AMC: What would you do to save AMC?

[NYC123]

As we all know AMC's ratings has hit their new low. It looks like B&E are not on a good start. AMC was great up until August 2006. Manyof us want many things happening at AMC. So my questions is HOW TO SAVE AMC?

To save AMC....

-Bring back Reggie, and Danialle. Let them go to have their own romance storyline. Also I would like them to go to high school with Lily, Colby, Sean.

-Bring back Brooke and let her have a juicy storyline. Brooke can come back and have someone with her! I also miss those Erica/Brooke scenes!!!

-Bring back David and Anna and let them have another hot romance and this time let this have a baby!

-Get Rebecca B. back as Greenlee!

-Bring back VETS back to our screen full time!

-Bring back Lorrian Brodrick back!

-Let them say that Josh is not Erica's son and say that it was a mistake and an evil scheme by the dead Dr. Maddan!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't know, AMC seems to have little to no heart these days. There's something else missing from this show and it's very hard to pinpoint. I mean, 1998 was one of AMC's worst years in the 90's, but it still felt like AMC. This show on the air now, I don't know, calls itself AMC, but isn't really. Granted the writing is inconsistent, the production values are HORRIBLE, and the overall execution is way off.

Felicia Minei Behr needs to come out of retirement and whip this show into shape!

[NYC123]

Totally agree!

Even though AMC had a horrible 1998 we still had VETS!

Felicia Minei Behr AMC NEEDS YOU!

[dragonflies]

First off get RID of the characters that are overall hated by fans:

Greenlee, Ryan, Babe, Ava & KWAK for starters.

Then get rid of the dead weight(ie. Del)

Give characters ROOTING value, quit using so and so to prop another so and so. AMC has taken character propping to a new level. They use it CONSTANTLY for hated characters.

[jackericafan]

Have Erica go to sleep and wake up to find out that the last 2 years have all been a nightmare. No fetus..No divorce from Jack; no baby dramas; Lily wasn't SORAS'ed and never married Jonathug; no Dre and company, and Dixie is still alive. MMT is OUT and Lorraine Broderick is brought in.

Greenlee only comes back if she is Rebecca Budig and she isn't a villain who hurts babies

Use the veteran cast; give us romance, humor, mixed in with some suspense. Let Kendall and Zach's story involve the casino and PLEASE no more babies for her. Let us have our sassy, volitale, feisty Kendall again. . Let Erica and Jack get involved in politics or one of Jack's cases. Rebuild the K/M family by bringing Reggie home and letting Lily, not Ava, get a storyline. Give us the Tad/Kate/Dixie story we should have had. Those are just a few things that I can think of right now.

[catkey94]

ITA. In addition, they should bring back David, Dixie, Brooke, Danielle, Reggie, and Demetri.

They need to stop ignoring or rewriting the past in their storylines.

Stop trying to push their agenda in the storyline (ie trying to create the next supercouple or trying to prop unpopular characters)

[dragonflies]

No dreams please, that's lame & and a copout. I hated when Dallas did it, it would just make AMC more of a laughing stock

I want ORIGINALITY.

[EricaKane70]

-End this talkshow madness with erica, it totally sucks and it so obvious they keep giving her these ridiculous shows so they don't have to write a storyline for her. Put erica back at enchantment where she belongs. Bring on a new or beloved love interest for erica: dimitri, david, or mike roy.

-Bring back faves brooke, mark, david, noah, etc.

-Terminate all that is lavery except Spike.

-Get rid of babe once in for all.

-Stop putting characters on front burner that are as boring as watching paint dry: annie and aidan.

-NO MORE BABY STORYLINES OR BABY STEALING STORYLINES

-Bring back binks, if they can recast greens and babe they can recast binks, Eden is not irreplaceable.

-Bring friendships back to the forefront, hello opal is erica's best gal pal yet they have virtually no scenes together.

-Stop throwing couples together for the hell of it: greens/aidan, jr/amanda, jr/ava, jonathan/ava, etc. People want to see a romantic build up with couples that actually have chemistry, we don't want them to meet eyes and end up in the sack together the next week.

