Soap Opera Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Our Screams Can Last
OurScreamsCanLast2011final

Our Screams Can Last final title card, circa 2011-2012

Created by Agnes Dixon
Written by Carolyn Michelle Sanderson
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 12,645
Production
Executive producer(s) Felix Asher (1963–73)
Vanessa Mills (1973–79, 1986–91)
Carolyn Courtney Milleston (1979–86)
Jimmy McLean (1991–92, 1992–94)
Trina Cantrell (1992)
Elizabeth Tillman (1994–99)
Madeline Calhoun (1999–2002)
Deanna Mills (2002–07)
Chris Quarrie (2007–12)
Location(s) New York City, New York (1963–2011)
Albuquerque, New Mexico (2011–12)
Running time 30 minutes (19631977)
60 minutes (19772012)
Distributor BGC Studios
Broadcast
Original channel BGC
Picture format NTSC (480i) (1963–2009)
HDTV (1080i) (2009–12)
Original run March 25, 1963 – September 7, 2012

Template:Italic title

Our Screams Can Last is an American television soap opera that aired for 49 years on the BGC Network from March 25, 1963 to September 7, 2012.

Our Screams Can Last was created by Agnes Dixon, and began on BGC Television on March 25, 1963 and aired for 30 minutes until July 22, 1977. It expanded to a full hour on July 25, 1977. On February 4, 2011, Our Screams Can Last moved from New York City, New York to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and BGC hoped that it would increase ratings, but the plan was unsuccessful. On April 8, 2011, Our Screams Can Last thumped All My Children in a 59-49 match before ABC canceled loser soap opera All My Children on April 14, 2011. 

On April 2, 2012, Our Screams Can Last was in danger of cancellation, the same day that the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team defeated the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team on the final NCAA Basketball Championship, two days after the two teams defeated both the Louisville and Ohio State teams in Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana.

On April 5, 2012, Our Screams Can Last competed against All My Secrets in a matchup, but Our Screams Can Last lost in an 85-60 score to All My Secrets.

On April 12, 2012, BGC announced that it canceled Our Screams Can Last after 49 years due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes on August 15, 2012, and its final episode aired on September 7, 2012. Its spinoff Universal Lives premiered on March 18, 2013, replacing the now-canceled soap opera Passionate Dreams. On June 17, 2013, BGC replaced Our Screams Can Last with a newly debuted Fraternity Row spinoff called One Line to Cross.

Series History[]

Our Screams Can Last premiered on March 25, 1963, a week before both All My Secrets and General Hospital made their April 1, 1963 debut.

BGC expanded the series to 60-minute episodes on July 25, 1977, before both All My Secrets and Guiding Light expanded to 60-minute episodes on November 7, 1977.

In March 1987, Our Screams Can Last competed against Capitol and thumped the show before CBS canceled Capitol in favor of The Bold and the Beautiful and moved As the World Turns to 2:00 PM ET in the same timeslot as One Life to Live, Another World, and Our Screams Can Last.

Our Screams Can Last celebrated its 40th anniversary on March 25, 2003 and its 45th anniversary on March 25, 2008 before the September 19, 2008 cancellation of Angels and Devils, but on September 18, 2009, Our Screams Can Last survived the cancellation of Guiding Light after 57 years on television in favor of Let's Make A Deal, but the ratings were not good.

On September 17, 2010, Our Screams Can Last survived the cancellation of As the World Turns after 54 years in favor of The Talk, but the ratings were still not good.

In January 2011, and three months before ABC announced the cancellation of All My Children after 41 years in favor of The Chew and announced the cancellation of One Life to Live after 43 years in favor of The Revolution, Our Screams Can Last made its move from New York City, New York to Albuquerque, New Mexico. BGC and the show's producers hoped that the new look would increase ratings, but the plan was ultimately not successful.

On April 2, 2012, three months after both One Life to Live and Fraternity Row ended after 43 years, Our Screams Can Last and Passionate Dreams were both in danger of cancellation after the September 18, 2009 cancellation of Guiding Light, the September 17, 2010 cancellation of As the World Turns, the September 23, 2011 cancellation of All My Children, the January 13, 2012 cancellation of One Life to Live, and the January 20, 2012 cancellation of Fraternity Row.

On April 12, 2012, BGC confirmed that it would not renew Our Screams Can Last after 49 years, three months before the network opted to cancel another soap opera Passionate Dreams after 61 years on television. The final scenes of Our Screams Can Last were taped on August 15, 2012 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which aired on September 7, 2012.

On March 18, 2013, another soap opera, the Our Screams Can Last spinoff called Universal Lives, debuted and replaced the canceled 72-year-old soap opera Passionate Dreams.

Schedule[]

Start date End date Time slot
(ET/CT)
Run time
(minutes)
March 25, 1963 December 27, 1963 12:00 pm/11:00 am 30
December 30, 1963 July 22, 1977 1:30 pm/12:30 pm
July 25, 1977 November 4, 1977 1:00 pm/12:00 pm 60
November 7, 1977 September 7, 2012 2:00 pm/1:00 pm
Advertisement