soap opera staple, of course, but RC created an entire family (three brothers + their handsome father) whose only purpose seemed to be posing in sweaty tank tops.

The character of Viki Lord Buchanan was the undisputed center of action, and her decades-long feud with Dorian was always a source of fun. RC respected the history of the show (mostly) so he leaned into their rivalry.

Kim Z's return as Echo DiSavoy was not what one would call "organic," since Echo had been a minor character in her original run. They brought the character back because they wanted Kim Zimmer, and even more---they wanted Kim Zimmer versus Erika Slezak onscreen. It was stunt casting but with the twist that KZ would be playing a role she had already played back when she was not "the" Kim Zimmer. The character was altered a lot to fit what people expected to get from KZ.

As for the show being "on its last legs," OLTL was actually doing a pretty good job in its final year. Frons had the knives out for both OLTL and AMC, but OLTL actually grew its ratings in the summer/fall of 2011. Soap mags were talking about OLTL's improvement and writing flattering pieces....but Frons had already made up his mind. He cancelled both shows at the same time, though OLTL stayed on the air until January of 2012. I will say some of it in this period (especially 2010 and a lot of 2011) was a bit of a challenge, though.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Kim Z's return as Echo DiSavoy was not what one would call "organic," since Echo had been a minor character in her original run.

The backstory of her original stint as Echo sounds like an interesting one as she had a three year contract but was abruptly written out after only a few months. Zimmer herself said that the producer told her that it wasn’t their decision and the implication was that someone else on the show wanted Echo off it, because the character had become “too powerful” in Zimmer’s words.

I will say some of it in this period (especially 2010 and a lot of 2011) was a bit of a challenge, though.

I might put it on the long list so, or maybe just sample some of Echo’s return episodes.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'm reminded of a funny "real life" story involving OLTL.

On the show, there was a plotline where teenaged Starr Manning wanted to become a singing star. She was approached by a "producer" who offered to film a music video with her, to "help launch her singing career". He was in fact a producer of porn videos and was tricking the girl (who was an heiress, being the niece of Viki Buchanan) into doing all kinds of suggestive stuff for a song called "Jailbait". She was doing all the barely-legal stuff (parading around in Lolita-esque clothes, pole-dancing, etc.) when she finally caught on and fled the scene. I remember watching it as it aired and thought that actress must be so uncomfortable playing this garbage.

So one of my very best friends worked as Head Nurse at the Public Health Department. She was in charge of the section where you went for pregnancy tests, STI testing and counseling and that kind of thing, which typically had a lot of young girls in trouble in the waiting room. Mary Ann said she had to turn off the TV in the waiting room at the clinic because "some soap opera was airing underaged girls pole-dancing and showing their boobs to the whole country'", and I immediately knew what they had seen. I know Kristen Alderson (Starr) had not shown her boobs to anyone on daytime TV, but the way Mary Ann described it was hilarious, and I just sat there and nodded quietly.