[dragonflies]

Wow EricaKane70 I think this is a first, ITA with your whole post

[EricMontreal22]

I do think it's improving but slowly and I'm not sure how much it will....

it's hard for me to say clearly how I think it should be but... my suggestions are less specific

Try to return a sense of community--even with all the big corporations one of a smaller community. Maybe add more "normal" meeting places where people can intermingle (a mall? an outdoor storefront area? bring back the community center? PVUniversity's Student Union Building?) Right now we have the Comeback--which is tiny and feels used for way too many different kindsa functions (I don't know too many dive type bars that also serve up great breakfasts) and it looks like even BJs is gone... We also have Confusion which is again good for clubbign type scenes but IMHo not much else... (yachtclub too but again that's very upscale)

EVen focusing more on areas liek Myrtle's boarding house could help with this. I know they seem to kinda be trying with Krystle's house but... meh. And McTavish seemed to be tryign somethign similar at Wildwind which was a good idea but very poorly executed (we saw all those characters hanging out there and interacting like twice it seemed)

Make it clear that there are different levels of money among the people of the town--EVen though I assume aiden, Tad, etc aren't as rich as the Chandlers or the Courtlands or Erica (or the Slaters/Cambiases? And the Lavery's? how many welathy families are there...) an average viewer wouldn't be able to tell. I dont' want people talking about money all the itme but it would be nice to see some rundown apartments for some characters, just simple stuff us non millionaires could relate to more--and which would make the rich characters seem more exotic/stand out by comparison.

Both of these points B/E as writers CAN do--they handled both masterfully on their soap The City--and to a lesser extent with their time on Loving (which really felt like old school AMC personality wise)

More basic scenes of friends hanging out and just discussing their problems--yep the old soap cliche but it's there for a reason and it does draw people into the story. We get moment slike this every so often--and more and more it seems (Tad and Joe etc) but I still want more. This is the kinda stuff wher eyou reallyneed more of the vets in--Opal, etc. It's sad to say but I knwo they prob have to use Palmer and Myrtle less and less not by choice--and it seems that Joe has finally started ot inherite their place which is how it should be but... Or even more interaction between friends--so and so is upset so she calls her friend and talks about it on the phone

I know this is a longshot but I also wish they'd focus more on building up some of the older characters (Broderick did a great job of this in 1996 when she brought in the teen scene and used old characters as sources for Bobby Warner or Kelsey). Bringing back Jeff again was a good idea in theory but a complete waste (though I wish he had gotten a goodbye...). Why not try to brign back the Tylers? (I know I said no more uber rich families but...) With Brooke of course...

[AMCer]

This is my first post here, and I've watched AMC from 1980 and on and this show does need a major retooling.

Get rid of Zach, I know "Zendall" in all is popular, but I'm sorry I can't stand this character, I grate my teeth everytime I see him on screen, also get rid of Ryan, Jonathon, Josh, and Babe and if your gonna keep Del recast him with someone who is not a a male model/reality contestant.

Give Erica a friggin story already, Susan Lucci made AMC into all that it is today, she is the biggest star on daytime T.V and yet she has no real story of substance and hasn't had a good one, in which she has led, since the drug addiction one in the mid 90s.

Fire JHC, I hate this woman, what is Brian Fronses fascination with this lady, get off of her alreay Brian, she totally stinks she was EP of Port Charles when it was canceled and she has brought nothing but crap to AMC, have you looked at the sets recently, theres like 4 of them.

Memo to the casting director, hire people who can ACT!!! Get over your fascination with six packs and blonde hair already!!!

Bring back Gloria Marsh, Arlene Vaugh, Dimitri Marick, Kelly Cole Tyler, Linc Tyler, Brooke, Tom, Scott, Skye, Ellen, Mark, Julie, Ross, and Liza.

[Cola]

Stop the zach and Kendall show and bring back the vets.

[AMCGio83]

ITA/ One main problem with AMC and soaps in general is that there isn't a clear tone. Essentially, it feels like I'm watching bad soap opera. I want to see people I care about talking about prblems, DOING things. AMC should have a gossipy small-town feel to it. Opal should begossiping, some young people should liv at Myrtle's and benefit from her advice, characters should be of different races/classes. Finally, BROOKE should be back and ERICA should be the star NOT a supporting character. I don't understand why we viewers can pinpoint what is wrong ith AMC but the higher-ups can't or won't.

