The finale for OLTL was befitting for the iconic daytime drama, but I can't lie. I am a bit disappointed. It left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth as everything in Llanview culminated.

For starters, I would've loved to see some of the characters of yore be mentioned like Carla Gray, Ed Hall, Vinnie Wolek, Wanda Webb, and the biggest snub of all, Dr. Larry Wolek. Where were the flashbacks and montages? Instead we get action centered around teens like Matthew, Starr, and Destiny who ate up enough screentime over the years. In fact, the younger crowd is what killed OLTL! Yes, it was a fantastic soap with thrilling stories, but the acting on this show had been dismal for years. Unless heavy hitters like Erika Sleazak, Jerry verDorn, Kassie D., Hillary B. Smith, Robert S. Woods, Florencia Lozano, and others were in scenes, the show floundered to a "Degrassi" esque soap that irritated me.

But for all the bad, OLTL will always live on in my heart. Most of DC knows I love Y&R (except for now!), but Llanview is old stomping grounds for this soap viewer. My first episode was when Gabrielle Medina entered the scene during the Argentina storyline and I was hooked! A three year old who was fascinated by the gaudy dresses and elorabate sets and, most of all, the opening sequence. Peabo Bryson sang to me every afternoon as a toddler and I looked forward to his voice, along with the voices of Tina, Cord, Asa, Renee, Clint, Bo, Jake, Megan, Mari Lynn, Max, and the queen of OLTL, Viki. And I will always worship Viki! She was always hurt or kidnapped, and no soap diva does "I'm in danger" like the divine Erika S. Nobody!

OLTL was on FIYAH today! After the past two (AMC and ATWT) disappointing finales, I am simply thrilled that we weren't forced to watch Clint and Viki get into a rickety old pickup truck and drive off into the sunset together, as banjo music blared in the background............

Well done, Ron Carlivati! And please extend my congrats to Ron the next time you talk to him, Jamey/Luke/Jillian/Reagan/Melodie..........(whoever sees him first! )

Of course, it was not without it's flaws! Where was Renee? Or Tina? And why so much focus on Starr?

But that baby was beautiful.....and I think he popped out with more hair on his head than his grandpa, Bo Buchanan!

BEST SHOW EVER!!!! Really, that was an absolutely beautiful finale. And THAT ENDING! Truly what soaps are all about. Kudos and thank yous to Ron, Frank, the actors, the other writers, the crew, everyone involved!

I had really hoped that "Victor" was really alive, so I really liked the ending... but I wanted it to be a case of McBain having him kept hidden so no one knew and I wanted Tea's last scene to be John showing Victor to her.

I didnt watch yet, but i did watch the view. Applauses to Whoopi. She said something about the fool who canceled this show. Frons used to be her boss also. Im so happy she said that. Will watch later and call the Hotline. I will identify myself. Hope I dont rant and rave. SOB's!!!

akbad806: You know they destroy all the tapes that were done prior to the 80’s or more the point the recorded over them. So they have no film to represent OLTL prior to the 80’s. That means that the classic Carla and Ed Hall scenes they would not have been able to incorporate into the show. But they could have used video from these two’s in the 80’s. As for others that mentioned they could have incorporated scenes into the show for the last week or last month and had each actor that is still alive drop in for a day on the series and have a flashback to one of their most defining moments in history on that show. And I mean the actors that really made their marks and the show’s on OLTL. Bringing back these magnificent and wonderful actors/actresses would have been great. But then again they had the idea that they were going to be moving to the internet I might give them a slight pass for that.

I do believe that so far no soap ending has compared to AMC’s last week on air. Agnes and Lorraine really crafted each episode well and gave many nods to history. And that was good for the fans. Also AMC had not replaced half its cast with The Stedford Men, Good Times and El Mal Actor. They were in a much better position when it came to the cliffhanger end.

Despite all that I found the OLTL ending to not be all that bad. I’d give it a B-.

Sticking to what has sadly become an all too frequently observed personal tradition, I never say anything negative about a show during its final week and especially its last day on the air.

