All My Children AMC: The Prospect Park Era (old production thread)

[cassadine1991]

I know.. there have to be more pictures, I mean come on that photo shoot it's been 4 months

[Vee]

So I emailed PP re: the profanity ban and encouraging them to continue pushing the envelope - starting with language - and got this back from Kwatinetz. A standard message, really, but it was nice enough, I suppose:

[Chris B]

That was a nice response and I believe him. I don't think this will change them pushing the envelope in terms of stories, I think it was simply to make things easier for syndication. As it stands, they'll probably have to mute or have the actors redub the previous episodes in order to sell them into syndication. It makes no sense to give them more work to do for something that doesn't matter.

I don't need curse words, I just want them to focus on a well-written show. I want the actors to focus on being able to act and not just dropping a curse word every chance they get simply because they can.

[Vee]

I think the profanity has worked, for the most part. I've said it a million times - including in my letter to PP - but I wish that if there is a TV deal in place that they'd at least put the "uncensored" episodes on Hulu. I can't go the rest of my life without hearing Florencia Lozano unleash another stream of [!@#$%^&*].

[Chris B]

I felt like it worked on OLTL, but I didn't find any of the cursing natural on AMC, probably because they were having the less experienced actors cursing and they're already struggling as it is. I couldn't stand when Petey or AJ would curse because it sounded so awkward and they aren't the best actors to begin with. With OLTL, having someone like Roger Howarth or Florencia curse is different because they're seasoned enough to know when to use these words and make it work.

[DRW50]

That was a good response.

I tend to agree that it was less believable on AMC than on OLTL. I mostly thought it was believable with Jesse, Zach, and Angie, and even with Angie it would have only worked in limited doses.

[Vee]

I liked Pete cursing. It worked for him. Zach and Jesse as well. I'll miss that.

[Chris B]

This is also something I think can be brought back in say six months time when things are really rocking and rolling. Right now I want them to focus on executing these new HW's (hopefully great visions), then getting Susan Lucci on board ASAP, filling whatever gaps need to be filled on both shows, getting syndication deals, etc. Syndication is an especially important form of income for these shows. Once all of that is taken care of and we know these shows have a future, then they can consider bringing back the cursing or having nudity here and there.

They should also consider doing what the UK soaps do, which is have primetime spin-off's or special episodes. Hollyoaks has a spin-off called Hollyoaks Later, which runs one week a year with 5 one-hour episodes and it usually features nudity, swearing and things that you normally don't see on the main show. They could easily do something like that, a special 2 hour episode perhaps, which could be a big event they could promote.

[Vee]

Yeah, I miss the promised rear nudity, etc. I always thought we were meant to see more of A.J. in the AMC pilot than we did.

I'll admit to being somewhat concerned about the new writers, as I think both shows are cooking along. But they're promoting from within, which I think is good news in this case. I hope.

[DRW50]

I would like to see Erica back sometimes for guest appearances but I think the character needed and still needs the rest, as AMC had no idea what to do with her for years, and I didn't care for her being written as a middle-aged 18-year old in some of that last decade. I haven't missed Erica all that much, although I'd like to see her meet up with David again. And of course Susan is doing well elsewhere.

I think that a more risque special would be great as long as they have the material. If it's just to see Rob Wilson or whoever plays Colby showing their asses, then I'm not all that interested, although I'm sure they have very nice asses. The same goes for a special just being done so we can see a graphic murder or violence sequence. Hollyoaks likes to do that and it's pointless. Brendan Brady cutting up bodies was as boring as Brendan Brady smirking and screwing up his face 4-5 days a week.

[Vee]

I think Erica would work best for a big, splashy arc. In and out and then back again from time to time for more.

[DRW50]

I still wish they'd bring back Mark and some grandchild of his who could have a complex relationship with Miranda.

[marceline]

I don't recall Angie ever swearing.

I'll admit that even all these days later I'm still REALLY bothered by PP's decision to do this. I wasn't terribly bothered by all the other drama because it was BTS but this actually affects what I'm seeing on screen. This changes the product I was sold and chose to "buy." I've been here before with ABC which went out of its way repeatedly to make sure we knew that they only cared about a very specific part of the audience.

Maybe it's just my Battered Viewer Syndrome but I'm not going to stay on this roller coaster if it leads us back to what this show used to be and I'm not going to waste my time if the "What's a Hula?" crowd gets to set the rules.

I find it ironic that yesterday PP dropped a couple of polls on their Facebook pages asking which couples people wanted to see advance but it never occurred to them to ask about the language before jerking their knees.

[Vee]

I really think that despite their claims, the language issue had far less to do with fans than with a syndication option. If these shows ever got on TV, anything other than FX would've meant no more profanity, at least for television viewing. We always knew that, so I can only be so bothered. I would like the option back, however.

[DRW50]

I thought she did once or twice. I might have confused that with all the posts claiming she was cussing up a storm...