Will the scheming ABC prove sexy enough to sweep lonely soap opera fans off their feet while NBC is out of town, making time with an Olympic temptress? Tune in to find out . . .

NBC's wall-to-wall coverage of the Summer Olympics -- beginning tonight and extending across the network and its many cable channels -- is forcing several adjustments to the network's regular programming, as it has during past NBC Olympics coverage.

But for the first time, NBC is suspending its popular and profitable soap operas, "Days of Our Lives" and "Passions," for the duration of the international contest. Today's episodes are the last until Aug. 30.

ABC hopes the absence will allow the Walt Disney Co. network to steal away NBC's soap opera fans, jonesing for a fix of daytime drama in the two weeks when their stories are interrupted.

It's a long shot -- soap opera watchers are intensely loyal to one or two shows, research shows. They rarely switch soaps and even more rarely expand to other networks. For NBC, it seems a relatively safe bet -- Olympics coverage on NBC, Telemundo, USA, CNBC, MSNBC and Bravo will haul in more than $1 billion in ad revenue, which the network projects will more than offset any ratings drop in its soaps. But if ABC can steal some viewers, the network hopes to lock them into its long-running soaps, "All My Children," "General Hospital" and "One Life to Live."