TV Guide: Could 'GH' Move to Primetime?

[EricMontreal22]

I suspect it was tape with that film look that was so popular around '95. I just wish the damn pilot would somehow leak (Logan at Tvguide bragged a lot about how brilliant it was and having a copy--someone needs to rob his vaults). An apparently adult and even kinda scary (and I'm sure campy) late night soap set in New Orleans' voodoo culture from Malone/Griffith/Gottlieb? It just sounds too good to be true. Ah well.

And yes, I think modern audiences, who, thanks to brilliant (even not so brilliant) serials from HBO, etc, now expect a level of filmic quality in their primetime dramas (and even comedies) that a cheap PM version of GH just could never fullfill. Yet so much trash is appealing to a modern audience when it's on late night or cable, it seems almost (well to me) common sense to do a fairly adult late night 30 minute soap. I know many people seemed to think that MTV's ultra low budget attempt at a soap 5 (10?0 years back, Spyder Games actually had a lot of potential but seemed to be an embarassment for MTV that they couldn't burn off, and not promote, fast enough. I've never seen anything from it--it seems to be missing from youtube--but I honestly think something like that in the modern market now could be a cult hit. I think it probably would have to be campy, but the trick would be not making it an all out *parody* which unfortunately seems to be the first thing modern execs think to do now when any idea close to that comes up.

[tina m]

My first reaction is this: You're telling me ABC Daytime is so committed to The Spew, The Repulsion and Katie for the next X-amount of years, it doesn't have an HOUR to spare for General Hospital, so in turn, they'll exile it to the summer months?

I don't know. I'm all for it if it keeps the show on the air. Maybe this format will maximize potentially great storylines for 3-4 months and leave us with a cliffhanger. Cable show come back from 6, 7, 8 month hiatuses. I know that's not a great comparison, but still, it could work.

[Max]

I find this article to be very believable because ABC is terrified of the outrage it would get if it completely killed GH. (A GH axing would make the AMC/OLTL cancellation s#itstorm look like a Sunday School picnic in comparison.) Also, I would not be surprised if NBC does something like this for DOOL.

[Cheap21]

I really dont think ABC cares about a fan outrage to GH cancellation. The few loud crazy fans are a small minority

[Eric83]

Its funny you say that. I had a dream the other night that Days had been canceled.... lol it was crazy.

[EricMontreal22]

With all due respect, I don't think ABC is even SLIGHTLY "terrified" of that. Not even remotely. And at this stage with so much fan apathy I think Gh would get less of a reaction than AMC/OLTL did.

[Cheap21]

Agreed. AMC/OLTL came as a complete shock. Most people have already written GH off and expect cancellation. I dont see too many being suprirsed and outraged when it is dropped

[marceline]

Not to pile on but..I don't see how or why ABC would be concerned - let alone terrified - about killing GH (which it has already done). As people are fond of pointing out GH is now pulling smaller ratings than OLTL was and they had no problem killing that. Soap fans just aren't that importat to the network. Just because they lost their [!@#$%^&*] when the shows got canceled doesn't mean ABC cares. Just because the homeless guy living in the bus shelter manages to create a scene, that doesn't mean anybody cares what he says.

[Jonathan]

Agree. No one will be shocked when GH is canceled. People are expecting it. The shock came last year with the double cancellation.

[EricMontreal22]

Exactly--and with ABC less and less concerned about having a daytime brand, it becomes less of a concern. ABC got a lot of anger about the soap cancelation, but either way it hasn't affected their primetime lineup ratings enough to worry ABC.

[beebs]

But wait, didn't Home & Away move to a new format, similar (but obviously much better) to GL's? Or is it just using a single-camera prime-time look? Because frankly, if GH were able to at least move more of the action to the ACTUAL HOSPITAL, maybe it'll help at least keep costs down, and allow them to do more experimentation with new filming techniques?

[BigBangFan]

I almost feel like ABC purposely released this rumor to keep backlash down

I know, I know. I'm being crazy. But GH to primetime with their horrible ratings makes no sense to me

[marceline]

Or maybe TV Guide just posted it to keep the soap fans clicking.

[Max]

Eric, I have such great respect for you, but we will have to agree to disagree on this matter. This is an unpopular thing to say, but since SON is a very pro-Nixon soap board, I think that it is often easy to forget just how much more rabid GH fans are than AMC/OLTL fans.

[DRW50]

I think GH pissed most of those fans away.