September 22-26, 2008

[saveGL]

On the contrary it SUCKS seeing GL on the bottom of almost every category!

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

WAHOO GH went down.

As long as the show stay with this Skate and Carjax crap I hope that it keeps on going down.

GH has to realise that JATE (Kate and Jax) are the worst characters on the show and need to go CLICK BOOM and the sooner the better.

[Jess]

GL has outlived its dignity. It's time to let it go. Sadly it is not the only soap that has outlived its dignity.

[MarkH]

Like with Genie, I have not seen a single promotion for this.

That tells me they are not investing in advertising in primetime, on other networks, in print, or via banner ads.

Unless they push this like Coca Cola, nobody is going to know to watch.

[usetobeasoapfan]

Very Happy to see this jump in numbers for Y/R. I predict the more we see of the Abbots, and Billy/Chole the numbers will continue to soar.....

GH, is just swirling in muck... Glad to see such low numbers for the great build up of this Skate Friday cliff-hanger. I'm sure ABC, thought they were going to have a rebound of 2.5 or 2.6.

[marceline]

I'm very curious about ABC's overall promotion strategy, short and long term. They don't seem to have much interest in promoting their soaps not even using relatively cheap banner ads. CBS is light years ahead on that front. I've seen banner ads for CBS soaps everywhere. And now ABC has decided to cut loose SSW. I think that's a wise decision and in light of the fact that they didn't do Fun in the Sun or their college tour this year, I'd wonder if they didn't have a promo budget at all if we hadn't been forced to endure the revolting excess of the Charm perfume and book earlier this year.

[Sylph]

marceline, a simple question: why are you still interested in soaps when you don't watch them? And in this whole soap survival theory when they're going to die one way or the other?

[MarkH]

Speaking for her (lol) it makes perfect sense.

Scenario one: You divorce your bastard of an ex-husband. You NEVER want to be married again. But you share a history. Maybe you even wish him some ill will :-). So, from a distance, you follow his life. Call it residual interest or morbid curiosity...it is normal and common.

Scenario two: You left the soaps out of disgust, but with a lingering kernel of hope. So you watch...from afar...in the vague hope that some day the genre will rise again. You miss what it used to be, so you keep your finger on the pulse...hoping for improvement.

In the modern era, and this is part of the problem for soaps, one no longer needs to WATCH to keep up.

[Sylph]

Oh, great! I love both scenarios!

I should also point out that my previous post wasn't mean and nasty or anything like that.

[marceline]

I'm going to assume you mean this as a genuine question and not a "shut up and go away" so I'll give you a real answer.

I love the entertainment industry. My degree is in radio/tv/film. I spent the first years of my career working in radio as it turned into the cookie cutter, corporate monstrosity it is now, IOW as it died. So this feels really familiar but at least this time my paycheck doesn't depend on it.

We're watching the end of an era and I find it really interesting. It's like the end of MGM musicals. I always wonder what the people who were working in musicals felt like as the genre was fading. Look at the weirdness going on in the industry: Hinseygate, Higleygate, the VR interview, Sony's drama... It's Christmas dinner in an alcoholic household. It's like everybody has just said screw it.

Besides I still admire a lot of the actors involved and want to see them get out of this before it all comes crashing down.

ETA: Some of what Mark says is true too.

[Sylph]

Yes, it was a genuine question. I really like your posts so I was curious. Thanks for the reply, I pretty much presumed it was something like that.

I personally don't know whether to laugh out loud or have some other type of reaction. It's just grotesque: hilarious & utterly depressing at the same time.

[Jess]

The other day they ran the fall promo for GH during AMC. It showed Genie Francis in that promo. Is she coming back or was it a manipulative ad?

[dragonflies]

AMC is reaping what it sewed, this is the 3rd writing regime to focus on Ryan like he's some kind of god, yeah I can see why the ratings are tanking for AMC. Too much focus on Annie too, heck the rest of the sextet aren't on as much as Ryan, Greenlee & Annie are, the focus is those 3 characters more than anyone

[alwaysAMC]

Hmmm --- wasn't KENDALL the one that had 21 out of 21 episodes in September? Wasn't she #1? Wasn't she the only one on 100% of the episodes?

Facts, my friend!

[emilyq]

It's interesting you say this. I thought there were some folks give ABC some kudos a few weeks back for the Something promo's and ad's they were running in US magazines and showing on what station I have no idea. It does seem CBS does a better job and have they gotten payoff. I know Y and R did with the Sudden Impact story.

But I guess to the point on Genie Francis. I saw promos for her on Lifetime and I think on TNT before her return and yeah that was really the extent of it. I am not much interested in GH anymore so even that could not pull me back in but it's sad that it really pulled no one in. But I guess when you only promote her return on cable stations and in soap mags, the only people who will be tuning in are those who watch anyway. I love her to death and she's been so mistreated by ABC, I just couldn't make myself tune in, not even for her.