Proposed Soaps Over The Years

[John]

Pacific Lives focused on the Hortons not in Salem. Sandy. Tom Jr, Marie, Mike & Bill

[BingCherry]

Broadcasting and Cable March 6, 1995

Having established a strong Monday-Friday late-night lineup rather quickly, after years of almost comic futility, CBS hopes to have a project in place in early 1996. Currently in development is a one-hour weekly, scripted show that has been described as a soap opera in the vein of Melrose Place, specifically for a young, late-night audience. Given that the project is slated for an after-prime time airing, the show is expected to push the boundaries in terms of content and language.

That the project will be more risque than the typical prime time soap is further evidenced by the fact that Zalman King, executive producer of Showtime's steamy Red Shoe Diaries, will serve as co-executive producer on the show. Also overseeing the project is Bill Bell Jr., president, Bell/Phillip Television Productions Inc. CBS executives are expecting to see a bible of the project within the next three months. Thus far, no acting talent has been attached to the show.

[Paul Raven]

I posted this a few pages back as reported by Soap Opera Weekly

SPW April 1995

Jerome and Bridget Dobson,daughter Mary Dobson ,Bill Bell Jr and director Zelman King have teamed up on a CBS development commitment for a primetime soap tentatively titled Savannah,

At this time they are working on the first script and plan to do outlines/scripts for a further 12 episodes.

Bridget Dobson is quoted as saying it will be 'sexy,zany,a little peculiar...we want to use the most famous stars in the world.This is one of the most exciting,creative projects that we've ever worked on.It's a very interesting team'.

One rumour is that the show would go up against Saturday Night Live.

[DRW50]

Between the Dobsons and Zalman King I think they would have probably been banned in every country.

[BingCherry]

Aw, I didn't see. I didn't know the Dobsons were involved too. It would certainly have been fun to watch. In the same article, it mentioned that Aaron Spelling was developing similar late-night formats at both ABC and Fox.

[John]

The mid 90's there was a lot to be developed for late night. These two & the Griffith/Gotlieb show. Plus Valley Of The Dolls was successful but just cost too much money & had bad production values.

[BingCherry]

Well, the whole period between '92 and '96 was an interesting time for late-night TV. Letterman had moved to CBS, Fox was trying to get into the late-night game and then failed with Chevy Chase, ABC was not only looking for a post-Nightline show but also something to compete with SNL.

[LoyaltoAMC]

I don't have the energy to scroll through 26 pages of posts LOL, but have the proposed Knots spinoffs been mentioned? David Jacobs wanted to spin Kenny and Ginger Ward off into their own soap around the 3rd or 4th season that would take place in LA and center on the music industry. I don't think that ever got past the discussion phase. Then there was the proposed summer spinoff in the mid/late 80s that would've centered on the younger characters (Michael, Paige, etc.). This probably got further along than the Ward spinoff, but nothing ever came of it. The Ward spinoff sounded interesting, but I'm not sure how wise it would've been to center the spinoff on the show's weakest actors and characters.

[DRW50]

I would have started a new show with Ginger and a new set of characters. Maybe have a guest star from Knots be a regular on the new show, someone like Judy Trent (Jane Elliot), or the teacher who was in love with Karen. Or Karen's brother!!

[Chris B]

The spin-off with the teens was almost a done deal, but I believe there was a writers strike. I do think that was meant to be a summer series only though. I can't imagine they wanted to lose Paige to a spin-off. The Ginger and Kenny spin-off was called Nashville and apparently it didn't happen because James Houghton didn't want to do it. Kim Lankford said this is also why she was written off the show, because he decided to leave. I do agree that would've been an interesting idea. Knots was such a stable performer a spin-off would've been a good idea. Especially when Knots was canceled and they kept trying to recreate it's success with shows like Hotel Malibu and Second Chances.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I'm surprised Knots never had an actualized spin-off as well. There were actually a lot of different possibilities there. It's even more amazing that the show remained in/close to the top 30 in the ratings for almost all of its run, and I believe the last season was actually its highest rated season in a while.

[Khan]

KNOTS finished their last season 32nd in the Nielsen ratings -- which isn't bad at all, considering how long it had been on the air, and how far it had fallen quality-wise over the previous two seasons. IIRC, too, CBS (and Les Moonves) wanted to renew the show for one more year, but David Jacobs believed rising production costs made a 15th season simply impossible. (As it was, all the major cast members, save for Michele Lee, had agreed to work one episode less during the 14th season in order to keep the show under budget.)

Frankly, I don't think a KNOTS spin-off with Kenny and Ginger as the leads would have been very successful. As LoyaltoAMC has said, the Wards arguably were the show's weakest couple. Yes, a spin-off might have developed Kenny and Ginger's personalities more. However, who's to say that giving the two more airtime and a bigger space to "play" in would have made them more interesting? I think the two just suffered from a creator and producer who had no ideas for them beyond their initial concept of being newlyweds.

On the other hand, I wouldn't have minded if Diana had been launched into her own series, centered around the fashion industry in New York City. All they had to do, really, was build a new cast of characters around her, emphasize the less grating aspects of her character, and then downplay the rest.

[DRW50]

Like when she wasn't oncamera...

I think there as plenty of potential for Ginger on her own. Not with Kenny.

[Chris B]

Diana was a great character and I'll always say Karen suffered by her loss. She allowed Karen to be human and showed she wasn't perfect. I also think the way season five played out was a major turnaround for Diana. She had finally grown up and recovered from the stuff with Chip. I wanted to see where she could go, but they didn't do an ything with it. I wish when she returned in the final season that she had been used as a regular. She could've filled the spot of Vanessa.

[DRW50]

I thought Diana mostly made Karen look like more of a martyr. All Karen's kid stories ultimately ended with her in the right, although my favorite was the Linda fiasco.