It's been weeks since All My Children dropped head writer Charles Pratt Jr. Today, the ABC soap which has just celebrated its 40th anniversary on the air, made a decision about the future story lines for the show. David Kreizman and Donna Swajeski are the new co-head writers of All My Children. The duo have worked together in the past; in 2007 they were winners of the Writers Guild Award for heading up the Guiding Light writing staff.

ABC Daytime prez Brian Frons, was effusive in praising the writers, saying, "David and Donna are the perfect team to bring new ideas to All My Children while remaining true to its core by telling stories with a focus on the integrity of the show's history, its characters and families on the canvas." It helps that Donna actually began her soap writing career at AMC, working directly with the show's creator, Agnes Nixon.

While we've all been struggling through this holiday lull in regular TV programming, soap fans can take solace in the fact that the action is still happening in daytime. No show has more action going for it right now than All My Children as the 40th anniversary approaches.

On January 4, 2010, All My Children will turn 40 years old. In honor of the event, the celebration will be stretched over two days, Monday and Tuesday -- January 4th and 5th -- with former AMC stars Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos anchoring the festivities.

On Monday, Hayley and Mateo -- Kelly and Mark's characters -- return to Pine Valley with much fanfare. They're there to film an episode of Hayley's TV show, The Wave, because Pine Valley has been named "The Most Congenial Town in America."

With all the tumult at All My Children lately, here's some good news. For the 40th anniversary in January 2010, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos will return to All My Children for a visit. On January 4th and 5th, Kelly and Mark will guest on the show, presumably as their AMC characters, Hayley and Mateo.

This will be their first return since leaving in 2002. Both have achieved success away from the show, in primetime on dramas and sitcoms, and especially for Kelly on Live with Regis and Kelly in morning talk. However, they both started on AMC and, in fact, that was where they met, fell in love, got married and lived happily ever after.

I don't know about you, but I was kind of ticked off that General Hospital decided that 45 years on the air wasn't a good enough reason for a special episode. They had a cake -- good for them -- but generally speaking, the media celebrated the GH anniversary more than the show did. Well, ABC and One Life to Live are doing just the opposite for four decades of broadcasting. One Life to Live will celebrate its 40th anniversary -- officially July 15th -- with three special, out of this world storylines. It all starts on July 21. How out of this world? Well, it will be celestial.

Headwriter Ron Carlivati told TV Guide that his plans, which are extensive, include sending Viki back to Heaven. Longtime fans will recall that in 1987, Viki "died" and went to Heaven, which was inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and looked very sci-fi.
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Anyone who lived in the New York area anytime over the last forty years knows that there was one show you were sure to see either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day: The Yule Log, which started airing on WPIX, Ch. 11, in 1966. There really wasn't much to the show; it was a picture of a lit fireplace, and the warm and inviting fire in it burned away as easy-listening versions Christmas songs played in the background. At its longest, the show ran for three hours, though it had gotten trimmed down as time went on.

David Bauder of the AP has a pretty comprehensive article about the history of the Log. Included in the article is the story about how, after Ch. 11 resurrected the Log in 2001 after a 12-year absence, they found the fire footage used from 1970 to 1989 in a film can marked with the title of an episode of The Honeymooners.

One by one, Generation X's favorite holiday specials are hitting big anniversaries, reminding us that we're about to hit middle age ourselves. Last year, A Charlie Brown Christmas turned 40, much to our chagrin. Now it's The Grinch's turn as the classic cartoon version of Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas will celebrate it's 40th anniversary with an extended special, which ABC will air on December 12.

According to the network's press release, this "sepcial edition will include a "making of" documentary, including interviews with Theordore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, director Chuck Jones, and many of the other people who helped put the show together back in 1966. Considering Geisel, Jones, and many of the other people involved are dead, I'm curious to see how long ago these interviews were done.

In case you've missed it -- perhaps you were busy closing your ears every time you heard about "Manning vs. Manning" -- here are some highlights from the last week at TV Squad:



Star Trek turns 40!

