Proposed Soaps Over The Years

[John]

The original idea when SoapNet did GH Nightshift was for there to also be spinoffs of OLTL and AMC in primetime on SN.

The OLTL spin-off would have featured Llanview PD and John Mcbain

The AMC spinoff was said to center around fusion

But GH NS 1 was so suvccessful, SN just renewed it instead of doing the other spinoffs

[Gray Bunny]

From the August 29th 1995 issue of Soap Opera Digest:

NBC SEEKS NEW SOAP

NBC hopes to add a third soap to its daytime lineup--- which now includes DAYS OF OUR LIVES and ANOTHER WORLD--- by September of 1996, according to NBC Senior Vice President of Daytime Susan Lee.

The new sudser may come from the king of prime-time soaps, Aaron Spelling. Lee confirms that Spelling and has scribes Chuck Pratt Jr., whose credits include SANTA BARBARA, MODELS INC., and MELROSE PLACE, and former ONE LIFE TO LIVE Co-Headwriter Josh Griffith, penning a script.

However, the Spelling show is far from a done deal. "There's still the issue of a DAYS OF OUR LIVES spinoff [from DAYS Headwriter James E. Reilly and Executive Producer Ken Corday], as well as several other things," adds Lee. "And COMING OF AGE [from William J. Bell Jr.] is still a possibility."

Lee expects to have more details by next month: "We may not have decided which soap we're doing, but we'll know if we're doing one or not."

Of course, we know they ended up with Aaron Spelling's project, Sunset Beach. This was around the time that the Aremid storyline on DAYS was just beginning, so I guess they were setting that up in case that took off. Also interesting that Coming of Age was still a possibility in mid-1995.

[DRW50]

I did not realize they were still considering Coming of Age at this point - it had first been pushed in 1992 or 1993. If only they'd picked it up, MAB may never have dumped on Y&R.

[Cheap21]

It most likely would have been cancelled by the time she took over Y&R anyway

[DRW50]

I know but she still may have been bored for good with soaps and spent more time hovering around MOCA.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

I really wish they had went ahead with the OLTL spinoff. I loved the storylines that followed the Llanview PD in daytime. I would have loved to seen a nighttime version with a few new cops as well as Bo and John (as the center)

[Paul Raven]

Variety reported in Dec 71 that CBS had 'Diamond Head' in development as a primetime soap,It was based on a 1963 Charlton Heston movie and set in Hawaii.

[Paul Raven]

So years before Sunset Beach,Aaron Spelling was headed to daytime...

Variety August 10th 1973

Aaron Spelling's in confabs with ABC to also develop a daytime soaper for theweb.

[DRW50]

Wow I wish someone had asked him about that while he was still with us.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

I know its been mentioned about the spin-off centered around Marie Horton, but who was to play her? Maree Cheatham? Lanna Saunders??

[John]

Was That Pacific Lives? If So Id say Marie Cheetam. If it was another show around mid 80's Id say Lanna

[DRW50]

Catherine Mary Stewart was reportedly going to have a role on Scruples. She was on DAYS at the time, as Kayla Brady, and supposedly her contract said if she got a better offer, she could leave.

[Paul Raven]

Variety February 5th 1975

At Universal, George Eckstein is prepping "Keegan," an open-end primetime soaper with actionadventure overtones.

[Paul Raven]

Variety January 26th 1977

The primetime best-sellers concept will move down into

daytime

via NBC-TV, which has purchased two gothic novels for sunshine serialization.To be aired in half-hour strips over a 13-week period for each, the novels are "Spindthrift," by Phyllis Whitney, and ' The Dark Shore," by Susan Howatch.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Pacific Lives .... anyone knows what the show was going to be about. Marie wasnt a character on the show at the time.