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''In Joy and Sorrow,''
''In Tragedy and Triumph,''
''You are'' [[Title Drop|All My Children.]] }}
 
Long-running [[Soap Opera]] on [[ABC]], premiering in 1970. Within the framework of a traditional [[Family Drama]] soap, Agnes Nixon created a show that incorporates young love, relevant social issues and high comedy. Its memorable [[Title Sequence]], at least through 1989, showed a woman's hand opening a family photo album.
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The show is set in fictional Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, close enough to New York for day travel. A notable character is much-married Erica Kane (Martin Brent Cudahy Chandler Roy Roy Montgomery Montgomery Chandler Marick Marick Montgomery), played since the show's inception by Susan Lucci. Lucci was famously nominated 18 times for a Daytime Emmy for this role without a win, finally winning on #19.
 
On April 14, 2011, it was announced that ''All My Children'' would be canceled. ''All My Children'' aired its last episode on September 23, 2011.
 
More information is available at [http://lavender.fortunecity.com/indemnity/439/amc.html David R. Jackson's soap opera site].
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* [[Absentee Actor]]: Ruth Warrick (Phoebe), Eileen Herlie (Myrtle), and James Mitchell (Palmer) were kept on contract long after their age and ill health made it impossible for them to work.
* [[Accidental Murder]]: Adam accidentally murders Stuart.
** {{spoiler|Stuart was brought back by Project Orpheus in the finale.}}.
* [[Affectionate Parody]]: Greenlee's ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' dream; the Martin family's ''[[Chicago]]'' dream.
* [[The Alcoholic]]: Phoebe and Erica both develop serious drinking problems. Skye, Hayley and JR also became alcoholics.
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* [[Anti-Villain]]: David ruined a lot of lives, but he did show occasional moments of kindness.
{{quote|'''David''': I'm a villain?
'''Liza''': Well you're certainly not a hero. }}
* [[Arch Enemy]]: Adam and Palmer; later, Adam and Tad.
** Liza and Damon.
* [[Ascended Fanboy|Ascended Fangirl]]: Five words: [[The Carol Burnett Show|Carol Burnett]] as Verla Grubbs.
* [[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny]]: Averted with Damon.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: Alexander Cambias, Janet Green.
* [[Back for the Dead]]: Di Cooney, {{spoiler|Zac Slater}}.
* [[Back From the Dead]]: Greenlee, Dixie (only to be killed off yet again), Maria, Tad, etc.
** And thanks to the Orpheus Project near then end of the show's tenure, {{spoiler|Dixie, Zach, and possibly anybody and everybody else who has died}}.
* [[Becoming the Mask]]: Lenny Wlasik, initially posing as the scholarly Langley Wallingford, actually winds up getting a real doctorate and becoming a serious archeologist.
* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Jack (Veronica) and Caleb (Betty) for Erica, JR (Veronica) and Scott (Betty) for Annie.
* [[Big Fancy House]]: Wildwind, the Chandler Mansion, <s>Cortlandt Manor</s> not anymore, it burned down. And Tad's house must be awfully big to fit the amazing amount of people living there.
* [[Big Screwed-Up Family]]: The Cambias, Chandler, Cortlandt, and Lavery families all achieve transcendent levels of dysfunction.
* [[Bolivian Army Cliffhanger]]: {{spoiler|Just who did J.R. shoot? Was it Erica? Marissa? Someone else? Himself?}}?
* [[Brother-Sister Incest]]: Narrowly avoided when Erica was engaged to Mark, who turned out to be her half-brother; her mother intervened before they could go through with it, and told them the truth.
* [[But I Can't Be Pregnant]]: Opal.
* [[The Cameo]]: Warren Buffett, of all people, who ''asked'' to appear on his favorite show.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSJGBYvm_Es Elizabeth Taylor]. [[Actor Allusion|As a janitor]]. Surprising ''[[The Carol Burnett Show|Verla Grubbs]]''.
{{quote|'''Myrtle''': Who was that?
'''Verla''': I never saw her before in my life. [[The Carol Burnett Show|I think that woman's pilot light is out!]] }}
** Rosie O'Donnell, who had a hilarious turn not as herself, but as a maid.
* [[The Casanova]]: Tad "The Cad" Martin, especially [[Ladykiller in Love|before he met Dixie]].
* [[Character Blog]]: [http://blogs.soapnet.com/i-am-erica-kane/ I Am Erica Kane.]
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: theThe infamous Bobby Martin, many others. Taylor, most recently.
* [[Coming Out Story]]: Michael Delaney, Kevin Sheffield, Bianca.
* [[Cool Old Lady]]: Myrtle.
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{{quote|[[In-Joke|Opal: Oh, please! You'd think she built the town single-handed.]]}}
* [[Creepy Housekeeper]]: Myra, initially a very obvious [[Shout-Out]] to [[Rebecca|Mrs. Danvers]]; eventually subverted.
* [[Crossover]]: withWith sister soaps ''[[One Life to Live]]'' and ''Loving''.
* [[Daddy's Girl]]: Nina Cortlandt.
