ALL: If Y&R or OLTL got the "Night Shift" treatment

[MarkH]

I was looking at the most recent SOD, and Brian Frons was talking about Night Shift 2, and specifically Tristan Rogers' story arc. He said the full 13 weeks would deal with Robert's relationship with Robin. He said this is the kind of thing you can uniquely do with this primetime/soap hybrid...devote extend through-time to something (e.g., a legacy character and relationship)...but also bring it to a conclusion.

So, let's assume there are defined "rules" to the Nightshift recipe:

1. You can bring back 1-2 popular legacy characters

2. You can spin off an handful of your main soap's characters, but this can't impoverish the main canvas

3. Your daytime and nighttime shows exist in the same time frame and universe, so they can't contradict each other

4. You should introduce a small number of characters who might be able to cross-over to the mothershow

5. You have only 13 weeks

6. You want to, especially, attract 18-49 year old women

7. You would like to lure some lapsed viewers back to the mothershow

8. You want the production values and story to be sufficiently compelling that you'll sell some DVD box sets

9. You can stunt cast 1-2 performers from other genres who might bring extra eyeballs, but they can't be unrealistically expensive (e.g., actors from movies, primetime, music...whatever...this is the "Billy Dee Williams" category)

Now, Frons has said TWO soaps are in contention for the Nightshift treatment: OLTL and Y&R. (I haven't heard anything about AMC).

What would your "Night Shift" for OLTL or Y&R look like?

[detroitpiston]

One Life would focus on the Banner, with Blair working there again and Gigi joining as her assistant and then working her way up too reporter. I got nothin for Y&R.

[MTSRocks]

Y&R could feature Restless Style. Yay!

[MarkH]

What would be the driving plot? A 13-week umbrella investigation?

Garlic, crosses, and anything else I can think of to ward THAT off!

[detroitpiston]

Maybe a murder plot? Someone very rich dies in a car accident(maybe the guy who was helping Dorian take over BE, can't remember his name). The cops think it was just an accident but someone sends Blair a message saying it wasn't. She begins to investigate and Gigi being her assistant decides to tag along(might have to make her assistant someone else though seeing as Gigi has Shane and I don't think she would leave him to go investigating a murder so lets change it to someone younger, and who doesn't have to be as resposible, Langston? or maybe Sarah?) Anyway thats all I got for now, but I'm not sure they could stretch that out for thirteen weeks.

[MTSRocks]

.....

[leevo64]

One Life in Paris

Setting: Paris, TX

Time: A few years ago, when Gigi and Shane first came to live in Texas

Cast:

Farah Fath as Gigi Morasco

Austin Williams as Shane Morasco

January LaVoy as Noelle Ortiz

John Rue as Moe Stubbs

R. Brandon Johnson as Chuck Wilson III

New Characters

Alexa Havins as Alice Butterly, a waitress

Ambyr Childer as Missy Stubbs, Moe's niece

Chad Brannon as Andy Dale, a bus boy

Stuart Damon as Hal Stubbs, Moe's brother

With Special Guest Star...

Judith Light, as Karen Wolek

[MarkH]

Wow...that is innovative and interesting. A flashback that could explain some things. I'd watch this one.

[Ms. Chandler Quartermaine]

detroitpiston.....I really can't imagine KDP being able to carry a show by herself. I couldn't imagine having to watch an hour of KDP and that voice of hers screeching and screaming TAAAWWWWD all day long.

[DavidEvanSmith]

I kinda had a thread for this concept a few weeks ago, so here...

My two best ideas:

LIFE BEYOND LLANVIEW

Regular Cast: Tina, Cain, David Vickers the Dog

Semi-Regular Cast: Sarah, CJ

Financial Angle: Cheap to produce, using little studio time as most scenes shot on location as Tina and Cain travel the country seeking money and power. Small regular cast, minimal need for continuity with OLTL.

