What is As the World Turns went to the CW?

[atwtfan]

Just a thought that I am throwing out there to see what people think. What is ATWT was picked up by The CW? After Tyra Banks Show goes off the air, The CW, will not have a daytime schedule as it stands at the moment. CBS does own half of the network, it would be possible to have the show transfer to that network and continue on. I have been thinking about this for awhile and just thought others may have a view on the show. I am one of those fans of ATWT that does not want to see the show go off the air. In my opinion it needs to continue as the longest running daytime show and not let the title be given to General Hospital.

[JackPeyton]

it would be a piss poor version of what the show has already become.

it would prob have to lose half the cast, and by half the cast im talking about the vets and big characters people dont wanna lose.

it would be much more youth focused.

it would lose prob half or so of the audience.

it would end up cancelled again, like passions.

[Cheap21]

ATWT is NOT going to the CW. No offense but I think people need to just accept that its going to be gone

[bellcurve]

Like Days of our Lives?

[JackPeyton]

No, because obviously people didnt care about Jarlena & Payla! lol. I mean, how else do you explain ratings going up with their exits? lol.

And DAYS is not youth focused, not teen youth focused like The CW would make it. Days has 4 teens who are on around 2 times a week in a minor to supporting storyline.

And days happens to be better now than it has been in over a decade, IMHO.

Fact is, Days got lucky. They got a team of ppl in there who plotted out a good soapy story and it worked out well. It was a fluke.

[All My Shadows]

It would die a pale version of a pale version, so I'd just rather it go out now as one pale version of greatness.

[jcar03]

The only CW I get is through WGN station in Chicago so during the day it is WGN programming (aka Maury, reruns, etc).

[Chris B]

Fans need to start pimping the idea of a spin-off, not the original show moving to another network because that isn't going to work. Too expensive and there is the soap stigma. As I've said many times if you put together a pilot using material aired on ATWT, you could probably launch a new show based on the Snyder family or Jack and Carly moving to another city. It could be produced like a regular primetime show and would be appealing to a network like Lifetime. Hell, they could pitch tv movies to air on Hallmark. But moving the entire show would be expensive and the budget cuts would have fans complaining too mcuh. Plus the ratings wouldn't be there.

[UKBoi]

I don't see why someone doesn't think of doing, as you said, a spinoff with say Jack and Carly moving to a new city. In what would probably be the most cost-effective solution ever why not have them move to New York with the kids, and do a daily websoap of 7 or 8 minute episodes which are then edited into an hour long episode shown once a week on a cable channel or something. It doesn't have to look cheap, Gotham and Venice have both shown you can have a good level of production values using digital handheld cameras and real life locations. Setting it New York City would prove ideal. Have Carly take on a job at a fashion PR company whilst Jack joins the NYPD as a detective. Throw their kids into the equation, add a handful of new characters (Carly's demanding, Kelly Cutrone-esque client, and a shady character Jack is investigating, a new love interest for Parker), create a mystery storyline to kick things off, and boom, you've got yourself a nice little treat for ATWT fans whilst opening the show up to a new audience on a network like, as you said, Lifetime. Who knows? Maybe it could stir up interest in the ATWT brand and it could return in some form.

[All My Shadows]

The TV movie idea is one I've never heard before, but damn, I like it. Hallmark always has those old/young TV movies on, where a younger person meets and eventually becomes friends with an older person, and they have various adventures. That seems very ATWT to me, and it'd be cute.

[SFK]

Soap-related TV movies are something SoapNet should have tried their hands at years ago now. I remember bringing this up on WoST when they first started rerunning AW, they should have explored the idea of doing an AW TV movie or even a miniseries (5 one hour parts/two two hour parts?). OR have executive producers from the past like John Conboy or Linda Gottlieb get behind original telefilms, casting them with several familiar faces from daytime. I am all for the idea of them doing something similar with ATWT, they WOULD get the viewers, no question, and honestly, it could be a great pioneering effort for other shows that have already been cancelled or are most likely facing cancellation within the next few years.

[Saving ATWT]

That is just silly--'pale version of greatness'. The genre needs some form of 're-invention' and change isn't always a bad thing. As for the vets, they are never seen anyway so if a new network chose not to renew the contracts it would not greatly change the program. A budget needs to reflect revenue collected via ratings and, by that standard, World Turns is bloated and might be better served by a smaller cast. A good writer could really focus on a core grouping of characters and do them justice. I would rather see a great story with four characters involved than cheese with six and a vet tossed in for five minutes. There is no reason for any soap to have 25 people on contract. If we want the genre to survive and, maybe thrive, there will need to be some sort of major shift.

We like ATWT; however, a lot of people clearly do not or the ratings would be higher. I'm all for somone wrafting a show with broader appeal. I highly dislike when people just assume doom whenever a new idea pops up. Stuff like, 'the CW would ruin it!' or 'The should would die within one year' are silly statements not backed up with any sort of fact. The only fact that is clear is that all the soaps will be dead soon if something radical does not occur. Younger/new viewers are not avoiding soap like the plauge due to the disregarding of history. They do not even know the history. The only way soaps will continue is if someone can figure out why they have been rejected by an entire generation.

I do not buy Goutman's ideas about short attention span. I think the problem has more to do with the manner in which soaps are only aimed at female viewers in a time when gender roles have entirely changed. Soaps can't just be about candle light and romance anymore. They need to touch on broader ideas. I'd like seeing a storyline in which a husband feels uneasy with his wife making more money than him. Maybe a story about a stay at home father. Maybe a story about a guy dealing with his family breaking up and father's rights. A lot of men are at home during the day and are being totally ignored. Also, we need soaps that actually look like America in regards to race.

Moonves would never let ATWT onto the CW but it is a great idea.

[Soapsuds]

Michael Park said something about them still shopping the show around and that he would probably be staying in NY to do other work.

[Saving ATWT]

Where did you read this? Do you really think they have found anyone to pick up the program or is this PR stuff?

[Chris B]

I'm not really saying how the show would do on the CW, but it's never going to be picked up by the CW. Chances of the entire show being picked up by any network is slim. Even SOAPnet won't touch soaps. There is a bias against them and nobody is championing them, even in the industry. This is why I think it would be smarter to re-launch as a primetime spin-off. That way you can use all the press from the finale to launch the new show on Lifetime, SOAPnet, Hallmark, whatever. Also, it's easier for the new network to launch because new viewers who don't watch soaps wouldn't have to know all of the history and what not. Plus it's cheaper than re-launching a 50 year old soap. Has a soap ever had a successful network switch? I know with Passions the show DID do well. DirecTV used that show to launch it's 101 channel and kicked it to the curb as soon as it could. Other than that, SFT and EON struggled.

So I guess to sum things up, I'm all for the show continuing, but if you want it on CW or Lifetime or whatever, fans need to start talk of a spin-off or tv movies. If someone from the show sees that and thinks about pitching it a network might take a risk. A TV movie or pilot is cheaper and a more logical solution for now. We need to try something that makes sense in the age of declining ratings.

I also think how Hacienda Heights does, as the first new syndicated soap in decades, will decide a lot about the future of soaps off network.