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One Life to Live

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One Life to Live
File:Onelifetolive2004.JPG
Created byAgnes Nixon
No. of episodes10,140 (as of February 29, 2008)
Production
Executive producerFrank Valentini
Original release
NetworkABC, SOAPnet
ReleaseJuly 15 1968

One Life to Live (OLTL) is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15 1968.

Genesis

Impressed with the ratings success of NBC's Another World, ABC sought out Another World writer Agnes Nixon to create a serial for them. Nixon, "tired of the restraints imposed by the WASPy, noncontroversial nature of daytime drama, presented the network with a startingly original premise and cast of characters. Although the show was built along the classic soap formula of a rich family and a poor family, One Life to Live emphasized the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the people of Llanview, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia."[1] Nixon would go on to create All My Children in 1970 and Loving in 1983.

The title of OLTL was originally going to be Between Heaven and Hell, but sponsors at the time found this too controversial and the title was changed. [2] Still, the first opening titles — closeup footage of flames in a fireplace — seemed to suggest a symbolic hellfire.

OLTL's first sponsors were the Colgate-Palmolive company, who also sponsored The Doctors. ABC bought the show from Agnes Nixon in December 1974 when they purchased all stock to her Creative Horizons Inc. The show was originally a half-hour serial until it was expanded to 45 minutes in 1976 and to one hour in 1978.[2]

History

One Life to Live is set in the fictional city of Llanview, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania modeled after the Chestnut Hill section of the city. The show originally concentrated on the wealthy Lord family, the less wealthy Siegels (the first attempt to showcase a Jewish family on daytime television until the short-lived 1974 daytime serial, How to Survive a Marriage) and the middle-class Rileys and Woleks. OLTL 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." [1]

Since its inception, OLTL has centered on the character of Victoria "Viki" Lord (originated by Gillian Spencer), who has been portrayed by six-time Emmy winner Erika Slezak since March 1971. Long-suffering heroine Viki has weathered love and loss, widowhood, rape, divorce, stroke and breast cancer, and has been memorably plagued by dissociative identity disorder (or DID, once known as multiple personality disorder) on and off for decades. Viki has also had heart problems, leading up to having the heart of her dying husband transplanted into her, to save her life.

Current storylines

The truth about Tommy

Lindsay Rappaport is arrested for the murder of Spencer Truman, formerly Llanview's most hated resident; her motive, she admits, was to keep the secret of Tommy McBain's identity. At the same time, Todd Manning discovers that his biological son, kidnapped by Spencer, is alive and living as Tommy, the adopted son of Marcie and Michael McBain. A DNA test confirms this and Todd demands the boy be returned to him, but a formal custody battle begins between Todd and the McBains. Though Todd is Tommy's biological father and the child's mother Margaret Cochran is dead, Michael and Marcie maintain that Todd is an unfit parent. The case turns bitter as Todd maligns the McBains in his newspaper, The Sun, and they in turn present in court his many past misdeeds. Realizing the odds are against him, Todd strikes a bargain with ex-wife Blair Cramer to remarry.

The judge finally awards Todd full custody, but as he arrives at the McBains to retrieve the child, Marcie escapes out a window with Tommy. Todd and bitter enemy John McBain have agreed to work together in order to find Marcie and Tommy before the FBI, but a brokenhearted Michael is unable to join them for the search due to his arrest for perjuring himself on the stand during the custody case. Todd and John track Marcie to Decatur, Georgia and a drag queen club, "Faces", where Marcie and Tommy are being hidden by friends of her brother Eric, but a fight ensues and both men are arrested. John sees Marcie but tells no one. As Marcie and Tommy escape to New Orleans, Todd calls Blair to help bail them out of jail, and Blair responds by joining forces with Marty Saybrooke and arriving in Decatur in person, with the women telling their respective partners that they are joining them in the search in order to prevent the men from killing each other.

Love and loss

Lindsay's arrest frees former suspect Marty Saybrooke; her marriage to Miles Laurence annulled, Marty and Detective John McBain are drawn together. Fellow officer Antonio Vega is unaware that his police partner Talia Sahid is interested in him romantically, and has invented a fake boyfriend to hide it. Marty's son Cole Thornhart and Todd's daughter Starr Manning are finally happy together, their parents calling a truce over their longtime feud. Cristian Vega and co-worker Sarah Roberts are doggedly denying their growing feelings for each other, and Cristian's ex-wife Natalie Buchanan is becoming embroiled in a tempestuous love/hate relationship with the scheming and ambitious young businessman Jared Banks, who idolizes Asa Buchanan and has won the affections of Asa's widow Renee Divine.

