NOT DEAD YET: Fans heaved a sigh of relief to see canceled “All My Children” (that’s Cady McClain and Eric Nelsen, above) and “One Life to Live” again, even if it is only for half an hour on the Web. (Alamy)
Just before dawn yesterday, a small piece of TV history was made — two old-line soap operas, “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” came back to life.
On the Internet.
The two soaps — which were canceled in 2011 — made their debut at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. when the online video service Hulu posted the first new episodes in a year and a half.
The new installments flash many of the familiar faces from the TV versions of the show — but the comparison may end there.
The series jump ahead five years, and the episodes are shorter (half an hour), faster and . . . more adult.
Without the restraints of regular TV, the two are allowing the characters to utter occasional obscenities — and make more graphic references to the sex that has always been a part of daytime dramas.
On the opening epsiode of “AMC,” for instance, Angie and Jesse enjoy some obvious after-glow time when Angie chimes in: “I don’t think I can take anything else big this morning.”
“After circumventing the circuitous [route] that is viewing TV online, [AMC] might be worth it,” @MelissaMermaid tweeted The Post.
The seeming disconnect between soaps, whose fans tend to be older, and online viewership, usually and younger crowd — drew a lot of comment from our fan critics.
“After all of this time shouldn’t they be calling it, ‘All my Grand Children’?” Mike Hemeon commented on our Facebook page.
“Even us oldies want the new stuff too,” Mary Amos wrote on Facebook. “We are on the Internet, iTunes, Hulu. We buy for our children and grandchildren.”
“All I know is my Mom is digging the soaps,” Gwilym Exalander tweeted us.
The move to online is a huge gamble for the soap-opera form, which has been around since the beginning of commercial radio in the 1930s.
Online-only shows like “House of Cards” and Jerry Seinfeld’s impromptu “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” have gathered big followings among younger viewers who refuse to tie themselves to a set schedule on TV but want the freedom to watch where and when they want to,
It will take some time before the new producers of the two soaps know how many people are watching, officials said yesterday.
Both shows went off the air with about 2 million viewers each day.