Erika Slezak has won 6 Emmy awards for playing the same role. She beat Susan Lucci most of the those times. I don't think people understand her acting ability which I consider to be on par with the finest actors and actresses today like Dame Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, and Julie Harris. She has played a multiple personality disorder as well as played Victoria Lord for 35 years with class, elegance, and style that most people would envy. While lots of actors and actresses have come and gone, Erika stayed on playing a role that did not define her personal life. As All My Children is about another Erica, One Life to Live has provided a place for Erika Slezak who is also the heart and soul of the show itself to grow. It's an amazing show because it really does the unthinkable, unimaginable, and the absurd too. I can't forget the others on the show like Robin Strasser who plays Dorian Lord, Philip Carey who plays cowboy Asa Buchanan, Robert S. Woods who plays his son Bo. Can you imagine having cowboys in Llanview, Pennsylvania? but it work's with great actors and actresses. The absurd story lines are both entertaining and silly but even worth watching. If you like serious drama, this show is not for you. If you like fun entertainment, this is the show for you.
10 Reviews
A soap that is truly missed.
mark.waltz15 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The lives of the Lords, Woleks, Buchannans and Cramer families dominated the city of Llanview for a 43 year run, and unlike its sister city of Pine Valley, PA, Llanview was grounded in more reality even with a few bizarre plot lines. I call this ABC's closest in quality to NBC's "Another World", with former "AW" head writer Agnes Nixon moving on from that Proctor and Gamble show to create this. Although she had written the bible for "All My Children" first, her passionate love for the study of human relationships began with this show which crossed not only class and race issues, but religion as well. There were Catholics, Protestants and Jews, and even a story-line where a young black woman (the beautiful Ellen Holly) pretended to be an Italian American so she could be accepted in society. Holly's Carla (real name Clara) was one of two dominant original female characters, and had a major part in the show's critical success. Tony Winning actress Lillian Hayman was outstanding as her hard-working mother. Political upheaval on the show in the mid 1980's saw the write-out of these characters in a rather cruel way, especially for Hayman who was literally fired in a parking lot.
The heart and soul of the show for 43 years was the character of Victoria Lord, a complex young woman who was eventually revealed to be suffering from a split personality and dealt with secrets from her childhood for the show's entire run. Fans were thrilled by her long rivalry with the former Dr. Dorian Cramer (most notably played by Emmy Winner Robin Strasser) which often crossed the line into occasional friendship when the characters would make amends for hurts of the past. As played by Erika Slezak for 40 years, the character was complex in every detail, and she would go onto win more Emmys than any other actress on the soaps.
For the first decade, Vicki was part of the super-couple pairing with Joe Riley, although that term didn't become widely used until years after Joe died. Her later relationship with Clint Buchannan (Clint Ritchie, Jerry Ver Dorn) pretty much surpassed it. The first decade of the show was traditional class conflict soap, with Carla and her major love interest, Police Lt. Ed Hall (veteran stage actor Al Freeman Jr.) providing one of the few black couples on daytime. (Sister soap "AMC" was the only other, with Nancy and Frank Grant equally as popular as Carla and Ed.) "OLTL" got some major publicity when it cast two ousted "AW" stars, George Reinholt and Jacqueline Courtney, who at least for a time also dominated the airwaves.
By the late 1970's, daytime was changing, and a "Dallas" type story began with the introduction of the Buchannan family, lead by veteran movie actor Philip Carey as the ruthless J.R. Ewing like patriarch and Robert S. Woods remaining for decades as his younger son, Bo. The mob infiltrated Llanview for a while, and Judith Light's Karen Wolek became the miserable long suffering character that fans tuned into see cry and emote every day. Light deservedly won two Emmy's before moving into prime-time. I started watching in late 1981 when the show had a masked ball that lasted for a month, with Asa's supposedly dead wife, Olympia (stage and screen vet Taina Elg) revealing her husband's evil deeds. A great story-line had Bo involved with old enemies of his father's, the Ralston clan, whom he thought for a while was his real family. "Dark Shadows" vet Grayson Hall provided real camp as the scheming Euphemia Ralston, with the gorgeous Shelley Burch as her sexpot daughter Delila who married both Asa and Bo, then ended up happy with Asa's nephew, Rafe.
