http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/life-live-children-online-article-1.1327266
'One Life to Live' and 'All My Children' will be available through Hulu and iTunes with new episodes four days a week
"ONE LIFE To Live" is all set for life number two.
The popular soap opera, which ended a 43-year ABC run on Jan. 13, 2012, springs back to life Monday — along with "All My Children," which ended its own 41 years on ABC on Sept. 23, 2011.
This time, however, they won't be on broadcast television.
They will be available through Hulu and iTunes, which means viewers can watch them on computers or mobile devices with an Internet connection.
If this sounds like we're looking at pale, low-rent echoes of the original productions, that might have been true a few years ago.
Today, while the productions will be trimmed back to four original 30-minute episodes a week, the producers say little has been sacrificed.
"When viewers tune in for 'One Life to Live' on Monday," says "OLTL" executive producer Jennifer Pepperman, "they will see 17 members of the former cast. We will take the questions left unanswered a year ago, address and answer them. It will be the show everyone remembers."
While a few stars didn't make the jump, most did.
The "One Life" cast will include Melissa Archer, Josh Kelly, Robin Strasser, Erika Slezak and Hillary B. Smith. Jennifer "JWOWW" Farley from "Jersey Shore" will have a recurring role as a bartender, a move that's hardly accidental.
Part of the problem for broadcast soaps in recent years is the perception their viewers are all 125 years old. JWOWW screams, "New blood! Young blood!"
"This is a multigenerational show," says Pepperman. "We're absolutely expecting younger viewers to find us."
"All My Children" won't have Susan Lucci, but it will have Vincent Irizarry, Cady McClain, Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams, among others.
Original episodes of both shows will air Monday-Thursday, with wrapup/recap shows on Friday that will enable fans to talk about the show and interact with cast members on social media and Skype.
"It's really the fans who deserve all the credit here," says Pepperman. "These shows came back because the fans wouldn't let them die."
The actual savior is the production company Prospect Park, whose partners Jeff Kwatinetz and Rich Frank bought the rights to both shows.
Prospect Park also set up The Online Network (TOLN), which will distribute the shows through Hulu, iTunes and others outlets.
Pepperman says this will be a model for the future, since it enables viewers to watch the shows on their own schedule.
She also says she isn't concerned about one of the biggest unknowns: whether people who have watched their "stories" on regular TV for years will want to or be able to start doing it on a computer or an iPad.
"These fans are tremendously loyal," she says. "They'll find a way. They'll ask their granddaughters, who will tell them, 'Gram,this is so easy.'
"It's like a few years ago when you had to watch some of your favorite shows on cable instead of broadcast TV. People learned."
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