[whyamcwhy]

AMC is definitely a shell of it's former self. I don't know if Frons or Carruthers is responsible for the lack of vision for AMC but whoever it is needs to go.

I would bring back Brooke, Mary (greenlee's mother), David, Anna, Vanessa, and recast Leo if nu-Greenlee stays. I would also like the Martin family built back up again. I would really like to see Vanessa as sort of a powerful female version of JR Ewing from Dallas. Someone scheming and dark but very loyal to their family. Have Brooke and Mary competing for some guy, maybe Jeff Martin and throw Erica in the mix to stir things up. Speaking of Erica, actually give her a good quality storyline. SL hasn't been given any good material for a long time.

Use Opal and Palmer more although James Mitchell's health doesn't seem to be too good anymore.

Bring back Dixie from the dead and reunite her with Tad and Kate.

Get rid of Del, Josh, Ava, the band characters, and Sean. Josh should just leave town and never be mentioned again. Huge mistake in keeping the unabortion, the reminder of one of the worst rewrites of history. Bring back Reggie and cast for the role of Petey. Can you imagine the trouble Palmer's son could cause? That could really make the teen scene interesting!! Maybe bring Dani and Joni back.

Break up Zack and Kendall. It is killing both characters and the show, IMHO. Kendall's character has become unrecognizable. I don't think her character should ever be in the role as a wife and mother, ie Mrs. Brady. I would kill off one of her kids (Ian) and have Zendall fall apart. I would like to see her written as this generation's Erica Kane. She needs an edge and a personality again. I think she needs to be more self-destructive like Erica was, share Erica's past inability to trust, somewhat manipulative, and a real bitch at times. Use her chemistry with her co-stars and allow her to mix it up with the men on the show. Erica had many affairs, adventures, marriages, failures, etc. Kendall should be used that way if she is going to be the center of the show like Erica was, IMHO.

And I would love to see the dark side of Zach explored. Have him become a ruthless businessman and let him go all out with Adam. They could compete for the same woman ( Hannah or even Vanessa!) and for their businesses. That could give both actors a real chance to shine.

Have Greenlee or Kendall start their own company to compete with Fusion and never let them be friends again. Actually write well for the other couples such as Amanda/JR, maybe a Leo/Greenlee/Aidan triangle, on the show not just one. Give a variety of social class and ethnic diversity. Overall, bring back a sense of community and family again. Something missing from AMC right now.

[Steve]

The show needs a major refocusing, imo.

I agree with AMCer that they should get rid of Zach, along with Greenlee, Babe, Krystal, Aidan, Ryan, Annie, Jonathan, & Ava.

They should bring back Brooke ASAP.

Also, they should also recast Liza if Marcy Walker isn't available. She needs to come back for Adam and Colby.

ITA with Eric that the show doesn't have the small-town feel it used to. Partly, imo, because the main families have been eradicated. Opal & Palmer's son Peter should be back as a teen to interact with Colby & Sean. Sam could easily come back for Lily and Kelsey could return to get to know her son better. I would love for Kelsey to work at Fusion and become Kendall's new frenemy.

Friendships hardly exist anymore in Pine Valley, but back in the day they were abundant and weren't just used to further a plot: Jenny/Jesse, Jenny/Angie, Donna/Natalie, Opal/Erica for a few examples. Does Opal even know that Erica's grandkids were both in the hospital recently? She should have been there for support, and Palmer should have too!

Erica and Jack deserve a more adult storyline. Has she hit menopause yet? It would be fascinating, imo, for such a vain woman to have to accept that her childbearing years are over and she's getting older.

I would love for the lower class to return to Pine Valley. How about if Emily Ann Sago came back as a single working mom and she renewed her past romance with a newly returned Jake.

For diversity, they could bring back either Jesse & Angie's son Frank or Jesse's nephew Carl with his family.

Most of all, though, they need a head writer and executive producer who respect the history of the show and understand what used to make it so great. My jury is still out on B&E as they haven't been that long, but I don't think JHC gets what Pine Valley used to be like.