It was a valiant effort, but it was all for naught.
After ABC canceled long-running soap operas "One Life to Live" and "All My Children," the fan outrage was momentarily sated when a production company called Prospect Park announced that they were going to continue producing episodes of the two series online.
Well, not anymore.
Prospect Park heads Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinez released a joint statement today, confirming that their plans to re-up "One Life" and "Children" have stalled indefinitely.
"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," the statement reads.
"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," they continued. "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."
It was rumored that "All My Children" stalwart Susan Lucci was behind the delay, but the actress has vehemently denied the accusations.
U.S. & World
“There has been miscommunications as a result of statements in the press that I am one of the reasons that 'All My Children' is not moving forward. This is simply untrue and not the case,” says Lucci in an official statement.
The soaps were TV staples for over 40 years, but were axed by ABC to make way for reality programming and talk shows.
Selected Reading: Hollywood Reporter, Huffington Post, Entertainment Weekly
