“One Life to Live” has posted its highest ratings since 2008 according to ratings site, www.tybythenumbers. “One Life to Live” is now ABC’s number 1 soap and set for cancellation next January. Taping is set to end in the late fall. But wait: “One Life” has posted whopping gains in the last few weeks. The soap gained 641,000 viewers over the same week compared to last year. It was the only of one the remaining six soaps on air to post any gain at all, and is solidly number 3 behind CBS’s “Young and the Restless” and the highly weird “Bold and the Beautiful.” It also picked up 116,000 viewers last week year-to-year in the crucial 18-49 women demo. And still, ABC has it on the chopped–not chopping–block. How crazy is that?
And even though “One Life” is as wacky as any daytime drama, it’s also probably the best one of that half-dozen. Now this may all change because in the next couple of weeks, several key actors are leaving either by their own volition or thanks to budget cuts. Robin Strasser, who’s played Dorian Lord for a million years, recently gave TV Guide an interview and an earful about how she’d been cut. Another popular actor, Trevor St. John, who’s been part of the ratings climb in the “Two Todds” story, has also been given the heave-ho. So it’s unclear if the “One Life” campaign to the top will be short lived.
Meanwhile, Jeff Kwatinetz‘s Prospect Park Productions has still yet to give any details about moving “One Life” and “All My Children” to the internet. There’s supposedly going to be a cable TV component to their deal, as well. Last week, Prospect Park added another executive to their who’s supposed to help effectuate these scenarios.
One last thing: I’ve never understood why the soap actors don’t speak out about what’s going on. They rarely have real publicists, and never give interviews until it’s too late. Wake up, guys. Your industry is dying.