Dorian Lord hires part-time private eye Rex Balsom to find out any information on the absent parents of Starr's best friend Langston Wilde. Dorian learns Langston's parents died a year and half in a car crash in abroad, and that Langston has been living alone off of the life insurance. Through the efforts of Dorian, Blair and Starr, Langston becomes Dorian's foster daughter and is adopted into the Cramer family.

Paris, je t'aime

After the funeral for Buchanan patriarch Asa Buchanan, Viki Davidson was confronted by longtime rival Dorian and forced to come to terms with the emptiness of her day-to-day life. Pondering her future, Viki surprised herself by buying a ticket to "anywhere" and disappearing from Llanview. For months, Viki was missing, sending cryptic e-mails to her family and friends, claiming she was in Paris, France and in no hurry to come home. What none of them know is that Viki is actually in Paris, Texas...and a waitress.

Upon leaving town, Viki's ticket to "anywhere" turned out to take her to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she rented a car and drove towards the horizon. When the car broke down, Viki found herself in Paris, and entered the Bonjour Café looking for food and shelter from the rain. Charmed and comforted by the people she met, including waitress Noelle and the gruff proprietor and cook, Moe, Viki impulsively chose to stay in Paris, and even became a waitress in the "Bon Jour"!

Viki keeps her "other life" a secret from her new friends and co-workers, and is trying to rediscover her purpose in life. When her daughters Jessica and Natalie call her, Viki claims she is still in France and not ready to return to Llanview. Viki also forges a close friendship with plucky waitress and single mother Gigi Morasco, who is raising a young son, Shane. After Viki becomes friendly with a new "regular" at the diner, Charlie, an architect in town on business, she helps him find a room at the local motel. Smitten, Charlie asks her out on a date, and a wary Viki accepts. Viki is unaware that her two worlds are about to collide, as the Buchanans are preparing to return to Texas for the reading of Asa's will.

Historical storylines

Title sequences

File:1968.jpg
1968-1970

The original One Life to Live title opening used from its July 151968 premiere to January 21970. Featuring a roaring fireplace with the words One Life To Live faintly appearing and growing larger as the sequence concluded. The flames were supposed to be symbolic of a hellfire, as the show's title was supposed to be Between Heaven and Hell, but was changed at the last minute as sponsors felt the title was too strong and could engender controversy.[2]
File:1971.jpg
1970-1980

The fireplace opening was replaced in 1970 with a visual of an emerging orange and yellow mountain sunrise, concluding with the show title underneath it.
File:1980.jpg
1980-1984

In 1980, the sunrise opening was altered with a gray background and enhanced with a longer sequence which showed not just a mountain sunrise, but also shots of birds and a close up of the sun, and eventually the title superimposed over a shot of a blue sky with clouds. The theme music was rearranged as well.
File:Onelifetolive1984.JPG
1984-1991

The Paul Rauch Era Sequence: On December 17 1984, a new sequence designed by Wayne Fitzgerald debuted. It featured a new theme by Dave Grusin, with translucent headshots of the cast superimposed over Llanview locations, ending with the title superimposed on a tableau of cast photos. In January 1985 the theme was re-done in an orchestral format. In February 1986, lyrics performed by Peabo Bryson in 1985 were added to the previously instrumental theme. The last update to this opening sequence was in November 1991.
File:1992-1995 logo.jpg
1992-1995

The New Era Sequence: On January 2 1992, a new title sequence emphasizing the romantic angle of the show debuted, designed by the television computer artistry group of Greenberg and Schluter. It was filmed and produced in August 1991 at the ABC Television Center in New York City, NY and was set to be released in January. In a condensed form, it featured a love story—using the elements of a heroine, Mr. Wrong/Mr. Right, love making, implied betrayal, a champagne bottle corked, and a newborn baby. It concluded with swirling, windswept satin sheets displaying the show title. Accompanied by theme music by Lee Holdridge, in a New Age-influenced arrangement. ABC logo was added sometime after May 1993 or in 1994.
File:Oltl95 003 0001.jpg
1995-1999‎

On November 20 1995, for the 7,000th episode, a new title sequence which featured posterized video headshots of each contract player and tinted action clips from the show superimposed over shots of landmarks and city scenes (reminiscent to the 1984-91 opening) made its debut, with Lee Holdridge and David Nichtern under the direction of then music supervisor Jamie Howarth, providing a new upbeat theme song to accompany it. On December 22 1995 a piano version of the theme was used for the 1995 Christmas show and was continued till December 1998. It was dropped for the 1999 Christmas season. In March 1998, the opening started being shown at the beginning before the first scenes of the show. Also this month when the montage was updated, the theme's sound was slightly modified from the 1995 version and this version was used until December 24 1999 when the opening sequences were updated and refreshed the next week.