The story-line headed back to its roots for a while with the blue collar O'Neill family, but later went into "Dynasty" territory with the introduction of the wealthy Sanders family, featuring a scene- stealing performance by Lois Kibbee as the wealthy matriarch, with Louise Sorel going from scheming Augusta on "Santa Barbara" to the noble Judith, a victim of anti-Semitic comments from her mother-in-law Elizabeth (Kibbee). After the Sanders family faded out, wealthy Michael Grande (Dennis Parlato) became another temporary villain, later replaced by mobster Carlo Hesser (Thom Christopher) who had a rivalry with Asa over Asa's wife, Renee (Patricia Elliott). The schemes of Dorian continued, as did those of Vicki's sister, Tina Clayton and the psychotic Alex Olanov who ended up marrying both Carlo and Asa.
As the show buckled with current soap trends that went far out from the world of reality, they did add two families to add diversity to the show-the Hispanic Vega's and the black Gannon's. Secrets of Vicki's long dead father Victor continued to come to light, such as the revelation that bad boy Todd Manning was another one of his illegitimate offspring and that Victor had molested Vicki as a child which lead to her killing him in 1976, a crime that was often thought to have been committed by Dorian. Slezak's number of alters increased, and her gut wrenching performance was perhaps the most spellbinding single performance since Karen Wolek's confession on the stand in court back in 1980.
The last years of the show had its convoluted moments, but was highlighted by the comical malapropisms from Ilene Kristen's Roxie who had audiences in stitches. Returns of former actors long gone from the show such as Kim Zimmer's Echo Di Savoy and Roscoe Borne's Mitch Lawrence kept the show's history continuously explored, although the mystery of who the real Todd Manning was when two actors who played the part ended up on screen together. Returns of the dead by Victor Lord and Irene Manning were panned, but the mixing of young actors with the veterans kept the audience intrigued. ABC announced that it was canceling both "AMC" and "OLTL" on the same day, but both shows later went briefly onto the web.
The heart and soul of the show for 43 years was the character of Victoria Lord, a complex young woman who was eventually revealed to be suffering from a split personality and dealt with secrets from her childhood for the show's entire run. Fans were thrilled by her long rivalry with the former Dr. Dorian Cramer (most notably played by Emmy Winner Robin Strasser) which often crossed the line into occasional friendship when the characters would make amends for hurts of the past. As played by Erika Slezak for 40 years, the character was complex in every detail, and she would go onto win more Emmys than any other actress on the soaps.
For the first decade, Vicki was part of the super-couple pairing with Joe Riley, although that term didn't become widely used until years after Joe died. Her later relationship with Clint Buchannan (Clint Ritchie, Jerry Ver Dorn) pretty much surpassed it. The first decade of the show was traditional class conflict soap, with Carla and her major love interest, Police Lt. Ed Hall (veteran stage actor Al Freeman Jr.) providing one of the few black couples on daytime. (Sister soap "AMC" was the only other, with Nancy and Frank Grant equally as popular as Carla and Ed.) "OLTL" got some major publicity when it cast two ousted "AW" stars, George Reinholt and Jacqueline Courtney, who at least for a time also dominated the airwaves.
By the late 1970's, daytime was changing, and a "Dallas" type story began with the introduction of the Buchannan family, lead by veteran movie actor Philip Carey as the ruthless J.R. Ewing like patriarch and Robert S. Woods remaining for decades as his younger son, Bo. The mob infiltrated Llanview for a while, and Judith Light's Karen Wolek became the miserable long suffering character that fans tuned into see cry and emote every day. Light deservedly won two Emmy's before moving into prime-time. I started watching in late 1981 when the show had a masked ball that lasted for a month, with Asa's supposedly dead wife, Olympia (stage and screen vet Taina Elg) revealing her husband's evil deeds. A great story-line had Bo involved with old enemies of his father's, the Ralston clan, whom he thought for a while was his real family. "Dark Shadows" vet Grayson Hall provided real camp as the scheming Euphemia Ralston, with the gorgeous Shelley Burch as her sexpot daughter Delila who married both Asa and Bo, then ended up happy with Asa's nephew, Rafe.
The story-line headed back to its roots for a while with the blue collar O'Neill family, but later went into "Dynasty" territory with the introduction of the wealthy Sanders family, featuring a scene- stealing performance by Lois Kibbee as the wealthy matriarch, with Louise Sorel going from scheming Augusta on "Santa Barbara" to the noble Judith, a victim of anti-Semitic comments from her mother-in-law Elizabeth (Kibbee). After the Sanders family faded out, wealthy Michael Grande (Dennis Parlato) became another temporary villain, later replaced by mobster Carlo Hesser (Thom Christopher) who had a rivalry with Asa over Asa's wife, Renee (Patricia Elliott). The schemes of Dorian continued, as did those of Vicki's sister, Tina Clayton and the psychotic Alex Olanov who ended up marrying both Carlo and Asa.
