ABC canceled two of its three soap operas on Thursday, consigning "One Life to Live" and "All My Children" — and Susan Lucci, daytime's most famous actress — to television history.
The move leaves "General Hospital" as ABC's only daytime drama, one of only four that will remain on ABC, CBS and NBC's daytime schedule.
Soap operas have slowly been fading as a TV force, with many of the women who made up the target audience now in the work force. In place of the two canceled dramas, ABC will air shows about food and lifestyle transformations.
"Viewers are looking for different types of programming these days," said Brian Frons, head of ABC's daytime department. Frons went to the California set of "All My Children" to deliver the news on Thursday, where a video link was also set up to the New York set of "One Life to Live."
Both shows were created by Agnes Nixon, one of daytime TV's most famous creative forces, and modeled after fictional Philadelphia-area towns. "One Life to Live" debuted on July 15, 1968, as a half-hour, expanding to an hour 10 years later. "All My Children" premiered on Jan. 5, 1970, expanding to an hour seven years later.
They were both known for incorporating social issues into their stories, with Lucci's character of Erica Kane the first regular TV character to undergo a legal abortion in 1973, said Carolyn Hinsey, author of "Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter," due to be published next month.
Lucci became more famous for an offstage drama when she was nominated 18 years for a Daytime Emmy Award as best actress without winning, until she finally took home a trophy in 1999.
"It's been a fantastic journey," Lucci said.
"All My Children" was based in New York for many years until production was moved to Los Angeles in 2009. Two of its leading actors, David Canary and Thorsten Kaye, left the show because they wouldn't make the move.
"They weren't able to save the money they wanted to save, clearly," Hinsey said.
"One Life to Live" is the last soap opera produced in New York, once the thriving center of the industry. Two New York-based dramas on CBS, "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns," went off the air within the past two years.
"All My Children" is averaging 2.5 million viewers a day, down 9 percent from the last TV season, and the median age of a typical viewer was nearly 57, the Nielsen Co. said. "One Life to Live" is at 2.6 million, its numbers off only slightly.
"All My Children" will go off the air in September, replaced by "The Chew," a live one-hour show where "viewers get the dish on anything and everything related to the world of food," ABC promised.
"One Life to Live" lasts until January. Its replacement is "The Revolution," made by the producers behind "The Biggest Loser," and will be a health and lifestyle show featuring fashion expert Tim Gunn.
