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.

The only thing running through Megan McTavish's mind is a hamster on a wheel.

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!

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.

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.

To be fair to JFP, she managed to produce an awful product at OLTL through three different writing teams.

Yes, Frank had some superpower by the end, I think. They also made him a nice guy in the last few years, which was needed. I remember that the Time in a Bottle, which was panned by the soap press, was one of the only "books" I enjoyed (for the Frank/Karen/Rhonda stuff, not Eve and Ian in past life flashbacks). I liked the Caleb stuff at first but then they had Rafe, ugh.

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.

Oh man, doesn't anybody check anything anymore?

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!

Edited April 17, 201114 yr by YurSoakinginit

To be fair to JFP, she managed to produce an awful product at OLTL through three different writing teams.

Yes, Frank had some superpower by the end, I think. They also made him a nice guy in the last few years, which was needed. I remember that the Time in a Bottle, which was panned by the soap press, was one of the only "books" I enjoyed (for the Frank/Karen/Rhonda stuff, not Eve and Ian in past life flashbacks). I liked the Caleb stuff at first but then they had Rafe, ugh.

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.

As I said before, this isn't like GUIDING LIGHT's ending; as much as I still love that show, I knew P&G and CBS had sucked the life out of it, and there was no hope at all of it ever going on. AMC and OLTL were in terrible shape, but not past the point of all hope. Something still could've been done. True, nothing lasts forever, but doesn't anyone at all feel they owe it to 2+ million people - and perhaps more importantly, to their pocketbooks - to try everything before just calling it a day?

Exactly. Frons has no one to blame but himself.

So in hindsight, when ABC bumped up Lorraine to HW, she was more than likely told that she'd be writing the swan song. AMC's cancellation was essentially a done deal weeks ago. This is probably how Felicia Behr found out. And I doubt promoting Lorraine to HW was done for sentimental reasons. Kreizman's and Swajesk's contracts were about to lapse, and they weren't going to sign them to a new deal knowing that their final scripts would need to be done in June. It was cheaper to bump up Lorraine, who was already there and was already under contract with, than to renegotiate with those two. What I don't understand is why did ABC set out to get Roger Howarth back if they knew they were going to announce cancelleation the following week. Was the decision to axe OLTL a totally last-minute decision that came out of Frons' meeting with Sweeney last Monday. Just intrigued by the behind-the-scenes moves.

OLTL inherited the Ryan's bar set when RH was axed.

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.

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.)

Edited April 18, 201114 yr by Max

The more I think about it, the only thing that makes sense is that OLTL was always intended to be canceled. Period. It didn't get to move to cheaper LA digs, it never went to HD, it didn't get its stars on Hot in Cleveland and Castle, it didn't get a new opening. AMC just got a new opening a few months ago, something that would NEVER have been approved had they intended to cancel shortly after.

So OLTL was a goner no matter what...but then AMC's ratings tanked so badly that there was no justification for keeping it over OLTL. So they ditched both. And they're keeping the one on longer that will get them better ad rates (which are set during the upcoming May sweeps) during those four months OLTL lingers after AMC.

The other way around, AMC being targeted for cancellation, makes no sense based on all they've done for it lately. And then, the idea that they were only canceling AMC, but then decided to cancel OLTL at the last minute when it was on a ratings upswing within a tenth of GH in the key demo? Doesn't compute.

ETA: Even Frons' comments to Deadline, that they had already agreed to cancel one show, but then "the ratings went south," so they decided to cancel the other. Well...OLTL's ratings went north, not south. So it must've been AMC that was going to stay.

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.

Edited April 18, 201114 yr by EricMontreal22

it is disgusting that OLTL was cancelled at the same time as AMC

No. It's not.

AMC moving to LA and going HD, OLTL planned to go HD and then all of the sudden it was cut.... I think definitely the network was more interested in trying to make a case to preserve AMC and let OLTL go... you could be onto something their Carolyn. I think ABC execs assumed the move to LA would invigorate life into the show, and it did... for the first few weeks or so which coincided with Lorraine Broderick at the helm. But post David Canary and the lack of vision that seemed to dominate Lorraine's run and the bulk of David and Donna.... it was a losing battle.

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

I know I'm lame-as-hell, but thinking of the endings of either show actually gets me teary eyed. I just can't imagine the world without Victora Lord and Erica Kane.

Then you and I are lame together

No. It's not.

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.

I respect his opinion, but I also think it's another example of people who don't want soap fans to watch their shows. If he doesn't want them to, he should just say it. Frons has been saying it for years.

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....