ABC made the shocking move to cancel two soap operas to make room for more talk shows. All My Children went off the air in 2011 and was replaced by the short-lived show, The Chew. Former stars Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos revealed plans in 2020 to reboot the daytime drama as a primetime series. But six years later, it hasn’t happened. They opened up about the struggle to revive the beloved soap opera. Keep reading for the latest update on the reboot.
Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos Launched Production Company
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ real-life love story began on All My Children. They married a year after meeting on the soap opera. 30 years later, they’re still together and the proud parents of three adult children. Kelly Ripa took a step back from acting to replace Kathie Lee Gifford as Regis Philbin’s co-host on LIVE.
Mark Consuelos continued acting in popular shows like Riverdale, 9-1-1, and most recently, the movie Scream 7. He also joined LIVE as his wife’s co-host in 2023. But LIVE with Kelly and Mark won’t last forever. The couple expanded their careers by creating a production company, Milojo, in 2007.
The production company has partnered with several networks for content over the years, including TLC (Masters of Reception,) ESPN (Running with the Wolves,) Hulu (Squatters: Get the F*** Out of My House,) and Lifetime.
All My Children is very close to Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa’s hearts. They made guest appearances in 2010 for the show’s 40th anniversary. A year later, ABC took the soap off the air. One Life to Live was also canceled, leaving General Hospital as the last soap opera on ABC.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have been working with Lifetime for years to get All My Children back on television. What’s the hold up?
The LIVE Hosts Open Up About Struggle To Revive All My Children
AMC and OLTL were briefly rebooted by Prospect Park and aired on Hulu. However, streaming wasn’t popular yet, so the reboots only lasted one season.
“It’s a numbers game. And we’ve learned that,” Mark Consuelos told the Los Angeles Times about working on an All My Children reboot and other ideas for the production company.
Kelly Ripa revealed that they’re working with Agnes Nixon’s estate on the reboot. Agnes Nixon created All My Children in 1970. “She was so far ahead of her time. She covered topics that weren’t being covered. It was extraordinary the audiences that the show drew, and she served them real stories that were affecting Americans across the country but weren’t necessarily being represented anywhere.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos shared an update on bringing the soap back. They’re developing All My Children movies for Lifetime. Susan Lucci (Erica Kane) and Eva La Rue (Maria Santos Grey) are reportedly in talks to join the project. The reboot is still in the early stages, but Elaine Frontain Bryant, the executive vice president of programming at Lifetime, seemed hopeful.
“Lifetime is always interested in shows that kind of tap into a powerful nostalgia that can be made fresh for today’s audience. There’s a whole generation of women that have missed these stories and these characters,” she told the L.A. Times.
Mark Consuelos is all-in on the reboot. “All My Children gave me my family. I met my wife there. It gave me my start in the business… It would be a dream to be able to give back,” he said. Stay tuned for updates on the soap opera’s return from the dead.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger