Season 1
The town of Pine Valley is more than just your average Pennsylvanian small town. For one thing it has an ocean. For another there are is an unusually high number of incidents of amnesia, resurrections, criminal masterminds and organ transplants.
Pine Valley is home to a number of memorable characters and families. There is Erica Kane from whom no man is safe. Having been married nine times she has not let age slow down her man-eating ways. In between bouts of diva behaviour, she struggles to be a good mother to her beloved daughter, the benevolent Bianca, and bring down her despised other daughter, the conniving Kendall.
Adam Chandler is the head of a multibillion dollar company who often cannot separate his cold-hearted business decisions from his private life. His need to always be in control often puts him at odds with his family, especially his troubled son, JR, and alcoholic daughter, Hayley.
The Martin family is an upstanding pillar of the community, headed by Dr Joe Martin. His two very different sons - Tad, the wry businessman and Jake, the compassionate doctor - have something in common in that they always strive to do the just thing.
David Hayward is the Martins' sworn enemy. This villainous doctor is arrogant and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. His family is just as screwed up as he is. His mother, Vanessa, is an insane druglord and his brother, Leo du Pres, is a former conman who struggles to find and maintain responsibility now that he has fallen in love with wild heiress, Greenlee Smythe.
Full of the usual soap conventions, All My Children also tackles real-life issues not often seen on other, more outrageous soap operas. Appealing actors bring the show, through which a strong thread of realism and social responsibility is woven, to life.