Premise: Spin Tina and Cain into their own (mostly comedic) series, where it follows their adventures and exploits in their efforts to strike it rich. Along the way, they run into people they've wronged in the past who keep foiling their plans in the present (this dethroning by Carlo Hesser being the first in a trend for the hapless duo). Other past enemies who come into play: Tina's true love Cord Roberts, Pamela Stuart (Tina convinced Pamela to con Asa into marriage back in the day), Con man ex-husband David Vickers, Evangelist ex-wife of Cain's -- Angela Holliday (now running the Tabernacle of Hope), Jill Larson back as Ursula Blackwell, an embittered Kate Sanders played by Marcia Cross (!) working with Jamie Sanders (another Tina arch-enemy), Tonja Walker as Alex Olanov, James DePaiva as Max Holden (friend or foe?), Kassie DePaiva's Blair, Robert S. Woods as Patrick London ("Faux Bo") not-so-dead after all!, perhaps Karen Witter or Krista Tesreau in new supporting roles as a wink to Tina recast fans...

Of course Justis Bolding could hold a supporting role as Sarah keeps getting sucked into her mother's schemes, willingly or unwillingly, and they could cast a hunky young actor as a grown CJ Roberts, kicked out of the military because they discovered he was gay. Perhaps it's CJ that keeps helping Tina and Cain out of their "jams", but anonymously, and by the season finale the puzzle pieces fit together and we learn he's CJ Roberts. Guest appearances by Erika Slezak, Jerry verDorn, Melissa Archer, Bree Williamson, Robin Strasser.

Future Potential: Could return any of the guest stars to the regular OLTL series, and could establish CJ Roberts to be absorbed into the regular OLTL. CJ could have served in battle with Brody Lovett as well. The series could lead Tina and Cain back to Llanview by the finale, or leave it open-ended to do a second season on location if the show proved popular.

LLANVIEW PD

Regular Cast: Bo, Rex, John, Talia, Antonio, Michael, Marcie, Sophia, Carlo

Financial Angle: Costs kept down because of using the same LPD sets and going on location for crime scenes and investigations. Minimal need for continuity with main OLTL because this would focus on the characters' work lives, and only needs casual mention of the personal issues taking place on OLTL. Spotlights OLTL "stars" like Bo, Rex, John, and Antonio, much like GH: Night Shift spotlighted Robin, Patrick, and Jason.

Premise: In this crime melodrama, Bo resumes his job as Police Commissioner (Ramsey IS dead, after all), and the series follows the exploits of the Llanview Police Department, featuring Antonio, John, and Talia. Carlo Hesser could lead as the main villain that most crimes and criminals will lead back to, culminating in a tense standoff between Carlo and daughter Talia. Other opportunities would be a case that takes Antonio to another city, where he runs into ex-wife Andy Harrison (Max Holden's sister), who is working the case in her current hometown. Charissa Cree Chamorro could return as Sophia Pellegrino, who returned to active duty on the force after recovering from her back injury (that took her off OLTL years ago). Michael McBain can consult on autopsies as Medical Examiner. Maybe Marcie can return to her work as receptionist at the police station. John and Michael are stunned when a nightclub in Atlantic City links their mother Eve McBain (who dated Bo, didn't she?) to murder. We learn Eve had an affair with Carlo Hesser at one point during her marriage and Michael may be a Hesser. (John and Talia would share a brother!) Rex also featured working as a private investigator independent from the LPD, but getting wrapped up in all the same cases, and keeping the Bo/Rex friendship alive.

Guest appearances by Erika Slezak, Catherine Hickland, Hillary B. Smith, Ilene Kristen, Farah Fath, Trevor St. John, Susan Haskell, Wendee Pratt, Lisa Banes.

Future Potential: Could bring Sophia back to the regular OLTL series, since she was fairly popular. Crime dramas are pretty popular, and it capitalizes and expands on generally popular characters and actors from OLTL. With GH: Night Shift capitalizing on the medical drama feel of ER/Grey's Anatomy/House, this spinoff series would capitalize on the crime drama feel of Law & Order/CSI.

[dragonflies]

Sorry but I disagree, I think KDP could carry a show by herself. Heck she's one person I'd watch even if she was just reading the phone book........

[EricMontreal22]

I'mpositive they want to focus OLTL on the police station though I'd prefer the Banner or Sun by far.