But for me this finale earned a C+.

alstonboy4315 wrote:

OLTL was on FIYAH today! After the past two (AMC and ATWT) disappointing finales, I am simply thrilled that we weren't forced to watch Clint and Viki get into a rickety old pickup truck and drive off into the sunset together, as banjo music blared in the background...........But that baby was beautiful.....and I think he popped out with more hair on his head than his grandpa, Bo Buchanan!

I agree with you. I also see AKBAD's point. I only started watching AMC and OLTL about 2 years ago and I would've LOVED to see the Ed and Carla characters (is the actor who played Ed still alive?) and some of the other 30+ years ago vets.

But yeah, although ATWT was my favorite (EXCEPT for the last DECADE of the show) I was dissatisfied with the ending. I thought GL's ending was even worse. OLTL, while not perfect, at least attempted to pull it together.
Still, I was disappointed with the cursory acknowledgement of the 'historic' nature of the 1st AA family on ABC daytime.

Was it all I wanted it to be? No.

Was it enough? Yes.

I started watching in 1988 and am very sad to see this show go.
I would have loved a montage of memories instead of the scenes of "Old friends reunite in LA". I think Starr's last scene should have been yesterday which I thought was yesterday and they could have worked in Cole yesterday. The narration by Alison I didn't care for. I liked everything else.

How Todd coming to GH will be written should be interesting.
I am happy that a little of Agnes Nixon's show will live on.

Naming the baby Drew, seeing the last scenes of Nora, Bo, Viki, and Clint and seeing the real life feelings of the actors were almost too much. The picture of Asa was nice to see.
Goodbye to a great show. Many thanks to the cast and crew.

Oh look...GH is on....Jason has a gun on Franco and Helena has a knife...CLICK.
And OLTL was the show that got the hook first.
Oh what the f#ck?!

Good show today Frank and Ron. Thank you.

I watched. I don't care about the characters or their situations, so I'm clueless whether there was appropriate closure for the the viewers and the characters. The episode, overall, was okay I guess. Like I said, not my show or characters, Llanview could have been sucked up by a sinkhole all I cared.

I would give the finale a B-. I thought the episode felt too much like a regular episode. I didn't think it packed the punch that the last episode should have. I thought it should've tugged more at the longtime viewers' heartstrings, evoking nostalgia and focusing on a well-earned happiness finally, FINALLY achieved by Viki, Clint, Bo, Nora and Jessica. There was too much focus on Destiny with her baby and Starr arriving to LA. However, the highlights were the scenes when Bo looked back at Nora and expressed his love (so sweet and such good acting by Bob Woods) and the Viki, Clint and Jessica scenes. I didn't quite buy the line when Jessica said learning of and having Natalie was one of the best moments of her life. The final surprise was cute, but not jaw-dropping. I had a feeling Victor could still be alive. I did think it was very cool how Ron and Frank and the media fooled us viewers with leaks that Trevor St. John would NOT be returning. And last but not least, the absence of my beautiful and wonderful Robin Strasser as Dorian was glaringly obvious.

I wish more of the "old timers" would have played a part
Woleks, LORD'S, Ed Hall, but OLTL had a better "blast off" than AMC

Hilary B Smith is joining The Bold & the Beautiful!

http://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/exclusive-one-life-fave-bb

Digest can confirm that fan favorite Hillary B. Smith (ex-Nora, OLTL) will join the No. 2 show in the brand new role of a sex therapist. The news comes mere hours after ONE LIFE TO LIVE aired its last episode on ABC. The actress had hinted earlier today that she had a new job in the works: “There will b other projects. I have one at the end of the month. It will be announced shortly..... Not ABC.”

The finale didn't focus at all on the history of the show and it definitley didn't focus enough on VIKI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought for sure she would've been the main focus of the last show and the last scene. I'd give it a D.

