All My Children

All My Children (AMC) turns 40 this year with plenty of anniversary surprises. AMC is a soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. Created by Agnes Nixon, the show is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. Since its inception, the show has featured Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most popular characters.

When Nixon developed the soap opera, she wanted something that was topical, everyday life and would also illustrate social issues combined with humor. To keep the action more real, she allowed the audience to locate her fictional "Pine Valley" on a map: situated just outside of Philadelphia, it was a mere hour-long train ride from New York City.

From 1970 and into the 1980s, the show was either written by Nixon herself or by her protégé, Wisner Washam. Washam was groomed by Nixon to take the reins in the 1980s while she focused on other endeavors.

Many of the shows first characters have become endearing legends in television history. One of my favorite characters was the “Queen of Pine Valley” herself, Phoebe Tyler, played by Ruth Warrick. She started out as a rich snob, but turned into a prestigious member of the community. Another favorite was Mona Kane, played by Frances Heflin, was a single mother to her prima donna daughter, Erica, who has always been played by Susan Lucci. To balance out these over-the-top characters, there was the stable Martin Family, headed by patriarch Joe – always played by Ray MacDonnell - and his wife, Ruth - played now by Lee Meriwether. Although the Martin’s have several son’s, it is their adoptive son, Tad the Cad – played currently by Michael E. Knight – who has always been my favorite.

Erica Kane at her first wedding

Since the inception of the Daytime Emmy Awards in 1972, AMC and its performers have been nominated in excess of 250 times. One of the most elusive winners of an individual acting award was the character of Erica Kane. Finally in 1999, after being nominated 19 times in a row as "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series," Susan Lucci finally had her day in the sun. She was greeted with a standing ovation when her name was called as the year’s winner.

Although I did not start watching this show from the beginning, after all I was only 7 years old when it premiered, I must admit I played hooky from school many times as a teenager to watch certain episodes of this soap opera. Since the addition of VCR into our lives, and now the DVR, I have missed very few episodes since 1984. AMC remains my guilty afternoon obsession and I run home from work every afternoon to unwind with all my friends in Pine Valley.

Here’s to another 40 years of All My Children.

Some of the current cast of AMC