* [[Dead Person Impersonation]]: Di Cooney standing in for Dixie.
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* [[Evil Matriarch]]: Vanessa.
* [[Flashback with the Other Darrin]]: the "Real Greenlee" fiasco
* [[Gay Aesop]]: allAll of the [[Coming Out Story|Coming Out Stories]], but especially Kevin Sheffield's.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Opal, of all people.
* [[Geographic Flexibility]]: Pine Valley.
* [[Happily Married]]: inIn an amazing achievement for any soap opera couple, Joe and Ruth Martin.
* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]: Adam, Palmer, and David.
* [[Hide Your Pregnancy]]: bothBoth with actresses and ''within the show'', as Bianca concealed her pregnancy with Miranda
* [[Hollywood Healing]]: Inevitably. Characters who should be sporting large, visible scars don't, even when they've shot themselves in the temple (Palmer, multiple times), had their chests cracked open for surgery (Kendall), or suffered facial injuries (Erica). [[Magic Plastic Surgery]] is probably to blame.
** Surprisingly averted when Brooke's adopted daughter Laura had a heart transplant--she was subsequently very uncomfortable being intimate with her new husband because of the scar that had been left.
** Also averted (and justified) with Brot. Both he and his actor served in the Iraq War and suffered sever burns that left their faces scarred.
* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Lily (a bad track record even considering she's autistic).
* [[Identical Stranger]]: Erica is kidnapped by a woman who was jealous of her, so got [[Magic Plastic Surgery]] in order to take over her life.
* [[Idiot Ball]]: Palmer usually wound up carrying one of these when his wives were involved (Cynthia and Vanessa being the most spectacular flame-outs). Not for nothing did ''Soap Opera Digest'' twice name him one of the dumbest characters on any soap. His niece Dixie usually held it too.
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* [[Large Ham]]: Phoebe, Langley, Billy Clyde, Palmer (in the 1980s) and, of course, Erica.
** Adam Chandler lived this trope.
* [[Left Hanging]]: The finale does this. {{spoiler|J.R. shoots into a crowd that celebrates Stuart Chandler [[It Makes Sense in Context|coming back from the dead]]}}. Then, {{spoiler|Jackson breaks up with Erica}} which leaves Erica, of course swearing that {{spoiler|she will win Jackson back}}. Keep in mind all of this happens just as {{spoiler|J.R. fires his pistol}}. In addition to this, the guest of honor {{spoiler|Stuart himself does not show up}}.
* [[Lethal Chef]]: Opal, initially. Later averted by the Chicken Shack.
* [[Lipstick Lesbian]]: Bianca and Maggie.
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* [[Long Runners]]: 41 years, 10,712 episodes, 1/5/70-9/23/11.
* [[Love Hurts]]: Let me count the ways. Zach's and Kendall's relationship is the most obvious recent example, but Tad's and Dixie's marriage-go-round also embodied this trope.
* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: Palmer &and Ross, Tad &and Damon.
* [[Luke, You Are My Father]]: Greenlee &and Jackson.
* [[Magic Plastic Surgery]]: Janet. Also a woman who was jealous of Erica, and planned on taking over her life.
* [[May-December Romance]]: Most of Adam's and Palmer's marriages fall into this category.
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** Similarly, conman Lenny Wlasik becomes Langley Wallingford.
** Caleb Cooney changed his name to Cortlandt to honor his uncle.
* [[Meddling Parents]]: everybodyEverybody, really, but Adam and Palmer win this category by a landslide.
* [[Mega Corp]]: Chandler Corporations, Cortlandt Electronics, Fusion Cosmetics. Recently Chandler bought Cortland, making it even more mega.
* [[Mistaken for Cheating]]: In a bizarre running theme, Palmer believed that Opal and Vanessa were cheating on him with men who, in both cases, turned out to be their sons.
* [[Never Found the Body]]: Tad, Maria, Leo, and many more
** Subverted with Greenlee, as they did find the body, but it was a fake put in place by David.
* [[Never Speak Ill of the Dead]]: Played straight and averted with David's death. Greenlee, Krystal,and Marissa go to his funeral, while everyone else has a <s> party</s> wake.
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* [[The Un-Reveal]]: David refuses to reveal the last patient brought back by Project Orpheus.
* [[Wacky Marriage Proposal]]: Tad. Dixie. A chicken suit.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Liza only wants her daughter Colby to be happy. However, she is completely convinced that Damon is no good for her, so she tries to drive them apart... by trying to seduce Damon and replacing his ADHD medication with placebos.
* [[Who's Your Daddy?]]: roughly every other pregnancy depicted, Krystal Carey's being the most recent.
* [[Will]]: Phoebe's will attempted to throw a monkey wrench into Jamie's relationship with Babe.
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