AMC and OLTL Canceled!

[~bl~]

No Vee, I wouldn't think you would be kidding about getting Ryan's Hope on DVD. I totally get that. If I had all the money and time in the world, I would be employing people to dub my archives. I've done about 50 tapes of various things since getting a machine this year. (Mainly the ATWT/GH 99-00, some SoapTalk and various odd things I taped like episodes of celebrities playing game shows.) I have most of the early Port Charles episodes also (I stopped during one of the books, but I can't recall which one). They are in a cabinet with some of the Ryan's Hope tapes. None of it is marked, which is why it is such a mess and out of sequence. I do know someone on the Ryan's Hope mailing list, who has 300 disks or so covering the entire SoapNet run. I have 95% of the episodes that SoapNet ran of AW too (most is on DVD and dated with SoapNet airdates and not original). While my DVDs are marked, they are not in sequence either. I see the fact that I have bad organization skills as a rebellion against my mom, the librarian.

[You're Soaking in it]

Well then I'd like to know what the hamster has to say.

And I'm not so sure you're right about that: Megan probably has that hamster playing the piano... because the last thing she ever does is have a role stay true to its character!

[Vee]

I fully understand; I grew up with a computer scientist.

If you or anyone else ends up in a position to distribute the SN run of RH, let us know. I will buy it.

[Vizion]

Ugh, I hated Port Charles, the vast majority of it I thought was Passions-level of terrible - and it started the second the "books" did. The one decent thing was 'Miracles Happen' and that was only because Kevin and Lucy had a nice wedding and Lynn Herring gave a really fantastic performance. The rest? Rubbish. Prior to the books, the show was never good (operating on Aubrey with a drill, really), but the show was at least tolerable before the supernatual stories.

[You're Soaking in it]

Apparently not... From what I just saw, this "fake account" has existed for Trent Garrett since September. Evidently, whoever planned this hoax really thought it out ahead of time!

[Cheap21]

Frank was a vampire by the end of the series. I disliked Time in a Bottle. When it aired, it was the worst book until arguably Superstition the following year.

[EricMontreal22]

Exactly. Frons has no one to blame but himself.

[EricMontreal22]

Right the rumour was both AMC and OLTL wanted itand the execs flipped a coin.

I think you're spot on about why Broderick was bumped up--but I'm glad.

[Max]

Kudos to CCCapwell for writing a brillint post on why the soap genre is dead.

In regards to the cancellation news, it is disgusting that OLTL was cancelled at the same time as AMC, even though I correctly predicted that the fair thing to do--which would have been axing AMC and keeping OLTL--would never happen. (However, if one wants to be really technical on this matter, I was dead wrong when I predicted that OLTL would be the first of the two soaps going off the air, since that soap will outlast AMC by four months.) While there were justifiable economic reasons for cancelling AMC, I think that OLTL (which had higher ratings and always met its budget) was prematurely axed alongside it partly because many soap elitists would have scoffed at the notion of a lesser known show (OLTL) outlasting the soap that had the "powerful" brand (and was the higher rated of the two throughout most of the past 40 years). And, as Carolyn1980 pointed out several times, the OLTL cancellation also was a face-saving move on the part of Frons, since he clearly bet on the wrong horse when he chose to "save" AMC by moving it to LA (while leaving OLTL in NYC). As a poster on another message board speculated, ABC originally decided (back in 2009) that its long-term goal was to axe OLTL and keep AMC; yet--as ABC was looking for an acceptable replacement for OLTL--what ended up happening was that OLTL actually held steady in its viewership while AMC suffered from more budget problems and eroded ratings even after the cross-country move.

Having gone through so many intense emotions after AW was cancelled, my own personal advice to heartbroken AMC & OLTL fans is this: don't ever allow others to tell you that "it's time to get over it." Instead, take as much time as you need to grieve for the loss of your favorite show(s).

And, for what it's worth, I predict that B&B will actually be the next soap to get axed. Domestically, B&B does not have the rabid fan bases of DOOL or GH, nor does it benefit from huge bias in the soap media; I feel that these two factors are a big reason why DOOL and GH are still alive despite garnering ratings that are essentially equal to those of ATWT, AMC, & OLTL. (And while B&B is extremely popular overseas, that success has zero benefit for CBS.) Furthermore, it's obvious that ABC will keep GH around for its 50th anniversary (so they can milk it for all that it is worth), and DOOL has a contract with NBC that will keep it on the air until the fall of 2013. (Given that DOOL will be 48 at that point--and keeping in mind that DOOL always lucks out come renewal time--I feel that there is a reasonable chance that it will get another two years just so that it will reach the half-century mark.)

[EricMontreal22]

Except AMC's ratings went south before the move. I do agree though--I suspect the move was done partly to see if saving AMC or GH made more sense. I don't think OLTL got even a second thought. The only reason OLTL is getting a bit longer is due to timeslot.

[All My Shadows]

No. It's not.

[EricMontreal22]

And ratings still tumbled while Broderick wrote. The show's quality has not affected them for a while....

[EricMontreal22]

Then you and I are lame together

[Carolyn1980]

I agree with Max. It is disgusting. In the key demo last week, OLTL was third, with a 1.1 to GH's 1.2. It's been on the upswing lately. AMC was dead last with a 0.8. In women 18-34, OLTL was also third, with a 0.6 to GH's 0.7. AMC had half of OLTL's audience in that demo with a 0.3.

Improving ratings should be lauded by ABC. Instead, OLTL was "rewarded" with cancellation.

[EricMontreal22]

Why do you respect his opinion? I mean, of course, everyone can say what they want, but when a show I don't love is canceled I don't send messages to get over it....