Thursday, March 28, 2024

All My Children, One Life to Live May Be Dead for Good This Time: Kwatinetz Said to Be Pulling Plug

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Stay tuned for updates: The online versions of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” may be dead for good this time. Jeff Kwatinetz’s Prospect Park Productions is said to be on the verge of announcement that they’re done. The company built a big studio in Stamford, Connecticut, fought with the local IATSE union people, as well as other unions. They produced around 40 or episodes of each show.

But throughout the run of the shows on Prospect Park’s Online Network, via Hulu, the production company had problems. They almost immediately cut back the run from four episodes a week to two per soap, claiming “research” said viewers couldn’t keep up with the pace. Prospect Park also conducted an unnecessary fiat war with ABC, which licensed the show to them. Prospect said they had trouble writing “One Life to Live” because ABC had killed off three of their characters on “General Hospital.”

This argument was ridiculous since soap fans know soap characters can be killed off on camera and return several days later. (See “SoapDish” Kevin Kline, Whoopi Goldberg and “I can’t write for a man who doesn’t have a head.”)

Once Prospect sued ABC it gave them an excuse to “shelve” “One Life to Live.” Now the word is that on Friday they will do the same with “All My Children.” A union insider said they’ve heard Prospect Park is pulling out entirely.

Kwatinetz has a long checkered history in showbiz, well chronicled by Google, including the downfall of his agency The Firm, its successor agency with Mike Ovitz, his brief management of Kelly Clarkson and Britney Spears, rehab, and his engagement to the later Brittany Murphy. (If he’d used any of those story lines for the soaps, they might have stayed on the air.)

Considering the ratings rebound of soaps, and the terrible ratings from their replacements, ABC would do well to reboot the shows at 30 minutes apiece. Their “General Hospital” is booming now.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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