Is ABC Preparing to Cancel AMC and OLTL?

[Clear Drama]

Oh god, what's this? a WWE fan I blame my gal pal for getting me into that. I remember how pissed I was that Jericho and Trish ended in classic soap twist w/ Christian at WrestleMania. Although I gotta say even now WWE is starting to go back to that. And how awesome is that jerk The Miz I wanna kill him and hug him at the same time.

[LoyaltoAMC]

Ha, I almost forgot Linda Dana Does the ABC Soaps. Or maybe I was just trying to block that out. And that whole Skye's paternity thing was just absurd. Also let's not forget her trying to shoehorn Finola Hughes at AMC. That did a ton of damage too, I believe. And A Martinez at GH. I remember a TV guide pic of Angie surrounded by Linda, Finola and A, and how she was saying that they were going to shake up the shows. Yeah, sure.

[ER Tosh]

Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth were another great 1980's supercouple.

[CCCapwell]

For AMC's sake I hope Agnes writes the shows final episodes. I have no confidence the current "creative" team at AMC will

give the show a proper send off, as for OLTL I have confidence Frank and Ron will give OLTL a good finale as they've been with

the show a long time and respect history, although on the other-hand I wouldn't put it past them to have all the male characters shirtless singing the 80's OLTL theme song as the final credits roll! lol

[quartermainefan]

I don't really watch anymore because they got away from the schmucky stories that I loved so. I remember there was another story where The Big Show's father died, but at the funeral someone stole his father's body. He was out for revenge but then the villain forced his mother to reveal the truth: he was never the real father! I think the villain actually was. I think the last story I watched when they had a whodunit and I forget what happened, someone ran someone down in a hit and run, and I think Stone Cold got framed for the crime. He set out to prove himself innocent.

[AlexElizabeth]

Oh dear god. Ford, James, and Nate (shirtless of course) will have the last scene of the show.

[Clear Drama]

Did anyone read SID's editior's column about AMC?

http://serialdrama.typepad.com/serial_drama/2011/03/fascinating-morbidly-but-still-fascinating.html

[DRW50]

At this point the last episode would be communal rapes, as Tuc Watkins winks at the camera on an endless loop.

[EricMontreal22]

Shapiro at least *largely* creatively left the shows alone--she didn't become EP of every single show. Instead she focused more on Shop the Soaps, lol. I wonder how close Behr actually came to getting the job when Frons got it. Sigh

[dragonflies]

I might buy he cared if he hadn't let AMC have so much damage done to it. He's interfered so much no one even wants the HW job at AMC, not even Lorraine Broderick

[LoyaltoAMC]

I think Behr bruised some egos at ABC with her infamous comment in TV Guide about how OLTL was largely unwatchable under JFP & McT. You never heard much from her after that.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I believe she even bluntly referred to JFP/McTavish's OLTL as "sh!t" in that same article.

[EricMontreal22]

I remember her saying that too...

[EricMontreal22]

I really don't get it--I feel like I'm alone in this LOL. With ALL of the AWFUL detrimental storylines AMC has had, how can this Angie/Jesse story be refered to as the biggest trainwreck in AMC history?

[TeamEric]

I hate Frons, too, but my take?

You're scapegoating one jerk for decisions that are mostly out of his hands. Disney suits have wanted out of the soap business since Shapiro days. And after all these years, there is simply no one left at ABC arguing with them anymore.

First, look at Disney's initial failure to pressure cable companies to bundle this new channel. Those were lost years of building its audience. When finally Soapnet goes into the black and proves one of the fastest growing cable channels, Disney suits then cancel it in favor of Disney Jr. That's an example of suits way above Frons' head sabotaging efforts to save the soaps. ABC soaps were supposed to migrate to Soapnet, one by one, when network ratings dropped too low. Sure, they'd suffer massive budget cuts as Soapnet profits were far lower but shows were meant to survive on in some form. Disney just ensured there is no post-network life option for any ABC soap.

Secondly, we all know Disney been wanting to sell ABC the last few years. They've been cutting/slashing budgets from news to entertainment division trying to get that bottom line to look more attractive. Disney long wanted daytime's part to be revamped with cheaper business models, and now it's finally coming true.

Frons/Sweeney championed some real investment in soaps from HD to the move west. Alas, the move proved a costly failure far too quickly and appears Frons/Sweeney threw in the towel completely. They aren't countering rumors because they are done fighting for their soaps. Disney suits who argued investing any $$$ in soaps is throwing good money after bad, just won the war.

I believe AMC and OLTL will go off months apart, not together like the article suggests. Then we'll hear of more cripping budget cuts at GH to accomodate Disney's new very lean daytime budget. GH will stagger to a finale too and Disney suits will have their decades-long wish -> A daytime lineup filled with cheaply produced shows.