Today was a bittersweet day in the history of daytime television; it was the end of an era. It was the end of the One Life to Live a soap opera that had been running weekdays for the last 44 years. It debuted 10 years before I was born.
Like most modern soap opera my earliest memories include One Life to Live on in the background. Summer vacations, sick days from school all included spending an hour with the folks on One Life to Live. My mom was always a soap fan, and as the way soap fandom, it is genetic and always passed down from generation to generation.
As I got older I paid closer attention to the characters and storylines until one day I was not just watching because my mom was watching, but because I wanted to know what would happen next. Soon summer vacation meant catching up on the soaps. And as I became an adult it meant catching the soaps during my lunch hour when I could, having my mom fill me in when needed, and of course going on maternity leave for the first time meant a healthy sudsy daily dose of soaps.
Even now, as a work at home mom, I try to schedule my “lunch hour” around One Life to Live. Well, I did. Not anymore because as of January 13th One life to Live is officially off the air.
It’s hard to explain the draw to certain soap operas. But for me the biggest draw, was the comfort the soaps provided.
Whether it was rough days school, hard times when I moved out on to my own, or the stress of planning my wedding, the soaps were always there. As a grown woman I suffered a number of miscarriages before finally having my children. And on those horrific days when I was home from work curled up in my bed, guess who was there? Those same melodramatic characters that had been on the small screen my whole life. Ready with my temporary escape. When I was exhausted and in labor with my kids, guess what was on TV to try and take my mind off things? The soaps.
And so on and so forth.
It’s the comfort that there was something constant in this world I could count on to never change. That no matter what was going on in the world outside, or in my life, the folks of Llanview would still be there, going about their soap opera lives like nothing had ever changed.
There are not a lot of constants in this world. Not a lot of things that we can rely on to never change and to always be there when we need an escape or a break from life. And one of the few constants in my life disappeared with the cancelation of One Life to Live.
So to a wonderful cast and crew who have worked so hard each weekday since before I was even born, I say adios and thanks for always being in the background when I needed you.
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My wife reacted in a similar manner. I just told her that it's okay – they can always just rewrite the show into the timeline like it had never left. I remember my mom recording her soaps so she could watch them after work and me going elsewhere to play a video game, read, or otherwise not have to watch.
I'm sure my mom felt kind of like you do – same characters always there as a small source of comfort.
I watched One Life to Live faithfully and I am much older than you. LOL
I would come home from high school and on it went!
Then, In college, One Life to Live was on every television in the
University Center. The guys and gals watched it.
Great memories!
Thanks, Cindi
I used to watch a couple of soap operas a long time ago, during summer break. I eventually lost interest (after about a year or two), but years later I was flipping through channels and I saw a few minutes of a soap I used to watch. I had no problems figuring out what was going on, because the characters spent the whole time rehashing what was going on, LOL!
I haven't been too much into soaps lately, but for avid watchers over many, many years, it can be sad to lose a part of your everyday life. It can feel like something is really missing without it.
I haven't watched any soaps in years, but it is sad to see all them leave the air. I guess reality television has really won in the end.