All My Children questionaire (please help my thesis)

Hey!  I can't offer moneybut it would help me for my thesis paper if you answer any of these questions:

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?

Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?

(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?

Edited October 220187 yr by EricMontreal22

1 hour agoEricMontreal22 said:

Hey!  I can't offer moneybut it would help me for my thesis paper if you answer any of these questions:

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?

Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?

(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?

I started watching AMCbecause my mother watched AMC (and several other soaps).  Howevermy earliest memories associated with watching go back to when Jesse and Jenny were hiding out in NYC.  (IronicallyI remained a loyal viewer of the show long after my mother had given it up.)

I think the first time I was aware of who was writing AMC was when I was in the sixth grade.  At the time, I was doing a school paper on Irna Phillips (true story) and learning all I could not just about the history of Irna's shows (ATWTAWGLetc.) but about others' as well.  AlsoI was beginning to buy and read SOD and SOW on a regular basis; and in one "Grading the Soaps"-type articleI remember the writer expressing how much AMC had improved since Agnes Nixon returned and replaced Margaret DePriest as HW.

Do I think about AMC differently than I do other soaps?  Yes.  I think about AMC differentlybecause of Erica Kane.  No other charactersave for GL's Nola Reardon and Scarlett O'Harahas captured my imagination or heart the way "La Kane" hasor felt more like a mirror image of myself.  In Erica's constant need for validation (borne out of feeling abandoned by her father at an youngimpressionable age) and her drive to be not just rich and famous but the desire of all men (and envy of all other women) everywhereI see so many of own qualities (some flatteringothers not).

I think about how Nixon herself described Pine Valley in her original bible for the show.  Whether one is born and raised theremoves there later in lifeor just passes through on their way to other placesPine Valley, she sayswill always be home.  I feel the same way about Pine Valley, and about AMCas a viewer.  Years after watching the show for the last timejust thinking about "the Valley" still conjures up feelings of being homesurrounded by gorgeous locales and diverselarger-than-life characters who are warmand funnyand totally unforgettable.

Edited September 2820187 yr by Khan

I first started watching All My Children the summer of 1991 when I opted to not go to summer camp and I was bored at home.  I also had just gotten a tv of my own (my grandparents gave me one when I finished 5th grade that year).. and it was the start of the Janet from Another Planet story along with the Hayley/Brian teen romance that kept me around.. plusI finally got to see the infamous Erica Kane (that my mom had told me about).

I wasn't aware of who the writer was at the time.. I just remembered how quirky I found Janet Green.. and liked her friendship with Hayley.. while wondering what both Natalie and Janet saw in Trevor LOL.  I also found myself liking Mimi and Derek (and they were portrayed as smart cops as well).  I also recall Will Cortlandt being obsessed with Dixie dating Craig and thinking Will seemed off balance (little did I know how true that became months later LOL).

What drew me to the soap was because it happened to be on and I had my own tv to watch it on (my mom was a CBS soap girl and she taped Santa Barbara and Days of our Lives to watch on the weekends).. so I wanted to see what the ABC soaps were like.. and fell in love with the quirkiness of All my children.  I think during that period Erica was in a more mellow period and wasn't front burner.. but 1992 was when I finally got to see what Erica Kane was all about (especially when paired with Dimitri Marick).

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?

The earliest storyline I remember watching was the crossover baby switch with OLTLwhich I had already been watching.

Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?

By the time AMC was part of my soap line upI was already a part of message boards so was aware of Head Writers and things.

(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?

I've never considered AMC one of 'my' soaps because I never watched it for an extended period of time uninterrupted. Because I never was a viewer during any particularly great period I never felt the connection to it that I do something like DAYSwhere I had watched since I was a small child. This isn't to say I don't treasure it's place in soap historyor that I haven't found myself interested in learning about and/or watching clips from the past. Of the Agnes soapsI've found that OLTL better suited my tastes overall and I consider it my second soap that I moved on when I couldn't stomach DAYS any longer (for however long that period lasted for)

I began watching in the summer of 2003Jackson is Greenlee's father was the big storyline at the time. Michael Cambias was also front burner. 

I was actually a fan of Passions at the time (heydon't judge!) and I began watching AMC waiting for Passions to begin. DOOL was boring at the time withIIRC was the goop SL. 

OddlyI was really drawn by AMC's opening credits. I'm a sucker for dramatic opening credits with good music. I knew who the HW was by reading the credits when the show beganbut in 2004 I joined Soap Opera Central's message boards and gradually began to learn more and more about soap's behind the scenes. 

