September 11-15, 2006

[Manny]

At least some good ratings news!

[SteveFrame]

As I sit here and read the comments esp. the ones about ATWT, I see why the soaps are in trouble. Why do we as fans now think that the show has got to be action packed all the time. I personally have not found the last 2 weeks to be boring. There has got to be a natural ebb and flow to things. There has got to be buildup between stories and events. I have loved the calm before the storm as they say it.

I guess I come from a different generation of soap watchers. But I can remember when one of my soaps was only 30 minutes long and 15 minutes of it was spent one day with 2 of the actresses sitting at the kitchen table discussing their lives. They even sat there and discussed the fact that one of their children was home frm school that day sick. It was good life drama, and got huge ratings.

No wonder the producers now think they have to do these big events all the time and esp. at sweeps. It seems to be what the fans want. It can't be slasher stories, adventure stories, virus stories, earthquakes, and stuff like that all the time.

I am thankful that ATWT has the good writing it does have. The acting is good. Thankfully the ratings were pretty steady - no big surges and then drops. At least ATWT has that to be thankful for. At least we are tied for 3rd now. That is 2 weeks in a row at 3rd. Way to go ATWT - keep it up.

[Ms. Walsh]

ATWT always falls apart after big storylines end. After the baby switch ended, the show got boring, after the whole fiasco with Lily, Damian, and Luke, the show got boring again, and after Jen died, the show got really boring. It's the same damn thing w/ the slasher s/l ending. As a consistent viewer, it's so frustrating!!

I'm not surprised that, aside from Y&R, all the CBS shows bumped down though...only 3 shows were counted last week, and the Friday, the day that the numbers are usually the lowest, wasn't counted. So not a total shock IMO.

[PhoenixRising05]

I don't think it is a big deal as Will has been mentioned but yeah I agree. Although this has been the case during the transition and Carrie/Austin/Sami/Lucas was HUGE in the summer so they did need a break. I think the timing sucked but they did need a break. I am, sure there was a break from them because the other stories had to be featured due to J&J leaving and Days wanting to move the Claire paternity stuff. I know Ali went on a vacation so maybe it was her time off. I don't know what happened but they did need a break. I don't think them being off is what made the numbers suck. I think there was nothing attention grabbing last week and Days does have a tendency to not do well in numbers in September. I wonder if Steve/Kayla fans were a little ticked but even that I don't think played a role. I just think it was nothing that was going to make people watch. I think this week will have great numbers as so much happened and there were payoffs. I think the big numbers will come once we get new stories from Hogan .

Thanks Rick for those numbers-that is good news .

[DaysFanJean]

Frankly, I'm not surprised Days fell. It had to be boring as all get outs to non-J&J fans and a huge turn off for some who just didn't want the pain of watching. It was not a good week otherwise. Nothing else really happened except Will's disappearance which isn't going anywhere at all this week either. I expect next week to be about the same. Until Hope and Bo are fixed up and Steve and Kayla get together, what's going on right now disgusting Carrie and Austin. Hogan needs his stuff to air now. Get that mystery in gear.

I don't know if Jason leaving and the Claire reveal will help at all. This will be interesting to see.

What surprised me is that Passions gained LOL.

[Jane1978]

I agree the decision to backburner Sami and co. immediatelly after Will was kidnapped has been stupid. Especially after that great emotional scene Alison had when she discovered it. It finally moved the story forward and made Sami a human again, but the impact of the scene has been completely gone when they next followed it only by different characters saying line or two, but not really showing any real concern at all.

And it already happened before too with the J/M story. Marlena disappeared just as we´d got first hint of her next story with Tek manipulating her and her accepting that mysterious job offer in NJ. So I think this is a part of a deal between Sheffer and Milstein. It seems to me that Milstein is only allowed to end old stories, but she isn´t there to start anything new. Each week or two she resolves one of Reillys´ storylines, makes a first step into a new story, but instead to follow it, she abandones it completely and moves onto another story. It´s weird, but I´m almost sure nothing new or significant will happen till Sheffer´s name is officially in credits.

[PhoenixRising05]

I do think it was stupid but I don't feel it ruined anything to do with the Will kidnapping story. I mean the last thing people want to see is one scene after the other of Sami and co just standing around waiting for answers. That would've been what we would see if they were on as the story wasn't going to move as they are waiting for Hogan. Plus, Sami and co have been on all summer it was time for a break. The break was too long but it gave Days time to move other stories. Days was able to get Bope in a position to reunite soon, redeemed Billie, moved the Eve murder story/hand story along, Steve/Kayla finally went somewhere, Claire's paternity is being resolved, and J&J needed to be played because they were leaving. Alot of stores were ignored in the summer when the two quads were played so it was time for them to move along. Marlena was off because I don't think her contract situaion was settled at that point as we just heard she resigned so I think that held things up and I beleive there is something in SOD this week that J&M were supposed to be off again for a bit right now.

