Why Did Beth Ehlers' Stint on AMC Fizzle?

[R Sinclair]

And that's exactly what the problem was. It wasn't about "acting" or "integrating" at all. It was about her not being treated as the Daytime Royalty she'd built herself up to be, and in the vein of Kim Zimmer, started running her mouth. In that same interview, she alleged CBS wouldn't even let her into building to clear out her dressing room. You'd think she'd learn a little humility and bring that with her to a new show on a new network. I never knew her or her work other than a few clips featured on the defunct TV news magazine SoapCenter on Soap Net back in the very early 00's. However, her work on AMC and that radio interview she did -- which I listened to from beginning to end -- turned me OFF. Seriously -- equating her own acting with performing Shakespeare?

[Vee]

The difference is that Kim Zimmer, for as obnoxious as can be, understood her place at, say, OLTL when she jumped networks. She was the veteran supporting player, period, and was happy for it. She speaks in barely-veiled terms about Beth Ehlers' fall at GL in her dishy little book and I think the difference between the women was pretty clear. Zimmer's difficult personality seemed entirely different from how Ehlers conducted herself.

[R Sinclair]

Precisely.

I remember listening to that interview, thinking to myself: Isn't she aware that she's on a show that stars Susan Lucci -- the notorious ABC TEAM PLAYER? Where is Ehlers getting this sense of entitlement from?

[Soapsuds]

Great point and I need to get her book! I heard it is a good read!

[Gray Bunny]

It is.

[Khan]

And in a way, not having to shoulder the entire show seemed to bring KZ back to the kind of actress she was when she started at GUIDING LIGHT.

It's just tragic how she got stuck with that ridiculous character.

[R Sinclair]

What character? What character? character?

You mean, Echo? You mean, Echo? Echo?

[Khan]

[TV4Me]

Hello Max. Let me answer your question with the truth and facts, not the slanderous lies from the few nasty, bitter haters who posted their bile and filth in response to your innocent question. First of all, Beth Ehlers did not fizzle on All My Children. She was great. She was exactly what the dying show needed. Taylor was a great character, a rare female character you could admire in the modern-day world of soaps. She was no victim. She was a woman who was never going to be physically abused because she was strong, yet she was pretty and sexy. She was a clean slate with tons of potential. She was smart (a college grad) and compassionate: a true heroine. The problem was that when Beth chose to go to AMC, she went there under false pretenses. She was begged by Thorsten Kaye (the show's biggest star) and Ricky Paull Goldin to join the show. Brian Frons (who called All the shots at ABC Daytime) was disingenuous to her. He promised her that she would be paired up with Goldin, never told her about the show moving to LA, or that a few months later the cast (including Lucci) would have to take a 40% cut in salary (Budig, making $1,000,000 got around it by quitting and returning a few months later with full salary restored). Plus, Beth signed to play Liza, not a new character. Also, the headwriters at the time were James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten, who were familiar with her from Guiding Light. Brown and Esensten were fired after the writers strike, despite being the only headwriters to not go on strike. Nice treatment, huh? Beth Ehlers debut on the show was delayed for months. ABC (Frons) refused to confirm that she had been signed. I never did see a press release from Frons or Carruthers. There was absolutely no promotion of her at all. It was like they just wanted to steal her from CBS. Once she agreed to join AMC, they treated her like a day player. Chuck Pratt was a horrible choice for headwriter/producer. Frons put Pratt in complete control of AMC while he focused on programming SoapNet (what a waste of time that was). Pratt gathered the whole cast and told them to forget their characters' histories; he would write whatever he wanted. Carruthers and Nixon were relegated to the sidelines while he drove the final nail in AMC's coffin. I remember a blind item in Soap Opera Digest clearly referring to Beth Ehlers, saying the super-popular star hated the spotlight and would have to put on her game face and meet the fans because her new network loved promotion. Except, ABC obviously had no interest in promoting her. The Daytime Emmys appearance was strange because she was shown at a table once the whole three hours for just a few seconds while host Cameron Mathison went from table to table. Usually, a big casting coup like that means presenting with the show's star welcoming him/her. Instead we got Darnell Williams and Debbie Morgan, who, along with Rebecca Budig, had returned months earlier and failed to improve the ratings. AMC had a 2.2 rating in the beginning of the year and after those three returned the rating dropped to 1.8. Of course, they were promoted like crazy; Budig's second return also included tons of promotion/advertisements. Minshew finally got a few months off (after seven years being on virtually every episode) resulting in no ratings drop (same thing happened when she stayed in NY after the show moved to LA - no ratings drop).

