ABC Daytime: What Was Wrong With Angela Shapiro?

[DaytimeFan]

With FRONS at the helm and nobody happy I'm wondering if anyone can explain what was so bad about Angela Shapiro...I know a lot of people feel she was terrible, I want the dirt. Spill kiddos...

[SFK]

You know, I've wondered the same thing. She was featured in Linda Dano's Intimate Portrait, apparently she was the one who had the idea to bring Felicia Gallant to the four ABC soaps, and when P&G wouldn't sell the character, plan b. Gretel Rae Cummings. I sensed that Shapiro was a little more Linda Gottlieb than JFP, but what do I know. Enlighten us folks.

[DaytimeFan]

Funny enough I too saw her in Linda Dano's Intimate Portrait which is what reminded me to post my question.

I also thought she was more of a Wendy Riche than Jill Farren Phelps...

Again, enlighten us!

[rangethatrover]

Shapiro- I just don't remember much about her.

Wasn't she the one who was big on tacky and offensive merchandise tie-ins like Todd the Rapist dolls, tacky jewels, and all that other stuff...

Rae Cummings was an insane decision.

And I am not one of the most hateful when it comes to JFP's OLTL- It was compelling but entirely plot driven.

Yeah guys, I want the dish too!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The ABC soaps declined hard under Shapiro's watch, and she seemed a little too concentrated on tie-ins like Shop Soaps or whatever the hell it was. The ABC soaps felt a bit neglected during that time period, which is the total opposite of today's ABC Daytime, where Frons micromanges everything.

She also hired McTavish at OLTL, and then sent JFP and McTavish to GH, which wasn't very good. She was very close friends, if I remember correctly, with JFP as well. I also blame her for Wendy Riche leaving GH...

[LoyaltoAMC]

Shop-the-soaps was Shapiro's idea. Besides Dano, she brought A Martinez to GH and Finola Hughes to AMC. She literally BEGGED Agnes to return to HW AMC after the show fell apart during McTavish's second HW stint. She did treat the mature 40+ actors and the vets with much more respect than Frons ever has. By the way, it wasn't her idea to have Dano do the ABC soaps. It was actually McTavish's. Or at least she claims credit for it (a dubious honor!). McT claims that while she was HW at GH, she came up with the idea to have Rae be Skye's mother and have it affect all 3 shows. It turned out to be a logisitical nightmare.

[rangethatrover]

I HATE CROSSOVERS HATE THEM ALL (Other than B&B and Y&R- Sheila Carter, et al)

Each show should have its own identity/tone/characters.

Why would you want to join all 3 shows in a subpar story. McTavish is an idiot. God remember that Babe [!@#$%^&*] from AMC?

STAY AWAY FROM MY SHOWS WITH YOUR CROSSOVERS.

They are just plain tacky.

[DaytimeFan]

Well I LOVED Linda Dano's soap hopping...not because it made any sense...but because it's Linda Dano, that woman could read the phone book and I'd be happy.

OK so I checked and Shapiro left ABC Daytime in 2002...in 2001 Jackie Zeman still had a storyline on GH, Susan Lucci wasn't taking [!@#$%^&*] paycuts and Agnes Nixon was in the driver's seat at AMC...Shop The Soaps was a silly idea...but it was inventive, so she gave something a try.

If anything, Shapiro's neglect allowed the writers and producers to actually do their jobs rather than get run rough shot by Frons.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

But all of the ABC soaps hit creative lows during Shapiro's tenure, we mustn't forget that. Those lows might be better than what we see today, but at the time, it wasn't something to be proud about. OLTL was an absolute mess, GH was declining like hell, and with the exception of Agnes' brief return, AMC wasn't very good for a good amount of that time. I don't blame her for PC, ABC never knew what the hell to do with that show anyway.

[Caramel]

I can't see how Shop the Soaps was any worse than the Disney tie-in pimping...

[SFK]

I promise I'm not trying to thread jack, just wanted to add that I used to be so hungry for crossovers with my favorite characters, but then we were force fed the baby switch and I'd had enough. I look at Linda Dano and I see a OLTL actress, something about the actors on OLTL and AW seems interchangeable, both shows have boasted (and have shared) some of the most talented and charismatic soap actors. But I felt really let down with the lack of scenes shared by Robin Strasser and Linda Dano.

So, was it or was it not Shapiro who added cast names in the credits and generic bumper openings? I thought that was Frons??

[SFK]

Do people really buy things like Kendall's wedding ring and J.R.'s caps? I mean, most of us aren't 13.

[rangethatrover]

They NEED to start up Shop The Soaps again

I want to buy the brown paint used in Marcie's shitbox of an apartment.

I would also like some of AMC's flourescent lighting. Maybe they can sell the bulbs?

[rangethatrover]

Now your pissing me off. 15% of ABC's problems are those CHEAP ASS VIDEOTAPED GENERIC OPENINGS.

OLTL's is the worst. Cheap. Completely cheap.

An opening is like the gateway of the show.

ABC's are garbage. At least AMC has decent graphics.

OLTL has strobe lights and a chair. Its horrifying. And that song with the drumbeat from a child's toy? ARGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[DaytimeFan]

Robin Strasser resented Linda Dano's move to OLTL because Linda got a great deal, financially.

And I believe it was Frons who inserted the names and generic bumpers.