"All My Children"

Image borrowed from ABC.com website

Many years ago, while I was still in college, my mom, sister and I would watch "All My Children" on videotape. My brother would watch occasionally and my dad had absolutely no interest in it at all. Since we all had either jobs or school to attend when the TV Soap Opera was on, we would tape the show and watch it in the evenings. I can't recall who started us watching, but I'd guess it was my mom...

I must say that soap operas can become addicting. I watched for several years, but I haven't watched for many years... at least 23 years or more.

But yesterday during lunch, I decided to check out the old show to see if I would recognize anyone from the show after at least 23 years away from it. You know what? A BUNCH of the same people are still on that show!

Sure we all know about Susan Lucci (who plays Erica Kane on the show), but I couldn't believe it when I saw all the other characters I knew years back!

There they were:

Erica Kane
Tad Martin
Dixie Martin (now a ghost)
Dr. Joe Martin
Palmer Courtland
Opal Gardner (now Opal Courtland)
Adam Chandler
Jackson Montgomery
Jesse Hubbard (who died and somehow is now back alive)
Angie Hubbard (who was re-marrying Jesse Hubbard)
...and if I'm not mistaken, Greg Nelson (who I believe is not a regular, but came back for Jesse's wedding?)

Anyway, people seem to come and go on soap operas... but they also come back! Many of these characters had left "Pine Valley" but now they seem to be back! Some come back from the dead (Jesse Hubbard had died... so how did he come back to life again???) and others just come back dead... as a ghost (Dixie Martin is a ghost now.)

Are soap operas like real life? NO WAY!

But it is kind of cool to see how writers bring back people to a show. Sometimes they come back as ghosts, sometimes a long lost twin brother or sister (of course it's the "evil" twin who comes back), sometimes they move away and then come home, but whatever... nothing keeps people from coming back, not even death.

So if you watch "All My Children", can you tell me how it is that Jesse Hubbard is back from the dead? The show's website just says that he was thought to be dead, but wasn't. Typical! How does that happen? Was there no funeral for Jesse? No body buried? How? Why? Huh? :)

The current story line from what I can gather is that Angie and Jesse just got re-married and during the festivities, Tad Martin's uncle comes in and shoots up the place. One girl is shot (and has since died... but hey, don't worry... she could always come back somehow), Tad Martin is shot and is in critical condition, but Jesse and Angie are safe.

Ah soap operas... ya gotta love 'em... :)