Unlike All My children, As The World Turns and Guiding Light, all of which went off the air in September, One Life To Live opted to end its run in January, two weeks after Christmas and on Friday the 13th.
Go figure.
By ending in Sepember, it almost felt like when we would go back to school and miss the shows anyway (tho I only started watching ATWT and GL when I was out of high school), but it didn't matter.
By ending OLTL two weeks after the holiday season, it caught me off-guard.
First the Christmas episode ended with rolling credits (as opposed to those quick-flash names and duties run at the bottom of the screen each and every other time).
Christmas and soaps developed a strange fantasy meaning to me, ever since Myrtle Fairgate on All My Children, with all the year-long chaos of Palmer trying to break up Cliff and Nina, still managed to quietly stand alone in her home, look out at the snow, and sing a nice a capella Christmas tune to herself.
The OLTL Christmas episode ran the credits with a lovely slow version of Hark The Herald Angel Sings. I felt the tug.
Then two weeks before the show goes off the air, various prison escapees terrorize the citizens of Llanview.
Talk about going out in a bang. Even tho the only two actors who were on the show when I started watching are Slezak and Woods, the only three characters are Bo, Clint and Viki, I was spell-bound, especially when marvelous scene-stealer Patrick J Gibbon, as Sam Manning, was playing with his toys and being watched by the psychotic Hannah.
When Starr Manning prayed and sang a song, One Life To Live (tho I didn't realize she was the singer, I had FFed thru some bits), that's all it took. I stood at the front door and cried like a baby.
From over 30 years ago, I started watching when Samantha Vernon and Pat Ashley were taken hostage by (who was that guy? I've always called him Bruce Davison), I've watched off and on (sometimes more off when I didn't like how it was rolling).
No, I was not watching when Karen Wolek broke down on the stand during Viki's trial for murdering Marco Dane (turned out it wasn't Marco at all, but his goody twin brother, Mario).
But I do remember the revelation that former nun Jenny's baby, Karen's sister, really belonged to prostitute Katrina.
I was watching before Buchanan appeared on the show.
It's been a fun ride, a good ride. I hated stories (Clint's Back To the Future, Eterna was really goofy too) and there were clearly some better than others (The gang-rape storyline).
I do hate to see them end tho. With the departure of One Life To Live and All My Children, there will be two less hours of 'reality' in my household.
Go figure.
By ending in Sepember, it almost felt like when we would go back to school and miss the shows anyway (tho I only started watching ATWT and GL when I was out of high school), but it didn't matter.
By ending OLTL two weeks after the holiday season, it caught me off-guard.
First the Christmas episode ended with rolling credits (as opposed to those quick-flash names and duties run at the bottom of the screen each and every other time).
Christmas and soaps developed a strange fantasy meaning to me, ever since Myrtle Fairgate on All My Children, with all the year-long chaos of Palmer trying to break up Cliff and Nina, still managed to quietly stand alone in her home, look out at the snow, and sing a nice a capella Christmas tune to herself.
The OLTL Christmas episode ran the credits with a lovely slow version of Hark The Herald Angel Sings. I felt the tug.
Then two weeks before the show goes off the air, various prison escapees terrorize the citizens of Llanview.
Talk about going out in a bang. Even tho the only two actors who were on the show when I started watching are Slezak and Woods, the only three characters are Bo, Clint and Viki, I was spell-bound, especially when marvelous scene-stealer Patrick J Gibbon, as Sam Manning, was playing with his toys and being watched by the psychotic Hannah.
When Starr Manning prayed and sang a song, One Life To Live (tho I didn't realize she was the singer, I had FFed thru some bits), that's all it took. I stood at the front door and cried like a baby.
From over 30 years ago, I started watching when Samantha Vernon and Pat Ashley were taken hostage by (who was that guy? I've always called him Bruce Davison), I've watched off and on (sometimes more off when I didn't like how it was rolling).
No, I was not watching when Karen Wolek broke down on the stand during Viki's trial for murdering Marco Dane (turned out it wasn't Marco at all, but his goody twin brother, Mario).
But I do remember the revelation that former nun Jenny's baby, Karen's sister, really belonged to prostitute Katrina.
I was watching before Buchanan appeared on the show.
It's been a fun ride, a good ride. I hated stories (Clint's Back To the Future, Eterna was really goofy too) and there were clearly some better than others (The gang-rape storyline).
I do hate to see them end tho. With the departure of One Life To Live and All My Children, there will be two less hours of 'reality' in my household.