This week marks the end of an era. "One Life to Live" aired it's last show on ABC on January 13, 2012. It has been an emotional one for "One Life to Live" viewers/fans. Not only have we had to say goodbye to our beloved "One Life to Live", but also to many of the actors/characters who have made it a joy to watch the show for 43 years. I, myself have been watching for 30 years.
The build up to the finale started last week with the prison break, although they brought back a couple other favorites before this like Erin Torpey and Tonja Walker (@Tonjawalker on Twitter). Fans were treated to the brief return of many favorites in the last two weeks, including the very talented Catherine Hickland (@cathickland on
Twitter) as Lindsey, Roscoe Born as Mitch, Ty Treadway as Troy, and Barbara Garrick as Alison
Perkins. Can you imagine if all four of these people were in the same scene at the same time? WOW! The screen would explode from all that talent! This week, we were treated to another visit to Heaven with Viki and got to see some of our kinder, gentler favorites such as Megan, Gabrielle (Yes, I said Gabrielle. She actually made it to Heaven), and Luna. And while Viki went to Heaven, Clint took a brief trip to...umm....well, I'll just say it--Hell. Normally, I wouldn't be happy about that, but hey. If that was what it took for us to get to see Stacy, played by Crystal Hunt (@Crystal_Hunt on Twitter), I'm all for it! That was such an unexpected surprise!
Then the day of the show....The day started with a one-hour tribute to the show on "The View". It
was a little fast-paced but it couldn't be helped. You can only cram so
much of 43 years into one hour, after all. At noon, I tweeted "Two hours until the execution". And I was being serious because it felt like one. I saw a tweet from someone recently saying that the cancellation is like watching someone die and you can't do anything about it. Yeah, I'd say that is pretty accurate. Over-all the last show was great. Sure, there were people I wanted to see and things I wanted to happen that didn't. Am I complaining about it? NO! Because as I said before, 43 years is A LOT to cram into one hour. Ron Carlivati (@carlivatiron on Twitter) did an AMAZING job with what TIIC of ABC/Disney left him to work with--Time-wise that is. I honestly don't know how he did it. I'm glad I wasn't in his shoes. My compliments, also to the ENTIRE cast. I could tell your tears were real. Especially Robert S. Woods, who was so choked up, he could barely say his line. I got choked up right along with him.
I have always said that "One Life to Live" was the most well-written soap opera with the most talented actors. That's why this cancellation came as such a shock to me. For months now, I have been trying to figure out how they could cancel such a great show. They certainly can't use ratings as an excuse now. Not after the ratings have been better than ever recently. Lack of fans? Um...no. Definitely NOT. They said it was to save money. I'm not buying that one either. Sure, it may be true, but the thing is they could have found a way to save the show if they wanted. A lot of people have come up with very logical ideas. I, myself, said that all they have to do is get rid of one of the high-cost prime time shows, move "The Revolution" to prime time and keep OLTL. If viewers and other people in the media can come up with ideas to save the show, WHY can't TPTB? I just don't get it.
I'm used to the lack of respect from TPTB. What I find just as distressing is the lack of understanding and respect for our feelings over OLTL being canceled from our friends and family members, who are supposed to be supportive of us. Case in point: My own mother. She doesn't get my passion for the show or why I'm so upset over the show being canceled. She thinks it's silly to get that upset over "a show". She knew I didn't want to be disturbed the last two days, but talked during the show Thursday. I had to tell her I was going to be incommunicado from 2-3 on Friday, and to my surprise, she didn't give me an argument and let me mourn in peace. What people don't get is that our favorite soaps, whichever ones you watch, are not just "a show" to us. It's a way to escape. And when you've watched a show like OLTL as long as I have (and the many others who watched from Day One), the characters and actors become like best friends or extended family to us. When a show comes into your home 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year for 43 years, that is bound to happen. How can it not? So please...I beg you. You may not agree with us or understand our feelings, but please at least respect them and don't treat us like our feelings are silly and don't matter. After this experience, I know I will be more tolerant of other people's feelings when THEIR favorite show gets canceled.
Another thing that has me completely baffled is that some fans continued up until THE DAY BEFORE the last show aired to complain about the show. And in one case, when I responded to a person's comments and gave my own OPINION, I got my head bit off. *That* is seriously messed up! The show has been canceled and all people can do is complain about how certain characters are acting? Really? Now is not the time to complain about things like that, people. We need to ban together and be positive. It's not over yet! I refuse to believe that! As long as we're breathing and fans want their show back and are willing to fight for it, there is always hope.
As for the media...Overall, they have been very supportive of our fight to save OLTL and AMC. However, Friday morning I wake up to a half-page article in our newspaper. I was horrified to see that it wasn't about OLTL like it should've been. NO! It was a HALF-PAGE article about "The Revolution"! The same day the last episode of OLTL airs? Are you kidding me?!!
One final comment. My compliments, respect, love and gratitude go to the cast and crew of "One Life to Live". I have had many wonderful experiences as a result of being a viewer of the show that I wouldn't have had otherwise. Thank you for 43 years of love, laughter, tears, and most important, memories I will cherish forever.
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