Just got back from screening of “White House Down” and learned the union dispute between Prospect Park and IATSE has been resolved. “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” will resume production on August 12th after all. The shows shut down more than a week early when IATSE complained the shows’ budgets were higher than expected.
Another announcement from Prospect Park today, too: their use of foul language in the shows will end beginning with June 24th episodes. This is great news. Gratuitous use of all sorts of four letter words (and others) was grating and offensive. The writers for these shows have enough problems. Thank goodness that will end.
Now that the union mess is done, Prospect Park can figure out how to get Susan Lucci back onto “All My Children” and how to straighten out some other problems. Right now they’ve got veteran actress Cady McClain, who’s maybe 40, grandmother to a guy who looks like he’s 20. And her “Son” is 30. It’s very weird. Something about “All My Children” feels inert and canned. I think it’s missing Lucci’s gift for stirring stuff up.
The better show is “One Life to Live.” You can see they’re doing the best they can with a limited budget. But the show moves better, has a focus and feels like it has a purpose.
Soaps get laughed at a lot, but they are launching pads still for lots of talented people (and home to those who stay too). Billy Magnussen is Tony nominated from “Vanya and Sonia” — he came from “As the World Turns.” Jesse Soffer from the same show just got an NBC series. Plenty of soap grads are on every show and in plenty of films and theater. Judith Light, who’s just won Tony Awards back to back, started on “One Life to Live.” If only the soap could her to come back for a cameo…
