GL: Ratings and Budget Decline?

[DaytimeFan]

I'm excited to see these new sets. Hopefully CBS and P&G put some cash into this and invested in their shows. If they do it right it'll look like a British soap which would be a major step up. Fingers crossed! When should the episodes with these new sets start to air?

[Chris B]

When it was originally announced, they said this would be revealed in January. The good thing is that this HELPS the budget, so they'll potentially look fab AND be saving money.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

AMC should follow the P&G model, because despite having a better budget than GL, AMC looks like utter s-h-i-t. Also, I can't see AMC having as good a budget come next year, seeing how horribly its been performing this year. I already think most of the AMC sets are made of cardboard, I shutter to think what the production values will look like next year.

OLTL does quite well with the budget for production values that they have, I hear they have a lesser budget than AMC too.

[stenbeck212]

The hospital set is a total disaster. Dare I say WORST set in soap history? Maybe Main Street is worse, I dunno.

Main street is just WEIRD. What is that sawed-off movie theater all about? A couple weeks ago I saw somebody at a kiosk out there, pouring coffee. That couldn't be her JOB, in late November.

[bellcurve]

Honestly, forget the writing, the production values are what keep me away from GL. I've NEVER seen a soap look as cheap as it does now.

In the beginning, it was kind of fun to watch GL work around their terrible budget issues, because, at least(IMO) the writing was still there. Now that there isn't one storyline that I even remotely enjoy watching on the show...what's the point?

I even think SPYDER GAMES looked better than GL has in recent days and that show had a really terrible budget, crappy set design, and taped at a studio in an L.A. affiliate(KTLA I believe?).

Please, let us all be careful what we wish for. You know what happened the last time someone got the bright idea to amp up the production model at ABC...more than half the cast of the soap got a pinkslip and the show was relocated and renamed.

I don't know about you guys, but I don't wanna see Erica spray Enchantment on her bosoms and die of poisioning.

Although, it kind of seems like AMC is in that direction anyway(i.e. Dixie...poisoned pancakes).

[DaytimeFan]

I think 'The City' was very much before its time in terms of production values. That show did what British soaps had done successfully for years. The writing just wasn't there. Even Morgan Fairchild couldn't save it.

OK, the Erica dying from spraying Enchantment on her "bosoms" made me burst out laughing. The sad thing is that AMC it could happen.

[Max]

I personally feel that all soaps (aside from Y&R, B&B, and possibly GH) should be subjected to the same drastic budget cuts that GL has had to endure. For me, it's a matter of fairness: all of these soaps (aside from the three I just mentioned) are currently getting worse ratings than GL had at the time its budget was slashed to the bare minimum.

Certainly, salaries of soap stars are something that can always be cut. Obviously, many daytime stars get very angry when it comes to salary cuts. Yet, they don't seem to realize that--given the horrendous ratings soaps currently receive--they should be earning far less money than they once did.

[Vee]

I have to laugh whenever someone visits someone else at the Beacon when they both live there, or when they talk about just being at "so and so's place." You mean their room. At so and so's room. Admit it!

And while I have long been an advocate for the Britsoaps formula of outdoor shooting, particularly for an urban show like OLTL (with the shooting model inspired by Eastenders in my mind), I think there's a time and a place and a way to do it, and I am very skeptical that the ATWT/GL cost-saving model will do anything but look cheap.

[RogerNewcomb]

When ATWT started the shaky came I was really worried, but the most recent outdoor scenes have looked fantastic and if that's what this is all about, the show is going to look a million times better. And I'm stoked for the permanent sets being built so characters have homes again. Friday Night Lights is my favorite show and they use this technique as well.

[stenbeck212]

I'm confused about all that. Is P&G going to build mini houses in New Jersey to achieve this effect?

[Chris B]

I'm not sure, but they did say we'd see Spaulding mansion for example. It's possible they'll pay homeowners to use their homes for exterior shots in these cases. I know on Knots Landing, the homeowners in the cul-de-sac got paid for the 14 years the show filmed there.

[stenbeck212]

A part of the KL deal's lure must have been that homeowners still got their homes back during hiatuses. With soaps that goes out the window. I wonder if this initiative will be as widespread as we'd like, because countless homes and workplaces have been left out of scripts for years. And for shows that have to shoot so much so quickly, how will they account for bad weather? Oy.

[DaytimeFan]

The weather issue, well if they do it like a British soap (which they should) they'll film regardless of weather. Characters hold umbrellas and life goes on.

I can't see them using any real homes like 'Knots Landing' did because as stenbeck212 points out it just wouldn't be possible as the residents would never get their houses back. My bet for large structures like Spaulding mansion is that they will have to construct the house like those on 'Desperate Housewives' and cleverly connect rooms in such a way that filming them will make the place look larger than it actually is (ie: they'll make false hallways, staircases that lead nowhere etc).

Really, this sort of move is going to take a lot of money and thought. What's different about British soaps is that the majority of the action takes place within a small village and all the homes (usually townhouses or semi detached) ring around the village. I have a feeling the geography of Oakdale and Springfield is about to look a whole lot more like an English village. Or not and if that's the case I don't see how it's going to look any good without costing an astronomical fortune.

[AMCGio83]

you know, way back when soaps had very small budgets and got great numbers. If GL's writing were as solid as say...it was in the early 90s we'd notice the sets, sure but who cares? Just the other day they had the Olivia Inside the Light episode where she heard about the heart condition. Sure...the mian street set looks like crap but Crystal Chappel was so fantastic that I really felt bad for her. The sets became less important because a character that I love was getting some really sad news and dealing with the implications (leaving her daughter behind). Anyway, the poor sets on most shows just hde the obvious issue which is they're mostly awful.

[Khan]

Exactly.

I'm glad so many see so many positives in the new production model. If you ask me, though, it's all just one big band-aid. A more cost-effective band-aid, maybe; but a band-aid, nonetheless.