'Children,' 'One Life' get reborn online April 29

[March 12, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- It's not uncommon for soap opera characters thought dead to spring back to life. Now, a pair of soap operas thought dead are being resurrected.

Venerable daytime dramas "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" will soon be reborn online after getting the ax little more than a year ago by ABC, which had broadcast them for decades.

Prospect Park's The Online Network has set its debuts of both long-running soaps for April 29. Both will appear each weekday with new 30-minute episodes available to stream on computers for free on the Hulu website.

Subscribers to Hulu Plus can watch them on a variety of other devices. Episodes will also be available on iTunes.

Production began on "All My Children" last month, and shooting starts for "One Life to Live" next week. Both series are produced in Stamford, Conn.

Agnes Nixon, the soap opera pioneer who created the shows more than 40 years ago, is serving as creative consultant for their online revivals.

"I am so pleased that our dream of bringing these two series back to life is coming to fruition," she said.

Prospect Park partners Jeff Kwatinetz and Rich Frank are promising "new and creatively ground-breaking episodes that both the fans, as well as legions of new viewers, will love."

Joining new cast members, a number of favorites from the long broadcast run of each soap are returning.

Veteran "All My Children" stars include David Canary, Julia Barr, Jill Larsen, Cady McClain and Debbi Morgan. Fan favorites back on "One Life to Live" include Erika Slezak, Robert S. Woods, Robin Strasser and Hillary B. Smith.

The broadcast version of "One Life to Live" premiered on ABC in 1968 and aired through January 2012. "All My Children" ran from January 1970 to September 2011.

[Associated Press; By FRAZIER MOORE]

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