Can Agnes Nixon Woo Susan Lucci to the New All My Children?

Anticipation is running high for Prospect Park's reboots of All My Childrenand One Life to Live — premiering April 29 via Hulu and iTunes — but nobody's more excited than the creator of both soaps, the legendary 85-year-old Agnes Nixon.
"I'm thrilled to tears that I'm still here to witness this," Nixon tells TV Guide Magazine. "Soap operas made history by being the first shows to move from radio to TV. Now they're the first to move from TV to the Internet. People say we're being pioneers here, which makes me feel like I'm 150 years old, or that I should be on a coin or something. Somebody had to make the first move. I'm so glad it was us!"

Nixon, who serves as creative consultant on both soaps, recently paid a visit to the set of OLTL, which will feature such returning faves as Erika Slezak, Roger Howarth, and Robin Strasser, plus a sea of fresh faces. "It's so lovely to watch the veteran actors mixing with the exciting young newcomers," Nixon says. "And it's so special for me because, in a way, this is like my homecoming to OLTL. I had to step back from the showsoon after it hit the air to put my full attention on AMC."

Thorsten Kaye, Julia Barr and David Canary are among the former AMC stars coming back to Pine Valley but, so far, there's no sign of Susan Lucci. Are we surprised? Not really. Lucci, currently shooting the Lifetime series Devious Maids, had a very public dustup with Prospect Park when the company first tried to revive the soaps in the fall of 2011. The Prospect execs put out the word, via Deadline.com, that Lucci was trying to gouge them for money, perks and a primetime series in order to continue her role as Erica Kane. This same report also intimated AMC was being put on the back burner because the negotiations with Lucci had gone south.

The furious actress fired back at Prospect via a Facebook letter to her fans, claiming the accusations were utter bull. Sources close to Lucci say she's still irked by the incident and if she ever does agree to appear on the new AMC it will only be as a personal favor to Nixon. But, realistically, what are the chances she'll pop up?

The eternally optimistic Nixon says, "Susan has so many other commitments these days but I certainly see her in our future.  She is such a talent and a dear friend. I remember the first time I saw her when she auditioned for AMC. I thought she was too beautiful to be a good actress. I was so happy to be wrong! I do hope with all my heart that Susan will be free enough to come back to us for a while." Adds the scribe with a laugh: "You know me. I always have a great story in mind for Erica Kane!"

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