OLTL Shelved

[Winchester91]

I want the Baby Switch RetConned...and AJ is Ace all along. Now, that would be fun. Imagine, he'd be Zane's uncle as well as brother.

[cassadine1991]

http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/09/06/deep-soap-unanswered-questions-about-the-shelving-of-one-life-to-live/

[John]

Sara bibel can shut her pie hole. She has been aganist the reboots from day one & why would PP want to answer her questions when she comes off as a snot to them. Maybe she should do research. Rich Frank has been doing 40 plus years. Maybe she should read PP's claims its much more than Cole & Hope being killed off.

Kinda funny you cant comment on her article. So Sara can dish it out but doesnt want others giving it back

[quartermainefan]

They're fun and audiences like to see them. That's why Superman will meet Batman in the movies. My favorite scene out of the whole story was when Asa was telling JR he would like to smack him.

[Soaplovers]

I'm anti-cross overs... I find it an annoyance and time spent focused on characters from a different show that could be spent focusing on the characters already on a particular show.

I understand the point is to try to get new viewers to check out a show, but why not just focus on the fundamentals of a show (i.e.e writing, characters, acting, and story). If showrunners did that, then buzz will grow and eventually so will ratings.

It's a shame that PP's backstage drama over-shadowed the stories on both shows. I think that failure to promote each show's stories online and on television after the initial launch was a big mistake.

[marceline]

They're cheap, shiny gimmicks that some audience members like and other find grating. They're basically a fanfic writing prompt taken to extreme: "Imagine that Kalinda from The Good Wife meets Emily from Revenge on the beach." As for Superman vs. Batman, we're getting that movie because the Justice League movie fell through. The fact that they cast Daredevil fail Ben Affleck should tell you that they're banking on the trainwreck/curiosity factor. That's fine for summer blockbusters with an unlimited SFX budget. It's not such a good strategy for a genre that's supposed to be about storytelling.

One of the few things ABC did right was the "What if" series. That gave everyone a chance to have a little crossover fun without burdening anyone with colliding canons. (Of course then they put Jesse and Angie in a scene with Starr [!@#$%^&*] Manning which was unforgivable but I digress...)

Crossovers are "fun" as long as they don't impact story. Keep them self contained and they remain the fluffy distractions they are meant to be. Once you start writing to the gimmick, everyone is screwed. Have we learned nothing from the nuclear mess of OLTL/GH?

I swear it's like Sarah Bibel and Nelson Branco are the same person. They're both so entitled and self serving. Bibel's histrionics are a perfect example of the soap press and many fans want to have it both ways. One minute they're whining about how the mainstream media treats soaps badly ("Soaps should be at Comicon!!" "Why don't we see more promotion?" "These actors should be on talk shows!") then when PP has the temerity to give an interview to the Los Angeles Times, Bibel and the rest of the Lollipop Guild bitch that they are being shut out even as she excretes this overheated, provincial tantrum where displays in crystal clear terms why no one from PP should even bother trying to talk to her or any other of these "bloggers with an agenda."

The mainstream media is looking at this in the larger context of the move from traditional viewing to online. They're interested in the business experiment and they don't give a damn about whether Tomas is Alcazar. The soap press pissed away their credibility years ago by choosing access over reporting. They can't bitch now when a new company doesn't take them seriously.

[ellabelle]

There's no Ace for AJ to be. Kelly didn't HAVE a baby - that's why Paul took Babe's. There's no way for AJ to be anything other than a Chandler.

[Chris B]

I completely disagree. It isn't a coincidence that when they decide to use soap press they give stories to "safe" choices like Soap Central or non-entity Soaps.com. TV Guide and SID and SOD all had regular interviews with PP soap stars and also articles on the storylines. They didn't shun these soaps,although the online people may have. Even the completely non-biased WeLoveSoaps wasn't able to get any interviews and I'm pretty sure it's because they're well informed and would ask the tough question. I don't think it's a surprise they always drop this big news in publications that won't ask questions. And where is the follow up, or even a fricking press release that offers clarity so people can report on it without speculating?

She had every right to call them out on the lawsuit BS, because IT IS BS. OLTL was not shut down because of a fricking lawsuit and anyone who believes that is being naive. Why is everybody getting soap upset that people aren't trusting these people? This is not the first time this happened. Hell, they're lucky Susan Lucci even considers re-joining AMC after they tried to blame her the first time they didn't get these shows off the ground. Of course now we know they didn't have the money, but that didn't stop them from lying then.

I LOVE the Prospect Park soaps, but I will never support the way they've handled these soaps. So many of their problems are their own doing.

1. Lack of promotion - They promoted these shows initially, but they never followed up. They didn't start doing weekly previews until half-way through the run. Having the More episodes listed as episodes is confusing as well. Then when the shows came to OWN they didn't buy any promotional space to let people know these shows were on there. That is a great opportunity wasted.

2. Schedule changes - These scheduling changes were too abrupt and poorly thought out. By doing this they changed the conversation from about how good these shows were to "Is everything ok? Will they be canceled again?" In the end we ended up with 40 episodes when they initially promised 200, then 110 per year.

