Soap Rumors: Past and Present

[Khan]

My problem with Leah Laiman is that she's just so basic. She never writes characters with any depth. But, you know, what else can you expect from a former Cosmo writer?

[Cat]

First of all, Secondly, though, what is wrong with Sheri Anderson? She penned some of my favorite Days stuff ever in the late 80s/early 90s.

[Khan]

Look, I loved DAYS, too, back in the, well, day. But I don't kid myself into thinking DAYS was "deep-dish" the way classic ATWT was. When Bill Bell left to work full-time on Y&R, he took that DAYS with him.

[Cat]

I never saw Bill Bell's Days, only his Y&R, so for me Classic Days *IS* Patch & Kayla, Bo & Hope, Carly & Lawrence, John & Marlena, etc. Plus I was only a kid so my taste in soaps wasn't as well, uh, honed. But I understand what you mean about the difference between that and the "deep-dish."

[soapfan770]

I've heard that too, I think Michael Logan wrote about that. I am waiting for a day that a tell all book about Days under JER 2.0 which explains all when down. Was it sabatoge? Would they're have been an outcry or turn-around if the killed characters had not been beloved vets? Jack is always dying clearly became a self-parody.

[Eric83]

This is interesting.... Do you remember where you read it? I wonder if GL could have turned out differently ratings wise. I doubt P&G would have kept producing the show, but I guess CBS could have bought it.

[Leia]

We will abide by the rules Toupsy have no fear.

[Saving ATWT]

It was around Y2K time and have no memory of where I saw it. There was also a rumor that CBS wanted to buy both shows. There may still be a SOD web page up on this. Les Moonves had hit a winning streak with network-owned content. I'm curious as to whether CBS could have turned things around for both shows? I remember being impressed that GL did okay even though its schedule was all over the place and often aired at 9am or 10am in the East with NO solid lead in aside from CBS This Morning and, later, The Early Show. Also, remember that GL was up against GH in some markets again with ATWT as a weak lead in. A network should demand that locals clear all scheduled programming. (Nightline has had a similiar problem for many years and suffered depressed ratings.) Ratings wise, ATWT has, for some time, been the problemed child of CBS Daytime. It followed B&B (#2) and could never hold onto the lead. The network even tried the inTurn project with cross-overs from Y&R and, sadly, not to much happened. When was the last time ATWT got a real soap mag cover?

As a sidenote: A B&B/ATWT tie in would have been so cool. Maybe a connection with BRO and Forrester? Maybe Lauren could have taken over Fashions? In the process, maybe Shiela could have popped up and made Lilly her mark? There were so many cool options. B&B has so many under-used characters who would have fit well on World Turns. Thorne Forrester would be a good example. PNP/TeleNext should have sold out to Bell/Sony thus creating a 3.5 hour block. CBS would have had a hard time screwing over any daytime program.

[Khan]

I don't think so. Sheila's crossovers between Y&R and B&B worked, IMO, because those two shows are similar in terms of tone. Whereas ATWT and B&B doesn't seem as much (again, to me). That's why I felt the crossover between Y&R and WT (where Ali and Amber supposedly met up in L.A. and made sex tapes) came off as awkward and pointless.

[Mitch]

God no...B & B is camp and trash and ATWT is, uh less camp and trash..they don't exist in the same "dimension."

That is interesting about ATWT as I always heard GL was CBS problem child and it was on the chopping block, many, many times before ATWT, starting around 1986. CBS and P & G always had a "respect," for ATWT that they didnt have with GL..(I dont know if it was that ATWT was number 1 for 21 years of if it was just more "iconic," then GL.)) GL WAS going to be cancelled back in 1996 if they didnt bring Rauch in at the Lucy Johnston's insistence...ATWT was never mentioned about cancelling. GL was shuffled around the schedule as CBS "let," them do that...they were clearly disinterested, trying to get rid of the show for years, but the old girl refused to go down quietly. CBS also knew they couldnt get rid of ATWT before they got rid of GL..(the plan was ALWAYS that both shows would go in either one or two years of each other, and that GL would be the first to go.) Its no coincedence that GL got Wheeler AND the huge budget cuts while ATWT's cuts were not quite that drastic. ATWT was the Marica and poor GL was always the "Jan."

"

[Quent]

As a diehard Marland fan, even I have to admit that Sheffer's first year and a half were great. He really revitalized the show, and made it must-see. Taking one event (the break-up of Barbara and Hal's marriage), he created an umbrella story that just got better and better. Hogan had his favorites, though: Katie, Rose, Craig and most of all, Barbara. The year before HS, all Colleen Zenk Pinter did was pour coffee and listen to Jennifer's teenage angst. A year after Hogan, she was the focus of the show and up for a Best Lead Actress Emmy.

On the downside, after that first year-and-a-half , Hogan's s/ls were terrible. Teens On The Run, The Boxing Story, Pilar Kills Katie's Rabbit, Bonnie In Scotland and Celia In The Orange Crate were all cringe-worthy. Strangely enough, Jean Passante had a similar reign: Her first umbrella storyline was great...the Jen/Gwen baby switch. After that it was all downhill.

[EricMontreal22]

Agreed. I have a hard enough time when the New York ABC shs cross overed with GH but the Bell shows and P&G shows just don't exist in the same world to me.

[Khan]

Same here. I realize Robin Christopher (Skye) did fabulous work on GH, but I felt it was weird enough to see her on OLTL (and as Ben's ex-wife). I'd much rather wanted to see her play a new character on GH who, in time, turns out to be related to Alan and/or Edward Quartermaine, than to rewrite AMC's history and make Skye Chandler that way.

OTOH, I don't think it would have hurt the CBS soaps if they had done something similar to what ABC did for their Wednesday night lineup several years ago. If you will recall, they more-or-less had a "Vegas Night," where stories revolved around characters from "Grace Under Fire," "The Drew Carey Show," and "Ellen" (and maybe another show, I'm forgetting at the moment) heading to Vegas for one reason or another. However, aside from characters on one show making brief cameo appearances in another (like, for example, GUF's Grace Kelly showing up in one scene in the "Drew Carey" episode), the stories on each show were isolated; you didn't have to watch "Ellen," for example, to finish a story that began on "Grace."

Perhaps, CBS could have sat down with the HW's and EP's from each show and said, "Say, we have this idea of setting some summer storylines in and around X location" - perhaps, Atlantic City - "let's see how we can get characters from all your shows at the same place organically." Then, once everything was plotted out, all the shows had to do was go on location and have actors tape cameos for each other's shows in addition to work on their own. Nothing too convoluted, where you had to watch all four shows just to follow one damn story. So, for example, if you had some teens on the run on ATWT in AC, they'd cross paths briefly with a couple of people from Y&R, and so on, and so forth. You don't tell the audience when these other people might show up, "but nonetheless, keep your eyes glued everyday to CBS Daytime, as you'll never know who will turn up - or where!"