In the fall of 1999, a high-pitched alternate theme was introduced and modified in December 1999, January 2001, Spring 2002, and July 2003. This alternate theme removed the 1995-1998 "Christmas" piano version in December 1999.

Second generation
File:December 30, 1999 Title Card.jpg
1999-2004‎

On December 27 and December 28 1999 the theme was digitally modified with more surround sound and the opening sequences were refreshed with more saturation and became more opaque. Also for the first time since the debut of this opening, the version with Robert S. WoodsFile:Bo(1999).jpg
became opening A with his new posed image and Robin Strasser'sFile:Dorian(1999).jpg
version became opening B with her image zoomed out a bit. The modified alternate theme appeared on December 30 1999. In January 2001, the theme was re-recorded with a few new notes.


Third generation

In Spring 2002 the theme was again re-recorded and had a smoother/softer beat compared to the previous 2001 version. Also the appearance of the sequences was refreshed as well. Character names were added to the opening images starting in November 2002. In early 2003 the opening music was again modified with a slightly quicker beat. In September 2003, five versions were put into use. In November 2003 the opening began being played after the first scenes of the show. Around that time, frequent updates became commonplace.

File:Onelifetolive2004.JPG
2004-Present

On June 14, 2004 (all ABC Daytime soaps revamped their titles this year), the latest opening premiered; it consists of live images of cast members (which had been previously used during bumper sequences) over a black background, ending with the title superimposed over the abbreviation OLTL. It is accompanied by an uptempo remix of the previous theme song.

With the June 16 and June 17, 2005 updates came a more smaller, less bold version of title card.

This opening has been noted to not feature certain contract members. To date, seven actors/actresses have not been included in the sequence. This includes Javier Morga (Tico Santi), Mark Dobies (Daniel Colson), Mike Jerome (Ted Osbourne), Chris Beetem (Tate Harmon), Portia Reiners (Britney Jennings), January LaVoy (Noelle Ortiz), and John Rue (Moe Stubbs).

Cast and characters

Executive Producers/Head Writers

Head Writers

Current crew

Head Writer Other Writers Producers Directors
Gary Tomlin Elizabeth Page, Anna Cascio, Aida Croal, Shelly Altman, Janet Iacobuzio, Carolyn Culliton, Michelle Poteet Lisanti, Frances Myers, Chris Van Etten, Veronica Sandbridge, Jeanne Marie Ford, Tamiko Brooks, Sheyne Lee Benoit, Laudine Vallarta, Jamie Lin-Yu Frank Valentini (Executive Producer), Suzanne Flynn, John Tumino, Shelley Honigbaum, Jacqueline Van Belle Jill Ackles, Larry Carpenter, Danielle Faraldo, Tracy Casper Lang, Howie Zeidman, Mary Ryan, Bruce S. Cooperman, Richard Manfredi, Jill Mitwell, Gary Donatelli, Frank Valentini

Crossovers

As with many other television series, One Life to Live has had a number of crossovers with other programs, both daytime and primetime.