• The Five lessons the original Trek taught Rich.
• Subtle Subtitles has a Trek theme this week.
• Klingons and... squirrel?
• The Five most common Trek plot gimmicks.
• The Five hottest Trek babes.
• Wil Wheaton begins his reviews of selected ST:TNG episodes.
  

Breaking News

• The Office cast is workin' hard.
• CBS will simulcast 9/11 doc on the web.
• Animator of Punchy passes away.
• Will ABC pull The Path to 9/11?
• Clinton supporters want the docudrama pulled.
• Here is an online sneak peek at The Simpsons.
• Frey settles lawsuit with readers.
• News exec Gordon Manning dead at 89.
• Ellen DeGeneres named host of the 2007 Oscars.
• Guiding Light hits 15,000 episodes.
• Couric's name on the CBS Evening News screws up TiVos.
• FX picks up Eddie Izzard dramedy.
• David Letterman signs on for four more years.
• Kim Delaney to star in Lifetime pilot.
• Marcia Cross is pregnant.
• Bob and Tom host stand-up special on CC.
• Conan will now have a new ep on Mondays.
• Big ratings for Couric's big night.
• Animal Planet to pay tribute to Steve Irwin.
• Irwin's death caught on video.
• Here's the intial report of Irwin's death.
  

Discussions

• Here's that video of a very scared weatherman.
• Religious zealot actually takes Stewart and Colbert seriously.
• There's actually a critic who doesn't like Studio 60. Really.
• Contest: What do you think Katie Couric's sign-off should be?
• Now on the Who Gives a Shit Channel: Paris arrested for DUI.
• I talk to Jimmy Kimmel about his prime-time special and football-watching parties.
• Which CNN correspondent used to be a VJ?
  

The Five

• Girl-on-Girl kissing action!
• The New Guy (Brett) gives us his Fall picks.
  

Opinions

• I really enjoyed Comedy Central's Rodney Dangerfield tribute.
• Adam enjoys the press kit for FOX's Sunday lineup.
• Adam also looks at the 'Til Death press kit.
• Brett has an early look at Brothers & Sisters.
• Anna likes Rosie O'Donnell.
• Rich is tired of the one-word show titles.
• Bob cirtiques Katie Couric's first edition of the CBS Evening News.
• He also reviews the new Rosie-fied View.
  

Retro Squad

• The Simpsons: "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One"
• Firefly: "Objects in Space"
• Seinfeld: "The Keys"
• The Prisoner: "Fall Out"
• Angel: "To Shanshu in L.A."

Episode Reviews

• Stargate Atlantis: "McKay & Mrs. Miller"
• Stargate SG-1: "Memento Mori"
• 'Til Death: "Pilot"
• Big Brother: Elimination #12
• Celebrity Duets: Seven perform
• Happy Hour: "Pilot"
• Project Runway: "Coture du Jour"
• Blade: "Monsters"
• Justice: "Pretty Woman"
• Rock Star: Supernova: Week 10 Elimination
• Bones: "The Mother and Child in the Bay"
• Nip/Tuck: "Cindy Plumb" (season finale)
• Standoff: "Pilot"
• House: "Meaning"
• The Closer: "Overkill" (season finale)

Star Trek has been in the news quite a bit these last few weeks. There's the Comedy Central roast of William Shatner, the premiere of Star Trek:Enterprise on the Sci Fi Channel, and the announcement of a new Trek movie that will be directed by Lost creator J.J. Abrams. Now word comes that TV Land has acquired the rights to the original (and many say the best) Star Trek.

The show will join TV Land's regular rotation starting in November. However, in order to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary (feeling old yet anyone?) the classic-television network will air four episodes of Trek on September 8th; the date when it premiered way back in 1966 on NBC. The evening will start off with "The Man Trap", which was the episode that began the series, then follow with "City on the Edge of Forever" (with a young Joan Collins), "The Trouble With Tribbles" (one of my favorites), and "Plato's Stepchildren", which featured the very first interracial kiss shown on television (although some fans refute that statement).

After this initial four episode run the show will take a break and come back on November 17th in its normal time slot. Episodes will also be available online at TV Land's new broadband video channel.