People around here won't be reassured by this, but NB's indirect tweet on this issue gives me some hope:

Nelson on Monday:

"Mr. Ron Carlivati-Branco, head bitch in charge at daytime's best soap opera ever, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, will be pulling double-duty by also head-writing One Life's ugly stepsister, All My Children. Hold on to your Botox, Susan Lucci! And here to hoping I get cast as Scott Chandler's long-lost gay lover!"

Nelson on Monday:

"Mr. Ron Carlivati-Branco, head bitch in charge at daytime's best soap opera ever, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, will be pulling double-duty by also head-writing One Life's ugly stepsister, All My Children. Hold on to your Botox, Susan Lucci! I'm on my knees right now hoping I get cast as Scott Chandler's long-lost gay lover!"

That's about right. However I made one little change.

Nelson on Monday:

"Mr. Ron Carlivati-Branco, head bitch in charge at daytime's best soap opera ever, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, will be pulling double-duty by also head-writing One Life's ugly stepsister, All My Children. Hold on to your Botox, Susan Lucci! And here to hoping I get cast as Scott Chandler's long-lost gay lover!"

Here's hoping your lame ass gets run over by a Mack truck.

I'd love some details on how this happened. I'd love them more from someone capable of at least feigning impartiality.

Marceline, how dare you suggest that Nelson Branco's journalistic equivalent to bending over and spreading his cheeks in front of Ron Carlivati while opening his mouth to say "ahhhh" to Frank Valentini has even a hint of bias! How. Dare. You!

This surprises me.... we obviously don't know the whole story here. I figured Pratt was safe for a while, especially with the move to LA. I haven't really followed AMC since the beginning of the summer, but I can't say this news will bring me back to the fold. I enjoyed alot of Pratt's AMC for his first 6-8 months or so. It was entertaining and breathed life back into some characters who had long been forgotten... especially Erica. I loved what he did with Annie early on, but the show became to focused around her... and Ryan. It will be interesting to see who comes in now, but I suspect it won't be anyone the majority wants.

Not that I put too much faith in this idea, but if the issue was indeed the 40th anniversary episodes, I would love it if his firing was *helped along* by Agnes Nixon's insistence. I can stomach that much better than the idea of Rebecca Budig having something to do with it, Carl. But really, I just want to believe that AN is somehow, someway still going to bat for her show. She's done her work, she deserves her rest and retirement, and as much as she loves AMC, I'm sure she could give a good gottdamn about boardroom battles and silly network politics. But one last little victory in the protection of her legacy certainly would feel nice.

I can see her having some sway, although you'd think she would have gotten rid of McTavish after the unabortion controversy, which I'm sure must have upset her. Instead she gave her seal of approval.

I have no idea of what Nelson's news will be. Nelson seems very happy. Perhaps Eden Riegel and husband will be writing for AMC now.

Looks like it's going to be Claire Labine and Lorraine Broderick replacing Pratt.

OK.....so I have no clue, lol. Just wishful thinking

Nelson on Monday:

"Mr. Ron Carlivati-Branco, head bitch in charge at daytime's best soap opera ever, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, will be pulling double-duty by also head-writing One Life's ugly stepsister, All My Children. Hold on to your Botox, Susan Lucci! And here to hoping I get cast as Scott Chandler's long-lost gay lover!"

God, NO!

How is it AMC has had 3 HW changes in like the past 4 years, and OLTL had a HW change...YET...GUZA still has a freaken job, what is it gonna take for them to realize out of all the soaps, GH is the one that has been destroyed the most.

At least AMC and OLTL still have heart, and are still recognizable to there former selves...but GH has no vision, and its history has been completely destroyed. What is it gonna take for them to save GH too.

Its one thing for AMC & OLTL to drop in demos and ratings, cause they were never ABC's golden soap....but GH is the golden child of the network, and now it is on life-support, so in my eyes the biggest failure is GH. ABC SAVE GH NEXT!!!

