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One Life to Live

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One Life to Live
File:Onelifetolive2004.JPG
Created byAgnes Nixon
No. of episodes10,230 (as of July 7 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.

See also: List of One Life to Live characters

Historical storylines

Title sequences

File:1968.jpg
July 15, 1968-April 1975

The original One Life to Live title opening used from its July 15, 1968 premiere to April 1975. 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]

Originally, One Life to Live's closing credits were done over a videotaped shot of an empty set or a mimed sequence between two or more characters. For the first ten years on the air, credits scrolled in the center of the screen in the same white Craw Clarendon Bold type as the title logo.

File:1971.jpg
April 1975-
January 4, 1980

The fireplace opening was replaced in 1975 with a visual of an emerging orange and yellow mountain sunrise, concluding with the show title underneath it. During the first few months of this sequence, the title appeared in white, but it changed to yellow thereafter.

In 1978, end credit lettering was changed to white Beton Bold. Credits were still scrolled in the center of the screen over the live-action character sequences.

File:1980.jpg
January 7, 1980-
December 14, 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.

Jack Urbont's full-length 1975 version of the OLTL theme would remain in use over the closing credits during the run of second "sunlight" visuals. However, the end credit format would see numerous revisions in the next five years. The centered Beton Bold credits would be replaced in the summer of 1980 by a credit setup that began with the title still & centered, which would then scroll up and run the credits on the left side of the screen while a live-action scene played on. An artsy, modern Bauhaus-inspired font was now used, still in white however, and subsequently, copyright notice in small Arial font showed up for the first time under the title as the credits commensed. Eventually, in May 1983, "All Rights Reserved" would be added to the copyright. Around June 1983, the Bauhaus credit setup would be replaced as a result of Jean Arley's arrival as OLTL's new executive producer. The credits would again remain white, but would revert back to being centered as they had been years before. The font changed to a combo of small Helvetica (for production titles/character names) and larger Franklin Bold (for crew and actors' names).

In the fall of 1983, OLTL was the first ABC soap to debut the network-mandated copyright notice that nearly all ABC daytime programs (except General Hospital) would adopt in 1984 onward. The copyright began to appear in an italicized variation of Century Gothic font; within the next year both the copyright notice, and the rest of the credits would appear with a more embossed black shadowing (as opposed to the transparency they had before). Also, during Ms. Arley's last months as executive producer, closing credit scenes would sometimes begin to feature still from that day's episode, but the live-action scenes would remain. Paul Rauch took over as the new EP in August 1984.

File:Onelifetolive1984.JPG
December 17, 1984-
December 31, 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 title display at the end went from giving off a spectrum of colors within the lettering, to becoming solid white embossed in black shadowing, in 1988. By the end of that same year, the closing shot of the "Llanview" bridge was eliminated, leaving the title and picture tableau still as the sequence faded. The last head shot update to this opening sequence was in November 1991.

Closing credits during the entire run of these visuals began a trend that would remain with the program for years to come: a carded-credits only format over key visuals of OLTL's opening. In the case of these Rauch-era "Tour of Llanview" visuals, credits were run over a still, signature view of the Llanview bridge. A double-font combo was continued, this time utlizing a variant of Peignot type for actors and crew members (think Mary Tyler Moore Show font, only with all letters the same size), and Helvetica for crew titles & character names. However, the first letter of every word on the production title/character line would be in the Peignot variant. The credits' color would go from being dark orange in the early months, then yellow from mid-1985 to December 1987, bright orange during 1988, and finally yellow again from early 1989 until December 1991. Also, the font went from being semi-transparent in early months, back to very transparent during the latter half of 1985, and then semi-embossed again in early 1986. During most of 1988, the credits became extra embossed, but from the start of 1989 through the end of 1991, the black embossment was toned down to a normal level.

File:1992-1995 logo.jpg
January 2, 1992-
November 17, 1995

The New-Age 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 the following 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 of Lee Holdridge, in a New Age-influenced arrangement. ABC logo was added sometime after May 1993 or in 1994.
File:Oltl95 003 0001.jpg
November 20, 1995
-December 24, 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 until 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, April 2000, 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
December 27, 1999
-June 11, 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. A few months later, in the April 2000 updates, the "walking" sounds of the theme were re-done. 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.

File:Onelifetolive2004.JPG
June 14, 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), Mikey Jerome (Ted Osbourne), Chris Beetem (Tate Harmon), Portia Reiners (Britney Jennings), January LaVoy (Noelle Ortiz), and John Rue (Moe Stubbs).

Starting on May 2 2008, OLTL began crediting show creator Agnes Nixon underneath the OLTL title card. This is due in part to the main crew credits being moved to the scene after the credits (these credits were originally seen prior to that day's opening starting in November 2003).

In 2008, episodes would also feature their own titles, similar to that of primetime dramas and sitcoms.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of One Life to Live cast members
Main article: List of One Life to Live characters

Executive Producers/Head Writers

Executive Producers

Head Writers

Current crew

Head Writer Other Writers Producers Directors
Ron Carlivati Elizabeth Page, Anna Cascio, Aida Croal, Shelly Altman, Janet Iacobuzio, Carolyn Culliton, Michelle Poteet Lisanti, Fran Myers, Chris Van Etten, Veronica Sandbridge, Jeanne Marie Ford, Tamiko Brooks, 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"

Directors Guild of America Awards

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:

  • 2004: Larry Carpenter, 2001 and 2007: Jill Mitwell

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, and continues to sit in the lower reaches of the weekly ratings.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Schemering, Christopher. The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, September 1985, pg. 158-166, ISBN 0-345-32459-5 (1st edition)
  2. ^ a b c "The History and Background of ABC's One Life to Live - About.com
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