One Life to Live

For the 1997 C-Bo album, see One Life 2 Live. For the hip hop group, see 1 Life 2 Live.

One Life to Live
GenreSoap opera
Drama
Created byAgnes Nixon
Written byThom Racina and Jessica Klein (head writers)
Directed bySee below
StarringList of cast members
Theme music composerSnoop Lion (web series)[1]
Opening theme"Brand New Start"
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons45
No. of episodes11,136
Production
Executive producersDoris Quinlan (1968–77)
Joseph Stuart (1977–83)
Jean Arley (1983-84)
Paul Rauch (1984–91)
Linda Gottlieb (1991–94)
Susan Bedsow Horgan (1994–96)
Maxine Levinson (1996–97)
Jill Farren Phelps (1997–2001)
Gary Tomlin (2001–02)
Frank Valentini (2003–12)
Jennifer Pepperman (2013)
Jeffrey Kwatinetz (2013)
Richard Frank (2013)
ProducerSee below
Production locationsNew York City, New York (1968–2012)
Stamford, Connecticut (2013)
Running time30 minutes (1968–76; 2013)
45 minutes (1976–78)
60 minutes (1978–2012)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseJuly 15, 1968 (1968-07-15) –
January 13, 2012 (2012-01-13)
NetworkThe Online Network
ReleaseApril 29 (2013-04-29) –
August 19, 2013 (2013-08-19)
Related
All My Children
General Hospital
The City
Loving
Port Charles
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

One Life to Live (often abbreviated as OLTL) is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes via Prospect Park from April 29 to August 19, 2013.[2][3][4] Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature ethnically and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social issues.[2] One Life to Live was expanded from 30 minutes to 45 minutes on July 26, 1976, and then to an hour on January 16, 1978.

One Life to Live heavily focuses on the members and relationships of the Lord family. Actress Erika Slezak began portraying the series' protagonist Victoria Lord in March 1971[2] and played the character continuously for the rest of the show's run on ABC Daytime, winning a record six Daytime Emmy Awards for the role.[5] In 2002, the series won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.[6] On September 17, 2010, One Life to Live was the last American daytime soap opera taped in New York City following the final broadcast of CBS' As the World Turns.

On April 14, 2011, ABC announced that it was canceling One Life to Live after nearly 43 years on the air due to low ratings.[7][8] On July 7, 2011, production company Prospect Park announced that it would continue the show as a web series after its run on ABC,[9] but later suspended the project.[10] The show taped its final scenes for ABC on November 18, 2011, and its final episode on the network aired on January 13, 2012, with a cliffhanger. On January 16, 2012, the following Monday, ABC replaced One Life to Live with a new and short-lived talk show called The Revolution that aired until July 6 of the same year.

On January 7, 2013, Prospect Park resumed its plan to continue One Life to Live as a daily 30-minute web series on Hulu and iTunes via The Online Network.[11][12] The relaunched series premiered on April 29, 2013.[13] The new series was plagued with several behind-the-scenes problems, most notably a litigation between Prospect Park and ABC regarding the misuse of One Life to Live characters on General Hospital.[14] On September 3, 2013, Prospect Park suspended production of the series until the lawsuit with ABC was resolved.[14]

  1. ^ Abrams, Natalie (April 12, 2013). "Snoop Lion Is Writing a New Theme Song for One Life to Live". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Schemering, Christopher (September 1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Ballantine Books. pp. 158–166. ISBN 0-345-32459-5.
  3. ^ Waggett, Gerard J. (November 1997). "One Life to Live". The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Harper Paperbacks. pp. 163–188. ISBN 0-06-101157-6.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference NY soaps was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "SOAP STAR STATS: Erika Slezak (Viki, OLTL)". SoapOperaDigest.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  6. ^ "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 2002". SoapOperaDigest.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  7. ^ James, Meg (April 15, 2011). "ABC ending soaps All My Children and One Life to Live". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 15, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference cancellation notice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ ABC.com - - One Life to Live Announcement Archived October 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference suspended was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Jolie Lash (January 25, 2013). "One Life To Live, All My Children – New Episodes On The Way This Spring Via Hulu, iTunes". Access Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  12. ^ "One Life to Live, All My Children Set Online Premiere Date; Roger Howarth Returning To OLTL". Access Hollywood. March 11, 2013. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  13. ^ "FX Canada Brings New Episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live Back to Television in Exclusive Canadian Broadcast, Beginning April 29". Rogers Media TV Access. April 16, 2013. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  14. ^ a b James, Meg (September 3, 2013). "Reviving canceled ABC soap operas becomes a real-life drama". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.