Frons to leave ABC in January

[JaneAusten]

Not to challenge all of this but Susan Lucci if you recall did have much harsher words about Frons than some of the others and I'd tend to believe her perspective moreso than some of the actors, who likely had less insight and history with him. I don't think she ever by the way said Frons was the devil just that she felt based on her experience with him, that he had a lot of culpability in what happened with AMC and the ABC Soap lineup after he took over. It doesnt make anyone wrong,

[OldGHFan]

IA. The fact that Susan Lucci rarely talks bad about anyone but had some harsh words for Frons speaks volumes to me. IMO, Frons is the devil. LOL!

[R Sinclair]

And that's Susan Lucci's personal experience with the man. My point is, people who have NO experience with the person in question really have no leg to stand on when it comes to disagreeing with the perception of someone else who has. Experience trumps opinion, no matter how popular that opinion might be.

[R Sinclair]

But then Rebecca Budig is close friends with him. So, again, whose perception is the correct one? Both, because they've BOTH had their own personal experiences. This woman who's disagreeing with Walt Willey that he isn't the devil has not!

[marceline]

Don't you dare.

[Juliajms]

Why not? Aren't they the ones who manage to keep their show below budget? I'm guessing that has a lot to do with them staying employed. Also, OLTL has been doing as well as GH in the ratings, even though people know it's over. Personally, I'm glad they are the ones who have stayed employed. I enjoy OLTL much more than GH, even though I've been watching GH MUCH longer.

[marceline]

I don't care about OLTL vs. GH and i won't even begin to discuss whether OLTL is a good show. I'll let other people address that. It's just that I suspect RC and FV did a lot to pimp PP and now that it's dead I think they deserve to share in that pain with the cast and the crew who are now unemployed. For them to just coast into new jobs while the cast and crew of two soaps had to start over from scratch doesn't seem just or fair. That may not be pretty but it's what I think. There are a lot of other people who deserve a fresh start before those two. IMO, they should rot in the same hole as PP and its promises and lies.

[DRW50]

I think it's probably mostly about being under contract to ABC.

[Juliajms]

But isn't it likely that they were duped just like nearly everyone else? Either way, it's not like GH is going to be living a long life. They get 9 months more employment most likely.

Also, I'm not saying that OLTL is the best show ever, but given the budget challenges these shows face, I simply think it is significantly better than GH is right now. Not that it matters because I don't think ABC cares about quality. I think they care that GH limps to the finish line on budget and that's something RC and FV seem capable of delivering.

[marceline]

I know that now. Errol was kind enough to clear that up for me upthread. But that still doesn't change anything for me on the general principle: Frank and Ron don't deserve to be the last ones standing.

Ron? Maybe. But Frank had been offered and accepted a position as a VP. IMO, he should go down with that ship. Not get to go to a fallback job at GH. But whatever. He'll be unemployed soon enough.

[DRW50]

Well, look at it this way - those who see them as soap saviors and as making GH the ideal can now be disillusioned as they do nothing to help GH (or somehow make it even worse, although that may not be possible), the ratings don't get any better, and the show is canceled right on schedule.

[R Sinclair]

Wow! And exactly how are you different from the crazy soap fans you admonished for booing Carla Hall at The View? This is the most asinine thing I've heard yet. At the end of all of this, it's just a canceled television show. Actors, crew, producers, writers... they're journeymen. This isn't anything anyone is entitled to.

I wasn't even thinking about you when I wrote that.

[ladyceejay]

.......and AMC!!

[EastMA2]

It's about PROFIT folks, not because Frank brought OLTL in under budget. In reality, Frank didn't do the show any favors by bringing it in under budget. By bringing the show under budget, he told the ABC Execs that they were giving him too much money. He should have at least spent what ABC was giving him. Frank's under budget version of OLTL did not increase profits. Bye Bye OLTL.