Soap operas aka daytime dramas--and then there were four.

http://abc.go.com/site/abcdaytimenews
http://www.tvsquad.com/2011/04/14/abc-cancels-all-my-children-one-life-to-live/?flv=1
http://daytimeconfidential.zap2it.com/2011/04/15/the-decline-of-the-american-soap-opera
And a flip, we're-above-this post from THE ONION'S AV CLUB:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/abc-cancels-all-my-children-and-one-life-to-live,54616/
Plus this sort-of-loud-and-symbolic-gesture from Hoover, the vacuum cleaner manufacturers:
http://www.deadline.com/2011/04/hoover-pulls-abc-advertising-in-protest-over-cancelations-of-soaps-amc-oltl/

My opinions:
1. ABC Daytime's Brian Frons is certainly playing the "managing for margins" game that Jeff Zucker did at NBC last season when pulling 10 o'clock series for the disastrous-but-cheap JAY LENO SHOW.  Since THE CHEW (rhymes with THE VIEW) and THE REVOLUTION will be less expensive than either AMC or OLTL, it's safe to guess that Frons won't stress out from fall 2011 to late-summer 2012 if the ratings for both series are lower than what they're replacing.

2. I feel sorry for the NYC-based actors who counted on NYC-taped soaps for all or at least part of their annual income.  Certainly the cancellation of OLTL (the last NYC soap standing) is the end of an era.

3. It may be easy to mock and smirk at daytime soaps--particularly about their tendencies to be rather broad and unsubtle in characterizations and scripting.  But I've watched them on and off through my lifetime (SANTA BARBARA was a particular favorite).  And it's sad to see them gradually become extinct (expecting the usual cliche about how pre-emptions for the O.J. Simpson trial coverage started the inevitable-slide-downwards).