I would grade it a C, overall it was a good episode and personally it was a hoot Allison doing the voice over narration. I did like the ending, but how are they going to explain this on GH? I think they will be bring over Victor Jr. & Tea to GH now. The episode was entertaining and had some great moments but the reason I only gave it C is solely based on Dorian. Dorian should have been there in Llanview for this episode. I'm sorry but that was HUGE gaping hole and it showed. Robin S. would have made that final appearance and so I put that squarely on Frank's shoulder for not giving the fans the special episode between the heavy weights of Viki & Dorian. Frank made a bad decision of not having Robin to return. Ron I'm sure would have loved to write the ending between these two beloved characters. The last half hour could have Viki & Dorian stuck somewhere again talking about Llanview and bringing up the past characters if not flashbacks. OLTL did a good job the last week of episodes but AMC's last week's episodes were excellent and every single day building for the final Friday and fitting where that OLTL slightly lacked the depth.

I agree GG78 on your point that the final show should've revolved more around Viki.

I loved it. It wasn't perfect, but I don't care. No one was ever going to get everything they wanted. Yes, it was more action-packed than reflective, but I didn't mind that. I enjoyed the ride. A- for the day, and an A for the last two weeks.

Todd and Blair said their ILY's and finally had zeeeeee sex! Bo made me cry when he choked out "Red" to Nora, and Clint made me cry when he propsed to Viki. Then they played the theme over certain character's speeches again.

There were certainly more things I loved than didn't. I certainly didn't need to see the Trio of Smug, though I had "victory" in them being WRONG. That said, I also get that this show was canned, then picked up, then canned again and had to deal with many rewrites and actor departures and other demands that they needed to work around. AMC had a better ending that felt like an actual ending, but they had much more to benefit from in that respect. They were pretty much done when PP came a'callin, so it was indeed much more of a wrap up with a cliffhanger tacked on at the end. OLTL didn't have that luxury, unfortunately. So was it perfect? No. Could it have been better? Sure, but that's all subjective. As a fan who can hardly get through YR and GH on a daily basis, I was satisfied. The show trended on twitter for about two hours straight.

I will say, the moment that made me cry the most was Jessica being Re-Buched. As much as I love Bree, I never could relate to her as Jessica, but when she burst into tears and hugged Clint when she learned the news, I was a goner. I'll miss this show on a daily basis as a part of my life and I'll miss these characters like they were actual members of my family.

It
s so sad watching all these soap finales. When I was a little girl in the and I found out Santa Barbara was going off the air, I remember saying 'I didn't know they could do that? Soaps are supposed to be on forever." No Lie.
I forgive OLTL and AMC for their finales considering they were written for transition to the web.

Such a sad day...

I loved the ending of One Life to Live. I was practically bawling my eyes throughout the entire episode. Things I loved:

-The fact that it ended with us knowing that Jessica is a full-blooded Buchanan. That was important for the audience and ALSO that hint that Jessica and Brody will make their way back to each other. I never bought her with Ford nor did buy Natalie and Brody so I LOVED that.

-Clint's proposal to Vicki. About damn time! They needed to get back together...those two belong together.

-Matthew FINALLY manning up. I thought it was incredibly realistic how Matt reacted to the news of his impending fatherhood. And I loved that it was David who made him see that he needed to step up.

-Vivian/Shawn although I wished the show could have focused on their relationship more than it did.

-Everything Bo/Nora. From Matthew naming that child "Drew" to Bo choking out that "Red" towards the end. So perfect. I love Bob Woods.

-Although I am a die hard TNT fan, Todd and Blair was really good too. You can see the history with the couple and their sex scene was hot

-I loved the 4 musketeers Lang, Markko, Cole, and Starr reuniting. That was boss. I squealed when Cole showed up.

-And finally that cliffhanger! That was the BEST MOMENT EVER!

I could have done without Natalie and John. I'm not a fan of the coupling and am no fan of Natalie. Also I think a big hole that was missing was Robin Strasser.

I'm not one of those that believes that the ending of a soap needs to be an hour full of reminiscing. I liked that it focused on wrapping/continuing the stories of the characters that were currently onscreen and not those that have been gone for ages. Sorry but I wouldn't be interested in that.

