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Q. I’ve heard the great news that All My Children and One Live to Live are coming back, but I’m confused about how I can watch them. Can I watch them on my TV? Do I have to pay to watch them? When will the shows be on? I heard I only can watch them on my computer, which sounds annoying, but then someone else said I can watch them on TV. Please help, I’m excited to watch my shows again but I’m afraid I won’t be able to figure how to watch them!
A. I’m happy to help. I’ve been getting these questions a lot from soap fans. It’s very exciting news that two favorite soaps will be coming back. On April 29, you, I and other soap fans will be rejoicing at the rebirth of All My Children and One Life to Live. These shows formerly aired on network television before they were cancelled by ABC in 2011. When these shows went off the air, only the most devoted fans believed that they would ever be visiting Pine Valley or Llanview ever again, but soon our dreams will come true.
You’re right, watching these shows can seem confusing because it’s not as easy as just turning on the TV to tune into your shows. Watching All My Children and One Life to Live requires some tech knowledge, unless you live in Canada. But soap fans are traditionally more tech savvy than your average TV fan. In the olden days of VCR’s, soap fans were the first ones to figure out how to get rid of the flashing 12:00 and set the schedule to record their favorite shows.
When to Watch All My Children and One Life to Live
The shows will be airing in 1/2 hour segments weekdays and will be available for viewing beginning at 12:00 pm ET for All My Children and 12:30 pm ET for One Life to Live. Monday through Thursday new episodes will be released with a recap show airing on Fridays.
How to Watch All My Children and One Life to Live
If you’re reading this article, and I’m thinking you are, you have enough tech knowledge to watch your soaps. If you live in the US, you have three different ways to watch your shows: Hulu, Hulu Plus, and iTunes. If you live in Canada, you can watch the shows on FX Canada. If you live outside the US, you can watch the shows using iTunes if you have a US iTunes account.
Here is a detailed explanation of the different ways to watch these shows, along with a chart below comparing the pros and cons of each.
Hulu – Free
All My Children and One Life to Live are available for free from Hulu. You can watch shows for free on your computer using Hulu, you just need to sign up for an account at the Hulu website.
Shows will be available for seven days after they air. No need to set your DVR or worry about anyone deleting the show. They’ll be available for you to watch for a week, so long as you’re connected to the Internet.
You may not want to watch your shows on your computer, but hey, it’s better than not watching them at all, which was your only choice until the relaunch of these shows. Give it a go. Watching your show on your computer might not be nearly as annoying as you anticipate.
Hulu Plus
Hulu Plus gives you many more viewing options, though you’ll have to buy a subscription to the service.
Where You Can Watch Using Hulu Plus
You can watch shows from Hulu Plus on your TV, computer, phone, iPad, or other tablet.
What You’ll Need
— A Hulu Plus subscription. You can get a free two-week trial subscription to Hulu Plus by visiting the Hulu Plus website (note that if you click on that link, I get an extra week free too. If you want just a one-week trial subscription, click here.)
— An Internet connection for your TV. You’ll need to have either a set-top box, such as an Apple TV or Roku, a DVD player with Hulu Plus or an Internet-ready TV. A complete list of Hulu Plus enabled devices can be found at the Hulu Plus website.
— The Hulu Plus app. The Hulu Plus app is available free for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch at the iTunes App Store
- Android devices at Google Play
- Kindle Fire and Android devices at the Amazon Appstore
- Microsoft Surface at the Windows Store
In addition to watching your soaps, you can watch thousands of other TV shows and movies with Hulu Plus.
You can find my full review of Hulu Plus here: Hulu Plus – For True TV Fans.
iTunes
You’ll be able either to subscribe to the shows or buy individual episodes from iTunes. Pricing is $0.99 per episode and $9.99 for a multi-pass, which buys you the most recent episode and the next 19 new episodes of the series.
Where You Can Watch Using iTunes
- A computer via iTunes
- An iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch using the Videos app that comes pre-installed on your device
- On your TV using an Apple TV
What You’ll Need
— A US iTunes account, which is free to get at the iTunes website.
— An Apple TV, if you want to watch the shows on your TV.
[important]You DON’T need an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to watch shows using iTunes.[/important]
Note that you should be able to download and watch these shows outside the US so long as you have a US iTunes account.
To purchase the shows at iTunes when they become available and to check out some fun pre-season videos available on iTunes now, check out:
Overview
Can’t decide how to watch your shows? Here’s a handy chart to help you decide:
Connecting Your Computer to Your TV
If you want to watch these shows on your TV but don’t have an Internet-ready TV, DVD player or set top box such as Roku or AppleTV, you have another option: you can try to connect your computer directly to the TV. Here’s an article from LifeHacker explaining how to do that: How to Connect Your Computer to Your TV.
Note that this isn’t a simple process so don’t try this without either some tech knowledge or at least a sense of adventure.
Sneak Peeks
Here are videos to take you back to Pine Valley…
http://youtu.be/yo67KsXsfUU
…and Llanview
Bottom Line
While watching All My Children and One Life to Live isn’t as easy as turning on your TV to the right channel at the right time (unless, of course, you’re in Canada), you have plenty of options to enjoy your shows once again!
