Frons to leave ABC in January

[BoldBeauty]

Too bad it happened NOW, and not a year ago when it was still possible to save the soaps. He ruined soaps and then steps down to enjoy his work and possibly move on to ruin things somewhere else....... I hope NBC and CBS won't want to have anything to do with him or his kind.

[MichaelGL]

I believe this is correct, the idea of reinstating the Head Writers of each soap on your line up, the ones from the most critically acclaimed years in the show's history (AMC-McTavish, GH-Guza, and OLTL-Malone) was a noble idea, but Frons did not give thought to the fact that each of those writers would not be able to recapture the success of their first stints. It was a nice attempt, but misguided and foolish as well.

[quartermainefan]

when were these people the critically acclaimed writers? I don't really remember when Bob Guza had a first success to be quite honest.

[lovely_m]

Guza raised the ratings after Labine's era had brought them down. It was during this time he had "clink boom".

[Cyberologist]

Yep!

I still think he was squeezed out however, too little too late.

[Khan]

Did Frons dismantle the ABCD brand deliberately? No. Granted, the lineup was a mess when he inherited it, but I think everything that has happened (between AMC and OLTL's cancellations -- and now probably GH's -- and the advent of shows such as "The Chew" and "The Revolution") is the consequence of a line of thinking that has evolved over the years from "Soaps still matter, and I'll do whatever it takes to make 'em hip again," to "Well, I did what I could to keep 'em alive, but the audiences just aren't there." Frons doesn't love the soaps, but he loves whatever brings in the profits; and when it was clear that it wasn't going to be soaps anymore, he chose to look elsewhere.

Ergo, instead of looking for conspiracy theories where there clearly aren't any, ask yourself this question: is it possible Frons quit, because ABC made him a promise (namely, to put him in the position where that new girl who's reporting to Paul Lee is now, if not some place higher) that they ultimately did not keep?

[DRW50]

With the rumors for years of all these different failed pilots, I wonder if he did look elsewhere, but he failed, so they had this new person do the work while he stayed on as figurehead.

[Khan]

Now, that is entirely possible, Carl. When Frons' previous attempts had failed to yield promising pilots and shows, it's entirely possible that the network (and his "successor") stepped in and developed what became, eventually, "The Chew" and "The Revolution," with Frons only minimally involved. Then, once "The Chew" was launched and ABC saw they were bruised but not beaten by the loss of AMC, that's when they really stepped in, reorganized and restructured their daytime division, and pushed Frons aside.

[DRW50]

I guess I just end up looking at what he produced for Soapnet, and it makes me doubt ABC ever trusted him with major shows to replace their soaps. I wonder if Soapnet may have even been their incubator for potential soap replacements, but his shows just stunk, really.

[Khan]

I think the network might have trusted him more, had Frons not proven his incompetence, not only in how he had micromanaged these soaps to death (say what you will about the Angela Shapiro era, but ABC's soaps were far healthier then, and I don't think that was lost on the network either), but in how he had failed to develop new and successful shows for the networks -- and that includes reality shows, which had been a calling card of sorts for him when ABC first hired him, and probably the major reason why ABC hired him in the first place! At a certain point, therefore, I think the network realized their initial trust in him had been misplaced, so they began taking steps not only to displace him but to ensure they had more control by virtually eliminating his position altogether.

Common (Hollywood) logic dictates that Frons would have moved up within the network, either as head of the new daytime division, or in another division, such as news or sports, rather than leaving the network entirely. So the fact that he did leave the network suggest (to me, anyway) that we might not be the only ones who got hosed here.

[Cyberologist]

YAy!!!

[Khan]

Let me make one thing clear, though: in spite of what I've said upthread, I am NOT a Frons apologist. AMC, OLTL, GH and PORT CHARLES died, or are dying, because he never knew when to leave well enough alone. I just think Frons saw himself as the next Fred Silverman -- i.e., a television network exec who makes a big splash in daytime before moving onto bigger ponds -- but when it was clear Disney had effectively closed ranks and (most likely) screwed him out of a "big picture" promise that was made when he first came aboard, he bailed. Simple as that.

[DRW50]

I think you're right. I just don't believe that he was brought in to kill the soaps and he's succeeded, what an evil genius, now he's being rewarded. I think he fumbled and bumbled and was then pushed off.

[Khan]

Honestly? If killing the soaps had been his intention all along? Then we would've recognized that right off the proverbial bat. But you don't set out to kill the lineup by launching something called "Fan February," or by hiring back popular writers like Michael Malone and Josh Griffith. And if that is how you would destroy the lineup, then either you're certifiable or I am!

[chyti]

1. It didn't matter who was in charge of ABC daytime because the decision to cancel came from above, Frons couldn't have stopped it if he wanted to. Frons had his hand in the destruction no doubt, never said the fault isn't on his shoulders, unfortunately the decline of the genre is more than Frons and ABC every soap is dealing with the same problems and threat of cancellation. Of course the rating plunges that the shows attained hastened the cancellations but Disney/ABC have been looking for cheaper programming for a while now and it was just a matter of when they were going to make those cancellations calls, I for one do not believe that the soaps would have lasted another 5-10 yrs as is.

2. Yes it is being supported by ABC actions, I believe for the last couple of years they been trying out different talk shows and the fact that the new head of daytime is experience is talks shows and lifestyles shows are an indication to me that they are going in a different direction. Disney/ABC wants out of the soap business a hard pill to swallow but it is what it is.