Does Brian Frons Love Daytime

[emilyq]

I am an pretty infrequent poster here and grew up on AMC and GH. I really miss the shows I used to love but I have to ask the 'experts' here a question. There have been interviews and articles with Brian Frons, head of ABC Daytime, about his dedication and love for the soap genre. As a bitter AMC and GH fan, I can't see it but I'm sure in retrospect I am missing something.

I think he probably is. He seems to be trying to develop original serial programming for Soapnet(although I don't consider NS a traditional soap because the stories end in 13 weeks like any serial based primetime show like Lost or even Greys). What is he doing to salvage the actual soap opera like GH and AMC? I see a lot of stunt casting(Sarah Brown on GH, Angie and Jessie on AMC), promos, but no real inherent changes. Maybe I'm missing it. Is it pretty much a lost cause and is he simply trying to extend what they have?

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

Brian Frons does love daytime. His problem is that he has a vision for what daytime should be, and in some ways, it differs from the actual soap fans vision. He needs to listen to the people. Read some message boards Frons!

[emilyq]

Ok can you elaborate? What do you think his vision is? Because I don't see changes made to any of ABC's shows drawing in more viewers, especially the younger viewers he seems to want.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

Sure. Most soap fans in a nutshell still want to be able to recognize their show after years and years. Classic soap storytelling still appeals to real soap fans. Brian Frons wants the fans to be entertained by any means necessary, which means, non-classic soap concepts, like the mob, and plane crashes, and very plot driven stories take place a lot with ABC daytime. I sit down and watch OLTL and I think about the original vision that Agnes had. A social town where there were all kinds of different people living together and living life. Now, everyone on the show has a mansion and is rich in some way. That's not normalcy. I am of the opinion that Brian Frons doesn't write any of the shows or micro-manage as much as he is accused of. I think he lets the writers do what they want. Another problem of his, is that he doesnt correct them or check them, and if he does, he is telling them to make a change that is not true to daytime. We could take OLTL, AMC, and GH and put them on ABC at 8 O'clock at night and they would fit right in. That's not a soap. If you put Y&R on CBS primetime, everyone would be shaking their heads, why? Because Y&R still plays very closely with the original vision of the show. Frons thinks that just because the times are changing, the soaps have to change to match the times, and that is indeed, his biggest problem. Soaps should stay soaps.

[emilyq]

I get the "Let soaps be soaps" but is todays soap viewer or even TV viewer going to invest like they did in years past. I don't think what Frons is doing is working well because long time viewers who long for their soaps are tuning out and the viewers he wants to appeal to are not invested enough to really get engaged in the long haul. Would PT viewers really invest in GH or AMC if it moved to primetime? Greys has lost it's luster, as has Lost, so how could a tradional soap opera with the same characters on day in and day out survive in a primetime mold for years on end.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

My point was that these soaps on ABC daytime are being written more like primetime than daytime, and would appeal to a primetime fan more under Frons. There are all kinds of variables that are adding to the failure of soaps. More and more people are working, and do not watch soaps anymore. Some people have just lost the feel for soaps. I see a lot of the time, people who watch soaps complaining about the way their soaps are written so based from the ones who I know do watch, they would rather see a soap written like a soap and not a primetime drama. I believe that a soap written like a soap, produced like a soap, and presented like a soap, could survive. The ratings would obviously be lower because of the above circumstances but, people would be more willing to watch.

[Cat]

Frons probably sees Daytime (people who work in Daytime seem ashamed of the word "soap opera") as an extension of Primetime. Only on a cheaper budget. Most of the press releases in which he is quoted cite shows like Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty etc., as the template upon which to model certain soaps or SL ideas.

I do think Frons likes soaps -- he's been in the business forever and was head of NBC when they greenlit the critically lauded Santa Barbara, presiding over its golden era and a marvelous period for Days as well (in fact, has he served on all three networks as daytime prez?). He is also facing consistently declining ratings (especially in those ad-friendly demos) and must have to justify those to his superiors. Hence all the gimmicks and marketing ploys and transitioning SoapNet into the next Lifetime channel.

And, like every soap fan, he has a different view as to what aspects of the shows he wants to empahsize. The swoony, female-focused romance of the soaps that I grew up with may not be what appeals to a straight, 50-something male such as himself.

[emilyq]

Ok so with all that said is there really any hope for extending soaps beyond the year 2012 or 2013? Are soaps ultimately going to end up on Soapnet or will the shows evolve into more of an NS2 or Lost model?

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

I think the soaps will be around for at least 10 more years. Sadly, I think the genre is in the process of being redefined and in time to come, when asked what a soap opera is, people will say a soap opera is this, what we are seeing now, and then the genre will die.

[marceline]

Frons loves daytime the same way Ike loved Tina. And we see how well that worked out.

[emilyq]

I guess then there's another factor. The internet. That's a much much bigger issue and discussion point that's going to impact television overall not just soaps. That's a whole separate discussion. Check out Hula.com

[Ryan]

The problem with Frons is that he wants Daytime to be more than what it is....his version of what he thinks it should be. Recycling the same ass hacks from show to show, pushing the same stale characters and redundant stories is what is driving people away. Daytime has to be allowed to evolve, and it's not right now.

It's pathetic that in 2008 people are so excited about the same sex relationship between Luke & Noah. It's been done before and done better (if I may say so) in other parts of the world. We're still telling stories we've been telling for the past 20 years and there's no real growth. Whenever there is a new story attempted, it's some kind of filler BS that shouldn't even be on screen.

Instead of having Robin's HIV pregnancy story being the focus on GH right now (as it should IMO), they reduce it to a B/C level story that is played for either comedy or nonsensical argument filler. What is the focus on GH right now? More mob bullshit that Frons loves, but the audience damn sure doesn't.

I wouldn't have a problem with the mob if they actually did something DIFFERENT from time to time. Sonny & Jason cannot always win in the end. They need to lose, and I don't mean having someone close to them get hurt, because they get over it. This is the same damn story they've been telling for years and no one is invested because it's the SSDD.

This is what Frons feels Daytime should be....plot, explosions, excitement. Forget character development and character driven stories.

[dragonflies]

If he does, he has a dumb way of showing it........

I think he likes ABC Daytime, but just forces what he wants too much on the shows. He hates older characters, especially female characters over 40.

Remember this is the guy that called CBS The "Nursing Home Network" when he could be taking a cue or two from CBS given how long Y&R has been the #1 soap.

He forces his "pets" front and center, whether they're liked or not(and from the ones I remember he does like, hardly any of them have been fan favorites....).

IMO he is poison to daytime and needs to be fired. ABC Daytime has been bleeding viewers for a long time now, I want to know why he still has a job????

[Ryan]

Well said Angie

Zendall

[dragonflies]

Thanks Ryan

I just don't get it, if this were primetime and they were bleeding viewers this badly, the guy who had the job like Frons would have been fired a long time ago.

Does Disney just not give two sh*ts or something?

I mean AMC is a good example, he's forcing the crapfest that is Rylee on us once again, despite there not being much support for this couple, and that was even said by one of the editors of SOD......