Is ABC Daytime About to Announce a Two-Year Pick Up For One Life to Live?!

[dragonflies]

Just because they signed long term deals doesn't mean the show is any safer, contracts or not they'll still cancel the show if they feel like it

Pot meet kettle, not many people take your posts and your know-it-all attitude seriously

[Sylph]

Oh, Zendall, oh, Zendall...

[bellcurve]

Then what are they watching? Not daytime TV.

God, these two are [!@#$%^&*] showkillers.

One of the biggest problems OLTL has is all the gratuitious semi-nudity, tastless innuendo, and dumb camp.

[All My Shadows]

Val and Ron signing new contracts doesn't guarantee OLTL two more years on the air. They can cancel it and ship those two off to another soap (though I can't imagine Ronald wanting to write for AMC or GH). Not saying this to be a bitch but because it's true.

[marceline]

Careful. I already disappointed one of the believers in Santa Claus. Don't piss off the Easter Bunny contingent.

[Soapsuds]

I find it laughable because they reward the two guys who have the show in the bottom gutter in the ratings...dead last....lol

[DRW50]

I have to admit I'm surprised ABC signed RC to anything new, considering that what he was seen as best at isn't really Frons' style -- although if he has had any involvement in the awful writing for "heroes" like Todd or Rex, then he would fit in at AMC and GH.

[All My Shadows]

That's all secondary, though. If he can't bring over his corny sense of humor, "Gigi and Rex's time," random and pointless "nods to history," Disney Channel hand-me-downs, and saddlebag filled with shirtless hunks and automobiles, then I see him turning his nose up at P's V and C.

[Soapsuds]

The thing is ABC doesn't care anymore like P&G did. So they let the same hacks/pigeons write their shows. A new writer and EP should have been hired. And I dont mean recycled [!@#$%^&*].

[marceline]

Exactly. This doesn't show that ABC is committed, it shows that ABC has the show in a holding pattern. They're basically hoping that this old clunker car will hold out for a few more months until they're ready to get a new one. I'm also willing to bet that Frank and Ron's new contracts have them making a lot less and contain a whole lot of out clauses for the network because, to continue the metaphor, if you have to pour too much money into keeping your old car running, you begin to think that you'd be better off making a regular car payment rather than putting the hooptie in the shop every other week.

[Saving ATWT]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that a lot of soap viewers are either now working or dead. Since OJ, when ratings first began to drop, more than an entire generation has passed with younger woman working and there not being enough hours in the week for Tivo. Plus, couples need to finds shows that they can both enjoy if they are doing the DVR thing. I'm sure the transformation from welfare to work-fare has also had an effect. I just don't see CSI filling the soap niche.

Valente (sp?) has been with the show for 25 years so you can't call him a show killer. If this were the case, OLTL would have died about 25 years ago when he took over I don't really follow the show but know he has been good at keeping cost low thus, in the process, probably keeping OLTL on air a bit longer. Also, it seems like the naked tasteless kids have been good for demos. ATWT was a far cleaner show with few fans below 90 years of age.

[bellcurve]

Wow. This is bull. Soap fans are still out there. Not all of them are dead. They either(as you said) went into the work force or my theory is that they migrated to cable or to Facebook or to God knows what because of how uninspired and uninteresting soaps have become.

CSI doesn't fill the need for "soap," but for some people procedurals fill the void for good drama. Which is why daytime, if anything, should be going against the grain by developing anthology series and procedural-esque TV series. Might work, might not. But soaps, as we know it, aren't gonna bring in additional viewers. The genre needs to reinvent itself or die so a successful rebirth can come about.

But he hasn't been Executive Producer of OLTL for 25 years(and thank God for that). And what does that have to do with whether or not he's a showkiller?

How good? Y&R is still #1, GH and DAYS are after it and OLTL just fluctuates from last place to next to last place. In households and in demos.

I mean, I like beef just as much as the next carnivorous fag. But not every f*cking day of the week.

And as far as that being "good for the demos," soaps are going after a fickle viewership that they can never hold and keep. That they never will keep. Why encourage that?

[marceline]

How doesn't it fill the need for soap? And let's not stay with the basic CSI/L&O procedural s. We have to acknowledge that the medical fantasy shows and legal shows ARE soaps. They're on everyday, the interaction is just as emotionally heightened as soaps while the production quality and guest stars are better. It's on every day and even though most eps deal with a single problem there's usually a larger big bad out there that hovers over all the shows interactions: ER, Charmed, Bones, Gilmore Girls. Plus when someone on those shows dies, often that person stays dead.

[Saving ATWT]

Clearly, not all the fans are dead! What I'm saying is that an entire generation has passed since the ratings height of soaps. The older viewers from that time could not fully be replaced by new viewers due to a far larger work force and the fact that Gen X and Y are far smaller in terms of births than prior generations.

No one will ever produce new original scripted content for daytime--ever. Daytime viewership is too small and filled with 'undesirable' demos groups such as the cronically unemployed. Networks long for 'new car' viewers--people who are cash and credit worthy for Toyota and BMW ads. At best, maybe Pontiac could have sold a few cars during B&B. The networks all own cable outlets and would air any scripted show on these channels in primetime and then repeat numerous times per day.

OLTL has always, until late, been the lowest-rated soap on ABC. Frank Valente has not just managed to keep the show on air but also kept demos above those of ATWT even during the early Nuke hype. ATWT consistantly beat OLTL in HH ratings but One Life always held the edge when it came to the important demos. I have to wonder if all the 'beef,' as you put it, has helped OLTL maintain a lead over AMC in demos for more than two years. Sex, like the mob murder on GH seems to sell; meanwhile, the more traditional AMC has really tanked. Also, OLTL is basically tied with Days for demos in third place. Honestly, I hate the mob and dislike the six packed OLTL hair models but it seems like Valente has been a major factor in keeping the show under budget, youth oriented and on air. Chris Goutman is a show killer; FV is just a dirty old man following Fron's orders.

[All My Shadows]

I agree.

I think there's a soap-shaped void in some people's daytime TV appetite, but the soaps aren't filling that void anymore, so it's much easier to work on the general drama-shaped void instead. I realized we have Retro Television Network now, so now that ATWT is gone, instead of feeling an obligation to "give OLTL and/or DAYS a try!" when I'm home at that time, it's usually Kojak. Because, while he's not a soap, he's got drama, action, and excitement, but more importantly, he's got drama, action, and excitement that I enjoy. If the soaps gave me soapy things that I enjoyed, then they'd have a chance. But until then, they don't get watched and my soap-shaped void doesn't get filled.

Unless, of course, I decide to fire up some old school soap. Right now, in my house, AMC is getting its butt handed to it in the ratings by old, grainy, black-and-white, fifteen-minute GL from 1966.