  • John Beradino from General Hospital appeared on One Life to Live in 1968 whenever Dr. Steve Hardy made the trip from Port Charles to Llanview to consult on Meredith Lord Wolek's blood disease.
  • Michael Storm appeared as Dr. Larry Wolek on All My Children, shortly after its premiere in 1970, in an attempt to get fans of One Life to Live to watch ABC's new show.
  • Lillian Hayman appeared as Sadie Gray on All My Children in the late 1970s. She sang at the wedding of Dr. Frank Grant and Caroline Dixon, R.N.
  • William Mooney, All My Children’s lawyer Paul Martin, appeared on One Life to Live in 1979 to defend Victoria Lord, who was on trial for the murder of Marco Dane.
  • Shelley Burch appeared on All My Children as Delilah Ralston when Erica Kane had ordered a dress from her company.
  • Gerald Anthony reprised his One Life to Live character Marco Dane on General Hospital in 1993.
  • Clint Ritchie, Robert S. Woods, and John Loprieno appeared as Clint, Bo, and Cord in a dream sequence on primetime sitcom Roseanne in 1994.
  • Michael E. Knight, Teresa Blake, and Shane McDermott appeared on One Life to Live in his All My Children characters, (Tad Martin, Gloria Marsh, R. N., and Scott Chandler) in 1996, when Hank, Nora, and Rachel were paneled guests on his talk show, The Cutting Edge. Tad appeared again in 2003 for the Fan February show.
  • Elaine Princi and Robin Strasser both made appearances on All My Children as Dorian Cramer Lord, in 1991 and 2003 respectively.
  • Randolph Mantooth appeared in One Life to Live in 1997, as detective Alex Masters from The City, to help Bo track down a suspect in New York City.
  • Linda Dano's Rae Cummings made sporadic appearances on all four of ABC's daytime serials in 1999, 2000, and 2001 in a search for her long lost daughter. Gretel's daughter turned out to be former All My Children vixen Skye Chandler. Robin Christopher had reprised the role of Skye on One Life to Live in 1999, and the character was transplanted to General Hospital in 2001. Gretel also learned that Myrtle Fargate (Eileen Herlie), a character on All My Children, was her own natural mother while she was visiting Pine Valley.
  • David Canary appeared on One Life to Live in 2001 as Adam Chandler, during the storyline revealing Rae Cummings to be Skye Chandler's mother.
  • Jill Larson appeared on One Life to Live on December 19 2003 as Opal, as she was seen shopping at Logan's Department store, located in between Pine Valley and Llanview.
  • All My Children and One Life to Live had a complicated "baby swap" storyline from 2004 - 2005, which involved several characters from both soaps. In the year to follow, a handful of actors/characters from each soap made sporadic appearances on the other. These included:

Julia Barr (Brooke English/AMC), Justin Bruening (Jamie Martin/AMC), David Canary (Adam Chandler/AMC), Phil Carey (Asa Buchanan/OLTL), Brock Cuchna (Paul Cramer #1/OLTL), Bobbie Eakes (Krystal Carey/AMC), Melissa Fumero (Adriana Cramer/OLTL) Dan Gauthier (Kevin Buchanan/OLTL), Alexa Havins (Babe Carey Chandler/AMC), Vincent Irizarry (David Hayward/AMC), Michael E. Knight (Tad Martin/AMC), Michael McKenzie (Mr. Emerson/OLTL), Shane McRae (Temporary Paul Cramer/"OLTL") Matthew Metzger (Duke Buchanan/OLTL), Alicia Minshew (Kendall Hart/AMC) Eden Riegel (Bianca Montgomery/AMC), Robin Strasser (Dorian Cramer Lord/OLTL), Heather Tom (Kelly Cramer/OLTL), David Tom (Paul Cramer #2/OLTL), Tuc Watkins (David Vickers/OLTL), Robert S. Woods (Bo Buchanan/OLTL), and Jacob Young (JR Chandler/AMC).

Awards

The shows, as well as many of its actors and crew, have been nominated for dozens of awards, winning on many occasions. The Daytime Emmy Award and Soap Opera Digest Award wins of the 2000s are noted below.

Daytime Emmy Awards

Winners: Drama Series and Performer categories

•Drama Series: 2002

•Lead Actor: Al Freeman. Jr. (Ed Hall) 1979; Robert S. Woods (Bo Buchanan) 1983

•Lead Actress: Judith Light (Karen Wolek) 1980, 1981; Robin Strasser (Dorian Lord) 1982; Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord) 1984, 1986, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2005; Hillary B. Smith (Nora Gannon) 1994

•Supporting Actor: Thom Christopher (Carlo Hesser) 1992

•Supporting Actress: Susan Haskell (Marty Saybrooke) 1994

•Younger Actor: Roger Howarth (Todd Manning) 1994

Other Category Wins

  • 2005 "Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series (tied with All My Children)
  • 2005 "Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control for a Drama Series
  • 2001 "Outstanding Achievement in Live & Direct to Tape Sound Mixing for a Drama Series"
  • 2001 "Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control for a Drama Series"
  • 2000 "Outstanding Original Song"
  • 2000 "Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama Series"
  • 2000 "Outstanding Achievement in Live & Direct to Tape Sound Mixing for a Drama Series"
  • 2000 "Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series"
  • 1993 "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series" (Michael Malone & Josh Griffith, head-writers)
  • 1986 "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series" (Peggy O'Shea, headwriter)
  • 1983 "Outstanding Direction in a Drama Series"
  • 1982 "Outstanding Direction in a Drama Series"

