AMC and OLTL Will Move Online!

[MontyB]

+1

[Kylie]

The actors know the ends for their characters right? After this I'm thinking more and more that J&E don't end up together and Walt knows this. So he's questioning, what if any role he'd have in the new AMC. I know people are going to throw tomatoes at me for suggesting that the all mighty J&E don't end up together...but I've thought for awhile, especially after LB's comments, I'm convinced that EK will likely end up alone.

[Marley]

I hope there's isn't a Jerica reunion and a big flashy wedding. Erica Kane should end up alone and fabulous, she's bigger than just being one half of a pairing.

[marceline]

This.

Reggie can come home and take his dad to a strip club to help him heal.

[Kylie]

I think J&E lost whatever luster that most people thought they had, years ago. And really, if Erica just quickly forgives and forget that Jack didn't know...it'll really make her look bad. Agnes Nixon has always liked her strong and independent, and I think AN sees J&E a like I always have. We'll see. But Walt might know that his days are number.

[quartermainefan]

He is a fuddy duddy. I saw a link at welovesoaps or daytimeconfidential to some sort of video web series based on the computer game "Mortal Kombat" I never played the game but decided to take a look and I was really impressed with the quality compared to the bottom of the barrel Gotham, Venice and The Bay.

Just watch this in full screen and decide for yourself whether it is possible to have a viable and good looking show online.

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sqlaU5OMsks" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[LeClerc]

JMO but I think Walt Willey is right in terms of the average currently-offline AMC viewer, and I don't think his comments have anything to do with whether or not he thinks he will be part of this new AMC.

[Marley]

Maybe that's what soaps needs though?

If some people can't get on a computer because they don't know how to operate one then maybe soaps needs to go for the viewers that are more techincally savvy and dare I say younger?

Someone mentioned above that there would definitely be some changes...I'm kinda hoping for changes because not having any changes is part of the problem of why soaps are dying out.

Don't get me wrong, I do not want a Peapack Pine Valley but I do hope for some trimming of the fat and storylines that aren't so dated.

[marceline]

I love how people are acting like Walt Willey is somehow unfamiliar with the soap audience. He knows what he's talking about. He has been working in this business for decades. The soap audience as a whole doesn't embrace change. That's how we got here. Victor Newmann, Erica Kane, Vicky Whatever last name whatever last name she's using this week, Dorian Lord, Tad Martin, Luke Spencer, Marlena Evans, Bo and Hope, the Hubbards, etc... soaps are all about characters doing the same thing for years and never really changing. That's a defining characteristic of the genre and it killed the genre.

Walt is right. When (not if) these shows aren't daily, don't have the same characters or Llanfair doesn't look the same, the same people who fought to "save our soaps" will start a movement to burn down PP for perverting their precious shows.

[DRW50]

I agree with him, but that he basically said fans would learn their efforts were worthless (I know that's not what he said explicitly but that's what "hollow victory" signifies to me) goes a bit further than just that soap fans will have a tough time getting used to the new format.

[Juliajms]

But is not liking change or being willing to adapt to the change in a TV show the same as not being internet savvy? That particular comment rubbed me the wrong way. It smacks of the condescension that has been heaped on soap fans by TPTB for far too long, imo. Are there really that many people under 60 who don't know how to use a computer or watch shows online? It's not exactly rocket science.

To me that's a very different issue then saying these shows are built on habit and when that habit is broken people won't come back. Also, watching online demands more attention than watching on TV, that's an issue for me. I rarely sit and just devote myself to the TV. In fact, I'm generally working on my computer while I listen/ watch. That's a bigger issue, imo, than people not being savvy enough to figure out how to watch.

Still, he has the right to his opinion and he's met more soap fans than I have.

[marceline]

But that's true. The fans who fought the hardest did so because they didn't want anything to change. Those people are also going to be the ones most disappointed by the new shows.

As for fans not being internet savvy, he's right. Walt may not realize it but he touched on a far bigger cultural issue: the digital divide. I make my living on the internet. On any given day I'm working on my company's websites AND on 2-3 different message boards, Facebook and chat. I watch most of my television online mainly because, like my caterer friend, that's easiest for me. I've also done work with community organizations working to get underrepresented populations (mainly seniors and minorities) online. Believe me when I tell you that there is a HUGE gulf between the online and offline populations in this country. It's not about looking down on anybody. It's about the reality that huge parts of our population live in.

It's easy for us to say soap fans are online because we are online soap fans. We aren't the norm.

[R Sinclair]

You know everything.

[SFK]

I can't stand you.

[DRW50]

I see what you're saying, but don't you think a lot of the fans who worked so hard on this SOS stuff were probably more Internet savvy than the average viewer? They're more likely to be able to watch the new AMC. That's why I don't quite get the "hollow victory" comment. It's the fans who may have written some letters or made a few phone calls or at most sent out an e-mail or two, if that, who may be more likely to feel left behind by this show.