A Different Way for B&B To Go To An Hour

[Melroser]

I was thinking the other day, why not try a different approach to giving Bold & Beautiful an hour a day on CBS. Why not break the hour down into two completely different packaged half-hour episodes?

This would allow CBS to get a full hour of B&B and would allow Bell-Phillip to have more half-hour eps to sell overseas. Would this not work for both parties?

So many cable shows now show back-to-back-to-back episodes these days it wouldn't really seem that odd if CBS started doing two episodes of B&B back-to-back, would it? Maybe the extra cost of producing the extra episodes per week would somehow be offset by the ability to package them overseas as 30-minute shows.

Just an idea.

Thoughts?

[Soapsuds]

No! Half an hour of B&B is enough. Bradley Bell barely knows what to do with half an hour format. I've been sneaking a peek at the show lately and it totally sucks IMO.

[Mr. Vixen]

I would totally be open to Bold and Beautiful expanding to an hour. But It don't think that would be a good way to do it. I mean if they didn't air back to back, odds are ratings would fall.

If the two episodes were going to air back to back, then i would just assume make it an hour long show, that way production costs could be lower.

I have been thinking, with the cancellation of ATWT, B&B could expand to an hour. I mean Y&R airs from 1230 to 130 (at least everywhere I have been). So it wouldn't be any different if B&B aired from 130 to 230. With ATWT vacating its spot, CBS is going to have a whole hour of television empty, and they have to have something to do with it. I had assumed another crappy game show..but...

If they expanded B&B to anhour, and had it air from 130 to 230, it could be profitable. While the budget for the show would probably have to be doubled, it wouldn't really matter would it? I mean, ATWT's entire budget would be floating around unused, so they could use a portion of that to fund the extra half of B&B (because I doubt an extra thrity minutes of B&B would cost what an hour of ATWT's budget used.) And if they launched a thirty minute game show from 230 - 3, they could use the remainder of the day to day bufget for it. I mean, they say that LMAD is super cheap to produce, and thats an hour show, so it would be even cheaper to make a half hour game show, would it not?

I don't know what the budgets are for any of these shows, I would have to look it up...But from what I can guess, it seems like that could be reasonable. And while they might be spending about the same amount of money (a little less, a little more...idk), they would probably pull in stronger ratings.

Bold and Beautiful gets much bettter ratings than ATWT does, and im sure expanding the show to an hour wouldnt hurt the ratings (unless OLTL fans move over at 2). So even though they wouldn't be saving that much money, they would probably get better ratings and be able to keep their sponsors happier. Also, I think B&B would be a better lead in for a new game show than ATWT was. So the strong ratings of B&B could lead into stronger ratings for a new half hour game show, which could effectively improve LMAD ratings as well.

Just a thought, and I admit I did a lot of guessing about the bidget stuff.

[Cheap21]

Networks want to get rid of soaps, not expand them! B&B is crappy enough as it is. The time for it to have been put on for an hour has long since sailed back when it was at its peaked. Its nowhere near as good in quality and content and expanding it now would only drive it to an early death

[cityfan01]

I'm from Minnesota and throughout the whole state we have Y&R from 11-12 (central time), then news, then B&B from 1230-1 (central time)

I think extending it to an hour could mess with some of CBS's affiliates

[Saving ATWT]

CBS would never want to expand B&B thus handing over another 30 minutes to a 'client owned' soap. Also, B&B isn't doing that much better in the ratings than World Turns: the show is only getting .5 points more in HH rating per week and isn't doing all that better in 18-49 demos.

I do like the idea about two half hour eppys. The ratings for most shows are broken down into 30 minute blocks, anyway. I am pretty sure that CBS sells ad time for LMAD this way, as if it were two different shows.

I still think CBS is playing with the idea of moving Day's into ATWT's slot. I remember Les Moonves talking about 'special soaps' and am wondering if, for him, the word special really means SONY produced. Already, Days is being lumped in with CBS shows in all the mags and even the DC Podcast. With DOOL, CBS would be airing a trifecta of top rated soaps with ultimate name recog. I find it strange that CBS has said nothing about how they plan to use that hour. There hasn't even been one leak.

[Chris B]

I can't think about positive things for soaps when even SOAPnet won't touch them. But in a perfect world I would love for CBS to pick up DAYS. Even OLTL. Just show me that you care about soaps as the #1 network. It just won't feel right with only two soaps and one is half hour. If not DAYS (the ideal choice), then I'd say expand B&B to an hour. I do think that a lot of the problems would be solved if the show became an hour. Then they'd be able to feature more characters in frontburner stories which would help reduce all this burn out.

