AMC and OLTL Canceled! Part 2!

[DaytimeFan]

And there's nothing I like less than an ignorant, ill informed and indignant opinion.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

+100

[Khan]

I'm just saying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mEvovWoqF8

[Dana]

Based on what DaytimeFan said, the thing I hate most about this is that PP or their proxies are throwing blame on the actors (and the unions, but mostly the actors), especially Lucci, mostly through insinuations, instead of just accepting the blame themselves and that their plan was financially unworkable from the beginning.

[MontyB]

I agree, but I guess some are well intentioned.

Anyway, Prospect Park made an attempt and failed. What more is there to it?

[John]

I find funny that people will believe soap bloggers and various mags that just copy an original article and add their spin to it when they quote "sources" and we have no idea who they are but will believe them. PP never realesed a statement blamming actors or unions, that has always been implied by press.

Bottom line even if the unions had found middle ground & more actors like Lucci, VI & MEK agreed to do this, without Money from investors it wasnt gonna happen. It all boils down to dollars and cents. The investors PP looked at werent interested and some that were backed out. Its just a case of a great idea done at the wrong time.

IMHO I apauld all that tried to get the shows from ABC & PP for doing so & trying. ABC never wants these shows to be a success in TV Cable or the web because if they are then they have share holders they have to answer too and admit they were wrong for canning them in the beginning.

[JaneAusten]

But weren't you as guilty believing leaks and such when it was to PP's benefit? You had no issue believing Lucci played hardball did you and who leaked that information. I am not picking on you but it goes both ways. I don't think PP should be viewed as the knight in shining armour you seem to portray them as because these were seasoned Hollywood execs who went in with no viable plan, They might have had good intentions but if so why not just admit defeat and move on. I am not a union advocate but the leaks about the unions being unwilling was just another attempt to deflect responsibility. Are these men evil no. THey are just bad business people. It would have been a hard sell in a viable economy much less one that is struggling. Look at Wall Street and corporations all over America. Everything is tight and no one is spending money. These seasoned exec should have known that based on their years of experience. As for ABC and Disney being evil and such they are also IMO just bad executives also. I just don't see one as any better than the other.

[John]

I never blammed actors, unions I have always said Its Money. It doesnt matter if u have actors & unions signed on, If not enough money it wont work. I belive from what I heard from actors and LA Times and NY times the Jeff K article that it was Money. I also believe that since they were looking for money maybe they put union talks on the back burner to finalize the money. Yes I agree communication could have been better, a 100 Percent better but do I truly believe these men went into this wanting it to fail. Hell No. They wanted the soaps to succeed so TOLN would succeed. I also dont buy the ploy thing. Why would two people witrh long histories in this business who probably knew if this didnt work would look bad, knowingly fake this deal that could end up ruining them as businesss men and If It was a ploy with ABC why announce it didnt work and they are bowing out now. Why not wait til after The Revolution airs. Yeah No ploy here. Good Intentions just not the right time.

[chyti]

How do you know this about ABC and for the record shareholders do not care about individual tv shows they care about what the quarterly reports is stating. As a soap fan it is sad to say this but ABC was not wrong for canceling the shows from a business perspective that is and that is all that the shareholders care about. I find it funny that people actually believe ABC is wanting PP to fail and was sabotaging them why would they do that when it is too their benefit that they succeed, they were more them happy to lease them studio space but when PP couldn't get it together they tossed them to the curb with the quickness. ABC/Disney do not care about any of this, those that have made the cancellation decision have already moved on to the next matter at hand.

Your earlier statement about PP not having to do it is completely misguided, PP had to do everything they did because they were losing money behind this venture.

[JaneAusten]

I dont recall anyone here thinking that this was some conspiracy in fact none of the posts anyone has made about the alleged deal and the history of these individuals ever insinuated any of that. But I have seen people including yourself making it appear ABC/Disney put pressure on them by forcing them into deals with the shows in the same formets etc and how poor Prospect Park were taken advantage of in some sense. THats what I contend is they were not. They didn;t plan, didnt do their due dilligence, didn't have a clue as to what was involved and thats their fault not ABC or Disney's. Foiks can continue to sing about OLTL being a ratings hit but they aren't I don't care how many thousands of viewers they were up within a certan time period. These shows in this formet have not been huge money makers for anyone for years. Soaps have been cancelled left and right. For this company to come in with the idea that they could somehow be successful on a new platform with the same tired format, production qualties, actors, and writers was a bad idea from the onset. ANd thats all JMO before anyone jumps down my neck for this.

As for these shows being successful on cable where is the offer from Bravo or Lifetime or anyone if that is the case. BRavo if you have paid attention has actually funded several scripted series only to not take them to production because of the cost. Sri Rao who write Nightshift in fact wrote a pilot for them which they never picked up why? Money. And you really think Disney shareholders care about soap operas? They care about their annual profits and Disney themselves is more than even their media empire. They have amusement parts, film studios, TV studios, merchandising galore then their media assets which include ESPN the most profitable cable station out there. You honestly think the shareholders care about cancelling a few TV shows. ABC and their cable properties cancel shows all the time.

[John]

Right I belive I heard Bravo Looked into taking the soaps but it cost too muh. I never said they forced PP just that ABC may have mandated that the format & length stay the same. Maybe PP shouldnt have taken the deal but they thought they could make it work. But in the end, the bad economy did not work in this venture's success. ABC also turned down various production companies with more experience that wanted these shows or just one of them. Some wanted to only do 13 weeks 5 days a week per seeason and some wanted to start the shows over in current time. ABC said No. I also heard not sure if true that ABC turned down people that only wanted one show. They had to go as a package and anyone who wanted to buty was told No. ABC doesnt want these shows on a compeiting broadcast network where they could succeed ABC's lineup.

[John]

If u read that WSJ report where Jeff K shared the plan u can see that they did research. They spent their own money in doing this research as well as lisencing the shows and buying sets, props. clothes so they sank a lot Of PP's production Money into this. They got investors then lost some and couldnt find replacements. When TOLN didnt look viable they went to Hulu & Googlre but couldnt finalize a deal. Its all about the mighty dollar. Nothing more, nothing less.

[JaneAusten]

Where is the confirmed information that ABC turned down other offers. From the same rumor train that spilled other information that was refuted.Sony? I dont believe that for one second because Sony had had a multiude of financial problems and absorbed record losses the past 2 years overall. And "rumors" are that they are looking for a way out of DOOL.

As for Bravo again where did this come from? The same rumor train? I also recall Bravo making an official stmt when the noise started originally that they were just rumors. While there may be no legit sources confirming the conspiracy theory, there are also no legit sources that have confirmed anything about other deals or about Bravo's interest.

I do wonder now if they intend on giving the grant money they got from the government for this initiative back. The money that was likely used to purchase what they bought. Thats taxpayer money by the way.

[John]

Jane just because you dont believe thats fine. I was told by soap bloggers thru facebook and twitter that ABC had offers that got turned down and also Heard that Andy Cohen at Bravo looked at the budgets of the shoiws and realized Bravo couldnt afford it . Im not sure If Sony was into or not. Ive heard people say yes and some say no. But even HBS made her tweet said ABC Chose this deal cause it was the net

[GregNYC]

I think that the unions are partially to blame. Daytime drama writers earn $35,000 a week. There is no way that a web based soap can afford that. The writers' salaries need to come down to $3,500 a week.