Soaps "All My Children" and "One Life to Live Move Online

Just like the shocking plot twists on daytime dramas, the soap operas "One Life to Live" and "All My Children" aren't really dead: They're just moving to the Web.

Fans can put away their hankies and get out their mouse pads: The TV shows that started in the last century and ran for four decades will continue as Web TV. Same sets! Same casts! And, we're guessing, lots of new, dramatic cliffhangers.

Here's what happened. First, ABC announced that the daytime dramas would end. Instead, daytime programming will be filled with cheaper-to-produce, reality-style shows like food-oriented "The Chew" and lifestyle-themed "The Revolution."

But instead of going dark, the soaps are going digital. According to the press release from ABC, Prospect Park, a TV, film and music company owned by former Disney studio boss Rich Frank, has licensed the shows.

Think Hulu for soaps. The agreement promises that the Internet version will still "produce and deliver the two long-running programs" online and on Web-enabled TV. Fans of Pine Valley and Llanview take note: The new owners will keep the same cast and crew -- even soap queen Susan Lucci -- and continue the story lines.

Prospect Park owners released a statement that read, in part, "The driving force in making the switch and attracting new audiences is to have outstanding programs that people want to watch. We believe that by continuing to produce the shows in their current hour format and with the same quality, viewers will follow the show to our new, online network."

Yahoo! searches on the soap seem to ensure success of the online enterprise, which will add more Web shows to its lineup. One-day searches on "all my children," "all my children cast," "all my children finale," "all my children hairstyles," and "all my children recaps" all showed dramatic gains. Ditto for "one life to live," "one life to live discussion group," "one life to live episodes," and "one life to live soap spoilers," which all surged over 100% in one-day lookups. Plus, the desperate plea: "is any other network going to pick up one life to live?" Wish granted.