As the show buckled with current soap trends that went far out from the world of reality, they did add two families to add diversity to the show-the Hispanic Vega's and the black Gannon's. Secrets of Vicki's long dead father Victor continued to come to light, such as the revelation that bad boy Todd Manning was another one of his illegitimate offspring and that Victor had molested Vicki as a child which lead to her killing him in 1976, a crime that was often thought to have been committed by Dorian. Slezak's number of alters increased, and her gut wrenching performance was perhaps the most spellbinding single performance since Karen Wolek's confession on the stand in court back in 1980.
The last years of the show had its convoluted moments, but was highlighted by the comical malapropisms from Ilene Kristen's Roxie who had audiences in stitches. Returns of former actors long gone from the show such as Kim Zimmer's Echo Di Savoy and Roscoe Borne's Mitch Lawrence kept the show's history continuously explored, although the mystery of who the real Todd Manning was when two actors who played the part ended up on screen together. Returns of the dead by Victor Lord and Irene Manning were panned, but the mixing of young actors with the veterans kept the audience intrigued. ABC announced that it was canceling both "AMC" and "OLTL" on the same day, but both shows later went briefly onto the web.
Watch OLTL Wherever, However You Can
tsnbusch15 January 2012
After 43 years, One Life to Live remains one of my favorite television shows of all time. I join millions of fan who are heartbroken over the absurd cancellation of this show. The writing, acting and production of One Life to Live are stellar, particularly in the last several years. Viewers can still watch episodes on SoapNet and YouTube; also there are a few clips and shows available on Hulu. This is more than just a review of a fabulous show; it is a plea to all fans out there who love it to join the thousands of us on FB at "Save AMC & OLTL" who are working daily to find a new home not only for One Life to Live, but also for All My Children. In addition, SWANS4Nixon (FB Group) has thousands of members dedicated to honoring the wonderful Agnes Nixon and is also working to find homes for both shows. We are determined to give a second life to One Life to Live!
best show ever
sneakapeekme5 January 2010
One Life To Live is absolutely the best show on television. i do mean EVER!!!! I WORK DURING THE DAY BUT THANK GOODNESS FOR SOAPNET.i have watched this show since i was in grade school. i feel like they are family. i love all the characters,.... Rex, Gigi,Bo,Nora,Blair my favorite,Vicki, and of course Dorian i absolutely love all the characters from Llanview. thanks ABC and Agnes for such a great show !!!!!!! i will always watch,story lines are terrific and the acting is far better than other shows. by the way Jessica is a fantastic actress, this show has many many great actors. keep it up thanks again Agnes for a job well done.
One Life to Live is So Awesome!
neeterwuest2 January 2012
I have been watching this soap since it first came on and only ran for half an hour. I have become very fond of all of the characters in Llanview and the actors who portray them with such emotion, humor, and believability! I cannot fathom that ABC has actually canceled this Soap. It is the best on TV! The writing is fantastic, the story lines keep you on edge of your seat, and the acting is superb! Soap actors are the hardest working in the business. I will not know what to do when this goes off the air, in what...about a week or so? Why has no other channel picked up this show? What happened to it becoming an internet soap? Is there really no one out there with the money to invest who believes in these characters anymore? I just cannot imagine the day when there is no more Viki Lord Buchanan, no more Jessica and Natalie, no more Starr, Todd, Blair or Tea, no more John McBain or Bo Buchanan, or David Vickers Buchanan. Sadly, Dorian (Robin Strasser) has already left the show. I truly never thought the day would come when this happened. So, reality TV is cheap to produce. I despise reality TV and I do not and will not watch it. I shall miss One Life To Live for as long as I live!
The Greatest Television Show Of All Time!