Beth Ehlers and Ricky Paull Goldin were never paired up on All My Children. So there was no failure to re-ignite their GL success. Goldin joined AMC months earlier and was in limbo until Beth started airing. But, her first blink-and-you-missed-it appearance coincided with the start of Goldin's new story line which was the pairing of Jake with Amanda, not Taylor. Taylor was only used to make Amanda jealous, that's it. Pratt never wrote for Taylor and Brot. Pratt did not like JR Martinez. Beth met with Pratt several times and came away from those meetings realizing that Pratt didn't think JR could act. It showed. JR was used like an extra the whole time he was headwriter. It wasn't much better with Broderick or Kreizman. The pairing of Tad and Taylor was promising from the brief interaction they had. Pratt never committed to it and it ended before it started. There was no feud between Beth and JR. They were close and remained close. They hung out months later at the Emmys and AMC fan gathering. Beth was on AMC for 14 months. Most of the time she was not on at all. She wouldn't be on for several weeks on end, then she'd pop up on one episode for a couple brief scenes. Then, you wouldn't see her again for a few weeks or longer.

Beth Ehlers did not have an ego. She was known for not wanting the spotlight. Everyone she ever worked with loved her. She actually preferred working with "amateurs" (as posters refer to them). She loved the day players, most of her scenes at GL were with day players. The Kim Zimmer stuff is all lies. They were always friends. They live near each other. Zimmer cried when Beth left GL. Zimmer even broke down a year later in an interview when talking about her. Beth was never competetive. She couldn't care less about on-set rivalries. She was a consumate professional. She did her scenes and went home to her children. That's all she ever cared about - her children. Beth was never treated like royalty. She was no diva or prima donna. She was never highly paid. She was always low-balled at contract time and she signed anyway. Beth had more friends than anyone and it was because she was real. She was never phony. Those are her true colors.

Beth Ehlers quit All My Children. She was not fired. If she had been fired, ABC would've had to pay her the remaining 4 months of her current cycle. ABC initially said they wouldn't let anyone out of their contracts. They later changed their mind. As Beth requested, they let her out of her contract. She did not want to move to LA (or maybe her kids didn't want to). Anyway, as anyone with a brain believed, the show moving to LA was destined to fail. Everyone who moved did so for nothing The writing was on the wall.

Beth Ehlers did not sleep with all her co-stars. These are malicious, slanderous lies. She dated one co-star - Mark Derwin. She never wanted to date actors, he was the exception. She never dated Goldin. Fans always asked and they always said they would never be a couple. She never dated Bogue. Bogue was seeing Bruno from Day One. A blind item in SOD referred to them early on. He was married with a newborn baby and she had a live-in fiance. They waited years to go public. Beth's marriage did not end because of infidelity (not hers, anyway).

To those not wanting to talk about Beth Ehlers - Who are you to tell people who they can talk about? Beth Ehlers is the biggest soap opera superstar of the past 20 years or longer. She has more fans than anyone. Just because they aren't all posting (gee, I wonder why? With such "pleasant" "respectful" posters). Beth Ehlers is one of the most beloved and respected actresses in soap history. Every fan who ever met her has nothing but the most glowing reports of how sweet and considerate she is. Her co-stars all loved her. You can't find anyone with a bad word to say about her. These are people who actually know her. not some hateful posters with an agenda who never met her. Daytime Soaps are on their way to extinction. Guess what? All My Children was cancelled; it's not on anymore. Every cast member, veteran and newcomer, who was on the show when it was cancelled is to blame. Direct your anger at them. The same goes to Guiding Light. The final cast is responsible for the show's cancellation. Nobody was watching them. The Beth Ehlers criticisms are petty. She is not to blame. Beth Ehlers is everything that was right about soaps. Beth Ehlers had millions of viewers tuning in just to see her. You can't say that about anyone else. The ratings are proof. Beth Ehlers had as big a positive impact on soaps as anyone ever has. She breathed new life into the genre with her charm, charisma, talent, warmth, and beauty.

