While it was started by
Loving creator
Agnes Nixon,
The City was different from other soaps of its day, as the city wasn't the main setting of the series: the loft and its surroundings took precedence, and the city was secondary. Also, the show was shot on
videotape using the
Film look process for its entire run (one of two soap operas ever to do so,
All My Children also used the FilmLook processing from 2006 to 2010). One of the most daring storylines was one involving a
transsexual. Photographer Bernardo had a
one night stand with model Azure C. He went to the corner to get some
orange juice when he saw a picture of Azure C. before the gender affirming surgery. The
modeling agency which they both worked had to do a lot of damage control. The storyline began to take off but was soon dropped, in part due to the subject matter, protests from
transgender rights groups who felt that the storyline presented trans people as a source of mockery, and in part due to lackluster reaction to actress Carlotta Chang's performance. Azure and Bernardo reconciled and left town. Despite featuring several well-known actors, such as
Morgan Fairchild and
Debbi Morgan, the series failed to catch on. In an attempt to remind viewers of the well-received "Loving Murders" storyline from
Loving, in mid-1996 the show had most of the characters stalked (and some murdered by) a killer known as "The Masquerader," who left notes saying "Happy Now". The killer was revealed to be Danny's girlfriend Molly Malone, whose sweet, perky behavior belied her true nature. Several months later, Lorraine, who had dazzled critics and fans in the final months of
Loving, joined the show. She had left her long-lost love Charles (Angie's ex-husband) and took up with fellow middle-aged alcoholic Nick Rivers. Rivers shared a past with Sydney Chase and there were plans to team the two up (Fairchild and Nick's portrayer,
Roscoe Born, had palpable chemistry a decade earlier in ABC's short-lived prime time soap
Paper Dolls) but the plans never materialized.
The end Morgan Fairchild had only signed a one-year contract and left when that contract expired in late 1996. ABC replaced her with
Jane Elliot, who was very popular as the witchy
Tracy Quartermaine on
General Hospital (Elliot had previously helped produce
Loving from 1994 to 1995). Four months prior to her arrival, Elliot reprised her role on
General Hospital for the summer to cross over on
The City in the fall. However, despite Elliot's addition to the show, ratings continued to be the lowest of any daytime soap opera and ABC announced the program's cancellation in February 1997. Two months after the show's finale, after airing classic episodes of ABC's other soaps (
All My Children,
One Life to Live, and
General Hospital) in
The City time slot, ABC would replace the show with
Port Charles, which remained until October 2003. The show did provide happy endings for most of its characters but when they failed to get Morgan Fairchild to appear again as Sydney Chase, the show killed her off by the "Happy Now" killer. Daytime talk show
The View used Sydney Chase's loft set from
The City until its fifth season. ==Cast==