te.

From what I can tell, there's a lot of people who watched "Swans Crossing" as children/tweens who have nostalgic memories of it - the issue of course is that the appeal is very much limited towards that crowd. As I said, it comes off as an odd cross between a childrens program and a soap opera; I think it's the attempted action-adventure elements that does it (but they didn't have the budget to properly pull that off either). Just look at the difference between it and 90210 that aired at the same time; while 90210 isn't exactly realistic, I think it at least is somewhat aspirational for teens and still manages to relate to a lot of things that teenagers go through (albeit in an OTT manner). Swans Crossing really doesn't have that quality. IDK. We'll see if I make it through the entire series. It's up there and it's *only* 65 episodes around 22 minutes but... ---- Here's a fansite: https://www.oocities.org/~missswan/ Includes a press release where they state it was directed towards the pre-teen/teen audience: https://www.oocities.org/~missswan/prshow.txt Somewhat interesting that it mentions that 130 episodes are "in production" and they had funding for 325 episodes. It must've done badly for them to cut it short (but then again, I think it ended with a to be continued).

It never ceases to amaze me how this somehow keeps chugging along since I've never seen anyone talk about it. I guess it's making profit somehow so fair enough. I'm just curious where all the viewers are.

I guess they're not listing their daytime shows there? In general, most aren't interested in syndicating daytime soaps - Dark Shadows is an outlier. Plus it probably hasn't been digitally transferred and isn't really a brand name...

I was surprised there's no dedicated thread to this, at least from what I could find, especially since the entire series has been available on streaming for quite a few years now. I'll have to say that I'm surprised at how it seems to mostly direct itself towards tweens rather than teens - it doesn't really feel aspirational for an average teenage viewer (well, from just watching three episodes) and a lot of the storylines seem to be those you'd find in a kids show (ie living in a sub marine, kids with unfathomable tech skills, cheesy dance and song routines). Compare that to what Beverly Hills 90210 was doing at the same time and you can see how they limited their audience a lot - it's more Saved by the Bell without the laughs. Apparently Sarah in natural haircolour means she's Queen Bitch. ETA: apparently it even had a toy line, so I guess the writing falls in line with who they were trying to appeal to: https://diaryofadorkette.blogspot.com/2012/02/toy-chest-tuesday-swans-crossing.html

I think it really helped switch it up, especially for Dallas - I suspect that show would've grown stale a lot sooner if they weren't forced to change the status quo. It's the same thing as Shannen Doherty leaving Beverly Hills 90210 was a blessing in disguise.

Ooh! Flamingo Road?! That's a shocker, but happy if they put that up. I guess having Mark Harmon on it helps (but then again, where's my HD version of 2000 Malibu Road then?!).

Actually, David Jacobs (RIP) said that wasn't the issue why it wasn't released on DVD. The first two seasons sold lousy, so they didn't bother upscaling the rest of the seasons. I imagine with so many episodes it takes a while and yes, music rights might be an issue but like with 90210 and Melrose Place they'll just replace it in the worst case scenario (or even worse, just skip the episode, as is the case with a lot of 90210 episodes). Falcon Crest seemingly retained the 60s music they used in season 7 though. It's been said it's coming. When is another matter. I'd assume the biggest issue is that they don't see it as a priority because of said lousy sales of the DVD (plus the performance of Falcon Crest on FreeVee might be another consideration).

I think the biggest issue with choosing a very recognizable city like New Orleans is creating that atmosphere, especially if they aren't filming in it. I'd say just create a fictional town - that way they can decide what it's like, don't have to worry about dialects and can also adjust it to budget constraints.

Yep, it sounds pretty serious since they've post-poned the public voting now (it was supposed to open at midnight). I doubt they'd consider disqualifying him over something non-serious because trying to fill three extra minutes in a tight live show is a nightmare.

I'll never stop laughing at Lucy talking about how hot Cliff was. He always looked like a rat (which was perfectly in character).