In the 1990s, the DGA began to recognize outstanding work in Daytime Television. The Directors Guild of America Award is presented for a single episode to the director, stage managers, associate directors and production managers. These are the years the award has been presented to OLTL:

Scheduling/ratings history

For historical ratings information, see List of US daytime soap opera ratings

ABC cemented its reputation as a youth-oriented network in daytime with the addition of OLTL to its schedule, with much of the rest of its lineup consisting of fashionable soaps like Dark Shadows, sitcom reruns, and game shows packaged by Chuck Barris. The network placed the new serial at 3:30 p.m./2:30 Central, against CBS' established hit Edge of Night and the popular NBC game You Don't Say. OLTL replaced the short-lived Baby Game, in a three-way shuffle with Dark Shadows and Dating Game.

Despite the tough competition, the intense tone of the plot and strong characters allowed the show to get a leg up on YDS, wearing that game down to the point of its cancellation in September 1969; NBC replaced the Tom Kennedy-hosted game in that timeslot with three unsuccessful serials: Bright Promise (1969-1972), Return to Peyton Place (1972-1974), and How to Survive a Marriage (1974-1975).

Things greatly improved for OLTL in 1972, when CBS relocated Edge in response to packager Procter and Gamble's demands. The four-year-old show managed to top the ratings for the first time over CBS' declining Secret Storm, and later, the game Hollywood's Talking, which ran only 13 weeks. However, trouble loomed on the horizon as OLTL anticipated its fifth birthday, with the coming of CBS' revival of Goodson-Todman's Match Game. Some months after its debut in July 1973, that show became the daytime phenomenon of the mid-1970s, becoming the top-rated of all daytime shows by Thanksgiving. ABC stood by OLTL, however, keeping it put at 3:30/2:30.

By 1975, though, NBC became a serious player in that timeslot for the first time in over five years when it expanded its strong soap Another World to a full hour, its second half occupying the 3:30/2:30 period. This would cause OLTL to lose a sustantial audience share, but its lead-in, General Hospital, experienced even worse losses. ABC decided to take an unusual approach in addressing the competition: it expanded both OLTL and GH to 45 minutes, with each composing a half of a 90-minute block between 2:30/1:30 and 4/3. Beginning on July 26 1976, OLTL assumed the first position, at 2:30/1:30. ABC bet its hopes on viewers staying tuned past the half hour, making them unlikely to switch channels to AW or All in the Family reruns on CBS (for GH fans, turning to Match Game).

This approach showed some promise, until November 7 1977, when CBS expanded its venerable Guiding Light to a full hour at 2:30/1:30. As OLTL struggled, its neighbor, GH, was in danger of cancellation after a 15-year run. So, in a "make it or break it" ultimatum to GH, ABC finally gave an hour to both shows, on January 16 1978, with OLTL occupying the 2-3/1-2 p.m. slot; The $20,000 Pyramid, which enjoyed three solid years of success at 2/1, got dispatched to Noon/11 a.m. for the rest of its ABC run, to make room for OLTL.

This proved to be decisive for the long-term survival of both shows, as GH rose rapidly to the top spot in the Nielsens through its brash, youthful storylines (culminating in the hugely popular "Luke and Laura" storyline by 1979-1980). As for OLTL, from its tenth birthday onward, it took advantage of the decline in quality and popularity of its competitors, all Procter and Gamble productions. Search for Tomorrow, for instance, spent its last several months on CBS against the last half of OLTL. Its replacement, Capitol, which ran from 1982 to 1987, did little better, and after its cancellation, CBS aligned As the World Turns against OLTL and AW, a configuration that stayed in place until AW's cancellation in 1999. During the 2000s thus far, OLTL has run about even with ATWT, with NBC's AW replacement Passions trailing significantly (Passions was canceled by NBC in September 2007 and moved to the DirecTV channel The 101; the network no longer programs in that time slot).

In summary, One Life To Live enjoyed fair-to-middling ratings throughout most of its first decade, but rose rapidly as it entered its second, along with the rest of ABC's daytime lineup. The 1980s saw the show reach the height of its popularity, occupying a top-four place for almost all of the decade. Since 1991, it returned to the middle of the pack, but its numbers declined, in common with all other soaps. By decade's end, the show rested near the bottom of the ratings pack, but now rests comfortably once again around #4 in the weekly ratings, occasionally jumping to #3 or even #2 on especially strong weeks.


See also

References