Casathious3 February 2006
ONE LIFE TO LIVE on ABC, Brought to you by the Colgate-Palmolive Company, is the BEST TV show, or soap opera, that has EVER been on the air. Two O' Clock P.M. has always been my favorite hour in the day; the one hour that I can be in Llanview, and check in on everyone... Viki, Bo, Asa, Dorian, Nora... If there was no ONE LIFE TO LIVE I would be much less happy. The stories are always intriguing and never boring. Even after nearly 38 years, the story lines are as fresh and exciting as they were in 1968. Agnes Nixon is a pure genius for creating such a gem in the realm of television. One Life To Live is perfect in every way. Its actors are superb; Erika Slezak has won more Emmys for her role as Victoria Lord Riley Burke Riley Buchannon Buchannon Davidson than any other actor in the history of television. The theme to One Life To Live as well as the other music by David Nitctern is magnificent too. Always tune in at 2:00 EST to ABC to watch One Life To Live.
One life to live
Realrockerhalloween5 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
One life to live was a wonderful soap set in Landview p.a. centering around heiress Vicky Davidson and the eccentric townsfolk who inhabited the town.
Some of the most exciting story lines stemmed from Vicky's alters appearing during times of stress or danger to protect the host until her mind could heal. Leading to the main villain Mitch Perkins taking advantage of her having a child, Jessica who later developed the same condition, and wrapped up an exciting baby swap story where she finds out Natalie and Jessica both being fernal twins. Other stories tackled were cults, underground cities, time travel and even two lovers getting a second chance at happiness involving reincarnation.
One life to live usually found ways to bring back long lost characters you cared about, keep exciting story lines going for months and keeping with current affairs by making them part of the show like Dorean running for mayor holding gay rallies or Starr singing number one hits at her mother's club.
I started watching the show back in 2002 when I was off for summer break quickly catching up on who the characters were, their pasts and the current story lines until I was hooked. It broke my heart when it was announced it would be canceled and leave life forever. I still remember the last episode with the prison break and trying to wrap up all the characters lives into an hour feeling rushed, which it was, leaving us on a reading cliff hanger in case prospect place became a reality.
At this point I have never been able to enjoy another soap or find a nice alternative to fill the void and still search for a new uploaded scene to relive the magic once more. Good bye to forty years of great entertainment.
Some of the most exciting story lines stemmed from Vicky's alters appearing during times of stress or danger to protect the host until her mind could heal. Leading to the main villain Mitch Perkins taking advantage of her having a child, Jessica who later developed the same condition, and wrapped up an exciting baby swap story where she finds out Natalie and Jessica both being fernal twins. Other stories tackled were cults, underground cities, time travel and even two lovers getting a second chance at happiness involving reincarnation.
One life to live usually found ways to bring back long lost characters you cared about, keep exciting story lines going for months and keeping with current affairs by making them part of the show like Dorean running for mayor holding gay rallies or Starr singing number one hits at her mother's club.
I started watching the show back in 2002 when I was off for summer break quickly catching up on who the characters were, their pasts and the current story lines until I was hooked. It broke my heart when it was announced it would be canceled and leave life forever. I still remember the last episode with the prison break and trying to wrap up all the characters lives into an hour feeling rushed, which it was, leaving us on a reading cliff hanger in case prospect place became a reality.
At this point I have never been able to enjoy another soap or find a nice alternative to fill the void and still search for a new uploaded scene to relive the magic once more. Good bye to forty years of great entertainment.
Good-bye,Old Friend
richard.fuller113 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Unlike All My children, As The World Turns and Guiding Light, all of which went off the air in September, One Life To Live opted to end its run in January, two weeks after Christmas and on Friday the 13th.
Go figure.
By ending in Sepember, it almost felt like when we would go back to school and miss the shows anyway (tho I only started watching ATWT and GL when I was out of high school), but it didn't matter.
By ending OLTL two weeks after the holiday season, it caught me off-guard.
First the Christmas episode ended with rolling credits (as opposed to those quick-flash names and duties run at the bottom of the screen each and every other time).
Christmas and soaps developed a strange fantasy meaning to me, ever since Myrtle Fairgate on All My Children, with all the year-long chaos of Palmer trying to break up Cliff and Nina, still managed to quietly stand alone in her home, look out at the snow, and sing a nice a capella Christmas tune to herself.
The OLTL Christmas episode ran the credits with a lovely slow version of Hark The Herald Angel Sings. I felt the tug.
Then two weeks before the show goes off the air, various prison escapees terrorize the citizens of Llanview.
Talk about going out in a bang. Even tho the only two actors who were on the show when I started watching are Slezak and Woods, the only three characters are Bo, Clint and Viki, I was spell-bound, especially when marvelous scene-stealer Patrick J Gibbon, as Sam Manning, was playing with his toys and being watched by the psychotic Hannah.
