One Life To Live - Series History

Series History

One Life to Live is set in the fictional city of Llanview, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show continually centers on the wealthy, WASP Lord family, with the working-class Polish American Woleks, the less wealthy Jewish Siegels, the middle-class Irish Rileys, and the African-American Grays present at the series inception. One Life to Live has been called "the most peculiarly American of soap operas: the first serial to present a vast array of ethnic types, broad comic situations, a constant emphasis on social issues, and strong male characters."

From the debut episode, One Life to Live centered on fictional character Victoria "Viki" Lord (originated by Gillian Spencer), portrayed by six-time Emmy winner Erika Slezak for longer than any other One Life to Live series actor, from March 1971 through the series finale January 13, 2012. Long-suffering heroine Viki weathered love and loss, widowhood, rape, divorce, stroke, and breast cancer, and was plagued by dissociative identity disorder (or DID, once known as multiple personality disorder) on and off for decades. Viki also had heart problems and received a transplant from her dying husband.

The apparent murder of Marco Dane by Viki Lord and the ensuing Karen Wolek prostitution storyline in 1979 garnered widespread critical acclaim and several Daytime Emmy Awards. The 1980s brought great ratings success and rose to prominence Viki's sister, Tina, and the Buchanan family. In the 1990s, the show introduced the first married interracial couple in soap operas, attorneys Hank and Nora Gannon, and the story of the involvement of Viki's estranged brother, Todd, with the rape of Marty Saybrooke, called "one of the show's most remembered and impactful."

One Life to Live celebrated its 40th anniversary in July 2008 with the return of several former cast members and by revisiting notable plot lines from its past. "Deceased" characters and even creator Agnes Nixon appeared in a storyline in which Slezak's Viki dies and visits Heaven, an homage to Viki's 1987 heavenly trip. Daytime Emmy-nominee Andrea Evans and others returned for a tribute to Tina Lord's famous 1987 plunge over the Iguazu Falls and the 1990 royal wedding in fictional Mendorra. And like the 1988 Old West storyline in which the character Clint Buchanan steps back 100 years in the past, on July 21, 2008, Robert S. Woods began an extended storyline in which his character Bo Buchanan finds himself transplanted back into his own past—specifically 1968, the year of the series' inception—witnessing his family's back-story unfold. Soap Opera Digest subsequently named One Life to Live their "Best Show" of 2008, calling it "the year's most compelling" series and citing a myriad of story lines the magazine found "heartbreaking," "stunning," and "gripping," as well as complimenting its risk-taking and "diverse and talented" cast.

On August 4, 2009, it was announced that One Life to Live, which taped in New York City, would move from ABC Studio 17 at 56 West 66th Street to Studio 23 at 320 West 66th Street, Manhattan in early 2010. This studio was made available by the move of sister soap opera All My Children to a production facility in Los Angeles, where that series began taping on January 4, 2010. The new studio was 30% larger than One Life to Live's previous one, and both One Life to Live and All My Children were to be taped and broadcast in high-definition (HD) after their moves.

On October 8, 2009, ABC announced that it had postponed the transition to HD for One Live to Live, citing the economic climate at the time, though an ABC spokesperson stated that they "...will re-examine it next year." On December 6, 2010, One Life to Live became the fifth daytime soap opera to broadcast in the 16:9 widescreen picture format but still not in true HD, after Days of our Lives, The Young and the Restless, and fellow ABC soap operas All My Children and General Hospital, though those series are produced in high-definition. ABC's picture disclaimers at the start of the program list it as being aired in "digital widescreen" rather than HD. The September 17, 2010, series ending of As the World Turns left One Life to Live as the last remaining American daytime soap opera being produced in the New York City area as well as the only one produced outside the Greater Los Angeles area.

Rumors about a potential cancellation of One Life to Live arose from TV Guide Canada in late 2009, after ABC announced that it was moving All My Children from New York City to Los Angeles. One Life to Live's lone presence in New York among the ABC soap operas, along its non-transition to HD and its struggling ratings, made it a program at risk of cancellation. The article from TV Guide Canada also pointed that once One Life to Live is cancelled, some of the actors could be offered to join the cast of All My Children in Los Angeles. In May 2010, rumors of possible cancellation of not only One Life To Live, but this time of also All My Children and General Hospital, resurfaced when Disney–ABC Television Group officially announced that it was shutting down SOAPnet, effective in 2012. After a failed attempt to give Aisha Tyler a talk show in 2009, ABC restarted auditioning a few pilot shows as candidates for its daytime lineup. At this point, All My Children had the lowest ratings so rumors began heating up in March 2011 about the show's demise, with hints that One Life To Live was safe for a while longer. However, early in April 2011, rumors suggested that both All My Children and One Life To Live were in danger of cancellation.

After years months of cancellation rumors, ABC announced on April 14, 2011 that All My Children and One Life To Live would end their runs. ABC cited "extensive research into what today’s daytime viewers want and the changing viewing patterns of the audience." The network stated it was replacing One Life to Live with a new production entitled The Revolution, which would focus on health and lifestyles. While the cancellations of both soap operas were announced on the same day, One Life To Live was to remain on the air 4 months longer because its replacement would not be ready until later. In response to the cancellations, vacuum cleaner manufacturer Hoover withdrew its advertising from all ABC programs out of protest.

The final episode aired on January 13, 2012, with villainess Allison Perkins narrating her views about the people of Llanview. During the last minutes of the episode, Todd Manning is put under arrest for the murder of Victor Lord Jr. The show ends with the discovery that Victor Lord Jr. is still alive and has been kidnapped by Perkins. Perkins closes the 43 years old soap opera by throwing the script of One Life to Live at Victor saying to him: "But why spoil what happens next. You of all people should know things are rarely what they appear". The decision to conclude One Life to live with an open-ended story is because the serial was supposed to continue on another network at the time the last scenes were taped (see section below).

On the day of the final episode, The View hosted a tribute to One Life to Live where several actors were invited including Erika Slezak, Robert S. Woods, Robin Strasser, Hillary B. Smith, Kassie DePaiva, James DePaiva, Andrea Evans, Judith Light and the show's creator Agnes Nixon.