All My Children

When I was growing up, my mom watched the television daytime soap opera All My Children and, so, like I think is the case for many U.S. kids who have grown up over the last few decades, I developed a soap opera allegiance based on the soap opera that was on in my home … that is, while I was home from school during summer break to actually see the soap opera. I, thus, became a fan of All My Children and while I haven’t watched it, other than a passing glance here there while switching through channels, in around 15 years, I would still call it my favorite and defend it against other soap operas … especially that weird-ass Days of Our Lives show that NBC runs at the same time as ABC runs All My Children. I mean, I actually still have a complete set of All My Children trading cards from the early 1990s.

My first real attachment to the show came in the summer of 1984, when I was eleven years old. I can still remember becoming engrossed in the story of romantic couple Jenny (played by Kim Delaney, of later NYPD Blue fame) and Greg, which ended in tragic irony with Jenny being unintentionally killed by a man who had a crush on her, while he was attempting to kill Greg. (See here and here for clips.) I distinctly remember ABC would break from coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympics in order to show us our “favorite day time soaps” and I was as excited to watch All My Children as to watch swimming, gymnastics, and track and field.

I lost track of All My Children when school started again in the fall of 1984, but I would return to it every so often, most prominently in the early to mid-1990s, when my college roommate, whose mom also was an All My Children fan, and I would watch the show while eating lunch between classes whenever we got the chance. I think I may have even taped it once or twice to find out the latest on characters like Tad and Dixie, Edmund, Brooke, Maria, Dmitri, and, of course, the show’s most famous character, Erica Kane. I suppose I reached my all-time high as an All My Children fan in the spring of 1994 when the creator of the show, Agnes Nixon, gave a keynote speech at the Popular Culture Association conference in Philadelphia. I attended her speech, met her, and got her autograph for my mom, which I have to my mom later that year as a gift. It was a pretty cool experience during what was a memorable trip (after all, I did also get to meet Robert Redford by complete chance during that trip as well).

When I met Ms. Nixon, I thanked her for years of wonderful television programming and, of course, as a fan of All My Children, I meant it. My comment, though, goes beyond simply my own fan’s attachment to the show and last week witnessed a perfect example of what I mean. During the Monday, February 16, 2009, telecast, the characters Bianca Montgomery (Erica Kane’s daughter) and Reese Williams got married, marking the first time in daytime television history in which two gay women have been married. This isn’t the first “first” for the show either. In 2003, the show also featured daytime television’s first lesbian kiss. And this is nothing new. In the mid-1990s, the show featured the character Michael Delaney, an openly gay man, and took on topics of homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation in storylines involving Michael. In the 1980s, when many in the United States, including the Reagan administration, continued to misunderstand or ignore AIDS, the show addressed issues involving the disease. Indeed, the interest in addressing social issues is a hallmark of the show, dating back to its first few seasons in the 1970s, when storylines revolved around issues of abortion, race, and the Vietnam War.

All of this is not to say that the ways that All My Children are above criticism. Like all media representations—and television representations in particular—the show has its limitations. I mean, for instance, even with one gay wedding, the show is still dominated by heterosexuality and heteronormativity. It is, in essence, a liberal kind of program and, thus, has some limitations on how progressive it is, in line with that liberal perspective. Yet, I tend to think that, despite its limitations, the show is worthy of recognition for not only its willingness, but its determination, to address social issues and offer moments upon which progressive movements can build. I suppose this might just be the voice of a proud sometime fan of the show, but I feel pretty sure that it’s not just me. And, so, I suppose the time is high to express my thanks to Agnes Nixon once again for her contributions to television programming and popular culture in general.