The Fate of ATWT, With Input From Ellen Dolan & Michael Park

[R!ck]

Probably just being a realist

[Soapsuds]

I agree Alvin. If ATWT is gone in Sept 2008 I am gone too. I could care less about the rest of the CBS lineup. I guarantee you if ATWT is cancelled....Y&R's ratings will tumble...just like Days has with the cancellation of Passions. I havent watched Y&R since August. So why would I go back after ATWT is cancelled and gone?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Yep, and Passions is just one soap, I guarantee you that if ATWT goes, GL will go too. CBS daytime can't just survive with Y&R and B&B alone and I don't see them adding any other soaps.

[stenbeck212]

It's interesting that no one mentions cutting the show to a half hour. For years ATWT was only 30 minutes long, with less elaborate production values than there are today. They kept people riveted with routine conversations in Nancy's kitchen. Networks whining about budgets is a smokescreen, because we aren't asking for soaps to look like a Spielberg flick. It's not like they want the funds to make their soaps rival CSI either. Fans want good storytelling, and you can't bring on advertisers or subsequently generate ratings without it. Last time I checked, you didn't have to rely on Canada for good writers, and inflation is not the cause of sub-par quality. Reminding TPTB that the written word is this genre's backbone is worthwhile to me.

[bellcurve]

I think if there is any soap that has a chance at being spared as a half-hour, its definitely GL. Their production model is far more cost-efficient than ATWT.

But I think if ATWT goes, so does GL. If CBS decides to purchase ATWT and GL, definitely expect half of Oakdale to start living at the Snyder Farm.

From the way Ellen Dolan and Michael Park talk, ATWT's cancellation is a done deal.

And I KNOW it's a longshot, but I really, REALLY hope we get a third soap that is LA Based and Bell-Phillip Produced if they decide to cancel one or both of the PGP shows. Everyone talks about how daytime has no money to launch a new soap, but I am still holding onto the hope that they could get a really decent soap in either timeslot to compete with OLTL or GH.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: If they do cancel one of the two PGP soaps, from an economic standpoint, it makes much more sense to keep GL over ATWT, simply because the former is cheaper to produce. If GL is cancelled to spare ATWT, ATWT will only suffer from the same problems GL is facing with keeping actors on contract, etc. The money pumped into GL won't go into ATWT. I'd like to see ATWT go out with a little bit of dignity instead of milking the show for every dime its worth before killing it.

[Soapsuds]

I remember someone mentioning that. There was talks...but it could just be rumors.

I highly doubt GL would stay if ATWT were cancelled. Even if it did...GL would not survive. The ratings would be even worse. Say like a 1.2...in that range.

[Khan]

>> it makes much more sense to keep GL over ATWT, simply because the former is cheaper to produce.

But look how much of GL's integrity was mortaged off in the meantime?

If any PGP soap could and should be saved, it oughta be ATWT. More of that show's core is intact; and the canvas, such as it is, presents a lot more potential for all the characters currently featured. GL? That show is littered with dead-end, exhausted characters.

[Soapsuds]

I agree. I gave up on GL long time ago. But I am sure they are both a package deal. So if one goes so does the other.

[juppiter]

Actually it was much publicized around 2001 or 2002 that Viacom (parent company of CBS) offered to buy the shows and P&G refused.

Anyway, I refuse to believe the conspiracy theories that P&G wants out of the soap business. If they did, they would have pulled the plug a long time ago. P&G is a very conservative company and most likely sees ATWT & GL as a source of pride. That said, I don't think they really felt that connection to AW and thus didn't really protest when NBC canceled it.

[EricMontreal22]

The thing is cutting a show to 30 mins doesn't really save *all that much* (one reason most soaps went to an hour is producing one hour long soap cost a fraction of the cost of producing two 30 minute soaps). So it would save them a bit but probably not enough to be considered an option

[JackPeyton]

i disagree. moslty becayse Days only had Passions. Y&R & B&B could easly survive without ATWT & GL, and that doesnt go the same way if you flip it, IMO.

[NeoAngelicLiz]

Wait a min which version do you believe? One week everyones saying without Y/R the rest of the soaps will all fall.

Now you're saying without ATWT that Y&R will fall in veiwers....thats completely contradictory.

Y&R has a very dedicated fanbase and the show is completely different from ATWT so I doubt ATWT being cancelled would have any impact on any other soaps.

[bellcurve]

In its current timeslot that it holds across the country, GL could probably hold steady if ATWT is replaced with a really good soap opera. It's an unpopular opinion, but I'd like to see the money pumped into ATWT used to produce a soap in LA, where the production costs are slightly cheaper and they could start out with a clean slate of actors.

For the early morning timeslots, GL won't be affected because it has no other soap opera lead-in. In the late afternoon, if the new soap that comes on before GL does really good for itself in the ratings, I could see GL staying steady or even increasing.

But, let's say, hypothetically, that CBS wants to save ATWT and dump GL, regardless of whether or not CBS will replace it with another soap. Do you really, honestly believe that the situation for ATWT would be any better than what it is now, in terms of production? With ATWT being the only NY Soap Produced, I'd expect to see more belt-tightening than before, more vets fired, more everything. And then ATWT will be in the same situation as GL...unrecognizable characters, shoddy scriptwriting, smaller sets, terrible production values, etc.

And if CBS(and that is a big IF) chooses to axe GL for a new soap, what timeslot do you think the new show will occupy? Yup, ATWT's new timeslot, forcing ATWT to compete with GH...or in the cases of some places across the country, airing it in the early morning.

CBS, financially and otherwise, is in the best position to premiere a new soap. I'd rather knock off the more expensive soap to produce and keep the soap that has already adapted to the low-budget business model put in place for it.

[Soapsuds]

Do you actually believe no ATWT fans watch Y&R? Come on .....they do!!!

I am glad you are not in charge of CBS Daytime programming.

[bellcurve]

Honey, if I had Barbara Bloom's job, Jean Passanante would have been out of a job a LOOOONG time ago.