Remembering All My Children

Now, I don't watch "All My Children," per se, but my mother does. Reader, are you following? Let me backup. "All My Children," often abbreviated as AMC, is a soap opera that has been broadcast on ABC since 1970. And recently, dear reader, AMC was cancelled. Yes, it's true, after 41 years "All My Children" will finally wrap up their long-running, grave-rising, evil-twin-brothering story lines ("lines," being used in the loosest sense of the word) and deliver a conclusion. Though in all likelihood, this will probably end with their biggest cliffhanger of all.

Now, I imagine you don't care. Try to show some compassion though, if not for AMC then at least for my mother. Have you ever even watched AMC? It's not a bad show. Well, that's not true. It is a bad show. This, most likely, being the reason for its cancellation. Forty-one years is quite a long time though. Just think, that's a lot of children.

Unfortunately this blow to soap fans' daytime routine comes with a second piece of devastation, as ABC has also announced the cancellation of "One Life to Live" (OLTL). "Seriously!?" many soap fans have found themselves screaming this past week. Yes, seriously. Yet the cancellation of these two long running shows highlights the larger changes taking place in pop culture and TV programming. No longer do people desire to see the highly dramatized, scripted stories of daytime soaps, but rather, the highly dramatized, scripted stories of reality TV. There is a big difference, let me assure you. I would advise the current viewers that will soon be left with a large amount of free time Mondays through Thursdays from twelve to four, to turn on the news, where they will be able to witness stories and arguments the likes of which a soap writer could only dream. Or better yet, all of these former soap viewers should get together for lunch and discuss their political views. That would be daytime drama.

I must confess, reader, that I was holding out on you. It's not that I watched AMC habitually, but I could certainly hold my own in a discussion between my mother and her friend Harry. And they're real experts too. I guess it'd be fair to say that through twenty years of hanging out with my mom while she watched AMC I've gotten to know these children pretty well. So, with both sadness and fond memories, let us bid farewell to AMC: Rest in peace, "All My Children." You were...well, you were something.