September 19-23, 2011

[JaneAusten]

I am even wondering at this point if GH will have the same impact since its likely going a year after AMC. I don't see the soap press making a big an issue out of it because I think everyone is prepared for it and if AMC and OLTL at that point have begun airing online it might actually lessen the impact.

Days I can see still having a punch primarily because of what they are doing now. While I think Corday is a complete idiot, I think hes trying to do something to actually win fans back. Thats something GH really seems to have no interest in.

The only thing GH could do IMO is to kill off someone important and let that drive changes to the canvas. I am not sure Lukes death would do that anymore. Jason or Sonny yes

[DRW50]

I think GH going will always have an impact because of the old days of Luke and Laura.

[marceline]

And that's who's going to end up doing the press. Maybe with a little VM and James Franco on the side. I consider that justice.

[DRW50]

I just feel sorry for those who have to hear another Tony Geary lecture about how Luke should be failure of a father and husband who spends his time in whorehouses...

[OldGHFan]

.....or being lectured about us fans being "frozen in the past" because we want history acknowledged and followed. We don't like massive rewrites...that's why I will never accept Ethan as a Spencer. Grr.

[OldGHFan]

I think most long time fans were chased away by Guza. If you didn't love Sonny, Carly or Jason, there wasn't really a place for you. You had to be happy with the scraps Guza threw your way.

Nothing short of a massive behind the scenes overhaul will save this show. And apparently, by the looks of things, it doesn't look like ABC is interested in saving it.

[marceline]

That's how I feel/felt about Greenlee and Jackson on AMC. No matter how many times she called him "Dad" and they had some sweet daddy/daughter chat, I find the way she was jackhammered onto him offensive.

The thing I've always found puzzling about GH is that while I understand how the classic fans hated it, for a long time they still had fans who apparently liked the dark/mob stuff. Now they've lost that "new" base.

[JaneAusten]

We have had drops off and on for months about big actors at GH being gone and significant backstage changes and that even Frank Valentini was potentially taking over as EP. IF they had any real interest in saving this show you'd see massive shifts backstage and with the cast. None of that has happened so I think ABC pretty much has just said status quo. People talk about how bad AMC was in terms of being gutted and yes they did ruin the show a lot by focusing 90 percent of their airtime on 4 characters, but they also had almost enough left to salvage and produce decent closure to the show. AS much as I hate back from the dead, they corrected the 2 major mistakes, Stuart and Dixie and there was enough ties to the past not killed off to restore some semblence of AMC back to the show at the end.

[JaneAusten]

I think people get burnt out. I don't know if it was so much liking the dark, I think it was big events that actually brought fans in for those massive uptics which they would continue to lose until the next big event. The big events wore out. Even the wedding of their leading man did nothing for the show. But even with the dark you still had some focus on other things. While Pratt was a disaster at AMC I think he actually helped maintain some semblence of heart and romance on GH as odd as that sounds. Yes there was a lot of focus on the same characters, but you were also allowed to actually see other characters and some with B stories while the mob crap was going on. With Guza it became all dark and morbid and mob all the time and the women with even less POV.

[TeamEric]

Guza blew the perfect opportunity to scale back the mob stuff with Dante. He lured back many formers viewers with promises Dante was Sonny's perfect karma. Viewers flocked back to watch Sonny finally taken down by shooting a cop, his unknown son, in cold blood. "Goodbye Detective" scored 3 million viewers and 1 million of them were 18-49 females! The non-mob viewers hung in for a while hoping Sonny was going down for the shooting... but once he was off the hook, the last hope was gone and they left again disgusted.

Now GW is trying to sell viewers that Sonny, the new town pariah, is really paying for his crimes by losing everyone he loves... the disgusted viewers aren't buying it and refuse to return. The only character that can bring down Sonny is Jason and that required him to emerge from the coma a changed man. But he's still the same and another hope was lost.

I see now GW is trying to lure back L&L/Cassadine fans with all the Hells and Laura teases, but Guza baited and switched those fans too many times.

All GH has left is really mob fans to count on. That is their base and not even Brenda could help them expand beyond it.

[TeamEric]

Ethan and shoving Tracy down my throat as the perfect soulmate for drunken, bitter, repulsive Luke was a giant FU to long-time GH fans.

[JaneAusten]

Wouldnt you actually need Cassadines and Luke and Laura on canvas to entice those fans back? Its like the promises of more Quartermaines only to have that turn into Tracy becoming a foil for a mobster and Skye back for a couple of weeks sparring with Tracy while Alan is wasted for a day in the Who is Jason ish and Monica again disappears. I think you are right too many broken promises and your audience loses faith. Their audience is what it is now. I don't see them getting any significant ratings rises. If their heavily publicized wedding for their leading man could do nothing I doubt anything can at this point.

[me4ryky]

Just my opinion, but I think we'll know pretty soon for certain if GH is willing to make significant changes. They promoted this wedding as much as possible, even getting Franco back. Steve and Kelly did satellite interviews, Jill Phelps did an interview. Actors went to social media sites asking viewers to watch. With Kelly's involvement on Dirty Soap as another draw, I would've thought the ratings numbers would be higher just because of exposure and it being AMC's last day. But OLTL beat GH soundly that Friday, and GH actually barely maintained viewers from Mon to Friday.

From what I understand, GH is taping very, very close to airdate. If they are interested in making changes, they will need to do so quickly. Otherwise, just pack up Prospect Studios and have Tony G lock the door on his way out.

[DRW50]

What gets me is that the Luke/Laura history is just used as an excuse for why Luke is a failure and a loser. Luke and Tracy have a lot of fans. There's no reason why the show can't write for them as a solid couple. There's no reason why Luke has to be a huge burden to his family and his wife, causing them more pain each year. Geary may just feel that people need to accept this as reality, or they are stuck in the past. But there is no entertainment value in this. This might be a fascinating subject for an IFC short film. That's about it.

[JONNYSBRO]

WOWsa go AMC it went out with a true bang and blaze of glory. Its funny GL I think had some fanfare cause it was longest running soap even though people agreed it needed to go. ATWT honestly had zero fanfare or buzz at ALL for their finale. It was just odd it was like nobody really cared. Show ended with a wimper. AMC IMO had big publicity but the ending has gotten everyone talking. Its funny people are talking about the AMC finale. Lorriane Broderick did a great job