[JackPeyton]

DAYS will not go to CBS. It will not go to ABC. It will not go to SoapNET. It will die on NBC when they pull the plug. The question is now, will they like people assumed was going to happen as if it was fact? I doubt it. They are trying to get time back from the affiliates too.

[bellcurve]

As I have said before, DAYS to CBS would strengthen the eye's daytime lineup, as the network would essentially possess the #1, #2, and #3 show on the air in households. CBS would also have two strong 18-49 female performers in DAYS/Y&R and the strongest 18-34 performer(even though that doesn't really matter to anyone but NBC/DAYS and ABC when they are having a really bad week). DAYS may be more expensive3 to produce than DEAL, but DAYS has the audience CBS and other networks covet.

And I wouldn't rule ABC out either. If DAYS moved to ABC(therefore canceling OLTL and bumping AMC to the 2PM EST slot), that would automatically make DAYS the network's #1 rated daytime drama in the households, in 18-34 females, and depending on how bad GH slips between now and March, it might make it the network's #1 drama in 18-49 females.

What makes you so certain that it won't jump to CBS or ABC?

Any DAYS fan would want this move, IMO. DAYS moving to another network(in the shape that it is in now) will solidify the numbers it already has, provided there is a huge promotional push leading up to the switch. DAYS is doing wonderful as an island on NBC, but it can't stay that was forever. And as trigger happy as NBC is, it's better to switch networks while DAYS is in a second wind, rather than waiting for the numbers to drop or, Corday to do something ridiculously stupid, or for Zucker to remember his promise JUST AS they are reasdy to negotiate. DAYS jumping to another network easily buys the show another 3-5 years.

NBC is not committed to DAYS. They care about their failing primetime lineup and their self-governing, cheap news in the daypart(TODAY).

[bellcurve]

When you say "two different half hours" do you mean creating and developing one show as a spinoff of the other? Or do you mean two separate half hours?

The show going to an hour would not affect the international sale of the show. GL is sold as a half hour soap in Italy, even though it is a full hour in the US. But essentially, if B&B were canned in the US three/four years after expanding to an hour, essentially the show would write itself and they would continue chopping the hour into half hour blocks until they ran out of material. So, while the show would be dead in the US, it'd buy them more time as a half hour in Italy and France, where the show is sold as a half-hour and they could still make money from it.

But there's no way the show will expand now. That would require moving to another studio, paying extra staff, etc. It would be an investment and judging by the way the show looks and feels, I don't think anyone is "invested" in B&B right now. It's all about cheap product for less.

[MarkH]

I know nothing about the industry....

I imagine the two half hours COULD work (I doubt this would ever happen) if a Night-Shift style spinoff could be envisioned. Same cast (or at least cast with some overlap), same sets...but one is "by day" and the other is "by night". Then there are no new infrastructure costs. They could accelerate the B&B#1 schedule to shoot for 2.5 days a week (they are already close to that), and then do B&B#2 for the other 2.5 days.

It is hard to imagine a concept where this might work...but if the nighttime show were focused on the "distaff" side--the cutters and sewers and so forth...the ones who work at night...that might actually be an interesting package. But I don't think a working-class soap would be of any interest anyway....

[bellcurve]

The only way something like that could even remotely work is if they shoot B&B one half of the year and the spinoff the other half. Retain the same staff, just a completely different cast, and different scripts.

I don't see Brad Bell being able to juggle two shows at the same time. His ADD is bad enough just dealing with one.

Also, shooting 2 or three days a week would not allow the cast the time off they want unless they tape till 1 or 2 AM every tape date. The actors having six months off would appeal more to them.

[MarkH]

Good point. Wasn't the 6-month shooting schedule part of Julie Hanan Carruthers' "miracle" that saved enough $$ to buy Port Charles its last year?

[bellcurve]

Year and a half if you want to get technical.

I think the cast likes the time off because it gives them time to vacation and do projects outside of B&B{Italian Dancing With the Stars, Kelly's Spas( ), secret SAG organization}. But the crew and lower-level production team might enjoy an extra pay increase to work year round, that way they don't lose money during these weeks and months off.

But it's all a moot point. The Bells are too greedy and too cheap to launch B&B as an hour series, and they're too cheap to launch another half-hour, even if it DID use the same sets.

[Sylph]

How many more times are we going to discuss this hysterical idea?

B&B is in a dire state. Best case scenario for the show now is for some other cable network to pick it up reshaped after CBS decides not to order more episodes once this contract cycle ends. Which is what will probably happen if a miracle doesn't occur.