My all time favorite soap is As The World Turns, I loved it and miss it. AMC differed than ATWT in that it felt so soapy and dramaticprimarily because of Erica Kane. Susan Lucci has just the right dab of soap opera ridiculousness. I also really liked Kendall and the Chandler family.

- I began watching AMC in June of 2001. The very first factor that drew me to it was Jesse McCartney as JR Chandler. I was eleven years oldand I'd fallen deeply in love with him and his portrayal of the wounded little rich boy who needed love and attention from parents who were too wrapped up in their own drama to care about him.

- I became aware of who was writing the show when Richard Culliton was let go in late 2002 in favor of Gordon Rayfield (later to be joined by Anna Theresa Cascio).

- AMC is my "home" soap. For many yearssoaps were just the "stories" that my grandparents and other older relatives watched. I'd always been familiar with the CBS soapsbut when I started watching AMCI felt so grown up because it was "my" show. Not my grandma'snot my uncle'snot my dad'setc. Sothe characters and their histories were all new to me. I spent hours reading about the past storylines and actually retyping summaries just so that I could commit the stories to my memory. Between my daily viewing via VCR tape and my constant delving into the pastthe show became a huge part of my adolescence. No matter how much I've gotten into other shows (and I do LOVE my ATWT!)coming back to AMC and its charactersits settingsits loreetc. always feels like coming back home. The tight-knit familiesthe high-key humorthe tongue-in-cheek elegancethe fact that it knew how to not take itself so seriously from time to timeits grandness...all of these are the things I expect when I want to go back to Pine Valley.

14 hours agoEricMontreal22 said:

Hey!  I can't offer moneybut it would help me for my thesis paper if you answer any of these questions:

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?

Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?

(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?

I started watching around fall 1995. I had grown up watching CBS soapsand had become alienated by them enough to consider giving other networks a chance. I started reading soap magazines around this time and was interested in what they were saying about AMC - namelyErica's pill addiction story. I had also started watching Lovingand AMC came on right after. Once I got into the show I also got to see the homophobia storylinewhich I thought was extremely braveand I still think was braveall these years later. It was the first story of that kind I'd ever seen on a soap (I'd never seen the Hank Elliot story on ATWT). 

I knew who was writing the show not long after I startedas the soap magazines at the timeespecially SPWcovered McTavish being replaced by Broderick.

I do think of AMC differently than I do other soapsfor a number of reasons. 

For onebecause I never really got to see the best years of the show. By the time I startedit was in the stages of trying and trying to figure out what people wanted it to beand what ABC (soon Disney) demanded it be. 

Another reason is because I think AMC was very much a hybrid soapin a very unique wayfrom very early on. From the start you had social issuesclass issuesvery broad comic reliefand young love. It was something that no other soap could ever manage to pull offeven if they'd tried. And it's something AMC itself often struggled to pull offbut when they didlike in the early '80sor for a brief period in the late '80sbits and pieces of the mid-90s and the early '00setc. it was damn good. 

The show is also very unique in that it was revived onlineof course. I'm sorry we'll never know what might have been. 

Beyond the abovethe other reason is that AMCto the endhad a creator who genuinely loved the showloved the charactersand tried to keep the show to what she felt in her heart as much as she could. Did she always succeed? Of course not. We could go on about thatas many have over the yearsbut she tried. And seeing Agnes appear even in those last yearsstill clearly delighted and moved to be so close to her babywas very touching.

Edited September 2820187 yr by DRW50

Thanks everyone.  I think you're right Carl--even at its headshaking worse Agnes Nixon was a consultant (except for the nearly two years Pratt had her kicked out) and she hadfor better or worselast say. 

In the Soap Opera Encyclopedia (one of the first soap press places where AMC is praised--throughout the 70 it is talked about like it was insulting to soaps.):

Probably television’s most consistently entertaining and intelligent serial [despite] a blend of s that mayfor somebe emotionally unsatisfying.  In a single episode there are elements of Sixty MinutesLove Storyand The Carol Burnett Show—social realism side by side with sophisticated drawing room farce.  No tone is sustained for an entire episode.  But life is often just as messy as this showand the individual segments are engagingthe actors likable the writing wittythe emphasis on family laudableand the presentation of social issues outstanding.  AMC has also been blessed by that precious soap opera commoditycontinuityboth in its cast and in its writinghaving only two headwriters in its history [up to this point]Agnes Nixon and Wisner Washam.[1]

Please ignore my notes

On 9/27/2018 at 7:46 PMEricMontreal22 said:

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?    I started watching around 1977-78. I was about 7 or 8 and in the hospital with pneumonia. I vaguely remember watchingI remember OLTL more clearly. (The day Lana McClain was found by Brad Vernon still sticks in my head.) I got pneumonia three years in a row in the fall before the doctors realized why I kept getting sickso I watched on and off during the summers and when I was ill. I really got interested around 1981(Jesse/Jenny on the run) and once we got a VCR I would tape while I was in school.  I used to tear pages out of soap magazines at the grocery store for updates.    Between Erica KaneGreg/Jenny/Jesse/Angie. Grandma Kate and TadOpal/Langley /Phoebe I got hooked.

Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?    I started reading books about the soaps at the library and collecting SOD when I was 12/13. I could tell when different writers came in and out when  various characters would come/go as new writers would choose their preferences.

 

(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?     I always loved the sense of family/community among the residents of Pine Valley. Even the "bad characters" like Billy ClydePhoebePalmerAdam were humanized by their love for their families. Agnes' devotion to social issueshumor and  drama always kept me coming back.  GH was my "show" first and foremostbut AMCATWTOLTLand AW were always must-see.   There are very few "eras" that I would pass on watching AMC.

 

 

On 9/27/2018 at 4:46 PMEricMontreal22 said:

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?

1993. I had a preteen crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar after reading about her and AMC in a magazine. (This did not pan outas even then I was screamingly gay)

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Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?

I wasn't aware of those sorts of issues until at least 1998-1999when I began to seek out soap opera forums on the Internet/USENET.
 

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(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?

It always struck me as a very homeycomfortable show. When I began watching all the ABC soapsOne Life to Live was and remained my favoriteas it was gritty and dealt with social issues and rawdifficult characters; I related to that as a grunge-era tween. It felt more adultwhile I frankly initially found AMC too sweet and sappy. I thought everything with Harold the dog and Janetetc. a year later(?) was cartoonish and too childish at the timeeven though the Janet plot had me hooked. Claire Labine's GH was also homeybut more serious - AMC felt like the most stereotypically 'soap opera' showwith campy plotsvery broad humor, overly lavish mansions and arch characters who were counts and princessesetc. Only Days of our Lives had had that for me at that timeand that was a very different show than the ABC ones of the period - pure comic book.

I didn't appreciate AMC's unique mix - which Carl perfectly describes - for what it was by comparison until a year or two inbut I loved a number of characters (EricaDimitrietc.) from the start. As an adult I understand its mix of tones and its homespun charm as well as its timeless soap opera classicism much better. It's one of a kindand that's one major reason I grew to understand AMC and OLTL as the perfect tonal compliments to each other back to back on the TV schedule very quickly as a kid - light and dark. You had big humor with Opal or wacky stuff with Harold the dog or Janet/Jane the campy villainbut you also had real drama like Edmund and Maria and their endless trials (I loved them as a kid)Kelsey and her pregnancylater Noah and Juliaetc.

This may not be factualbut the way I remember itthey premiered the 'white' opening or whatever it was over the Christmas holidays somewhere in 1994-1996 - I don't recall when - but I remember just being wowed by that. It was like watching the seasons change to winter in the town itself that I followed as many days as I could.

Edited September 2920187 yr by Vee

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?

Growing upmy paternal grandmother watched the CBS soaps and my maternal grandmother watched the ABC soaps. For a brief time after high schoolI lived with my maternal grandmotherwho fixed "dinner" during what we call lunch (which differs from "supper," for all of you that didn't know.  ) I usually ate dinner while AMC was on in the next roomand I became intrigued by the humorous character of Opal Purdy Gardner as she was trying to "land" Palmer Cortlandt. At firstI only watched these scenesbut then I became interested in other scenes as well. This would have been in the fall of 1990. 

Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?

Being interested in show businessI always paid attention to credits. I'm the guy in the theater who didn't leave until the endeven before Marvel superhero "stings" after the credits rolled. I really started to become interested in the changeovers when the show went from Megan McTavish to Lorraine Broderick in the mid-90s. 

(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?

I always think differently of AMCbecause it is the only soap I actually watched fully. I stayed tangentially connected to other soaps due to family members and for a brief timesubscribed to Episodes and SOD. Since AMC has been goneit's just not the same. I come here to these boards mostly for the nostalgia and I enjoy the general entertainment and political threads. I never added another soap to my lineupbecause daily viewingeven on VCRwas sometimes difficult to keep up with while working full time. I really think AMC and OLTL 2.0 really had it right in their rebirths as a show that only aired 2-3 times a week as a "half hour" (although initially that p***ed me off). One thing I always appreciated about AMC was its "realism," which unfortunately flew out the window more and more oftenesp. as Chuck Pratt took over. By thenI guess I was so investedI saw it through with eyes permanently rolled. I can laugh through Opal's tarot readings and Myrtle dating Santa Clausbut never could stomach Jeremy's psychic powers and Erica's unabortion (although I appreciated both actorsand thought the character had a horrible undeserving exit). And although Opal remained a favoritethe real drawing power for me through most of the run was David Canary's portrayals of Adam and Stuart Chandler. Even the most asinine story (who killed Stuart?) could be riveting due to his performance.

