"Loving," a soap opera created by Agnes Nixon & Douglas Marland in 1983, aired for 12 long years on ABC, but never was a success on daytime. The show premiered as a TV movie on primetime, and during it's early years, it centered around the blue-collar Donovans and the blue-blood Aldens. The stories revolved around alcoholism, post-traumatic stress syndrome, murders, and all storylines known to the world of soap operas.
In 1995, ABC no longer wanted to keep "Loving" on it's schedule. The ratings kept falling. Yet, ABC didn't want to just make it disappear, so they asked the head writers to write a storyline which could allow some of the character to return in a spin-off called "The City." Relocated from the fictional town of Corinth, Pennsylvania to the trendy SoHo neighborhood of New York, the residents all lived and worked together in a single building. This building became the new setting for the series and housed a bar, a medical clinic, an ad agency, several residential lofts and a penthouse.
Unfortunately, none of these changes were enough to ensure the success of the series. After initial viewer curiosity wore off, the show began to post lower ratings than its predecessor Loving. Then, in October 1996, the series star Morgan Fairchild departed the show after her one-year contract expired. In a last ditch effort to keep the show alive, the show transplanted the popular General Hospital character, Tracy Quartermaine to replace Fairchild as the show's lead villainess. However, ratings did not improve and the show was canceled after less than a year and a half.
"Loving," a soap opera created by Agnes Nixon & Douglas Marland in 1983, aired for 12 long years on ABC,
but never was a success on daytime. The show premiered as a TV movie on primetime, and during it's early years,
it centered around the blue-collar Donovans and the blue-blood Aldens. The stories revolved around alcoholism,
post-traumatic stress syndrome, murders, and all storylines known to the world of soap operas.
In 1995, ABC no longer wanted to keep "Loving" on it's schedule. The ratings kept falling. Yet, ABC didn't want to
just make it disappear, so they asked the head writers to write a storyline which could allow some of the character
to return in a spin-off called "The City." Relocated from the fictional town of Corinth, Pennsylvania to the trendy SoHo
neighborhood of New York, the residents all lived and worked together in a single building. This building became the
new setting for the series and housed a bar, a medical clinic, an ad agency, several residential lofts and a penthouse.
Unfortunately, none of these changes were enough to ensure the success of the series. After initial viewer curiosity wore off,
the show began to post lower ratings than its predecessor Loving. Then, in October 1996, the series star Morgan Fairchild
departed the show after her one-year contract expired. In a last ditch effort to keep the show alive, the show transplanted the
popular General Hospital character, Tracy Quartermaine to replace Fairchild as the show's lead villainess. However, ratings
did not improve and the show was canceled after less than a year and a half.