[AllMyDaysatGH]

Welcome to the board, Beth!

[JackPeyton]

dead.

[EricMontreal22]

What a weird post that was. And the thing is, I don't think I (or most of us) said anything disrespectful--I wanted her character to work, and I do largely blame the people behind it (as I said, I liked her with Tad). The thing is the poster seems smart and a lot of what he/she says is stuff I would agree with (although I wonder why it's credited as fact--or at least how--more than many other ideas), so to hen insult everyone who suggested otherwise as disrespctful and haters is beyond bizarre. And then to suggest ANYONE on here said that Beth or her character helped cause AMC's cancelation--wha?

Anyway what I was surprised most by in that informative post was that she was on for 14 months. Wow--it didn't feel that long (was Pratt even on too much longer?)

[Wizzerkat]

That was some post! Actually, I have no trouble believing that quite a bit of what TV4Me says is true. Everyone suffered through the Pratt era and I am sure Beth was no exception. Of course the gushing was over the top. I assume Beth is neither the shrew some here have said and certainly not the piece of perfection this person says. Either way, I think no matter what, things would have been better with someone else at the helm besides Pratt.

[Khan]

WIN.

[TV4Me]

More Lies! Why don't you people just give up already? And repeating the same lies over and over doesn't make them true. Beth Ehlers was Never on every day. She never made demands. She was never shoved in every story. She barely had one. Any Real Guiding Light fan knew how little she was on. All you had to do was go to the fansites that posted her scenes. Look at the number of scenes and look at the length. She was usually on less than 5 minutes an episode. She never averaged more than 3 episodes a week (while other superstars on other shows were literally on 5 days a week and easily had at least 20 minutes of airtime). Many of her "episodes" consisted of a cameo appearance. The entire second stint on GL she had much less airtime than her first stint. Beth turned down a dual role. Who does that? No one. I never heard of anyone else turning down a dual role. She didn't want to work too much. She wanted to be home with her kids. People stopped watching GL because she wasn't on enough. She was the reason they came back in 1997. Beth Ehlers was GL's only hope to save it from cancellation. And it worked, unlike every other returning actor who failed to boost ratings. CBS and P&G were itching to cancel GL. Beth Ehlers returned and drove the ratings up more than a full point (1.1 to be exact). Every couple Beth was a part of was GL's most popular. So obviously, GusH was the #1 couple. If you talked to any GusH fan back then, they were complaining that they weren't on much and that other unpopular couples were on instead.

There was no backlash about Beth playing Skye or Hayley. Robin Christopher couldn't draw flies, as evidenced by her many failed returns to AMC and GH. She was never a ratings draw. And Ripa? Please! Ripa left AMC after years of ratings decline. She even lost millions of viewers as Regis' co-host. There were many characters Beth could have played. Liza was actually too old a character for her. There were Jake's estranged wife (who they wound up recasting anyway), Liza's sister Mia, Julie Chandler, Lanie, Allison, Ally, Laura. Or they could've just written for Taylor. All they had to do was pick a love interest and go with it.

The person who keeps taking shots at Beth's age is a joke. Beth Ehlers looks exactly the same now as when she first joined GL at 19. AMC didn't "try" to make her "seem" younger, she already looked decades younger. She doesn't age. She was playing 8 years younger and could've played several years younger than that. I know for a fact that most of her fans didn't even know she joined AMC. There were some who switched to AMC from GL and they were very upset that she was never on. There were also viewers who already watched both shows and were excited when she joined. Beth clearly had won over AMC viewers who never watched GL. But, shortly after came the announcement that the show was moving to LA.