February 1-5, 2010

[ohmickey]

Can anyone explain why Ron Carlivati is still headwriter of OLTL? When AMC hit the skids creatively, the network did the right thing, fired Chuck Pratt and paid him off. It makes me wonder if the cancellation rumors are true, if the network is letting Ron write the show off the air rather than replace him with someone who might actually save this sinking ship.

[Cyberologist]

I like Dante so but I notice that Sonny storylines faired better than the Franco fiasco

I too haven't watched in months but Dante always draws me in....lets hope they can sustain

and build even though I find the writing crappy I don't want to lose another soap so I record them even though I only watch three.

GH hit the skids they won't get rid of Guza

I always thought Calivati to be a decent writer one thing I admire he showcases the vets and he likes soaps his writing is for the most part misogynistic free and shows he respects the genre. I haven't seen OLTL in a long time but the few years back when I watched it it was decent storytelling.

[marceline]

My OLTL hate is well-documented but even I don't believe they're keeping RC on to purposely tank the show. I truly think that what's happened with Ron is a combination of the Peter Principle, believing his own hype and Fronsian micromanagement but even I can cop to the fact that he means well. (Ouch. That hurt.) Nobody there is trying to kill the show. IMO, they simply don't care.

As for AMC, I will forever swear that something big happened to force the changes. It's not like Frons woke up one day and said "You know, this just isn't working." Somebody with real juice came to him and said "Fix this now or you'll be lucky to be producing a cable access show in Tijuana."

I don't watch GH (MB just cracks me up whenever I've tried) but for all the people who ask why Guza still has a job the proof is right here. For better or worse, he's the stuntmaster. He knows how bring in the eyeballs for sweeps.

[Sylph]

Welll... Wait.

People are singing this tune now, for this sweeps, but the last few were not successful.

[marceline]

What was the last one? Was that the Carnival?

[Eric83]

Yes they were. Claudia's death brought decent numbers. The Franco stuff is what flopped.

Claudia being revealed as Michael's shooter and her death.

[marceline]

That's right! That was another time GH pulled me in. I watched that whole scene with Sonny tearing Claudia a new one and laughed like I was watching The Daily Show. I just CAN'T watch MB.

[Sylph]

Or Franco. Who started appearing near the end of November sweeps.

This from Serial Drama tells a lot about Guza's sweeps:

[Sylph]

Decent doesn't exactly equal successful.

[Eric83]

I see what you mean, but people were still praising Guza's stunt power then too.

This also makes me think of what DAYS could be like if NBC promoted the hell out of it. It would have passed B&B months ago.

[Cyberologist]

Carnival (September '09) got them to #3 and I think the non-wedding Maxi/Spinelli, they only made #3 three times (if memory serves last year, I know once was during March 19th ratings I believe can't remember the storyline). I'm still surprised after the massive gains they powered out at #4. I thought they would get a #3 in total viewers.

Guza stunts have flopped big time not all of them are successful....Toxic balls come to mind (Wd you Die4Love wasn't all there neither were the Russians are coming) I would say out five three will flop....eg Franco was a stunts ploy that failed miserably...Yes, he can be the stuntmaster, but he can also be a punkD'master. I came in to see Dante basically now I'm gone.

[Adam]

Jeesh, even in its sad state GH sure does know how to bring viewers back for a stunt. Say what you will about Frons and the top brass over at GH, they know how to get the numbers up when it counts.

I am disappointed about AMC's drop.

[ER Tosh]

When was the last time GH had that much total viewers?

[Cheap21]

I guess the "You just SHOT YOUR OWN SON" promos worked

[Angela]

No ABC official or advertiser (who are looking at these specifically: sweeps) is going to look at those numbers and think anything of 3rd or 4th place. They'll look at those numbers and see that it's the highest viewership in 2 years and their highest 18-49 demo in over a year.

ETA:

Carnival stunt. Didn't have enough traction to run into Claudia's murder with these September numbers.

8/31/09.......4.....1.9.....06.....2) 1.3/08.....4) 2,457,000

9/7/09.........3.....2.1.....07.....2) 1.4/09.....3) 2,787,000

9/14/09.....*4.....2.0.....06.....3) 1.3/08.....4) 2,702,000

9/21/09.....*4.....2.0.....06...*2) 1.3/08.....4) 2,670,000

Sonny/Claudia stunt. 3 nice weeks, then they fell big (losing number one spot in HH) coinciding with the Franco stunt.

10/19/09...*5.....1.9.....06...*2) 1.3/08.....5) 2,565,000

10/26/09...*4.....2.1.....06...*2) 1.4/08.....4) 2,728,000

11/2/09.....*3.....2.1.....06.....2) 1.4/08.....4) 2,782,000

11/9/09.......4.....2.1.....06.....2) 1.5/08.....4) 2,818,000

Sonny/Dante stunt so far. GH fell so hard with Jason/Franco and the Elizabeth triangle that I think this one could be called a success if GH is able to maintain being the number one ABC HH soap ongoing.

1/18/10.....*5.....1.9.....05...*2) 1.3/07.....5) 2,595,000

1/25/10.......5.....2.0.....06.....2) 1.4/08.....5) 2,811,000

2/1/10.......*3.....2.2.....06.....2) 1.6/09.....4) 3,051,000