GL: Will The Light Burn Out Out Come Sept?

[NYC123]

IMO If GL gets the boot it would not surprise me. If it does at least it ends with some dignity.

[Rocket Man]

I believe the 1.8 ratings target was a rumor and in fact there hasn't been a confirmation (or reference) to where GL needed to achieve. There has been several days that GL hit 1.8; however, the ratings has increased for the show in the past few months overall whereas they are growing at a smaller pace but not declining.

Talk shows and game shows have a very short life in TV land and yes it is cheap to produce; however, I suspect CBS will be looking at this very hard because GL is one of the very few flagship and longest running show for the Tiffany network. I have to applaud GL changing its model in order to survive which all the other soaps will have face it one way or another. It is a matter of time.

KEEP THE "LIGHT" SHINING!

[Rocket Man]

I'm not surprised either considering I was a huge fan of "Santa Barbara", "Generations" and "Another World". If daytime's oldest, richest-history soap opera goes, it's inevitable for the rest of the genre.

[rangethatrover]

It will be the beginning of the end for every soap but the Bell shows when this unfortunately happens. And its not like those viewers are going to watch another soap as GL airs at the oddest times in most markets. Sad. I figure Setptember will be it.

[Rakesh]

I'm urging all you GL fans to call in NOW.

[MarkH]

I do wish they'd all read Brad Bell's last SOD article. YES, the numbers are horrible. But every soap still outdraws most cable competitors, and soaps still deliver a reliable concentration of female viewers. Yes, they are more expensive (and Bell acknowledged they need to be "cheap"), but presumably the international sales can help offset SOME of the price differential between game shows and soaps?

That said, I am of two minds here. On the one hand, folks have been claiming this is not *their* GL...it is a pale copy of what it was. Why sustain life support?

On the other hand, people have been saying 'creative resurgence'. If that is true, it seems unfortunate, from one lens, to pull the plug now. Yet, at the same time, it would be arguably time to "go out on a high note", no?

I'd like to see what a real soap magazine said about this. But, alas, I'm not sure there are any serious industry-analysis soap mags out there.

[alphanguy74]

Why does it seem to be all or nothing? Why doens't CBS try cutting it back to 30 minutes first? I don't know what talk show they'd replace it with.... talk shows are getting kind of played out. As far as game shows, TPIR is in trouble, because Drew Carey looks and acts like a corpse up onstage. I've never seen a game show host more STIFF, and BORING. Whoever chose him needs to be fired, and NOW. MY choice would be to bring back a CBS staple... and up the dollar amount... produce a new 500,000$ pyramid. But CORRECT the mistakes the Donny Osmond version made:

1: not hearing the tick of the clock in the winner's circle killed the suspense

2: People tune into a classic show to see an old friend, make the set look like the OLD ONE with a few MINOR changes.

3: Same for the theme song...

4: Use the high tech "monitors" for the first game, but utilize the "flippy boxes" for the winner's circle, that little bit of movement during the Winner's Circle heightens the excitement.

5: The Winner's Circle in the Osmond version was TOO EASY to win, again, killing the suspense, you had to be REALLY inept to not win it. The 80's version was perfect... I felt the 70's version Winner circle was too hard.

6: Donny osmond WAS a good host, he just needed to use Dick's classic line: "Here is your first subject... GO!"

That cute pie Billy Bush from Extra would be a nice host. People would tune in just to ogle HIM. Make the game so it works like it used to... first time to the winner's circle, you try for 50,000$, and if you win the second game... you try for 500,000.

[DRW50]

I know what you mean, but a fan could (and they often do) say that about any soap, even those with their old production model. The question is whether the show as it currently is has improved enough to deserve to stay around. Even though many still say it has problems, most seem to think it's improved.

Thank you for the number, Rocket Man.

[MarkH]

Oh, Game Shows. We need a whole other board for that . But I feel unseemly discussing it in the shadow of GL's precarious fate.

But I think a 30 minute soap simply doesn't have the economy of scale needed in today's industry. It's not like, if you cut to 30 minutes, you can cut 50% of the writers, production staff, actors. So, you realize SOME cost savings, but not that much.

But, yes, I remember a time when daytime was a vibrant mix of local, syndicated and network programming, with a mix of talk, variety (Dinah! Merv!), game show and soap. A day could reasonably include Dialing for Dollars, Merv, Let's Make a Deal, General Hospital, Dark Shadows, reruns of I Love Lucy and the Munsters, Phil Donahue, Pyramid, and ....

But, you know, that was when there was an audience home to watch all that stuff. People, for the most part, aren't going to even both putting "Pyramid" on the DVR.

It is nostalgia.

I actually think the future for GL (except, it may be too late for GL...I hope not) is more in that agnesnixon.com article I posted about...than on CBS. But as brimike suggested, nobody is "monetizing" the online platforms right yet.

If GL could hold on for 5 years, I think maybe the online platforms could catch up.

[alphanguy74]

What about first run syndication? There are independent stations in most markets that would LOVE to pull the ratings that GL does, or what about a smaller network, such as ION or CW?

[Ann_SS]

I'm torn. Part of me wants to rally to GL's defense by writing and calling CBS, but an even bigger part of me screams that it is an abomination to have any show on television with GL's horrible production model.

[MarkH]

You make excellent points. I don't get the feeling anyone is trying. GL skews too old for CW, though. And I'll bet they could never acquire a daytime hour from their affiliates, who are making all their daytime cash on judge shows and the like.

Well I'm torn. I'm thinking about writing CBS just to try to save the show ... and with it, and important piece of the genre ... for a little while longer.

But a loud voice inside of me -- which does not mind that production model, but I'm not a regular viewer -- says "Let it go. Let it go. After the forest burns, amazing new things grow up from the ashes. Let it go. For their to be change, you have to stop resisting it".

I hate this internal war...I need to get meds, eh? LOL

[Rakesh]

I've been saying for a very long time BOTH P&G soaps should be 30 mins.

This is what I would like to see on CBS Daytime.

P&G's soaps - 30 mins

Bell's soaps - 1 hour long

Can't P&G sign some deal with the Bells to get them a schedule(below) like this on CBS?

I'm going to use my NYC time as an example.

Y&R - 12:30 - 1:00(1st half)

GL - 1:00 - 1:30

Y&R - 1:30 - 2:00(2nd half)

B&B - 2:00 - 2:30(1st half)

ATWT - 2:30 - 3:00

B&B - 3:00 - 3:30(2nd half)

Or is that wishful thinking? IMO, this schedule would be awesome! It will benefit them all. You're basically making sure they watch all of the CBS soaps.

[rangethatrover]

I am loving me some Ann. We have similar taste in actors (especially the bad ones. ahem. Farah) and production values.

[MichaelGL]

A couple of months ago, I wouldn't have really cared, but since the start of 2009, the show as shown some creative resurgence. Yet a part of me would find some peace with GL going out on a high note.

I don't know, I don't think CBS/P&G have explored all all their options with the show. Like some posters have said, a timeslot change would do the show well.