AMC: RUMOR about the show possibly moving production to LA

[Ann_SS]

Double post. Ignore.

[reallyhateskateonlost]

This is the beginning of the end for AMC. This would be a tough move for most of the vet cast...This is Frons' way of getting rid of them for good. Then I will stop watching.

[bwilsonwriter]

Yeah it is just a rumor for now. But either way AMC is in trouble from what I am hearing and they have to do something to make the show cost effective.

[SFK]

Yeah, Loving would probably still be on the air had it been sandwiched between AMC (12:30) and OLTL (2:00) as Agnes Nixon had wished. Okay, maybe it would have *just* been cancelled.

But who sits around drumming this [!@#$%^&*] up? I guess nothing should surprise me these days, but never in a million years would I imagine ABC moving AMC to L.A. Unless of ocurse it's some master plan to get rid of all the vets in one fell swoop. Ha! Joke's on them, James Mitchell just relocated to L.A.! But for real, moving Susan Lucci (who has THREE homes in NY) to L.A. alone would cost them bank, they would REALLY have to sweeten the pot for her and this isn't DWTS, she's not going to feel like catching red eyes until the show's cancellation/her retirement. Ugh, I'm just imagining a Peapack-like fiasco of a revamp ("We can go outdoors more now, fans will be able to see more of 'the REAL' Pine Valley..." Yeah, in Los effing Angeles ) . Plus, I'm almost certain we would lose David Canary to the move.

[DavidsMuse]

Or the vets do the bicoastal thing, with generous time off. If the job is in LA and they want to work, they'll go!

[DRW50]

Something tells me the only time off Frons would give vets would be time off the show for good.

[SFK]

This is kind of cute considering the topic of this thread:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19840609&id=liATAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GwYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2700,4891567

I remember the rumors about Susan leaving around the time she did Dallas, people were saying that's why they brought Genie Francis (Ceara) on, to be "the new Erica." But I never knew about her thoughts of leaving in 1984. Of course I was only a kindergartener at the time, but already very much in love with my first crush Erica.

[cara mia]

Why don't they just shoot in Brooklyn or Jersey or Long Island City?

[SFK]

There was a thread about that a few months ago, again, not sure how factual that idea was either.

[CSF]

Actually, IMO, Ryan's Hope would have still been on the air today had ABC not f'ucked it up and placed it between AMC and OLTL at 1:30. Loving should have aired at 11:30am EST after ABC's Family Feud which I've been told by many was a success. But ABC, doesn't know what a good lead in really is. The only time ABC created a good lead in for a soap was when they moved AMC to 12:30 in 1975 for the premier of Ryan's Hope.

But even if ABC brought up that argument, we see from the ratings that GH's share has decreased more than that of the soaps airing before it, which should tell ABC that 3pm isn't as viable as it once was. There is a lot more competition for a soap at 3pm than earlier, IMO.

[marceline]

Perhaps I'm blaspheming here but a move and the resulting loss of talent would be a good opportunity to revamp the show. Perhaps they could start over from scratch with just a few characters for familiarity. Who those characters are and the audience that follows will make all the difference. They could consider moving someplace other than LA or NY, like Vancouver or Baltimore which has been home to The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street, (I believe the set for the police station is still up as a tourist attraction) or Portland which is now host to Leverage.

[chyti]

Or they didn't have anything to air btwn GH and Oprah and I am sure Oprah wasn't going to be moving her timeslot.

[CSF]

But Oprah airs at 9am live in Chicago if I recall correctly.

From 1975 to 1983, ABC could have done a lot with their daytime line up. Especially since ABC really wanted The Edge of Night to remain on the air, they could have had a line up like this beginning in 1978:

12:30: All My Children

1:30: Ryan's Hope

2:00: One Life to Live

3:00: General Hospital

4:00: The Edge of Night

or they could have started everything off at 11am in 1983:

11:00: Ryan's Hope

11:30: Loving

12:00: All My Children

1:00: One Life to Live

2:00: General Hospital

3:00: The Edge of Night

ABC really wanted Edge and many affiliates wouldn't air it at 4pm and many didn't air it at all.

ABC could have worked out something with the affiliates to do something like I listed above, expanded Edge to 60 minutes and make GH a real lead in for the soap. AMC could have rocked at noon because it was already ahead of Y&R anyway in the 1980s for the most part and when CBS moved Y&R to 1pm directly against AMC in 1980, it didn't do well. Ryan's Hope would have made a good lead in for Loving and since it already had an established audience, may have been a good anchor for the new soap.

Either way, it's all irrelevant. I still say this whole move to the west coast thing is bull sh!t. If ABC wants to see AMC do better, try switching up your schedule ABC!

[R Sinclair]

It's not up to Oprah. It's up to affiliates. Oprah comes on at 7pm here in Connecticut from a station out on Long Island... as well as 4pm on Connecticut's CBS affiliate and ABC-TV New York... as well as 1:05am on ABC New York. So it's more like the affiliates aren't going to jeopardize their numbers by moving Oprah.

[Jonathan]

Very cool read. Thanks for finding it! Hopefully she has no regrets about her decision to stay.