January 19-23, 2009

[SouthOfSoap]

Dee and Drake were put on hiatus for a month in Beth Milstein's care-taker role (back in 2006 I think it was...), and the ratings were stable. If DOOL's ratings drop next week, it will be for other reasons like the end of holidays, electricity shortages etc. If the spumour reported in the Spoiler section is true, then expect a major drop for that later on too...

[jimmyk311]

For me, none of the daytime soaps keep me interested right now. Before people start bashing me, let me start saying that I tried to watch all the other soaps and they all force me to quit daytime dramas altogether; the only soap that I watch is playing video games and when I am cursing at people on Xbox live who wants to talk down to gamers after they win a match.

As far as soaps go, I tried to watch AMC, but that half-a***d movie look made me stop watching the show. B&B is just a bad '80's b-movie gone wrong. ATWT is way too redundant, I mean, you see one character talking Craig in a coffee shop in one scene and in the next scene they're talking again outside the same thing they did in the first scene. GL is just awful, the show is nothing but a five minute commercial break. GH is one big corporate party that goes bankrupt; cheap stunts but no real payoff or follow up...

And there is Days, by which, I feel numb to; even before the whole Drake and Deidre firing uproar and the online fans hatred for Molly Burnett happened, the show has no heart or soul no more.

I only thing I watch in daytime now is court shows and trash talk shows.

The thing that is keeping me into daytime soaps now is backstage news and ratings that even that stuff is kayfabe (too protective) to get.

rangethatrover, you mention what soaps I like, for me it''s mostly in primetime such as some of the faux-reality soaps on MTV and VH1 and primetime dramas on The-N (Degrassi:TNG) and ABC Family (Lincoln Heights), but there also others I watch too online, on my DVR and DVD(s).

Here why?

I'm a collector type of fan as some will called it; I like to see a show from the beginning or at certain time period through the end of that show's run. Now, of course, it hard to watch all 30 years worth of episodes of a soap opera but I feel the soaps industry and these production studios need to get wherever archives they have and made them available to the public. If I can't learn the character's beginning on a show, than I probably won't watch. I know all of daytime is funky about dvd(s) releases because of rights and residuals but, I mean, damn, at least do a recap episodes once in a blue moon. I shouldn't be relying on mom, grandma, or the internet to read or tell about a storyline that happen 20 years ago and why two characters hate each other to this day, old episodes should be out there for me to see. This why I think one of many reasons why soap are not bringing in new viewers.

That's why I also like primetime soaps too because, in most cases (good or bad seasons), they always remind you of the stories they tell throughout the show's run and use them to advance a character's growth in a new episode or season. With daytime, it's hard to say the same thing.

As for the type of daytime soap that I want? I don't think the execs and writers can't offer it. For me, I want a soap that is provocative, dark, in your face, edgy, and thought-provoking that I can root for (and I don't mean it in a JER or OLTL's todd and marty type of way). That's my problem with daytime soaps right now; none of these shows has that or they're too scared to go there.

Since this a rating posts, I'll end it by saying that while some soaps have what fans would called "good stories," I feel that the writers need to sell "good marketable stories" to their viewers.

[jfung79]

A permanent character exit might lead to more of a boycott than a hiatus did.

[Phoenix11]

These were huge Otalia days.

These were horrible Mallet/Marina days... the only saving grace was Edmund's return at the end of Friday's show.

I really hope TPTB take a look at these numbers and realize what works and what doesn't! But I always hope that I win the lottery too and I think I have better odds with that!

[Ann_SS]

Because I never give up trying: Anyone trying to link the weekly or daily fluctuations to a headwriter or show quality is off base. The weekly fluctuations are clearly caused by random events like the weather and/or events going on regionally or nationally. Overall, the soaps are losing viewers so the only way to know if a headwriter or show quality is impacting the ratings is look at the ratings over a 3 to 4 month period which is why MarkH's ratings graphs are so helpful. By looking at the graphs you can tell if a show is holding on to its audience or increasing the audience or losing its audience.