I've said it from the beginning and I'll say it again--they need to hire a PR firm to repair their reputation. Somebody needs to think out the best way to execute these ideas and roll it out to fans. There need to be clear press releases that explain the situations to fans so they don't get worried. How hard would it have been to say they were going to film the entire season of AMC followed by OLTL? They would give them time to tie up the OLTL/ABC lawsuit and nobody would be worried. They could praise it as a more efficient way to film and release the episodes in a timely manner.

[John]

PP is a start up company that has produced two Prime time series, a few feature films and now two daily soaps. ABC is a company that has been around over 5 decades. ABC is worth a lot of money, PP not so much. They had to get the capital for AMC & OLTL from investors. Also with the lawsuit that costs money. So yes they need to have this settled so they can free up the money that is tied up in this suit..

I believe its pretty obvious that PP has a cash flow issue and cant produce both soaps right now. This however doesnt negate this lawsuit. If ABC has done what PP has Alleged than ABC will be in breach and owe PP money.

As for the changes this year has been a trail by fire & PP has said that will be adjustments and their have been.

I get why they dont speak out on this. If PP comes out and says we need to settle this suit in order to free up production money. Some will say ok. Some will say drop the suit. Its a lose-Lose for PP. Also they may feel this suit needs to be settled so they can write the best shows possible. Yes people will say they got the OLTL characters back from GH, just recast. However, maybe PP doesnt want to chance audiences not being accepting of a New Todd, John or Starr. Starr and Todd are legacy character tied to two major families on Llanview as is Hope, so PP may see her death as hurtful to the future of the show. Yes they can say she isnt dead. However if ABC wasnt allowed to Kill Hope, Cole etc then they should be held accountable for that.

I personally do feel that PP will film Season 2 of AMC followed by filming season two of OLTL. I agree that focusing on one show at a time will help make these shows better in quality & story and yes I believe both will have a season two and sooner than a lot of people think

[John]

Also If PP had done what they are alledging ABC did to them to another network, I bet most would want PP sued. I feel that most of this PP should drop the suit thing is that some dont see PP as a true company and all they want is to make a name for themselves

[Chris B]

The cost of the lawsuit and a second season of OLTL are in no way comparable. If anything, the only way these two correlate is if they don't have money to produce both shows and plan on using the funds from a lawsuit settlement to produce season two for OLTL. Either way they were disingenuous about the reason for shelving OLTL. Also, they decided to file this lawsuit and this time...

Exactly! I feel that they're mostly in the right in terms of the lawsuit, but why lie and say thats the reason for the shut down when they simply don't have the money? Stop lying, basically.

The problem is not making changes, but how you roll them out. They created all this chaos with the press and fans alike by poorly dumping these things on us randomly. Hell, they lost a great platform with the FX Canada deal, which could've been a great source of revenue. Now the shows are only available on I Tunes there, where I'm sure very few (if any) people are buying it.

The lawsuit isn't to get the original actors back. Those actors are under contract with GH and have no obligation to do the PP soaps. They need to recast or write them off.

[tina m]

I 100% agree with this statement. I remember how devastated I was when OLTL went off the air on January 13, 2012 (yes, I know I sound dramatic, lol). But I just remember thinking how is it possible that I would never get to see Viki/Clint or Bo/Nora on TV again (especially after Bo said "I love you, Red" to Nora after Destiny gave birth-tears!!!!), so to be able to "catch up" with everyone in Llanview once again was a delightful, special treat. Yeah, we can poke holes at the PP-OLTL stories, but they brought the town back to us. I truly hope it is not cancelled, but if it is, I will be grateful for all of the hard work the actors/writers/directors/crew/and yes even PP put into OLTL 2.0. =\

[John]

Chris B

Have U ever thought that if PP can prove ABC breached their deal, then maybe just maybe the long term contracts ABC signed with kA, ME & RH to play Starr, John & Todd on GH may be called into question as being signed in bad faith and could be null & void???

The capital they got to produce these soaps was 25 Mil. So yes them fighting this suit just may have helped deplete that amount or has some of it tied up in court proceedings. So PP may need to get this suit settled in order to access those funds.

[Chris B]

If they have the actors contracts with GH invalidated do you really think any of them will consider doing the PP soaps? Why would they? If the lawsuit called for that it would be ensuring all three lose their jobs for good. They were able to successfully close a deal with Roger Howarth and he was the most important one. The show doesn't need Starr and John, they want them and both roles are easy to recast. I do think some of PP's actions were to try to strong arm these actors into doing their shows and that wasn't the right way to do it. Offer them a huge chunk of money if you have to, or move on.

[marceline]

I don't care how this lawsuit gets resolved. I'm just tired of hearing about it. All this talk about "Why doesn't PP make a statement?" Every statement just creates more insanity. The only statement I'm interested in from PP is a definitive notification of when they start production again (I'm not counting October 21 as solid until PP confirms it. ) and how the next season will be structured. Anything else is immaterial to me. Frankly even that I will take with a grain of salt. After all, it's not like I never endured having a primetime show that I liked being moved all over the schedule.

Also, I don't care whether PP is the biggest bunch of scam artists since Donald Trump, the soap press abdicated their standards and responsibility long before PP ever showed up and every insane blog post or self-indulgent tweet shows that their increasing irrelevancy is well earned.