"It was a regular workday at
AMC, but everyone was dressed to the nines for the midafternoon gathering to celebrate the
soaps's 30th anniversary. The cake-cutting came during the show's most hectic time- the
taping of the popular Crystal Ball, which Edmund hosts annually at Wildwind.After a brief speech from executive producer Jean Dadario Burke, the cast and crew applaud the show's creator and head writer, Anges Nixon. In her brief remarks, Nixon thanked the 'greatest cast and crew' and commented that in 1970 she was focused on AMC staying on 13 weeks, never thinking it would last 30 years.
The entire cast attended, except Susan Lucci (Erica), who was under doctor's orders to rest or her flu might turn into pneumonia. Abigail Spenser (Becca) could barely contain her excitement, and said it's been a whirlwind since her arrival in Pine Valley. 'Susan won the Emmy, Finola (Hughes, who plays Alex) joined our cast. It's been one event after another after another. Then Agnes came back (as the show's head writer).'
The Jan. 5 episode- the finale of the Crystal Ball- will be the offical on-air celebration. In addition to the goings-on at the ball, viewers will see clips from the past 30 years. Michael E. Knight (Tad) had no idea which of his clips they'd use. 'I just hope they don't chose the chicken suit. Probably a scene with Marcy (Walker, Liza) and Jennifer (Bassey, Marian), cause those were always sleazy. I remember being locked in the vault. A couple of wedding days were funny. Or something with the Martins, one of the Martin family screwups.'
Going through 30 years of memories took some time. Burke said, 'The writers worked in conjunction with Agnes and myself. We've done so many anniversary shows between the 20th and the 25th that we wanted this one to be a little different. We're moving story forward while having some of the nostalgia, which was a tough trick.'
Going through the clips was 'fun and exhausting,' according to Nixon. 'There's never enough time. You can quote me on that. With daytime, you always wish you could go back and do it again, you know.'"