Kelly Ripa Says The Nighttime ‘All My Children’ Reboot Will Be ‘Darker’ In More Ways Than One
All My Children is possibly coming back and two of its former stars are behind it. Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, prominent series regulars from the original series, are working on the iteration, which is currently set up at its original network of ABC.
What is ‘Pine Valley’ going to be about?
Per trade publications like TVLine and Deadline, Pine Valley would focus on young journalist who has a secret agenda that will expose Pine Valley’s “dark and murderous history.” This journalist would get in embroiled in a feud between two family folds that All My Children fans know very well: the Kanes and Santos.
Ripa and Consuelos are executive producers on the project. Leo Richardson, who previously worked on Lee Daniels’ Star as well as The CW’s Riverdale spinoff, Katy Keene, is the writer and also executive produces. Richardson has soap opera experience, having written on the British soap opera, Eastenders. Robert Nixon, who is the son of the late All My Childen creator Agnes Nixon, is also an executive producer, as is Andrew Stearn.
Deadline states:
Pine Valley will feature a new generation of characters and some old favorites. There are currently no deals in place with original cast members but the plan is to invite a number of them to make an appearance, with Ripa and Consuelos also possible making a cameo. Pine Valley plans to continue the original series’ legacy of tackling difficult issues and being inclusive.
As a primetime drama, the show would give nods to its daytime soap opera roots, including “heightened tone and will wink to the daytime soap genre similar to how the CW’s Jane the Virgin paid homage to telenovelas.”
Kelly Ripa talks about the ‘All My Children’ primetime reboot, ‘Pine Valley’
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ripa talked about the Pine Valley developments and what to expect.
“We would be the parents, and this show is really more about the children of Pine Valley,” she said of the dynamic on the potential upcoming series. “It’s a darker look at things, and I’m very excited about it. It was pitched to us and we were like, ‘We will absolutely produce this. And we want to be a part of it.’ Immediately we called [former All My Children costar Eva LaRue], all of our friends, and we started saying, ‘Just be at the ready. Get ready.'”
“[All My Children] is responsible for every singular good thing that has happened in my life,” she said. “I met my husband there, I had my children there – not in the studio but pretty close; they kept you there until your contractions were five minutes apart, as we like to say. It’s from there that I got the talk show. It’s from there that I got [Hope & Faith]…. and our first production deal [at TLC]. So it’s truly responsible for every good thing in my life that’s happened to me.”
