How Daytime Soap All My Children got its Start
Susan Lucci as Erica Kane & Others in Pine Valley are Fan Favorites
Aug 7, 2008
All My Children, an ABC Daytime soap opera created by Agnes Nixon, began airing on January 5, 1970. During the 1970s, the show’s popularity developed slowly through media exposure and a growing fan base and has since won numerous awards and has become one of daytime’s most popular soaps.
The show is set in fictional Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, located just outside of Philadelphia. The storylines and drama revolve around three major families in Pine Valley: the single-minded Kanes, the wealthy Chandlers, and the kindhearted Martins.
The show’s title refers to the brotherhood of man and Nixon’s belief that all people are God’s children. Nixon wrote the poem that appears in the opening of the show’s photo album, which reads:
The Great and the Least,
The Rich and the Poor,
The Weak and the Strong,
In Sickness and in Health,
In Joy and Sorrow,
In Tragedy and Triumph,
You are ALL MY CHILDREN
During All My Children’s first year, the show only ranked number 17 out of 19 soaps in popularity, but it gained an audience base that has grown through the years into one of the largest of any daytime soap. During the first seven years, the show aired only 30 minutes, but since 1977 has aired an hour.
Writers
Nixon envisioned a soap opera that dealt with real social issues while also entertaining its audience. Throughout the 1970s the show was written by either Nixon or Wisner Washam, who eventually took over the show in the 1980s as Nixon pursued other projects.
Original Cast Members
Today two original cast members remain: Susan Lucci (Erica Kane) and Ray MacDonnell (Dr. Joe Martin). Ruth Warrick (Phoebe Tyler) was also an original cast member who acted until her death in 2005.
Lucci has been named “Daytime’s Leading Lady” and has the highest salary (over $1 million a year) of any daytime actor or actress. She has been nominated for and has won several awards, and in 1999 she won the Daytime Emmy for “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.”
MacDonnell and Warrick each received a Daytime Emmy in 2004 for “Lifetime Achievement.”
Media Coverage, Controversial Issues, and Significant Storylines
The show gained media coverage from its beginning for its portrayal of controversial issues, some of which include the Vietnam War, abortion, and the psychological effects of cosmetic surgery.
No television show prior to All My Children discussed the controversial issue of the Vietnam War. Conservative Phoebe and liberal Amy (Rosemary Prinz) clashed on all war-related issues, especially with Amy’s frequent protests throughout Pine Valley. After Amy’s character left the show, Ruth became the new anti-war character, and her protest speech in 1972 won the first soap opera performer Emmy Award.
In 1973, Erica Kane’s abortion storyline began, only months after the Roe versus Wade case. Erica aborted her unborn baby because she did not want to gain weight and lose her job as a model, and her reason for the abortion made the already controversial issue even more significant.
Another influential storyline includes Margo Flax Martin (played by Eileen Letchworth) and the story of her facelift and its resultant psychological effects. Because Letchworth would need time off and would return to the show looking drastically different, she first discussed getting a facelift with Nixon in 1974. Nixon worked the storyline into the show, making it one of the first major television plots revolving around the psychological effects of cosmetic surgery.
Throughout the 1970s the show continued to develop socially significant storylines, and by 1977, the show began airing a full hour instead of 30 minutes. By the end of 1979, All My Children had reached the top of daytime ratings, and it has continued as a fan favorite since.