I'm going to miss this show so much. Damn you ABC

I thought they did an amazing job. Shows should go out on top, showing why they are great, not becoming some syrupy homecoming show. There were wonderfully sweet moments, in particular the Bo and Nora scene, but as a whole they were moving story forward in a compelling way. I say job well done. And the end, while it makes no sense at all (how would Allison have Victor when she was in jail at the time?), it was a real WTF moment -- much more so than the dumb shooting on AMC which felt tacked on and wasn't edited well at all.

Furthermore, while I love Dorian, she got her own special goodbye episode. So while it would have been nice to see her again, I was happy the way she was written off. I mean she got her own goodbye montage package -- how many other actors can say that?

Yesterday we got Vicki's lovely speech about why people watch soap operas. That was profoundly elegant and sweet. I don't think we needed a whole hour of that at the end.

I was so excited to see Trevor St John at the end and I think that was a good cliffhanger. Its sad that he and Florencia Lozano arent going to finish this story on GH. It would have been nice to see her reaction to him or his reaction to her pregnant belly. I loved Bo&Nora and Destiny having baby Drew. Overall today's show did not feel like a finale something was missing and it felt like it was dragging. I think the prison break should have been this week. The show lost momentum this week and things really slowed down so I give it a B.

I am glad to see I am not the only one who was bugged by the focus on Starr. The last two weeks felt like Starr's life to live while the other children barely got any scenes. I think the LA stuff could have been shown yesterday or cut because we know she is going to end up in PC.

Wow. What a show. We got to see Bo and Nora become grandparents to baby Drew. The next generation of Buke men (Ryder, Liam and Drew) have big shoes to fill. Asa is in heaven waving that ten gallon hat of his! I can just see those three boys getting into mischief years from now.

Starr, Langston, Cole and Marrko scenes should have aired on Thursday.

Memo to Shaun, if Vivian does not want to marry you then it's time to move on.

Jessica being turned back into a Buchanan was the best news! I just don't buy Rexx or David as Buchanan's.

Sorry, Tomas, but TnB were H.O.T!

A montage of old characters would have been nice but doesn't the show have to pay the actors?

Where was Renee!

Allison blew me away at the very end!

Not seeing Renee these last weeks reminded me in a way of not seeing Emma in the last weeks of ATWT.

I have not read everyone else's comments, but I was as satisfied as I could be with the finale. I believe that the show should have had a 2 hour send off, regardless of the PP deal or not. With that said, I think the finale could have been at least 50% better if PP wouldn't have been pulling chains. I am glad it wasn't tied up nicely with a bow, because as we know, life is not always a happy ever after.

I thought AMC's finally was much better, even with JR's shot at then end. Today's episode of OLTL just seemed like another episode. I will give them a pass though because they though the show was going to continue online. I'd give it C on a curved grading scale.

I really had no major complaints about the finale. Personally, I was quite happy with the idea of Cole vanishing with his parents, so I really didn't need all that time spent in LA with Markko and Langston. PS: If you are faking someone's death, don't tell EVERYBODY! And then bring the guy back to his girlfriend. But it shows that Original Todd was putting Starr's emotional needs first.

If they had spent less time in LA, we could have had some extra Teat/Todd/Victor/McBain/Blair time.

I thought the Allison narration was strange until it was revealed she was reading to someone, and my longstanding hope has been that Victor is alive, and this means Todd did NOT murder him. I never liked Irene back from the dead as an explanation, but she did the story justice, and if she could brainwash Victor with decades of Todd's life, what would it take to brainwash Todd?

And Allison has been in jail. So, who arranged Victor's fake death and how did Allison get custody of his kidnapping?

But you know what, I don't mind not knowing that. I am perfectly happy with the idea that Todd didn't murder anyone. Todd has always CONTAINED people illegally, like what the did to Tomas, and he literally put Will Rappaport in a container destined for a ship years ago. He endangers, but he doesn't actually kill. LOL!

When this was filmed PP was still happening so it wasnt a finale the show was gonna continue the following Monday

Everyone got a happy ending and the Victor/Todd cliffhanger well I believe that will conclude on GH and even though FL & TSJ arent signed on (yet), I do believe we will see them there at some point