All My Children Celebrates 50th Anniversary – Five Memorable Moments From AMC

January 5th, 2020 was the 50th anniversary for All My Children and even if it has been off the air for nine years, it still feels like it was on yesterday! Pine Valley and its residents as part of the soap opera family for 41 years. The show created memorable characters and storylines that are still talked about until this day by fans and pop culture junkies alike! Here are five memorable moments that will keep us missing the legacy that is All My Children.

Natalie Dillon at the Bottom of the Well

During 1991 All My Children’s viewers finally were able to see Natalie Dillon (Kate Collins) find happiness! She had inherited $10 million dollars and was finally engaged with the man she loved, Trevor Dillon (James Kiberd). This happiness was to be short-lived, only be her though, because her younger sister, Janet Green (played by Kate Collins as well), came into town determined to take over her sister’s life.

Unbeknownst to everyone in town Janet had imprisoned Natalie at the bottom of a well and took over Natalie’s life as her own. Janet even married Trevor as Natalie and became impregnated by Trevor, all the while Natalie was still at the bottom of the well! This storyline was one for the ages and all anyone could talk about was how long was Natalie going to stay in the well!

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Erica Kane Has First Televised Abortion

Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) is one of the most famous and popular or hated, depending on your opinion, soap opera stars to ever grace our screens! Erica Kane first appeared on All My Children 11 days after its first episode! She was always portrayed by the fabulous Susan Lucci until its very last episode in 2011. Erica Kane tackled every storyline you can think of, but one of the storylines that are still talked about until this very day was her abortion in 1973. Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) decided to have an abortion after becoming impregnated by her first husband, Jeff Martin (Charles Frank). All My Children was the first show to write an abortion storyline after Roe v. Wade had made abortions legal. Groundbreaking television, even for today’s standards!

The Power of David Canary

The legendary actor, David Canary, came onto the Pine Valley scene in 1983, as Adam Chandler, seeking revenge on Palmer Cortlandt (James Mitchell). Adam was known throughout his tenure to be devious, untrustworthy and just plain mean! Canary played this role exceptionally all the way until its final episode. So, it came as a shock to the audience, and residents of Pine Valley, that Adam had a twin brother, Stuart, that was kept locked up in the west wing of his house! Stuart was everything that Adam was not! He was kind, trustworthy and loving and Canary played this role just as exceptional!

One of the most memorable moments of Stuart was when he fell in love with Cindy Parker (Ellen Wheeler), the recent widow, and her son Scott (Philip Amelio), in 1987. Cindy had lost her husband to AIDS and realized soon after that she had contracted HIV from her husband. This did not matter to Stuart and they married a year later, and Stuart also adopted Scott. Sadly, Cindy passed away from AIDS in 1989 and Stuart had to be the one to tell Scott about his mother’s passing. The ability to love Stuart and a scene later hate Adam is a testament to the legend that David Canary was!

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Tad the Cad

Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight) was the playboy of daytime television! Tad started his teenage years as quiet the rebel by getting caught smoking marijuana or stealing money. As he grew up these rebellious streaks became fewer and fewer but what did not was his love of women! The love triangle that earned him his nickname as “Tad the Cad” happened in 1983 when Tad started dating a mother and daughter pair. Tad was dating Liza Colby (Marcy Walker), but had started an affair with her mother, Marian Colby (Jennifer Bassey), because of the gifts and trips she gave him to do so! He tried to hide it from Liza but eventually, it all blew up in his face and gave All My Children fans a juicy storyline to watch!

Love Stories

All My Children was known for the amazing love stories they gave us! Over the years All My Children fans watched epic love stories unfold every week. There was Tad and Dixie (Cady McClain), Erica and Jackson (Walt Willey), Erica and Dimitri (Michael Nader), Angie (Debbi Morgan) and Jesse (Darnell Williams), Greenlee (Rebecca Budig) and Leo (Josh Duhamel), Cliff (Peter Bergman) and Nina (Taylor Miller), Greg (Laurence Lau) and Jenny (Kim Delaney), Bianca (Eden Riegel) and Maggie (Elizabeth Hendrickson), or Edmund (John Callahan) and Maria (Eva LaRue).

These couples pulled at All My Children fan’s heartstrings for 41 years! All My Children fans are still missing them, nine years later! What a testament to the characters and writing! Keep watching the soaps and checking All My Children spoilers frequently for news and updates on all the AMC alumni!