Hillary B. Smith (Nora Buchanan) will once again step into the shoes of legal eagle Nora Buchanan. No, One Life to Live is not being fully revived by ABC -- at least not yet. But the network is apparently set to take full advantage of regaining the rights to canceled soaps One Life to Live and All My Children.
Smith appeared as Nora on ABC's One Life to Live from 1992 through the show's final episode on network television in January 2012. Later that year, ABC licensed the rights to One Life to Live (and All My Children) to Prospect Park, a company that planned to launch online versions of both soaps. Prospect Park was able to get both shows into production, but the ambitious plan proved to be a little too ambitious, and both shows were once again canceled.
Prospect Park filed a lawsuit again ABC, saying that the network had torpedoed its plans to resurrect AMC and OLTL by hiring away several of the show's top talents. Roger Howarth (Franco; ex-Todd Manning, OLTL), Kristen Alderson (ex-Kiki Jerome; ex-Starr Manning, OLTL), and Michael Easton (Hamilton Finn; ex-Silas Clay; ex-John McBain, OLTL) were all transported from Llanview to Port Charles. ABC was abruptly forced to find new roles for all three actors.
In December 2016, after years of in-court back-and-forth, a judge dismissed Prospect Park's case. A lawyer representing ABC confirmed exclusively to Soap Central that as a result of the suit being dismissed, ABC had regained the rights to both All My Children and One Life to Live. Though no immediate plans were announced regarding what ABC would do with the rights to both shows, ABC executive Nathan Varni said that the network was "actively discussing" what to do and wanted to make sure that any decision was "done in the right way."
It now appears that the network has at least one plan in place. General Hospital's executive producer -- with a little help from an angry judge and actress Rebecca (Hayden Barnes) -- made the announcement that Smith would be joining the show in a video posted to Twitter. You can check it out below.
It is unclear at this time, however, whether Smith's appearance will be for a short-term court case or something more along the lines of a recurring role. A first airdate has also yet to be announced.
— Frank Valentini (@valentinifrank) February 1, 2017
For more information about Hillary B. Smith, click here. And to learn more about Nora Hanen Buchanan, check out our Who's Who in Llanview character profile.
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