[Rakesh]

Agreed. I saw that the women demo went up too. Go Otalia! SOD has a poll up and Otalia is winning. On the CBS' GL site, the Otalia clip is the most popular GL clip/episode. WHEELER, you better do something here....

[rangethatrover]

I think you are dead on actually. I have been vocal about my disdain of AMC's cheap camerawork and all over production values. But I think Chuck Pratt is someone who can write a show that alot of people will want to watch if given time.

But to your "good marketable stories" comment- BINGO. Under Carlivati, OLTL is never going to have a sustained ratings increase. I think the show's style of high comedy and high drama turns people off. I also think that characters like Todd and Marty- are so completely complex, dark, and unlikeable ( I love them) that they are not marketable enough to be featured as heavily as they are.... I don't think OLTL's style is to alot of people's taste.

GH seems to me (Its weird I find myself watching it after not watching for 15 years- It is NOTHING like the GH I grew up with- all of the characters I loved are gone or are featured once a week or once a month- They have some of the most solid actors and cast and dialogue I have heard on daytime. It is very weird though- they seem to only write for the same 10 characters, the whole show is umbrella'ed of of the mob. But that being said, alot of people love mob stuff (The Sopranos was one of my favorite shows of all time). I am surprised that with its 3pm timeslot that GH has not gotten some new viewers. And I think the only reason GH DOES get .2 to .3 higher ratings than AMC or OLTL is because of its timeslot at 3pm. In theory GH should get alot more than that.

And that 1.7 for OLTL last Friday. DAMN.

I never thought I would see the day when OLTL was the lowest rated soap. But its coming soon after April I think.

[dragonflies]

ABC should be so proud AMC lost 26, 000 viewers in a week

[Phoenix11]

I was happy to see that 2/3 of those polled on the SOD site said yes to Otalia. I think it's the best story going on GL right now.

[marceline]

I think it's become a given that Fridays will always suck. I don't know why that is but its been the case for so long now it's become the reality.

And OLTL...*sigh* what to say? It's almost not worth beating up on them anymore. Almost.

I said a long time ago that Ron would turn OLTL into a niche soap with a small devoted following a la Passions. I find the dailies interesting because they bear out what Sara Bibel said the DVR+7 shows that people record all three ABC shows but only watch AMC and GH.

I don't know what's going to happen to AMC. Soon they're going to lose Reigel, Braun and Budig. I'll be interested to see what effect that has.

[rangethatrover]

REIGEL AND BRAUN ARE LEAVING?????? I still think AMC will maintain its 2.0. I think Pratt knows how to write a more mainstream soap that doesn't turn people off.

~Despite Toup's emails, and others I obviously have issues with quotes and responses lollllll I tried to fix but could not++ What a dumdum.

[DRW50]

I think viewers can accept a complex, dark character if the writing is there. Todd was complex and dark during Roger Howarth's first run as Todd and he became a hugely popular character. GL had Roger Thorpe. ATWT had John Dixon and James Stenbeck.

A dark character eventually has to pay a price. This is what I don't see with Todd. He's not paying for the horror he's brought onto people. They've spent months telling us why he shouldn't pay. There's no reason to care because he gets to do whatever he wants.

There also seems to be no point for Marty now. She was blank when she had to be blank to get the story going, now she's bitter and isolated because the story needs her to be. By the time she does get her memory back, if she does, I don't know if viewers will still care.

I think if Carlivati had any story plan in sight for this story viewers would be more accepting.

I think their exits can only help. Bianca was wasted on this return, Reese is a horrible character, and Greenlee lost most of her viability as a character years ago, even before Budig left the first time.

[dragonflies]

I doubt it will do much, Budig sure didn't bring in ratings, Riegel and Braun haven't brought in viewers either. Bianca & Greenlee's returns were humongous flops and Braun's character started out great, but is now being written like she's the new Babe Carey or something

[marceline]

Hey, I said "almost" didn't I?

I'll also be interested to see what happens to DAYS now that D&D are gone. Will the ratings drop?

[CassieFan]

I usually don't agree with your comments, but I agree on this one. Plus, you have to remember that DeadBabe is on too.