When Starr Manning prayed and sang a song, One Life To Live (tho I didn't realize she was the singer, I had FFed thru some bits), that's all it took. I stood at the front door and cried like a baby.
From over 30 years ago, I started watching when Samantha Vernon and Pat Ashley were taken hostage by (who was that guy? I've always called him Bruce Davison), I've watched off and on (sometimes more off when I didn't like how it was rolling).
No, I was not watching when Karen Wolek broke down on the stand during Viki's trial for murdering Marco Dane (turned out it wasn't Marco at all, but his goody twin brother, Mario).
But I do remember the revelation that former nun Jenny's baby, Karen's sister, really belonged to prostitute Katrina.
I was watching before Buchanan appeared on the show.
It's been a fun ride, a good ride. I hated stories (Clint's Back To the Future, Eterna was really goofy too) and there were clearly some better than others (The gang-rape storyline).
I do hate to see them end tho. With the departure of One Life To Live and All My Children, there will be two less hours of 'reality' in my household.
Go figure.
By ending in Sepember, it almost felt like when we would go back to school and miss the shows anyway (tho I only started watching ATWT and GL when I was out of high school), but it didn't matter.
By ending OLTL two weeks after the holiday season, it caught me off-guard.
First the Christmas episode ended with rolling credits (as opposed to those quick-flash names and duties run at the bottom of the screen each and every other time).
Christmas and soaps developed a strange fantasy meaning to me, ever since Myrtle Fairgate on All My Children, with all the year-long chaos of Palmer trying to break up Cliff and Nina, still managed to quietly stand alone in her home, look out at the snow, and sing a nice a capella Christmas tune to herself.
The OLTL Christmas episode ran the credits with a lovely slow version of Hark The Herald Angel Sings. I felt the tug.
Then two weeks before the show goes off the air, various prison escapees terrorize the citizens of Llanview.
Talk about going out in a bang. Even tho the only two actors who were on the show when I started watching are Slezak and Woods, the only three characters are Bo, Clint and Viki, I was spell-bound, especially when marvelous scene-stealer Patrick J Gibbon, as Sam Manning, was playing with his toys and being watched by the psychotic Hannah.
When Starr Manning prayed and sang a song, One Life To Live (tho I didn't realize she was the singer, I had FFed thru some bits), that's all it took. I stood at the front door and cried like a baby.
From over 30 years ago, I started watching when Samantha Vernon and Pat Ashley were taken hostage by (who was that guy? I've always called him Bruce Davison), I've watched off and on (sometimes more off when I didn't like how it was rolling).
No, I was not watching when Karen Wolek broke down on the stand during Viki's trial for murdering Marco Dane (turned out it wasn't Marco at all, but his goody twin brother, Mario).
But I do remember the revelation that former nun Jenny's baby, Karen's sister, really belonged to prostitute Katrina.
I was watching before Buchanan appeared on the show.
It's been a fun ride, a good ride. I hated stories (Clint's Back To the Future, Eterna was really goofy too) and there were clearly some better than others (The gang-rape storyline).
I do hate to see them end tho. With the departure of One Life To Live and All My Children, there will be two less hours of 'reality' in my household.
i love soap operas
bubblesvxo26 December 2004
I'm in high school and everyday i have to watch soap net to get caught upon my soaps one life to live & all my children are my favorites. i think that we all watch soaps because their lives are glamorous yet they seem so real. its cool , would love to be a soap star. on one life to live i wish bo and nora would just get together again they are the best couple. on all my children ahh i want bianca to get her baby please give the girl back her baby. but see I'm so into them. well one life to live is amazing and Friday's show was interesting thats all i will say but i cant wait until Monday. SOAP OPERAS ROCK & everyone should watch them !!
Spice up this Show!!
bettyd194 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Antonio and Jessica need to go! They are worse than boring. Same with RJ Gannon and the attorney that has her hooks into John. Get rid of that please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! John belongs to Natalie so let's get it started. Evangeline is just not the one for John. And let's get Beau and Nora started on the track back to each other. Also, Kevin's ex-wife. Hit the bricks....you lost. Kevin needs someone with more spark to them. I do like Kevin's oldest son though. He's a real cute kid but needs more exposure. He's OK for now with Adriana. Beau is hot!! Let's see him on the personal side. He needs Nora!!!!!!!!!! I do love Roxey though, she is a real hoot and adds some spice to this show.
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