I don't know if it's random, or simply that different formulas work if well executed. There is no solution that is universally successful across the board. It's been said that Frons doesn't want to transform OLTL into a Y&Rlite, and I can't argue with that. OLTL should be distinct from the other soaps (and all of them should be distinct from each other) otherwise there is nothing to separate them except the habit of tuning into this station at this time. They would all be interchangeable.

At the risk of speaking out of both sides of my mouth, I think this is what is missing from OLTL right now. There are too many stories overall (and too many "A" stories specifically), and minimal overlapping of the stories and the pacing of the stories is very mechanical. Obviously, Rex/Gigi/Shane/Stacy are what you would call an "A" story (although in my opinion that's several stories rolled up into just a few characters). They're on almost every episode. It involves Roxy and Rex's "father, and they seem to be pulling Brody and Schuyler into that story more, which should add to the complexity and richness. But they should have the story impact even more characters than that, and it should tie to some of the second tier stories.

The Marty/John/Blair stabber story is another "A" story. It minimally involves other characters as "suspects" or props, but for the most part it occurs in isolation. Why aren't Marty and Blair and Todd, at least, being tied into the baby swap story peripherally? Why isn't the audience being reminded that they're Chlope's grandparents? The only people seemingly impacted by the potential reveal of the baby swap are Jessica, Starr and Marcie, and that makes no sense.

Then there are a plethora of second/third tier "B and C" stories that seem to be playing out in almost total isolation from each other. The baby swap, Mathew's paralysis and Cole's drug addiction, Dorian and Ray's romance, Cris and Layla, Markko and Lola to name a few. These may loosely tie into the other stories, but we rarely see those ties. An example is, Jared and Natalie spent three or four episodes in the same waiting room at the hospital (they even had a wardrobe change, but remained in the same setting) and had basically the same conversation all four episodes, but had only minimal interaction with other people in the hospital at the same time. They had one brief conversation with Rex, none with Roxy, or Bo, or Nora, or Matthew, or Cole. Other than token mentions here and there, you'd think they were unaware that Blair was stabbed and there could be a killer on the loose. We know they got tested as matches for Shane, but it was brought up as an afterthought.

All the stories would be improved by including more characters that make sense, and there are so many opportunities for that to happen that are being overlooked.

OLTL wants be EVERYTHING for EVERYBODY. Kiddies, musicians every month, veterans (to a point), serial killers, evil bitches, tons of history- but only used well 1/2 half the time.. Its the PLEASE LOOK AT ME red headed step child. I have said it before, I get the feeling that no other show is loved by its writers more than OLTL. And when corporate bulls-it is going on, it is most apparent on OLTL on screen.

I think if that new consistency can be put on anyone it may be *gasp* Gary Tomlin, who aside from some major mistakes, managed to keep OLTL reasonably on-track through the strike. Chris Whitesell, however, has been [!@#$%^&*] for years.

I agree it seems to be just so-so, but that can't last, especially with almost no veteran cast. And there's no passion behind the work to me. You can't just keep flogging EJ, Sami, and former DAYS teen idols and expect to stay afloat. You need a clear picture of the future. To me they just seem to be looking to next week.

Well IMHO Gary Tomlin as head writer during the strike sucked, but Gary Tomlin as executive producer was great. The Live week, the special Trading Places and Babes Behind Bars episodes, etc.... were classic. And remember that while he was EP, OLTL won their first and only award for best daytime drama.

Whoa, what a bad week for the P&G soaps when a short week and the high quality of the Parker/Liberty story, featuring popular Jack/Carly, should have at least helped ATWT. And GL was continuing its run of good quality with Dinah revealing to everyone about being in on the kidnapping.

This is depressing!

I know. GL does have a lot of problems but I thought last week was good. I guess viewers didn't agree. I hope the ratings will pick up soon.

DAYS has done very well in the ratings. Its the only soap since 2006 to increase big time from a bad year.

Can you believe DAYS still exists when there was a 75% chance that NBC was going to axe it a year ago but its survived its first real threat of cancellation.

It looks like DAYS will live on to see 50 years and more than likely 75 years.

Does anybody remember when DAYS moved back to 1 pm in NYC (and probably other areas)? I'm wondering if that's contributing to their current upswing, getting back the lunch hour in some big markets.

Yep its doing well in a lot of the big markets and other markets. Its actually the only soap doing well in almost every market while ABC and CBS are very strong and weak in half of their markets.

Whoa, what a bad week for the P&G soaps when a short week and the high quality of the Parker/Liberty story, featuring popular Jack/Carly, should have at least helped ATWT. And GL was continuing its run of good quality with Dinah revealing to everyone about being in on the kidnapping.

This is depressing!

Fingers crossed there may be some change!!!! They are near the bottom for the year in both HH and straight numbers. Perhaps somebody higher up will realize Christopher Goutman, Jean Passanante and Leah Laiman are driving our beloved soap off of a cliff!

When will they realize that viewers don't want ridiculous action or episodes that introduce a situation and resolve it in one day - where is the excitement in that. And where is the reason to want to watch tomorrow???? Bring back stories that last longer than a day or a week.

Fingers crossed there may be some change!!!! They are near the bottom for the year in both HH and straight numbers. Perhaps somebody higher up will realize Christopher Goutman, Jean Passanante and Leah Laiman are driving our beloved soap off of a cliff!

They're probably blaming GL and B&B for their low ratings.

Hmmm according to the comparisons from last year in Households, GL would be at a 1.9 and in 5th place if it stayed the same from last year. That says alot about the state of soaps ratings wise, does it not?

Hahahahha - AMC is going up while Zendall is getting a divorce. Love it - shows Zendall is NOT this show's saving grace.

Mark, do you have the ratings charts?

Mark, do you have the ratings charts?

I haven't done any lately. What do you want to see?

Perhaps a 3-year chart for all soaps?

ETA: The two shows I'd be most scared to be right now are ATWT (look at those 2007-2008 slopes! Pure rapid decline) and Y&R. I should also explain that the Season numbers are the first part of each season. So, "2008" really means "2008-2009 season, beginning in Fall 2008".

Perhaps a 3-year chart for all soaps?

As usual, Sylph, you inspire great revelations. The four-year chart below helps show why GL was cancelled.

Look at all the soaps. Notice that the ratings flatten, or improve, for almost every soap over the 4-season period. THAT IS A GOOD THING. It will be interesting too look at "longer haul", but it suggests soaps have at least temporarily "stopped the bleeding"...stability is DEFINITELY better than decline.

But look at the yellow line for GL. The slope is pretty monotonically linear, all decline, no stabilization. If this were a medical patient, we'd say, "relative to all the other patients, this patient shows no signs of improvement or stabilization". Thus, no hope.

Sad, sad day...but it is easy to see how the money wonks and number crunchers came to this decision, quantitatively.

Edited April 1, 200916 yr by MarkH