Sounds Like ATWT Really is Next to Go

[Greg's GL]

Hmmmmm. You may be onto something here.

After seeing how TPTB decimated GL throughout the last few years, I always think that it might have been better to have Millie Taggert (that last good writer the show's had) stay at the helm and write it's finale. I would have been heartbroken, but I wouldn't have had to endure the trainwreck that followed.

ATWT is certainly not at it's prime. It may very well be the worst it's ever been, but it's still not in GL territory IMHO. They still have the vets and some semblance of a production team that could carry off a respectable ending. They just need to spend some of that money that they're using on new cast members (daytime vets) and hire a good writer to finish the story.

What's the point in a preserving a show just for the hell of it anyway? They tried with GL and it

failed. Miserably. I would hate for someone to have to go through that with their show, the way I have with GL.

[NorrthCafe]

So true. Daytime writers are short-sighted and seem to think that stunt casting (Morgan Fairchild) and gimmicks like DOOL's 'death and reincarntion island' will get viewers to tune in. It's the entire show. There are couples I dearly enjoy watching, but they're on shows I can't stomach so I 'Youtube' them or just read about them and it's enough.

[P.J.]

No, I meant "gameshows shown on mainstream network television". Yes, there's a limited syndication market. But in my area, that consists of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. (Though to my surprise my ABC affiliate does carry a half-hour version of Millionaire) Only TPIR is an hour long. And from what I remember, hour long gameshows were the exception, not the rule.

I still don't see LMAD succeeding on CBS. Gameshows are definitely cheaper to produce---but I don't see this dated concept appealing to a CBS audience. At least something like Pyramid invited you to participate along with the contestants. The original LMAD was more about the stupid contestants in costumes than about the games or skill. TPIR built around the games and added some "wacky" contestant moments.

Are the affiliates even obligated to carry LMAD? Because while gameshows are cheap to produce, it's still cheaper for affiliates to rerun their local news and carry some infomercial. It sounds like my affiliate is adding Dr. Oz this fall, and right now, they've only got the 9 am and 2pm slots to fill.

[All My Shadows]

I'm not a fan of it either. I can't believe there's somebody else out there who thought that Richard Karn was a good host! I can't stand O'Hurley but I loved the Karn years.

[bellcurve]

Well you have to give O'Hurley credit. At least he shows up to work sober, unlike Jabba the Hut.

I'd hardly call 2009-10's Wheel, Jeopardy, Family Feud, Millionaire, Deal or no Deal and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader a "limited syndication market." Especially when you compare where the game show was prior to Hollywood Squares and then Millionaire. At one point, post-Richard Dawson's re-entry to Family Feud, I recall there being only Wheel and Jeopardy for a year, possibly two, before those dating show revivals.

But some game shows, even network games, have easily had double runs. Wheel, in the beginning, went to a one hour format and after that went abysmal, they went with double runs, competing against the success of Price.

I can agree with you there. Wayne Brady's 2010 Emmy may buy the show some time on the air, though.

I don't think they are, but I am willing to bet the O&O's will carry the show as will the smaller markets(because they don't have the money to buy lucrative syndicated programming).

If Bill Bell Jr. were smart, he would have(like his mother did in the early years of the show) went to every single affiliate that wasn't carrying B&B in it's designated time slot or even at all and pitched to them how beneficial airing the show in in daytime would be beneficial to their local lineup. I was shocked to learn there are still several affiliates across the country that do not air B&B.

[dragonflies]

Yeah I guess it's easier for networks to cancel a show instead of trying to fix the problems the show has. That's the problem right there with daytime, no one in charge wants to do anything about their shows, just put "band aids" on them.

It's the people in charge of the soaps that are killing them

[Soapsuds]

ATWT should move to LA.

[bellcurve]

Relax, ZendallFan. Toasty and Alicia will make the move.

Just breathe, girlfriend.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

ATWT actually has the biggest studio space of all the East Coast soaps, I believe, and one of the biggest in daytime.

[All My Shadows]

Why in the world are all of the newer posts in this thread automatically bolded?

[Kubla Khan]

They have the biggest of the East coast, but I don't think it's bigger than any of the West Coast soaps.

ATWT certainly has the dumpiest studio, tho.

[Carolyn1980]

Testing

No idea, lol....I tried to fix it...no dice.

[P.J.]

I meant on daytime. During the day. Mid-afternoon. I loved Hollywood Squares. Match Game. Win, Lose or Draw. Tattletales. And even embarrassingly for a while, the one with "whammy's", which name escapes me right now. But a gameshow airing at 2pm? That hasn't been successful in twenty-plus years. A lot of serials went to an hour because the game show "died out" for a while in the mid-'80's.

I just don't think most gameshows can rise above some niche market anymore. Even the successful primetime ones are usually "hail mary's" from the networks, desperate to produce something cheap to fill airtime.

What a relief...I thought I was the only one.

[bellcurve]

Millionaire and Deal or no Deal have proven otherwise.

Also, people can say the same thing about daytime soap operas or the entire network daypart.

BTW, that game show with the "whammys" was Press Your Luck. We so need a new Michael Larson to come in and [!@#$%^&*] up a gameshow budget legitimately.

[ian]

I noticed the bold thing too... glad it isn't just me... odddd