Are you excited about the rebirth of All My Children and One Life to Live? Do you think the future of entertainment programming will be on the Internet or TV? How will you be watching these shows? Are you thinking of moving to Canada? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Oh Carolyn, for the very first time, I am not with you. Soap? Yuck.
Jk 🙂
Hi iRewardChart, Yes, this article wasn’t intended for everyone. When I write about iPhone apps, Android fans aren’t happy. When I write about Windows-only software, Mac fans aren’t happy. When I write about soaps, non-soap fans aren’t happy. Lucky for you, I don’t write about soaps very often at The Wonder of Tech. 😉
That being said, I have heard from quite a few soap fans on social media who were very happy to read this article.
I look forward to future articles where we are aligned. :-bd
Hey Carolyn,
I have it on my calendar to tune in on the 29th. I’m so excited and can’t wait although I know it’s not going to be the same. I’m curious though to see how AMC will fair in this new venue.
Thanks for being more specific with how to tune in to our favorite soap opera. I’ll be there with bells on.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, That’s great you’ll be tuning in on April 29th. I’ll be there with you watching!
Yes, this new venue will be very interesting, not just to soap fans but to the television industry to see how cancelled shows can be resurrected online. If these shows succeed, other shows may experience a rebirth.
Enjoy your trip back to Pine Valley, Adrienne!
I’ve always wondered who initially figured out how to get rid of the flashing 12:00 … something that plagued everyone in the 80s and 90s 😉 Well 13 year olds are certainly not the demo you’re looking for, but my youngest son never watches TV. In fact the only time him and his friends use a TV is when they are gaming. Shows, movies etc. … they watch all that stuff on mobile or the desktop. Interesting how that has changed, huh?
Hi Craig, Actually, I think that’s exactly the issue. 13 year olds aren’t watching TV but that’s about the age that many people got hooked on soaps. If the younger generation is on the Internet, well perhaps that’s where the shows should be. Time will tell whether this is an effective venue for these shows.
You’re right, Craig, it is very interesting to see what the future holds!
Hi Carolyn,
Although I’m not a fan of soaps, I do use Hulu and getting ready for Hulu Plus. I don’t have the time to watch much TV, but I’m a film noir nut! I found many films on Hulu and enjoyed it. But here I see TV coming to a new level. Not only for Soaps, but for everything else.
This is one post I need to send to my daughter because she is a Soap Queen!
Thanks for the links!
Donna
Hi Donna, Thanks for sharing this with your daughter. I hope she enjoys watching these shows when they come back next week!
I’m glad you’re enjoying Hulu. It’s a fantastic service for you to enjoy your favorite movies.
Have a great week ahead, Donna!
Hi Carolyn,
I`ve no idea about this soap, when I Googled I found few results and one among them was Lawsuit on One life……
Though I don`t like watching soaps it`ll be interesting to know about the lawsuit and reason.
~@Khajamoin1
Hi Khaja, Yes, the lawsuit is quite interesting. Drama off screen and on screen!
http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/abc-sued-for-killing-off-soap-characters-1200386312/
Wow – thanks for the information. I’d heard that All My Children was going to be running again, but had no clue where, nor how I could access the new season. Wonder what Erica will be up to this time around??
Hi Carol, Happy to help. It’s great to hear from a fellow All My Children fan! Yes, it will be very interesting to see how the story moves forward. I read that the episodes will be much racier now that they aren’t on network television. Oh my! X_X
Susan Lucci (who plays Erica Kane for all the not-yet-All My Children fans who are reading this) will be making a guest appearance but she is committed to another show for now so doesn’t have the opportunity to play Erica full time right now.
Looking forward to next Monday!
Hi Carolyn,
I’m glad I finally made it here, not because I want to watch soap operas, which I can’t stand LOL, but because I was told about hulu once, and had forgotten all about it, until I read about it here.
While I do not like soaps I do like some TV series that I was told I could probably find there. I’m an addict to the old Colombo’s and boy are they are to find unless you buy them, which I’ll be ending up of doing one of these days.
Hi Sylviane, Yes, Hulu is useful for lots of TV shows, but unfortunately Columbo is not one of them. The first season of Columbo is available on Amazon Instant Video though!
I always watch them over computer and it is really quite uncomfortable. Glad there are other options to watch these.
Hi Carolyn
I have never heard of All My Children. We get way less shows via television in Australia. But of course with HULU that can change. I am not a soap fan though and watch very little television except for sports and a couple of current affairs shows. Oh and I love the occasional comedy.
Thanks
Sue
Carolyn,
That’s a interesting news since I am not following All my children and one life. It sounds great that people can watch now with no of ways and enjoy the show. Thanks for the broadcast media and technology to bring it closer. 🙂
Thanks for the update Carolyn 🙂
Hi Manickam, You’re right, this is an interesting development even for those who are not fans of soaps. This venture might be the dawning of a new generation of shows that are available on the Internet but not on broadcast or cable TV. We can see what the future holds!