Well, last is usually considered a "star spot". I'm more confused with Mark Lindsay Chapman being named in this - he was hardly famous and not even a regular! I do think it's interesting how they just promoted it as a new show. Though it makes sense - I actually think it's probably a much more well-plotted and written season that a lot of them. But they could've pretty much just named it Falcon Crest: New Beginnings or something...

Yup. Unfortunately, you get the feeling she spends hours each day studying her face for new lines and misses the full picture. As you said, she has filler all over her face but for some reason won't go for the lips - I assume it's the lines in the face that annoys her. Add that she's unhealthily thin for her age... Exactly - either you'd need to largely keep it the way it is or you'd just need to do such an overhaul that it's not worth keeping the structure up.

Yes, exactly. Kassie DePavia filmed a three week stint in like three days. I don't think they film *episodes* in that manner, which makes sense if they're going to be that far ahead.

(I know there's a Melrose Place thread, but I feel this needs a WIGERVERSINNARY... okay that sounds wrong but it's the thought and so on)

I'd argue that CBS will try and secure what they'd consider the main players of the soap for as long as possible. It's been incredibly long since we've had a new soap, so who knows how long that'll be? The reason why established soaps aren't known for giving long contracts it's because they've already mapped out who the important cast members are and those aren't going to sign long-term contracts because short-term is usually a better deal for them.

They gave it an hour slot because that's the show that's being replaced (The Talk). It was either that or try and develop a companion piece, which in itself would be riskier than just doing a hour show. Personally, I think the soap format - especially with the gigantic growth on streaming - probably works better as a half hour (or ~20 minutes). It makes for very easy catch up viewing at the very least. That's just imho of course. But after watching old soap episodes I think a daily format works better shorter.

Called it that they were going to go straight from The Talk to The Gates. Now lets see if the name sticks.

Whenever I hear how soaps end up over-indexing on AA viewers I always wonder if it's because AA viewers love seeing white people act insane; Dynasty also over-indexed as does apparently shows like Grey's Anatomy.

I forgot that this was the moment when Sami truly went after Austin because Carrie is such a bitch. Since ReRon loves his recycling this should be a plot point for Allie and Sydney (who whould be a red head).

Nothing against Guiding Light or As The World Turns, but I don't think either really has a huge interesting premise to appeal beyond their original fanbase that would make them worth rebooting over just creating a new show. The reason why many people point towards Edge of Night or something like Dark Shadows is because both shows have an instantly recognizeable point of view beyond just being a soap. Guiding Light might have an up there because it's well-known as one of the longest running shows and the oldest long-running soap, but it'd like end up doing "meh" like the Law & Order reboot.

My understanding is that at least a part of it was because Spenser was quite expensive, so airing it in a time slot that got lower ad rates might've been not been practical in order to make a profit on the show. I don't think it was a tank job as much as they were trying to find a way to keep an expensive, but moderately rated series, going.

To be honest, I don't see why they wouldn't just run The Talk until March if that's what they planned to do. It makes no sense for them to have to get filler programming if they could just smoothly transition from The Talk to The Gates and The Talk could literally end any Friday as there's no need to wrap anything up. I still think The Gates will premiere over the winter break and they'll just use March Madness as further promotion to keep any "hype" going. Daytime soaps aren't as reliant on having huge premieres as much as keeping people tuned in so for me it makes more sense as they would hopefully start having storylines heating up and gelling properly by March.

I can't see why they wouldn't just air The Talk until The Gates is ready to premiere. It's a show that can literally wrap filming at any point in time if needed, so I think we've gotten a timeline on when we can expect The Gates.

I just hope they'll re-build the set as it was and not go with the far too glitzy (but at the same time cramped) look of the reboot.

Yep, was about to post that. The Talk cancelled and ending in December. I'm guessing they're going to aim for The Gates to premiere either late 2024/early 2025. There's literally no reason for them to end The Talk earlier if they didn't have a plan for The Gates.