AMC: 40th Anniversary

All My Children is now officially over the hill, and promoted two special episodes for their 40th anniversary.

Monday’s episode focused on Hayley and Mateo Santos return visit to Pine Valley. They came to the Chandler Mansion in a helicopter and interrupted the renewal of vows between Adam and Annie. Mateo gave a little update on their lives, but the thrust of the show was on Hayley. We saw her mainly interact with her new stepmother Annie, her father Adam, Ryan, and Erica. Hayley’s reaction to how things changed in Pine Valley was somewhat amusing and mirrored some audience members. Her disgust over Adam/Annie, and her confusion over Ryan/Erica were unmistakable. The Soup made a low blow Kelly Ripa’s return. It made fun of both Regis and Susan Lucci. Since Kelly works with Regis, she is used to interacting with someone everyone wonders why they aren’t dead yet and not acting weirdly about it. That’s a paraphrase, but that’s the gist of what was said.

Hayley and Mateo didn’t come to Pine Valley just to visit, but went for her job. Her program Wave was doing a special on Pine Valley. It had won the award for best town in America. So when it comes to criticizing the special Tuesday episode, my first thought was whose point of view was the show told from--Hayley. So the bias would be towards people Hayley knows or is related to somehow. This is why the focus on Hayley's half-siblings, their spouses, and/or parents (that aren't Adam) didn't bother me as much as it could have. Of course, there were some people that were shown, that didn't fit into those categories, but more on that later. If the episode had been a tour of Pine Valley and told from the point of view of an anonymous narrator, and had the same set up, I'd have been perplexed.

I thought the episode was good, but wished they would have spent the money to let us hear what was being said in some of the video clips. Other than Tad's early history, Adam talking about his wives and the cursory references to Erica's life, most of the old stuff was ignored.

I would have liked if Palmer and Nina had been together, as Nina/Cliff left town to get away from him (at least according to the episode). It wouldn't have been out of the question for Palmer and Nina to have made peace off camera.

I could sort of accept how someone like Lily would appear as Hayley knows Jackson and grew up in Pine Valley. Bianca is on it because Erica was at the Chandler Mansion when Hayley returned.

Maria appeared because she is Hayley's sister-in-law. What was sad was how this episode had a better goodbye to Julia, than anything we saw when Julia was shot dead in cold blood. I wish there had been a reference to Kathy too, but that would have been asking for way too much. I hope that Kathy, while Tad's biological child, would know Julia's family as she was Kathy's mother for a time.

Hayley doesn't really know the Hubbards all that well, but I can understand why they weren't ignored due to their jobs; Angie is the chief of staff at the hospital and Jesse, the police chief. Hayley wouldn’t know Brot or Natalia either, but they did win the charity dance contest, and both have compelling stories. Seeing Hayley comfort Adam over Stuart was very much needed. That ties into current story too.

Hayley interviewed her cousin Amanda, as well as Amanda's husband Jake. I liked the reference to Hayley's Uncle and Amanda's Dad, Trevor. I thought it was funny how they completely glossed over Amanda's "relationship" with JR, and Jake with Taylor.

I was amused that David was interviewed at all, considering all the bad things he has done. Let’s show how Pine Valley is the best town in America, by interviewing the guy who drugged everyone with a libido-enhancing substance among other crimes. Not that people like Adam or Palmer are saints.

Some of these are minor quibbles, but I like to quibble so here goes...

Seeing Greg was nice, but I didn't know his connection to Hayley. He was gone, by the time Hayley was introduced. Yes he was Opal’s son-in-law, and Hayley knows her, but it isn't a direct connection. Even though Brooke and Hayley aren't related, they did live in Pine Valley at the same time, and Brooke ran Tempo, a magazine.

Kendall and Zach left Pine Valley, by the time this was shot, so it seemed out of place that they were there. The same could be said for Joe and Ruth Martin. I thought they moved to Florida already, though I would have been upset if they were omitted. That may be one of the last times we ever see Dr. Joe Martin, so I could accept that fudge with little complaint.

As a viewer, I liked this episode as it gave a cursory glance at the town of Pine Valley and would be a good teaching tool to someone who wasn’t familiar with the program. Of course, someone watching AMC for the first time would have more questions about the history of the show by watching this as many pictures in the background were not explained. Also unless you are familiar with All My Children or soaps, you wouldn’t necessarily know who Agnes Nixon is. Ending the show with her reading the poem is something that may go over some viewers’ heads. I was surprised they didn’t put an on-screen explanation solely for that reason.

Of course, the poem is what All My Children is all about as Agnes Nixon wrote all those years ago. It is sad that what the show is supposed to be thematically about isn’t remembered as often as it should be.

The Great and the Least, The Rich and the Poor,
 The Weak and the Strong,
 In Sickness and in Health, 
In Joy and Sorrow,
 In Tragedy and Triumph,
 You are All My Children.