Proposed Soaps Over The Years

[DRW50]

Interesting title.

[Paul Raven]

In the wake of Rituals getting the go ahead for syndication,Paramount proposed 'City of Angels'in 1983 based on the off -camera life and relationships of the star

of a late -night talk show host.

Eugenie Hunt and Ralph Ellis, the husband/wife team who have worked on such network serials as Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns and The Doctors, would write the new series, which, will not be a "firm go" until Paramount has lined up commitments from advertisers for 52 -week runs and from stations.

The budget for City of Angels would be close to that for Rituals, at about $250,000 per week.

[Paul Raven]

.From November 1987 re NBC

..the network is planning two new prime time serials this summer. There is an initial I3-week commitment that could be expanded to 40 weeks. To Tartikoff the process resembles musical chairs. "There are two series commitments out there and and there are five suppliers circling around two chairs," he said. "We're

trying to develop a 40- week -a -year serial.

We all know what Dynasty and Dallas do in season. We all know what Dynasty and Dallas do when they repeat [poorly]. There is an appetite for a serial. If you could keep it on all year, you could have a big hit."

[YRBB]

Oh! That's a real shame it didn't happen!

[Gray Bunny]

I kindly encourage you all to check out the list I've compiled of proposed shows and proposed spinoffs from over the years at Celebrating the Soaps. Please, please feel free to let me know of any corrections or things to add! Note: I mostly steered away from listing primetime soap operas, along with a few random titles where there was no further information available.

I plan to scan and include various articles from soap mags from over the years (mostly SOD, mostly 90's and some 80's) so that you can see the full description of what they were reporting on at the time.

[robbwolff]

Thanks for doing this. It's fascinating information. One thing. I don't think Grosse Pointe was designed as a replacement for Capitol. Soap Opera Digest mentioned in 1983 that Gross Pointe and The Barons were slated to start airing around September and were supposed to air late morning/early afternoon if I remember correctly.

Also, there was a planned soap in the 1980s titled Deadline. It was created by Margaret DePriest and was developed for NBC. It was set at a newspaper.

Nice work!!!

[John]

So cool. Thanks

[EricMontreal22]

That's a great list!

One thing, Secrets of Midland Heights (which I've been trying to find clips from on youtube for years--I believe there are some promos and maybe credits) DID air on CBS in the early 80s as a primetime soap from David Jacobs and the Lorimar/Dallas/Knots Landing group. It was retooled for ABC as the equally short lived (and hard to find evidence of) King's Crossing.

Ha no idea SoapNet considered primetime spin offs for OLTL and AMC--I would have liked that, but focusing on Fusion/ConFusion on AMC I wouldn't have liked...

THis thread always makes me wish 13 Bourbon Street's pilot would pop up somewhere....

[cassadine1991]

Primetime spin-offs of AMC and OLTL??? Nice...

[robbwolff]

John McBain was supposed to be the lead for the OLTL spinoff.

One spinoff that is currently missing is the Passions spinoff that was planned in the early 2000s -- around the same time that Salem High was proposed. It was slated to air on Saturday mornings and would feature Tabitha's niece.

[Gray Bunny]

Thanks for the clarification!

[Gray Bunny]

Thanks! I think I remember reading that, but also read differing comments, so my last entry was saying it was a mid-80's proposal for Capitol.

I don't recall reading about Deadline. Thanks, I'll be sure to add it!

Oh crap, and I totally had notes on that one! How did I delete that? Oh, well. Thanks for pointing that out, will be sure to add!

[SFK]

This is interesting because I've read that BT hated primetime soaps and resisted adding them to the lineup for as long he could. He seemed vindicated when Flamingo Road and Bare Essence didn't succeed, so I find it curious that he was still persuaded to pursue such an idea.

[robbwolff]

It was definitely 1983 when CBS planned to debut Grosse Pointe and The Barons. Soap Opera Digest talked about the shows a few times and even had a debut date listed. But neither show materialized.

I remember reading about Deadline in Variety. I think it was the late 1980s, after DePriest had left Another World.

As for the Passions spinoff, I know Tabitha and her niece were supposed to be part of it. And I think James Reilly said that there was a good chance we'd see some of Passions' younger characters that hadn't yet been introduced.

And thanks for doing this list. It's freaking incredible!! Bravo!

[robbwolff]

I'm not sure it's mentioned in this thread but I just recalled another planned soap. It was probably around 1983 when Variety reported that NBC was considering a new soap titled "Generations". This was not the same series that Sally Sussman Morina would create in the late 1980s but one created by Dorothy Ann Purser who had written for a number of soaps, including "Texas" and "Another World".