Jerry Ver Dorn laid it on the line with his thoughts on why OLTL isn’t with us today!
Monumentally Bad Decisions
That’s one of the themes of an interview and an impromptu statement Jerry Ver Dorn (Clint Buchanan, One Life to Live) gave recently about what led to the ABC’s cancellation of OLTL and its subsequent failure to transition successfully online.
Ver Dorn said TPTB at ABC didn’t want to see the online iteration of OLTL succeed because the network had just canceled it themselves. The higher-ups at ABC felt it would reflect badly on them were it to have taken off online, Ver Dorn said during an appearance at this year’s Daytime Stars and Strikes charity bowling event. Our friend Vitina Varone took a video you can see at Facebook group Soap Fans United.
Ver Dorn noted this was especially sad because were ABC to have given All My Children and OLTL the chance to succeed in digital formats, it might have been the beginning of a whole new life for the genre. Therefore, he said, if the shows pop up online again, fans should make it known how pleased they are!
We here at Soap Cities felt like doing the Arsenio Hall audience’s dog-barking thing they used to do upon seeing this video and reading this interview!
Related: See what this OLTL icon said is the secret to her 32-year-old marriage’s success.
“So the writers took away several main characters–killed them off on network television–so they were not viable in terms of contract, and Prospect Park had signed them to be on the Prospect Park side of things,” Ver Dorn said. And all you soap fans know how important a soap’s classic, central characters are!
The actor said an online OLTL could definitely happen again, as long as ABC doesn’t “frickin’ sabotage” it.
OLTL’s Future
“A re-boot on ABC could happen in a variety of possibilities. Shows combined, shows mixed with existing ABC shows, shows on different platforms like Hulu or Netflix. The shows have name recognition so anything could happen,” the actor told our friend Michael Thomas at Soap Opera Intel. He also said in Varone’s video that several episodes could be made available for binge-watching at the beginning of each week.
Ver Dorn said he’d love to see a Clint and Vicki (Erika Slezak) wedding follow up her acceptance of his proposal on the final broadcast episode of OLTL.
Don’t Miss: Get the latest on Eddie Alderson’s battle with cancer.
What He’s Been Up To
“Life since the end of the second coming of OLTL online has been wonderful,” Ver Dorn offered. He has immersed himself in theater roles, which were what he originally trained for.
He loved doing soaps too, he said, and was honored to play classic soap characters Ross Marler on Guiding Light and Clint on OLTL.
Ver Dorn has also been relishing a different kind of role–that of grandpa to one grandchild and two more on the way.
Redoubtable Recast
Though Ver Dorn became a hit with fans as Llanview’s Clint, whom he described as a “nice, evil, misunderstood guy who has daddy issues,” he said he had some trepidation about the delicate dance of being recast in a role beloved by fans.
“I did not want to imitate the actor who originated the roll but then again I did not want to be so different that the audience and cast would not accept me. I had to walk a tight rope and I decided to try to be like Asa (Clint’s father) rather than the original Clint. I think it worked pretty well, as cast and audience seemed to be ok with me,” the actor noted.
Must-Read: Get the latest on the most recent efforts to bring OLTL back to our screens.
We’d say it worked out more than pretty well, wouldn’t you, dear readers?
Give us your input in the comment section below. Check back with Soap Cities for more AMC/OLTL news, updates, fun, and more! Follow us on Twitter at @soapcities, on Instagram at @soapcities, and come chat with us in our Facebook group. All My Children and One Life to Live will one day be back on-screen—never doubt! If you want more soap action 24/7, go to Soap Fans United!