I agree it was stupid but it did not hurt the story or the ratings. The ratings for Days have lagged a bit the last few weeks due to Labor day, kids going back to school (Days always seems to have a drop at this point in the year for some reason and I think this plays into it), and nothing HUGE has really happened. The show has been great but this week is the first week where we have gotten big payoffs, with the exception being the Sami wedding and her giving up on Austin.

In any event, Sami and co return tomarrow and I think once Hogan comes in the numbers will be much better. I do think Days will score big for this week between the J&J farewell, Claire reveal, Lucas/Carrie/Austin, and the good Bope stuff we got earlier this week.

[Soapsuds]

I am not surpise at ATWT drop. I was hoping for a small drop. It looks like ATWT fell from a 1.5 in the 18-49 category to a 1.2. That's a big drop. But the storylines left are so boring. Emily/Paul/Meg storyline is so repetitive and boring. Emily is still a loon and I dont care what happens to her or her baby. Why is Meg putting up with Emily and Paul. Next, we have the BORING Mike/Katie baby problems we are so happy storyline together. What a waste of storyline! ATWT doesnt have one storyline right now that has me glued to my TV. The only one close is Luke's story. But we get bits and pieces of it. When Luke's storyline is on it GETS ratings! So even though the slasher storyline was chessy it was entertaining. It was much better than the crap we are getting now. Maybe the future storm storyline will bring up the ratings. Or a Luke/boyfriend relationship will.

[PJA]

It doesn't have to be action packed but it seems as if most of the stories are either at the very beginning or at the very end....there is no climax whatsoever. The Maddie/slasher storyline is winding down, the Emily/Paul/Meg stuff is all over the place with no good plot whatsoever, the Carly/Simon stuff is just beginning, Jade's pregnancy is just beginning. Last week was just a boring week. Plus out of the three main stories, the teens are the most interesting and they were barely on.

[Soapsuds]

Actually it has been 3 weeks in a row ATWT has been in 3rd.

[WTGH]

I agree.

Stories start at around the same time. IMO, the 3-4 storylines on the air should be at different points.

One should be close to ending (climax!), one or two at middle points and one beginning.

Paul/Meg/Emily has been middle FOREVER!

[Jess]

Well, OLTL is still suffering. I fear it will get worse before it gets better. I'm surprised that all the soaps seem to be really hurting right now. The third rated soap is 2.5 and the next to the last is 2.2. There's not a lot of difference there.

I really do believe DOOL is the second best show on daytime right now and some days it is equally as good as Young and Restless.

All ABC soaps are pretty bad right now, but OLTL is not even recognizable anymore. Hey Lskreet, did you get tired of reading about how Crave, Tangeline, or whoever made the ratings of OLTL improve from stinks to just smells bad? LOL..

[cal3]

I'm surprised that the AMC and the OL numbers are hanging in at 2.3 and 2.4. I caught part of the party and it was dreadful I'd thought that AMC would have been more in the 2.1 range. I expected the same of OLTL. OLTL is unwatchable save the random scene here and there.

I caught a bit of YR on soapnet where Dru (I believe that's her name) was jailed for something. She was mesmerizing. It struck me that that kind of acting is what I want and what OLTL/ABC refuses to provide any longer. I also understood why HT and DG will be so missed they truly gave something special to OLTL.

[Jess]

I think OLTL will sink even further once Kevin and Kelly are gone. Who the hell are Spencer, Vincent, Layla, Evangeline, Hugh, Claudia, Mikey. They are all in scenes together and none of them are the least bit familiar or interesting. Now Natalie is going to be put in the "Vincent Story" Who gives a [!@#$%^&*]?

[ZaraB]

What the numbers DON'T say about OLTL is more interesting than what they do. In the past weeks, the stories ARE supposedly moving, but the ratings aren't reflecting that at all They've've had a 'DID resolution,' getting close to Spenser's comeuppance, the stalker reveal, Paige's son reveal, and this week the payoff to the boxing -- these are months-long arcs that should be getting some type of ratings spike, but the ratings are FLAT.

Instead, what one reads on non ABC boards are long term loyal viewers fed up with the cuts, Frons' insults, and the drawn-out stories focusing on forced characters moving over to CBS soaps or DOOL. Valentini, Higley and crew SHOULD be very afraid.