I still think we need a spin off set in a retirement community focusing on all the "too old" characters we wanna see but never get to

[Vee]

One Life to Live: Black & White

Same as another poster: OLTL would focus on the Banner and Sun newspaper wars (the title refers to newsprint), with Jessica, Todd, Blair, Starr, Gigi, Rex, Shane, etc. all sucked in. Like NS, the cast would be quite large but their individual stories would be scattered across various episodes, with not everyone appearing in each episode, allowing for a larger ensemble. Viki and Charlie would make a handful of appearances, but for the most part she would have left her family's paper in the hands of a tough, no-bulls__t new editor in chief, Terrence Collins, played by Giancarlo Esposito (of Homicide and Do The Right Thing fame), who wants to take the entire paper to strictly online content during the work week and weekend digest editions, and who doesn't look too kindly on the perceived nepotism that he feels got Jessica her cushy staff position. Meanwhile, Jessica is struggling to juggle working and supporting herself (as opposed to on Viki's dime) as a single mother and widow. Gigi has joined Jessica at The Banner as a gopher and receptionist, and is trying to support herself while negotiating her rocky, rekindled romance with Rex, who has yet to win back Shane's adoration. Gigi and Jessica rub each other the wrong way but find themselves forced to work together. Other Banner staff are introduced, including a returned Billy Douglas (now played by Gabriel Mann from The Bourne Supremacy), who has a much more mercenary outlook on life than his old friends in Llanview are used to, as well as a "night life" and gossip blogger, Nikki, played by Paula Jai Parker (Hustle & Flow), who makes it clear she will work for the highest bidder, and smear anyone to get ahead. Viki has also irritated her new EIC by gifting another family member with a job, fresh-faced suck-up Mason "Mace" Siegel (John Gallagher Jr. from Broadway's Spring Awakening), who melted her heart since he is the youngest son of Julie Siegel, niece to her beloved Joe Riley. Jessica can't stand Mace, but no one realizes that he is totally fabricating his exciting front page stories that keep getting Jessica knocked to the bottom left hand corner of page 5A.

Over at The Sun, Todd is desperate to counter the ferocious new innovations of The Banner's new editor while also trying to fight off a mysterious takeover attempt. He hires Tina's son (and Todd's former child co-conspirator) CJ Roberts (British actor Rory Jennings from Eastenders and lots of UK TV), estranged from his mother, as a staff writer, even though CJ has yet to finish college due to his time with the Navy, has no idea what to do with his life, and absolutely no idea what to write. Todd also employs a recast Matthew as a summer mailroom clerk to placate Starr (while Nora grinds her teeth), unaware that Matthew has a longstanding crush on his daughter. He is also edging towards reconciliation with Blair, who is back to running her fashion and arts magazine, Craze, alongside her recently-returned cousin Cassie, and wants nothing to do with The Sun, until it becomes clear that Todd can't survive his current business woes without her help. At the same time, Blair is trying to deal with her new bitchy new style editor Liv, played by Jessica Hynes of Spaced and Doctor Who fame, while Cassie, the shaky thrice-divorced mother of an adult child who's had a lousy few decades, is just trying to find equilibrium in her life, but instead finds herself drafted to work with Todd against her former employer The Banner, butting heads with Terrence Collins, and the object of affection for JK (Noah Segan, ex-Connor, DAYS, also in Brick), a much younger male model-turned-actor who is part of Craze's next big photo shoot and is only as old as her son River. And Starr couldn't be bothered to notice the unrequited affections of her childhood friend when she is becoming besotted with militant, amateur filmmaker Kris, Terrence's son.

The storyline kicks off when an explosion rocks the Llanview waterfront, Rex's club Ultra Violet is heisted, and Cramer Enterprises's computer network is hacked - all in the same night! Both The Banner and The Sun race against each other to print the definitive coverage on this whirlwind of events, with OLTL characters like Nora, Bo, John, Antonio and Talia, Carlotta Vega, and others glimpsed in their "natural environment" on the job, as Jessica and Gigi push to get an official quote out of DA Nora or Commissioner Bo, while Antonio and Talia walk the beat and try to keep ahead of the press on the clues, and Carlotta and Roxy are interviewed as local residents of Angel Square. Both Jessica and Todd suspect the events are connected, and that the bodies found at the site of the explosion are a huge part of the case, but each is determined to beat the other to the truth. What does that make a family dinner at Llanfair like? How about at the Buchanan mansion, where Jessica finds herself wanting to pump Nora and Bo for information? And how far will Matthew go to ingratiate himself to Starr? Would he steal information from his parents' files, and leave it with The Sun?