I sort of grew up with it always on. Not that I remember much from when I was a kid. LOL. My momaunt and grandma all watched the ABC soaps. I've always had affection towards the ABC soaps because of it. They felt like 'home' for a long time. MeanwhileNBC was my "guilty pleasure" (around 1997 I was young and soaps like Sunset Beach and later Passions were actually appealing to someone younger). DAYS has always been my #1but OLTL and AMC hold a very special place. I love GH too but not in the same way. GL also always had a special place for me.

I know this isn't about all the soaps LOL but just felt like throwing it all out there. I can't recall anything specifically about AMC that made me a fan or watching since it was always background noise growing up. I think certain soaps just appeal more to youeven if you may "like" them all.

We had so many unique soaps. It sucks networks and executives spent some of their last decades on the air trying to make them more generic.

Edited September 2920187 yr by KMan101

I lived in a town that had only two stations - one being a CBS affiliate which showed some ABC and NBC programmingand the other being an affiliate of NBC which showed some ABC programming.

As far as ABC daytime programmingchannel 12 (mainly CBS) showed General HospitalBewitchedand The Dating Game.  Otherwiseit showed the entire CBS line-up.

Channel 3 (NBC) showed Dark ShadowsLet's Make a Deal (before it moved to ABC)Ben Caseyand The Lorretta Young Show. 

SoI never saw From These RootsThe Nursesor  Never Too Young.  Andbecause the NBC continued to show Let's Make a Deal after the show moved from NBC to ABCI never saw anything in that ran against it.   (Hidden Faces and Life with Linkletter are two of the shows that I remember not seeing.)

I saw my first episode of All My Children (along with The Best of Everything and A World Apart) in the summer of 1970s when I was on vacation in BiloxiMississippi.

(By the wayof the threeThe Best of Everything was my favorite.)

The plot of All My Children that day was that Phil had just learned of his true parentage and was running away to New York.  Amy Tyler was crushedand she was talking to a man (who I think was Nick Davis).

My viewing area gained a third local station (the ABC affiliate) in October 1971.   I saw my second episodes of A World Apart and All My Childrenplus my first color episodes of General Hospital and Dark Shadows on a Friday holiday we get to attend the Mississippi State Fair.   (For some reasonI don't remember watching One Life to Live - probably due to my The Edge of Night addiction.,)

The episode of All My Children that I saw was about Mona's receipt of the news of Eric.   She kept talking to Dr. Tyler about how she would break the news to Erica and how Erica would react.

I then resumed watching A World ApartDark Shadowsand  All My Children during school holidays.   (A World Apart was by far my favorite.   I was crushed at the cancellation of Dark Shadows and then A World Apart.)

I was aware that the creator/writer of both One Life to Live and All My Children was Agnes Nixon.   I had never seen her Another World (being a dedicated fan of The Secret Storm)but I had read about the early One Life to Live in an issue of Afternoon TV.   AdditionallyI saw Ms. Nixon when she was a guest star on The Mike Douglas Show.  (I remember that Marty Rossi was that week's co-host.)

In my mindI did not think of All My Children as different from other soap operas.  I knew that important social issues were presentedand I realized that there was more comedy on it that the other shows I had seen with my mother.   HoweverI credit Agnes Nixon with creating two very important comedic characters that I had seen on Search for Tomorrow (the show whose initial headwriter was Ms. Nixon before her marriage.)

On 27/09/2018 at 7:46 PMEricMontreal22 said:

Hey!  I can't offer moneybut it would help me for my thesis paper if you answer any of these questions:

When did you start watching AMCand was there a reason why you did (boredomfamily member watchedillness)?

Do you remember when you became aware of who was writing itand may be a writer change over?

(Long answer) Do you think about the show differently than you do other soap operas?  If soor notwhy?

1. I started watching in 1970 when the show premieredbased on my appreciation of Nixon's writinghaving loved her material on TGLAWand OLTL. PlusI wanted to see Rosemary Prinz againwhom I had adored as Penny on ATWT.

2. I have always been acutely aware of who is writing the soaps. I follow my favorite scribes around the dial.

3. I like the fact that when it beganAMC was a hybrid of traditional soap storytelling and themesmixed with topical material and even wry humor. Pine Valley always had a real sense of community during its first decadewhich made it feel cozy and like a second home.