ABC Soaps May Have One Life Left to Live — Maybe

Soap fans are exulting this afternoon because ABC has licensed “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” to Jeff Kwatinetz’s Prospect Park. The newish company says it will produce the shows for the web in some kind of Hulu configuration. I tried Kwatinetz today and was referred to a PR company. But just a little background: in some circles, Kwatinetz (who’s partnered with former Disney exec Rich Frank) is a bit of a soap character himself. The short back story: a brief engagement to the now deceased Brittany Murphy, a short and fiery run with a no longer in business agency called The Firm, and a shorter, even worse management advisory of Kelly Clarkson, who escaped with barely her career intact. He also managed Britney Spears for a month. In particular, The Firm — which managed rock musicians–burned brightly for a short time and then went out in a blaze of defections and chaos. Kwatinetz, who’s Harvard educated, has had more press than actual achievements over the last decade. How exactly he’ll handle the soaps is still a mystery since the shows–particularly “AMC”–are being written now for ABC finales. Some major actors–most pointedly Robin Strasser of “One Life to Live”–are already gone from their shows. And as much as fans hate ABC Daytime, at least they had experience dealing with the major, major egos of the soap production people. If Kwatinetz thought rock stars were difficult, he ain’t seen nothin’ yet. As for the soap actors, I wouldn’t start popping Champagne corks any time soon.