As the papers dig deeper into the multiple-but-linked cases, the personal lives of their staff get mixed in with their profession. Rex's livelihood is destroyed with Ultra Violet in shambles, leaving his family's future in question, and along with Gigi, he is determined to find the truth and win back Shane's heart, just as Gigi is determined to prove herself to Jessica and The Banner. Likewise, Jessica is determined to prove herself not only to Terrence Collins, but to herself as well and decides that the best way to get a lead on the case is to stick to neurotic LPD homicide detective David Oshima (Roger Fan, of Better Luck Tomorrow) like glue. CJ chases another lead, finding himself at odds with his cousin, mocked by the jaded "A-gay" "Don't Call Me Billy" Douglas, and under pressure from Todd, while fascinated by "Justin," a beautiful young mystery man who was seen at Ultra Violet the night of the heist. Jessica stumbles on the key to the case when she acquires her own personal "Deep Throat": Legendary Llanview femme fatale Karen Wolek, still a fugitive from the law, who claims to know everything about what happened downtown on that fateful night...and how it all leads back to not only prominent Asian businesswoman Ritsuko Sugimoto (Tamlyn Tomita, Giselle on GH), who RJ Gannon has fallen in love with, but also to Karen's own adopted son, Jessica's long-lost cousin, Viki's nephew: Daniel Wolek (Scott Bryce from ATWT).

Starring (in alphabetical order):

Kristen Alderson as Starr Manning

Scott Bryce as Daniel Wolek

? as Matthew Rappaport Buchanan

Kassie DePaiva as Blair Cramer

? as Kris Collins

Giancarlo Esposito as Terrence Collins

Roger Fan as Detective David Oshima

Farah Fath as Gigi Morasco

John Gallagher, Jr. as Mason "Mace" Siegel

Noah Segan as JK Moore

Jessica Hynes as Liv Ashe-Pryce

? as "Justin"

Paula Jai Parker as Nikki Vriess

Rory Jennings as CJ Roberts

Laura Koffman as Cassie Cramer

John-Paul Lavoisier as Rex Balsom

Gabriel Mann as William "Billy" Douglas

Trevor St. John as Todd Manning

Timothy D. Stickney as RJ Gannon

Tamlyn Tomita as Ritsuko Sugimoto

Bree Williamson as Jessica Brennan

AND

Judith Light

AS

Karen Wolek

with appearances by: Most of the OLTL cast

[detroitpiston]

Damn Vee, I love it!(other then T&B getting back together) You should write a fan fic about it.

[jinx_avery]

My OLTL spin-off "BE: London's Calling".

I've tried to include as many unpopular characters, ripoffs, rehashes, retreads and cliches as possible, just like Ron would.

Clint Buchanan: Jerry Ver Dorn

Dallas Jones: Loyita Chapel

Kevin Buchanan: Dan Gautier

Cord Roberts: John Loprieno

Tina Roberts: Andrea Evans

Cain Rogan: Christopher Cousins

Sarah Roberts: Justis Bolding

CJ Roberts: Billy Miller

Cristian Vega: David Fumero

Kelly Cramer: Gina Tognoni, if available or some quasi has been prime timer.

Melinda Cramer: Anna Stuart if Jane Badler or Sharon Gabet won't reprise the role.

Lady Gemma Bartholomew, daughter of the late Earl: Stacy Haiduk

Dowager Lady Daphne, second wife of the late Earl: Victoria Wyndham

Guest Spots

Joey Buchanan: Nathan Fillion

Tallulah: Canine David Vickers

Adrianna Cramer: Mellissa Gallo Fumero

Layla Williamson: Tika Sumpter

Dallas Jones bumps into Cris Vega while visiting in Llanview and makes him an offer to restore some of the artwork damaged by the flooding at her flat. The London socialite has agreed to supply a charity auction with some of her better pieces. Thinking this will be a sure way to get the money needed to rebuild his mother's Diner, he accepts. Sarah, hoping to put the wretched Mendorran experience behind her, tags along to visit family. Clint, with an eye towards straightening out that branch of the CE/BE fiasco, follows suit leaving Bo in charge back home.

