AMC: DC is really out and AMC next soap to go

[JackPeyton]

i would bet a huge chuck of unemployed people.

[Adam]

I wonder if any AMC current writing staff members were approached. To me that makes the most sense financially.... just promote from within. It worked to a certain extent with Ron over at OLTL.... so why not do the same for AMC? Addie Walsh has extensive history with AMC...Jeff Beldner too...

[Khan]

FLASHBACK IN:

INT. BRIAN FRONS' OFFICE - WALT DISNEY STUDIOS - DAY

FRONS

(on phone)

Beldner! My main man! How's it hangin'?

Say, gringo, as you know, I let Pratt go.

Yeah...yeah, I thought he was a real douche, too.

Listen, don't wanna take up too much of your time,

but - and I'm just spitballing here - what do ya

think about being the new head-write for All My Kids?

(beat)

Yeah, you'd have to report to me.

(beat)

No? You're not interested? Well. Alright then,

that's cool

(beat)

No, yeah, I understand.

(laughs)

Believe me, holmes, my plate's pretty full

these days, too!

(more laughs)

Alright, then, you take care of yourself. Hug and

kiss the partner for me! Say, what's his name

again? Right. Right. Alright -

(laughs)

Back to work, chief!

FRONS HANGS UP PHONE.

Frons

(sotto voce)

Hmm. That's strange. Addie Walsh said the

same thing when SHE turned me down last week.

FLASHBACK OUT.

[dragonflies]

Who's to say they didn't ask maybe McTavish again, or some other unemployed writer? If they did, then most likely unemployed people don't want the job either. It really doesn't seem worth it, AMC's future seems so unstable right now. OLTL is the more stable of the two and I'm not even referring to the move to LA for AMC either. I think this year is make or break for AMC

[JaneAusten]

I don't know if it's a make or break. I never figured it was done for anything other than to save money to possibly give the show another year or two of airtime. Does anyone really expect the show to experience any kind of ratings resurgence? Sure Days did but not to the tune of significant ratings points. They improved their audience and ratings a bit which allowed them to pass over other shows that continue to drop.

I'm really not seeing how AMC can survive or at least the Chandlers without Adam. But with Brooke returning and some hopefully significant story with she, Erica, and Jackson, they might be able to temporarily fill the vet gap left by DC's departure.

[CSF]

I completely understand what you are saying, Adam. Unfortunately, I can't come out and say who told me this information. Even if I were to pinpoint their industry location, it would still put them out there and I won't do that. Everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion so if posters want to look at this and call it bs because I won't call out a source, it's totally fine and that's their prerogative.

Just like you said, their financial situation is precarious and that is what is going to seal their fate when the time comes. I know a lot of people are saying they see OLTL and GH as being worse off as opposed to AMC which moved across the country at whatever expense, but that isn't the case at all. AMC is the ABC soap that is having the most trouble with their advertising, not GH and OLTL. OLTL isn't over budget and it's making money. Even if GH is over budget, it can still make up for that because it's not having advertising problems like AMC, which is well over budget and in serious trouble with the key demos. With that being said, Frons will definitely try to pull together whatever he can but he is certainly running out of elaborate ideas. There very well may be an increase in the ratings when LB's work is airing and if it helps the demos and the budget is in check and things aren't going in the red, that will guarantee AMC time. But, currently, that isn't the case so the network is definitely looking at the show as a whole. Their optimism is that things will pick up, but in the event they don't, they are preparing themselves for the end. IF DK and DS fail when they come on board and their work is airing (and I honestly don't have faith in those two, especially under Frons and JHC), AMC will in fact end and since ABC owns the show, they probably won't announce it a year in advanced the way CBS did with ATWT or 6 months in advanced with GL. ABC will pull it when they feel they have a program in place to take over it's time period.

In terms of so many writer's turing down the opportunity to headwrite for AMC, it's not hard to understand at all. We don't know exactly who was asked, but let's just say McTavish, Broderick, Karen Lewis, Addie Walsh and Blender were all asked to take over the reigns, they have been in this industry for so long, they know the ins and outs. They probably have a nice amount of money in the bank where they can decline an offer like this, especially when they know Frons and they know it's not worth the headache that he is. As for out of the industry writer's, in this day and age, IMO, I don't think many writer's would work for a network owned, micromanaged soap that has 1 foot in the grave. They probably wouldn't want that they were this soaps last HW on their resume, nor would they want their vision to be smashed to pieces by Frons.

[dragonflies]

I find myself believing you. I don't know you that well, but you don't seem like you'd have a reason to make any of this up. Plus it fits with things other sources have said as well..

Bringing back Cady for a week and JB for three months is great, but what's it going to do long term? People want Cady back FULL TIME, yet the show doesn't seem to want to do that, which is going to piss off people all over again. Maybe JB wants something short-term, but this just seems like a short-term ratings ploy, a way to get ratings up for a short period. That NEVER works, but then again AMC tends to repeat their same stupid mistakes over and over again and expect a different result every time they do.

[JaneAusten]

CSF I'm curious. When you say troubles with their advertising does this mean getting new advertisers signed up, existing renewed, having to reduce advertising costs or a combination of a number of things. And were they having difficulties before the economic downturn as well or was this just a catalyst to an already existing problem?

[CSF]

Jane, what I was told was "AMC is a sinking ship, people think the move is going to improve things, but at the same time they are suffering with their advertising and are having difficulty with sponsorship. The move isn't the solution, nor will it save the show, especially since a number of actors "hate" LA and don't plan on sticking around long."

