"All My Children" ends after 41 years

The cast of "All My Children."

/ ABC

(CBS) After four decades in Pine Valley, "All My Children" has come to an end.

The long-running soap opera aired its final episode on Friday, ending the show's 41-year run.

Pictures: Susan Lucci
Pictures: Stars who began on soaps

The finale finished with a cliffhanger: It ended with most of the show's characters gathered at the Chandler house for a party. J.R. lurked outside with a gun and fired it when the screen went black.

Whether anyone was shot could still be revealed - ABC licensed the show to production company Prospect Park, which hopes to keep the show going online and on other "emerging platforms."

The series, which debuted in 1970, featured Susan Lucci as villain Erica Kane, and helped launch the careers of actors including Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Josh Duhamel, Melissa Leo, Amanda Seyfried, Mischa Barton, Christian Slater and Michelle Trachtenberg.

ABC announced it was pulling the plug on the show back in April, along with the soap opera "One Life to Live," which will end its run in January.

31 Photos

Stars on soap operas

[Unhappy_Jess]

What a SHAME!!!!!! Please Please Please bring back our soap "All My Children" Whether on ABC or on HUlU online. It doesnt give it justice to replace with a boring show. I recorded this show to watch after school. This show had me on my toes. It has the best characters. I Love them all. All I am saying is a great show,excellent show, I have nothing bad to say but I absolutely loved the show and when i came home to watch it on monday to find out a boring cooking show took over my favorite show i was terrified it really took my joy.

[benfizz2]

I had not heard that all my children was going off the air had heard about One Life to Live and that pissed me off imagine my surprise when I go to watch All My Children today and its gone!!! Instead some other food show!!! I am sure they are great chefs but sorry not cool. I will miss One Life to Live as well!!! Does any one know if the network is planning to release these shows on DVD like they did with Dark Shadows?

[retiredgustav]

I wish I could have sang at all of Erica's weddings. I know the pay wouldn't be that great but at least it would be steady work!

[Molly-Pchr]

I saw a tiny bit of what's coming, that cooking show?? Looks silly. Bring back the soaps. One Life to Live is kind of nutty, the plots, and everyone has money, no one works, everyone dies and comes back, but I started watching as a kid because I remembered Lee Patterson from Warner Bros' Surfside 6, was interested to see him on a soap, but they killed him off, but I watched once in awhile over the years to see Vicki. Daytime TV is bad enough, but losing soaps will be sad. More bubble gum talk shows, doctors making everyone sick, and the Jerry Springer crowd. Yuk.

[Transatlantique]

I watched this show on and off for years, but in the last decade or so more off. I think it lost its charm for me when the famous book opening sequence at the beginning was changed to the jazzy one it became. I miss Phoebe Tyler, Palmer Cortlandt, Myrtle Fargate etc.. I even met a few characters when I worked at the Beverly Centre in Los Angeles back in '87. That was surreal, and shows my age. However, I always wondered how long this would go on, and now I know. I guess I grew out of it at some point.

[jt92202]

Sad that Jerry Springer is still on and many soaps are not anylonger! At least all the words could be said on the soaps and on Jerry every other word is BLEEP!! I hate being sick and stay home from work as there is nothing on tv that is worth watching during the day anymore!!

[X2670]

The 'Soap' seems to be dying out for daytime TV. However, like @nansea5 stated, much better than any ridiculous talk show or white trash court B*S show. When we were kids we always used to watch 'Dark Shadows' in the summer. Everything stopped outside (when kids knew what outside was)when Barnabus Collins came on TV for those 30 minutes during the week.

[sn_tx]

Yeah, I had a feeling this was coming. Upon hearing the news many months ago regarding "All My Children" and "One Life to Live", I had an inky feeling these shows' lives would be numbered. What's humorous about this was, according to one news source, somebody said that ABC should "stomp on cats and dogs" or something like that.

Interesting thing that this is happening; ABC has been on the decline just shortly after Disney's takeover of the network. Sure, "Home Improvement", "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (with Regis!), and the 1997-2008 "Wonderful World of Disney" were saving graces for the network in the late 90s, but after TGIF got axed in 2000 or so, ABC's decline began. Remember in 2005, ABC got rid of "Monday Night Football" and moved it to ESPN, thus making this prime-time stroke of genius inaccessible to antenna viewers, unless a local area team is represented one week. Then, the evil ESPN sucked the rights to the Rose Bowl and the BCS away from ABC and FOX, respectively. (They also, without warning, took over the Wimbledon rights from NBC this year, and thank goodness NBC [although now owned by the infamous "Doom-cast"] had the gumption to save the Olympics from ending up in the hands of ESPN!) They also gave the new "WWoD" a slow, uneventful death in 2008. Since 2005 or so, none of the prime-time shows ABC has are for families, and 90% of these new shows often get axed after 2 episodes or just an entire season!

This year, ABC's chopping block has been quite notable: first, the jettisoning of this show (and "One Life to Live" next year) in favor of a lifestyle cooking show. Seriously, how can ABC still have a license to create/air new programming? These shows will be cancelled after a season, anyway. While I have never liked Disney shows/movies introduced after June 2002 (except for the ones based off of Mickey and other golden classics), ABC gave "ABC Kids" a slow, uneventful death, too, for something called "Litton's Weekend Adventure." Come on, couldn't ABC have brought back the After-School specials they were famous for for their E/I requirements? The morning could then be used for classic Disney, since some of the new "digital" channels have revived classic kid's programming anyway.

Well, I think I have covered all the "STOPS" (appropriately) in the downfall of what was once such a great, internationally-known network representative of America. Think of it this way, WABC, KABC, WLS, KOMO, WXYZ, WJLA, WFAA, WSB and others: you're getting a MyNetwork TV with a bright, storied history and a 24/7 news team. Any further damages to the ABC network will cause over 190 or so affiliates to take action and hook up with other networks (like FOX) or just go independent. Hey, I used to be very weary when WFAA would mess up the ABC schedule (even WFAA's syndicated programming) for something local; well, with ABC looking like it's going off the air, I'm not afraid anymore!

[nansea5]

Great run for a great show. Much better than any talk, reality or courtroom show. I was entertained for years.