OBSERVATION 

On Monday, September 26, 2011, ABC premiered a new daytime talk show that brought food back to the table and into our everyday lives. Now in its third season, “The Chew” is currently enjoying one of its highest rated on record in both total viewers and key women sales demos. As the talk show celebrated its 500th episode yesterday, fans of the ABC version of “All My Children” continued to mourn the loss of their favorite daytime soap opera, which made Susan Lucci, and her character Erica Kane, a household name.

Hosted by celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Michael Symon, and Carla Hall, entertaining expert Clinton Kelly and health and wellness enthusiast Daphne Oz, “The Chew’s” celebratory episode featured a food-filled party that included an assortment of games, on-air memories and a cake to help honor the talkers achievement. Meanwhile, “All My Children” fans are trying to find ways to heal from the recent blow by Prospect Park to not move forward with a new season of its version of “All My Children,” which consistently topped the iTunes and Hulu charts during its 40+ episode run. The production company is suing ABC over claims the network was looking to create a “mega soap” with “Chew” lead-out “General Hospital.” Prospect Park co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz recently decided to take his own company to court over contract matters directly related to “AMC” and sister soap “One Life to Live.”