I'm so burnt with this show, I can't even muster any feeling about this.

A Lorraine Broderick return might get me going...

What exactly is Jean Passanante's story? She's still in the credits at ATWT as head writer, but everyone seems to think that David Kreizmann is really writing the show now. With Nelson Branco reporting that ATWT will get renewed, where does this leave JP? Is AMC in her future?

I was going to say the same thing as twice stated above: Lorraine Broderick. Though not perfect in her AMC tenure, one thing was for certain - and that was she knew the heart of AMC, and treated it with respect. She wrote the show with a soul, pulled story from characters (as opposed to plot-driving them), and stayed true to characters and history. Broderick's work was best under Felicia Behr as EP; the show just really felt as it should be, with Erica's addiction (which many people still feel was Susan Lucci's best work to date), Tad's affair with Liza, Alec's affair with Hayley's desperate / drunken mother Arlene, and so on... Broderick's pairing with Behr's successor, the "artsy-styled" Francesca James, wasn't as great a match (upon her arrival, FJ stated she felt AMC didn't push far enough the boundaries of characters - which is probably what brought on the controversial events of Maria boinks Dimitri & Erica snatches the baby)... but wasn't without its merits.

But Broderick would have to have experienced a change of heart. While co-head writing OLTL in 2003, she was offered the chance to return to her duties at AMC when Brian Frons planned to bring back Malone & Griffith to One Life (ironically, that didn't end up being such a great move). Broderick, rumored to be frustrated with Frons (who took over ABC Daytime the previous Summer) micro-managing the stories, passed on the offer. She finished out her contract on OLTL as the Associate Head Writer and left later that year.

I think she would truly be the best choice, if this were really about returning AMC to its soul as a show... because if there's anyone apart from Agnes Nixon who knows the soul of All My Children, and knows how to revive it, it's Broderick. That being said, she would have an incredible task ahead of her. Pratt truly stripped the show of its heart. He actually came in with good concepts (at least they sounded good), but he totally disregarded characters and respect for audience in the process. I didn't think anyone could have done greater damage to AMC than McTavish did with putting plot so far above characters, turning flawed nice guys into passive murderers, unaborting historical events, and killing-off & vanquishing beloved characters. But I was wrong. Somehow, after Esensten & Brown had improved things (albeit in a marginal, inconsistent way), Pratt managed to make it far worse than it had ever been.

So here we are. I haven't watched since a few weeks after Stuart was killed, when it occurred to me just how awful the show had become. Will anyone be able to repair it, and perhaps even end AMC on a good note (because, honestly, I do think we'll see an end within the next few years)? Broderick would be one to bet on... though - given the show's deteriorated condition, along with ABC Daytime's controlled storyline structure for their shows - I wouldn't blame her, or anyone, if they couldn't succeed at making AMC right again.

At least AMC and OLTL still have heart, and are still recognizable to there former selves...but GH has no vision, and its history has been completely destroyed

I have never been a regular viewer of GH, but I have no doubts about your opinion of it. Even I can tell how eroded it is.

But AMC has nearly been destroyed. To me, it is not recognizable... it's practically a parody of its former self. And if its heart is still there, it's going to take a lot of work to find it and restore it to full function.

On the other hand, OLTL is great. The show is in sync with its long-standing identity, and has a good ensemble. My partner and I actually look forward to watching it on the DVR each day.

I agree with a lot of what you say about AMC. I do want to believe the heart can be revived, and I also agree with those who say the show lost heart long ago, but some of what Pratt did, it was just so crass, and shallow, and ugly to watch, like shooting Josh in the head and then this being forgotten a week later. And Stuart's death, which somehow became all about Kendall being falsely accused of another crime and about Ryerica happily goading Adam into a heart attack. And what was done to poor Marian.

It's not only heartless, but also pointless.

I am surprised that Pratt went before RC. Guza is only going if he quits for a better job and no one is hiring his hack ass.