When the auto industry was at it's lowest in 2008, I believe it was Ford who dropped out as a major sponsor with ABC Daytime, maybe GM too. There are a number of other sponsors who have definitely pulled out from ABC Daytime due to existing problems in the economy and this is a contributing factor to AMC's advertising problems. It's my understanding they were clearly having problems before the economic downturn, with always being over budget, etc, the economy has definitely made it worse. Like other's have added to this tread, it's a combination of many things, but I would definitely say, with demos being at their lowest for AMC and their other financial issues, it's not possible for them to 1: lure back sponsors who left and 2: get new sponsors to pay more or equal to what their previous sponsor's paid. It's just not an option for AMC and yes, it's the same for all the other soaps, but, AMC is not in the same boat as Y&R, B&B, Days, GH, OLTL. It's in a class by itself right now and it's certainly struggling. And I'm sure, existing advertisers are reconsidering their relationship with AMC due to it's financial problems. Industry professionals are obviously aware that the show is lead by someone who can't balance it's books, and who wants to be in a situation with that?

Another thing that I want to point out is that the show didn't have to move to LA. It could have moved to Brooklyn, or Long Island, or Connecticut. I'm not sure if ABC evaluated those possibilities, and I didn't ask people I know who can obtain information like that about moving to other areas on the east coast, but those running AMC have made serious mistakes in the past and they are continuing to do so even now with the serious financial burden that is upon this show. The dust hasn't settled on this move to LA. The entire move was orchestrated with such great PR. We were told everyone had the option to move with the show. Then before we knew it, actors were told not to bother packing their bags because they were not needed on the canvas anymore, and I'm certain that's obviously not the last surprise everyone is in store for. I guarantee you, ABC/Disney is paying every single expense for AMC's big starts to make their commute to LA, with the expectation those stars will leave sooner than expected which would free up the shows budget, BUT, may have a really negative effect on the overall viewership which could lead to serious erosion. I stand by my opinion that AMC has no foundation laid out for it's younger actors to rise up as the new Erica's, Adam's, Palmer's Brooke's, Nina's, Angie's, Jesse's, etc.

[skiman12082004]

People it has been 3 weeks since the move. Give them time to get acclimated. If they did forget to rent the storage space for the sets then someone should be fired but I am sure they will be able to find something comparable with time. It truly boggles the mind that every thread has to include some sentiment of a show being canceled or pitting one show against the other; its truly ridiculous. Let's just enjoy the shows while we can which will hopefully be for many years to come.

[Adam]

I understand your frustration, and yes it is unfortunate, but in this climate it is worthy of such a discussion. If it is true AMC had the option of many other places, why the hell would they chose L.A? Was it to force the hands of all these vets and NY based actors to part ways with the show and it backfired? Doesn't make sense.

[dragonflies]

I think the move is going to hurt AMC more in the long run, than OLTL staying in NY will. OLTL is getting the stability. AMC is getting alot of changes and I do think they'll lose more actors as time passes.

[JaneAusten]

I'm just curious is who is it that's responsible for AMC's books. I assume the EP but the fact that Julie Carruthers has not been replaced leads me to believe someone else must be overseeing or running things there.

And do you or did you sources have any opinions as to why the move to LA versus somethere else on the east coast? It is perhaps so ABCD leadership can keep a closer handle and eye on things? Or was it so those higher priced vets like David Canary or Susan Lucci would either not make the move or would leave very soon after the move freeing up money. I really can't imagine they were happy with Thorston Kaye and Alicia Menshaw leaving but I could be wrong.

[Angela]

I would have loved that team back together.

I think Frons moved AMC because he intended on saving it over OLTL, but the move, the critically unpopular state of the show, the writer changes (D&D weren't at the top of anybody's list), the inability (or lack of desire) for some of their top actors to make a permanent move does put it on the shakiest of grounds. It sort of reminds me of the Leno/Conan debacle (bad executive decisions), hopefully it'll end better. DAYS fired some of its biggest stars and look at it now, a success story, so it's not impossible.

[CSF]

I would definitely say it's JHC who handles the finances. I honestly think that Frons' likes her because she has no vision and will do as she's told and I'm sure all this time, Frons' solution to the budget problem was to use less sets, chase away high profile vets and drop actors to recurring until that just didn't work anymore. I'm sure higher ups stepped in and told him to come up with a more practical solution and he thought LA would be great and found a way to convince Disney and win over fans by making everything seem flawless leading up to the move. But of course, problems always seem to surface.

I didn't ask about the move. It's my opinion based on many discussions on this board that AMC could have moved elsewhere in the NYC metro-area as opposed to going all the way across country. After all, they are renting this studio in LA and it's technology is very advanced. Something tells me they would be paying the same fees to rent this studio as they were paying for the maintenance for their NYC studio. And if anyone on here know anything about that, I'd love to hear it because it certainly would shed light on many issues with the show.

I'm sure however, Frons found a way to have Canary, Lucci and a few other's vets paid for completely for their commuting and in the upcoming months, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised when those vets leave the show as they were only remaining with the show to make the move look like some easy task. And as we know and as it's been rumored, DC will be leaving and DC certainly can afford to live the rest of his life anywhere he wants and how he wants. He doesn't need the money from AMC. The same goes for Lucci. I'm sure they have their cast under a gag order.

And just look at it this way, Lucci and Canary didn't need to move with AMC, and they didn't. They are commuting, but for how long? You can read between the lines that Frons begged them to make it appear like they'll be here until the very end. If either of the two said "hell no, we aren't moving with AMC to LA," it would have turned into a huge nightmare for AMC and fans would have tuned out, and there would have been really bad publicity, but as other's have pointed out, ABC made the move look like it never happened, like one night everyone went to bed in NYC and the next morning they woke up in LA without a scratch on their body.