AMC and OLTL Will Move Online!

[marceline]

I'm not sure there are any such actors (and yes I include my faves in that). These "guaranteed draws" haven't been drawing for years and couldn't keep their shows on the air. For every die-hard fan who'll show up, somebody else doesn't care, isn't interested or actively hates them. The current soap audience - especially the online audience - is small, fractured and contentious to say the least.

I see all this discussion about "I hope so-and-so stays" or "They have to keep Person X" and I'm reminded of the 12-step saying, "Your best thinking got you here." I don't believe anybody from the old shows are absolutely necessary for the new ones. Nobody. Not Lucci (whom I love). Not Slezak. Nobody. That's why I'm glad PP has to start from scratch with AMC on everything from cast to crew to writers. If these shows are going to draw new viewers they won't do it with the same tactics, content and assumptions that drove old ones away.

[R Sinclair]

I told my mother... she was like "Eh... I don't know if I'll watch it or not."

[DRW50]

I see what you mean, but I also think they could have created brand new soaps if they don't need anyone.

I think both shows could go on without most of their casts. In some way I think AMC might be able to survive without Erica more than OLTL would without Viki, mostly because AMC, at it's heart, has a core identity. OLTL really doesn't. It's always been about Viki and her life, and even as the show tried to downplay this over the years, her dramas were often what held the show together (for instance, Erika's work when she found out about Charlie/Echo has probably been the strongest stuff on OLTL this year).

In time these shows can move on and they have to adapt to survive but I think Viki would be a big asset to OLTL's early material, assuming these shows will have a shelf life longer than the time it took to write this post.

[KMan101]

My mom loves them, but she's not a computer person. She commented that she's not going to sit on the computer for hours to watch them, but I told her she sits in front of the television for two hours at night watching them, it's the same, just a smaller screen, LOL.

However, I personally find it hard to sit in front of the screen and watch anything. I just haven't made that transition but I'm going to try. I watched a lot of the UK soaps that way a year or two ago.

[marceline]

These might very well be new soaps. For all this "AMC and OLTL live on!" hoopla, the final product is probably going to be more like a spin-off at the beginning and a completely new show within six months.

Besides now that the shows are "safe" it's just a matter of time before all that energy that went into saving them turns ugly. People didn't want to save THE soaps they wanted to save THEIR soaps. These aren't going to be their soaps.

[KMan101]

You DON'T know that though. We have nothing to go off of. I wish people would just wait and see. They WILL be different but we have no idea how this will work out. None of us are in the industry or behind the scenes. No one knows for sure!

[DRW50]

I definitely agree with you - it will be 95% or more a new show, most likely. I just think they will have some ties to the past because otherwise they wouldn't take on the stigma of shows that are 40+ and which were written off as failures by ABC.

[marceline]

The fact that these aren't going to be "their" soaps. Yeah, actually, I do know that. For me the only question is will they be different enough.

[KMan101]

I don't see why folks are saying it will be a "new show" IMO, Prospect Park would be stupid as hell to completely change them. They are investing in the soaps because of the loyal audience they have. Why would said audience follow the show when no one they care about is there? It makes no sense and would be a huge waste of time.

I get everyone's fears and concerns, I really, truly do, but WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING so we can't really speculate because this hasn't been done before. I feel like a broken record, but everyone is bashing the idea and rolling their eyes at it when we have nothing to base our fears or our concerns on.

If this were Telenext/P&G and ATWT and GL, then yes, I would agree it would be all young newbies because that's what they wanted if the soaps were licensed out (from what I've heard).

And remember, I'm sure Agnes Nixon will have some sort of say.

How do you know that? Has this kind of thing happened before? Has there been any press release stating that none of the veterans are moving on and there will be new casts and new characters? I sure haven't seen that. LOL. I mean, seriously. You don't like the idea, I get it. But you DON'T know. But I'm not going to argue. I'm going to just wait and see. You could be correct, but we DON'T know.

[marceline]

I know.

[KMan101]

OK. If you say so. Guess we will have to wait and see.

[Jonathan]

You're right. They wouldn't pay $$ to license the shows and completely gut them. They should've just saved their money and produced brand news shows.

Obviously, they will be different. But I think they will do everything they can to keep the core of the show the same.

[trish672]

The fact that the show will be vastly different is more than mere speculation. That's just plain common sense.

[Eric83]

I also wonder what this means for the mags. Will AMC and OLTL continue to be covered in ABC SID? Will spoilers even be available anymore? There were talks of major cuts at SOD/SOW after AMC/OLTL went off the air, I wonder if they will still be happening.

[All My Shadows]

I think tons of people will be the same way. Depending on how much promoting the "new" shows get, some people might not even be aware of them continuing on after leaving ABC. And of course, GL and ATWT would have suffered even more in this situation.

To be honest, though, "sitting in front of the computer" and "sitting in front of the TV" are two different things. With the computer, you're usually in a chair, focused on the computer and nothing else. With TV, you can be way more comfortable. I think the key to this would be allowing people to view it on their televisions without requiring too much bulky equipment. As much as we talk about how traditional TV is being overtaken by the new internet options, I think the most important thing to remember is that it's the TV industry/business that people are turning away from...not the actual physical TVs themselves.

The whole thing is, though, that it's really not up to Prospect Park. The cast members (and crew?) have no obligations to Prospect or ABC or anyone AMC-related anymore, so it's not a matter of who Prospect decides to keep on board as much as its a matter of who decides to stay on board. I hope to God that people don't start eviscerating actors and actresses for not choosing to continue, but I know it's gonna happen.