SOAPnet says goodbye to “One Life to Live” with New Year’s Day marathon

The legendary daytime drama One Life to Live will soon disappear into television history when it ends its 43-year run Jan. 13 on ABC. To send the soap off, ABC’s sister network, SOAPnet, will be airing 14 classic episodes of the show in a daylong marathon Jan. 1, from 10am-midnight ET/PT. The marathon will include memorable episodes, such as Tina going over the waterfall, the Buchanans in the Old West, an episode from the 2002 week of live episodes and more. Old faces will also be seen, as alums Judith Light, Marcia Cross and Nathan Fillion feature in some of the episodes picked for the marathon.

The episodes airing Jan. 1 are:

10am — On the witness stand, Karen (Judith Light) stuns everyone by admitting that she was a prostitute. (original air date March 6, 1979)

11am — In Argentina, the boat Tina was on goes over a waterfall. Distraught, Cord takes out his anger on Max. Kate (Marcia Cross) feels it’s her fault; Gabrielle tells Max that she can get along just fine without him. (original air date March 9, 1987)

12pm — The Buchanan clan goes back in time to the Old West for Clint and Ginny’s wedding; Asa and Cord can’t figure out why pictures of Bo are missing. (original air date May 13, 1988)

1pm — Jake is devastated as Megan dies in his arms. (original air date February 7, 1992)

2pm One Life to Live‘s 25th anniversary show: Viki and Dorian are locked together in a secret room. In the hospital, Tina sits by Cord’s bedside and reminisces about their history; Luna is adamant that Max is alive. (original air date July 15, 1993)

3pm — Viki leaves her wedding and walks in on Dorian’s affair with Joey (Nathan Fillion). Powell holds Todd at gunpoint; David asks Tina to accept his proposal and secretly marry him. (original air date November 28, 1994)

4pm — Todd and Blair are married and celebrate with a private wedding reception. Marty and Patrick sleep together; Kelly asks Joey to help her lose her virginity. (original air date November 14, 1995)

5pm — Viki realizes that she killed Victor Lord; or, rather, that her multiple personality, Tori, did. Meanwhile, Dorian is arrested for the murder. (original air date December 8, 1995)

6pm — All of Asa’s wives turn out for his “funeral.” Adjusting to the news that she’s a Buchanan, Natalie makes an angry appearance at the service. (original air date November 16, 2001)

7pm — One of the show’s live episodes. Niki is desperate to get out of Viki’s marriage to Ben. Blair confronts Todd for lying to her that her baby died; Natalie warns Jen about Al. Angry, Al tells Max he wants nothing to do with him. Antonio defends Keri to his mother about her financial issues. (original air date May 14, 2002)

8pm — In the hospital after being rescued from the pit, Natalie shares her feelings with John. Jess tries to tell Nash that she’s not Tess, but Tess takes over; Rex thanks Evangeline for saving Natalie. (original air date August 22, 2005)

9pm — As he awaits his execution, an emotional Todd gives final goodbyes to his loved ones. Meanwhile, John has the evidence to prove Todd innocent, but can he get to the prison in time? Antonio pleads with Tess, as he tries to get through to Jessica. (original air date May 29, 2006)

10pm — After Starr gives birth to Hope, she bonds with Blair and Marcie. Todd decides not to steal the baby, but Bess does instead. Viki saves Natalie and Jared from the bomb in the secret room. John reveals to Marty that it was Todd who raped her. (original air date November 10, 2008)

11pm — In front of friends and family, Bo and Nora are married by David. (original air date June 7, 2010)

15 Comments

  1. What will it take for them to put One Life to Live & All my Children to come back on the air? Them cooking shows is some real life BULLSHIT!! Point blank period..

  2. please keep the oltl going i have watched this soap and gh for ever sinci i was a kid please

  3. How ironic was it that Phil Carey who played Asa and the original Clint (Clint Ritchie) both died during the same week? Yes, they were the two best actors on the show, but Bob Woods is still doing a fantastic job as Bo. How many of these young ones do you expect to see on another show in the near future or on a movie one day. Young actors will never have another or better teaching platform to help them hone their craft, and that is another sad part to losing these shows. But may Jabot cosmetics keep Y&R and B&B afloat a few more years until PP or who ever can figure out how to get the lead out of their pants and put all our shows back on somewhere. Hopefully, before too many fans get discouraged and give up hope of ever finding out who JR shot.

    • I agree, we don’t need anymore food shows..Americans are to fat as it is…Please keep One life to live……It’s getting very exciting…Don’t end our show.

  4. So sad that One Life To Live is ending. They should wed. Clint and Viki again for the last time.
    The best Clint was the first Clint on the show. I know he pass away.. God Bless Clint and Asa he was great too. I will miss Viki the most I am a big fan of Viki she is so great when she did the multiple personality.. So great she did them all great. The best was Nickie.Viki. The writers are so great too. Hope they find new jobs. The Clint now is great too. Shirley

  5. YES I WATCHED ONE LIFE TO LIVE FOR 43 YEARS AND ON THE MARATHON THEY DID NOT EVEN SHOW THE FIRST ONES ONLY STARTED IN 1979 , CAN THEY SHOW THE OLD ONES ON THE INTERNET ? FROM THE DAY THEY STARTED THE SHOW? THAT IS A GOOD ? I BET EVEN ALL MY CHILDREN FANS WOULD LIKE THAT TOO TO START THE SHOWS FROM THE BEGINING .. SO SAD THAT THE SOAPS ARE ENDING JUST HOPE THEY DO NOT TAKE GENERAL HOSPITAL OFF FOR A FOOD SHOW THAT THEY HAVE FOOD SHOWS ON TV ALREADY

    Shirley

    • Shirley, In a cost saving measure ABC recycled all the tapes from 1967 to 1977 so the first 10 years of OLTL no longer exist. I too thought your idea was a valid one then I found this information. Very sad. No one will ever see Gillian Spencer’s portrayal Victoria Lord, which I have been told was groudbreaking. Ericka was not Viki until 1970 or 71.

      My best, KK

  6. I THINK IT IS A BOUCH OF SHIT THY ARE TAKING ON LIFE TO LIVE OFF I HATED WHEN THY TOOK ALL MY CHILDEN OFF I HOPE AT LEST THY WILL KEEP GENERAL HOSPITAL ON THE AIR THE SOAPS IS THE BEST THING ON TV I WATCH ON LIFE TO LIVE KRISTIN WAS A BABY ON THERE AND I ALSO WATCH GENERAL HOSPITAL WHEN KIMBERLEY WAS A LITTLE GIRL ON THAT SHOW

    • Agree, Joann. It’s sorry to see this and “All My Children” go. It’s the end of an era for these daytime dramas that have been part of so many people’s lives for so long. Hopefully “General Hospital” will continue.

    • Hi, Paula. It does not look at this point like the marathon will be repeated, sorry. We’ll keep you posted if we hear otherwise. If you have a DVR or VCR you may want to try recording some of the episodes you really want to see. You may also check the SOAPnet website, http://sn.soapnet.go.com/, to see if they put any of the episodes up, but that may be unlikely. Hope you get to see some of the marathon somehow!

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