Much to their suprise, the situation at "Leighton Hall" (the Buchanan Family London compound) is not as rosy as Sarah and Clint were led to believe. Kevin and Kelly are on the rocks again. He has been spending too much time with his Admin. Asst., Lady Gemma, which has secretly led Kelly to renew her acquaintance with Vodka and Vicodin. A disgusted Joey decides to head to Africa to further Viki humanitarian efforts. Adding more mud to the waters, her mother Melinda, fresh from her latest stint at the Compton Clinic, has moved in and begun to call Zane "Paul" in private. She is underhandedly fueling Kelly's insecurities about Gemma, to whom Melinda has taken an immediate and nasty dislike.

Tina's back and has set her cap on Cord, who's having none of it until his daughter returns and shows she's a chip of the old block when it comes to manipulating her parents back together. To no one's surprise, except maybe Dallas', restoring artwork is a complete befuddlement to Cris. No matter how many times he takes his shirt off, one piece in particular (A Jackson Pollack like abstract entitled "Le Remarc") is giving him problems as it seems to have a hidden underpainting. Dallas is all for Cris to expose what's underneath until Harold Koening, the art dealer who has been wooing her, offers a princely sum for the painting as is. Being true to form, Clint, thinking the other man's gr(ass) is always greener, becomes suspicious of Ms. Jones' mysterious new friend and offers to buy the painting himself.

The deadline for the Auction Garden Party is fast approaching and great preparations are underway at Leighton Hall. Kelly, desperate to catch Kevin's attention, flies in Adrianna and Layla to style the London contingent so as not to be outshone by London's uppercrust, especially her rival Lady Gemma. Dallas decides to include the unrestored painting and let Clint and Harold outbid each other for charity. Harold is, of course, Cain Rogan, who is blackmailing Tina into helping him get "Le Remarc". Campy and comedic wool pulling ensues as Sarah/Tina/Cain attempt to fool Cris/Cord/Clint. Melinda unravels even further. She keeps telling "Paul" that this time that woman will not separate them like she did the last time.

The big day dawns and all and sundry are gathered on the Great Lawn at Leighton Hall. Tensions mount as a fog, heavy by even London standards, rolls in. Kelly has been slamming them back all day and finally lets loose with a tirade against Kevin and Gemma. The mist is now as thick as the proverbial pea soup and Cain is pressuring Tina to nab the painting while everyone's distracted by the Kelly/Gemma catfight. ttempting to do just that, Tina is foiled when the Canine David Vickers jumps up against it, sending the painting crashing to the ground. To the curiosity of the crowd, the combined effects of the fall and the fog has flaked away the overpainting. Panicked, Lady Daphne dashes for it, but not before the fog lifts and all can see it's a portrait of a stunning brunette, a baby and a man who appears to be everyone's favorite butler, Nigel Bartholomew Smythe. Melinda's descent back into madness is now complete. She lunges for the Dowager Daphne screaming "Nurse Maynard! Nurse Maynard!

Seems decades earlier, Daphne Maynard was a nurse at the Compton Clinic when an amnesiac patient was brought in. No drugs or therapy could restore his memory, but he did fall in love with fellow patient Melinda, who bore him a son. On the cusp of their release, the Earl turned up searching for his lost son. Sensing the chance to bag a title and a fortune for herself and her daughter, Daphne faked her patient's suicide sending Melinda back into catatonia. She then consoled the Earl in his grief, eventually becoming his nurse, then wife. Cain confesses that "Le Remarc" is in reality "The Cramer", a portrait by the lost Bartholomew scion painted at the Clinic as therapy. Lady Daphne has been searching for it for years and had hired the con man, who tracked it down to Dallas' art collection. It was the proof that she had drugged and brainwashed the Earl's son into believing he was a butler named Nigel B. Smythe.

A chagrined Gemma spirits her mother away as the gathered Buchanans digest their longtime manservant's new found status and whether to inform him of his true identity. Just as things begin to settle down, CJ Roberts appears saying: "Joey rescued me from the rebels in Africa, but now they have him."