Variety Article

The Peacock has pulled the plug on "Passions." Net today will announce the cancellation of the nearly eight-year-old soap, which was known for its young-skewing supernatural storylines. Death had been anticipated in the wake of NBC's decision to expand "Today" to four hours (Daily Variety, Jan. 15).

NBC's contract for "Passions" runs until June, but since the extra hour of "Today" won't begin until the fall, it's expected the Peacock will try to extend the show through August. Net still needs to negotiate those deals with talent and producers.

Peacock was proud of "Passions," often touting its young femme numbers. Just last week, net issued a ratings release noting the sudser's No. 4 ranking among all serials among women 18-49 and its first-place tie with "Days of Our Lives" as the top sudser among women 18-34 for the first week of January.

NBC also pointed to the fact that it owns "Passions" outright, allowing it to keep any profits from the skein.

Cancellation of the skein points to the increasingly harsh economic climate for sudsers. Daytime insiders say it's likely one or two more daytime dramas could be killed by the end of the decade.

Because "Passions" is such a strong brand among young femmes, it's believed NBC will try to find a way to keep the show alive somewhere other than the network. An Internet platform is a possibility, while NBC might also talk to Disney to see if the conglom would be interested in producing a shortened version of the sudser for its successful SoapNet cabler.

Another potential home might be News Corp.'s barely breathing MyNetwork TV, which has had no luck drawing auds with its cheaply produced telenovelas.

Launched in July 1999, "Passions" was created by former "Days of Our Lives" scribe Jim Reilly, who remains exec producer and head writer. Lisa de Cazotte also serves as exec producer.

Skein was set in the town of Harmony, and at various times featured characters such as Timmy the doll-turned-human and Tabitha, the 300-year-old witch.

Edited January 17, 200718 yr by Kenny

Ooh, someone above brought up a good point.

If Passions came to SoapNet (a very big if), the show it's likely to push off is Another World, LoL

Confirmation from SOD ONLINE:

http://soapoperadigest.com/news/breaking/

NBC Pulls the Plug on PASSIONS

PASSIONS has been canceled by NBC to make room for a fourth hour of the TODAY show, according to sources close to the soap. The cast and crew were told on Tuesday, Jan. 16. PASSIONS, which premiered on July 5, 1999, was the brainchild of veteran daytime scribe James E. Reilly. While never a ratings success, the show created buzz with its outrageous storylines and characters, especially the unlikely "supercouple" of a 300-year-old witch, Tabitha, and her living doll and partner-in-crime, Timmy. PASSIONS is expected to air through the summer, at which time the TODAY show will expand to four hours.

Has NBC made an official announcement yet? I think they were supposed to today. It seems that almost every place has made an article about this except them.

That's just the point. NBC is not going to be interested in letting PASSIONS air on another network. They own it.

NBC Universal produces a lot of Primetime shows for other networks i.e. House being on Fox. Since it probably costs a lot less to produce Passions than a primetime series, it's not totally out of the picture. However, I don't see CBS and ABC in a heated bidding war over the show.

Ooh, someone above brought up a good point.

If Passions came to SoapNet (a very big if), the show it's likely to push off is Another World, LoL

No disrespect to AW fans, but that would be hilarious!

Well, TVGuide's Michael Ausielo has posted live from the NBC session at the Press Tour:

- Passions' final episode will air in August. "The daypart has become extremely tough for us finacially," [Kevin Reilly]says.

Edited January 17, 200718 yr by DaysnPassionsFan

Somewhere, most of the loyal AW fans are smiling.

While it's sad to see any soap go, it's unlikely Passions will be revered in the grand scheme of things. AW and Days will forever be NBCD's greatest contribution to daytime.

"The daypart has become extremely tough for us finacially," [Kevin Reilly]says.

By 'daypart,' does he mean just Passions, or daytime (including Days) in general?

"The daypart has become extremely tough for us finacially," [Kevin Reilly]says.

By 'daypart,' does he mean just Passions, or daytime (including Days) in general?

I'm guessing he means daytime in general, particularly the soaps.

OMG I cannot believe it has come to this...PASSIONS is cancelled!!

This is such a sad day for daytime!!

I hope DAYS can survive on its own and I hope NBC is willing to hold onto DAYS on its own!

I hope NBC can find a new place for PASSIONS, but I doubt it will happen.

My condolences to ALL the PASSIONS fans, seriously I feel bad and if it were DAYS I would know exactly how you feel.

I was a loyal AW fan and I'm not happy about this. Any AW fan that blames Passions for it's cancellation needs a reality check. AW was on the way out, and had been on the verge of cancellation for years. If SB was cancelled instead of AW in June of 1999, AW would have simply been cancelled 6 months later.

Anyway, AW ruined itself years before it's cancellation, when they killed Ryan and split Paulina and Jake up for good. It just got worse and worse from there.

NBC Universal produces a lot of Primetime shows for other networks i.e. House being on Fox. Since it probably costs a lot less to produce Passions than a primetime series, it's not totally out of the picture. However, I don't see CBS and ABC in a heated bidding war over the show.

But the difference is that when those hit shows go into syndication, they make all that money back that put into production and then some. That is why you hear about shows like House being sold to USA for like a million an episode. That is why the syndication of Friends has made Warner Brothers over a billion dollars in revenue. Yes. It does cost a lot to produce a primetime show but if the show is a hit and makes it to syndication, that primetime show brings in the cash that those previous production costs seem like peanuts.

Edited January 17, 200718 yr by dawn9476

SOAPnet is so crowded as it is. I don't see the need for half of the shows they got as it is.

As for PSNS representing "daytime dying." That's stretching it.

But RIP PASSIONS. This sucks.

Sorry PSNS fans

I really hope DAYS is NOT in jeapordy though it does appear that something is going to happen to it...

USA TODAY

In other NBC news:

•Daytime soap Passions has been canceled after an eight-year run to make room for a fourth hour of Today, which will air on all network affiliates, though only about half will initially air all of Today in a continuous block, says NBC Universal Television president Jeff Zucker. The worsening economics of daytime soaps led NBC to choose expanding Today. Passions will likely finish its run in August, but NBC is discussing continuing the soap on a cable network (such as SoapNet) or online. Zucker suggested that NBC's only other soap, Days of Our Lives, is unlikely to continue past 2009.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/ne...presstour_x.htm