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AMC: The Prospect Park Era (old production thread)


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The SuperCouple concept has to die.

I watch soaps--and all tv shows to see where a writer will take me. Sometimes I will complain (ok, a lot of times) but I am in for the ride. I don't want things that I have imagined to play out on screen, as some sort of pacifier to my imagination.

If someone has been watching AMC for 40 years (and I speak as someone who has watched even through horrible times, for 20+ years) they should know what they are in for. Soaps have been killed by execs trying to please supercouple fanbases--yes it's love in the afternoon, but it's also heartbreak in the afternoon and so much more.

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In the 1980s and 1990s, for sure!

However, ratings are low nowadays even with so-called 'super-couples' being featured.

Super-couple stories read like romance novels. Couples meet, fall in love, have obstacles in their way, then work through them and marry. However, soaps are not romance novels.. there is no end and I think writers have trouble continuing the story with the next day. Partly fans are to blame, partly the writers are to blame. Eventually they break up, make up, break up, make up.. over and over until fans are bored to death and as a result of this rinse and repeat, the individual character suffers and becomes limited.

I'm in the 18-34 demo group, and I'm not a big fan of super-couples. I'd rather have family stories, social issues, even mysteries featured with the love story aspect along with the triangle aspect put on the far back-burner. That's just me.. and I know other viewers love the romance stuff.. so i figure why not be feature it all. I'm hoping that the business aspect with Brooke/Dimitri/JR/David/Pete/Colby that looks to be brewing is maintained and built upon... along with the aftermath of Cassandra's abduction while Jesse/Angie cope with their inability to reach/help their daughter.

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Woah, what? I post all the time on here. Have I ever pretended I have much of a life? I apologize if I was too mean--I just don't get watching a show for years only for a couple. Frankly, maybe this is hubris, but I think I have a lot to contribute on this forum--and I appreciate that it is a discussion forum--you should be able to handle meaner comments than I gave.

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Completely agree. David and Angie too (although that's probably why we're getting the argument that there is no need for friendship on AMC). I think this AMC is doing friendships really well (and while I can't name as many strong friendships on OLTL, they're doing a good job of mixing up the canvas). And I like that because in real life people interact with people besides their parents, children and significant other and it makes the show feel cohesive.

Friendships & community have always been a cornerstone of soaps for me, just as much as the almighty super-couple. That was the whole speech they gave Michael Knight in the final ABC ep. AMC has had great friendships over the years. I'm too young but wasn't Jenny & Jesse considered one of the best soap friendships ever? GH has had many awesome friendships in its better days, AMC too- I loved Leo/Bianca and Erica/Opal. I don't remotely understand this argument that characters should be confined to their family and designated couple.

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I think one of Agnes Nixon's strengths is the sense of friendship and community she gives her work--I am biased, but I never have felt that with the Bell style of soap. That was truly lacking on AMC for a good while, though there were a few periods over the last decade where I sensed it.

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The SuperCouple does NOT have to die at all. No viewer of a soap is going to be satisfied with the writing all the time. Because fans will disagree on direction of characters and the writers cannot and will not please all fans all the time. SuperCouple fanbases are HUGE so it serves the networks/Executive Producers to make sure they are included to keep the ratings up and for survival reasons to keep a show going. You cannot have all doom and gloom, darkness, negative sadness/heartbreak without balancing it with the happy/joy/love, etc. Even Dark Shadows was brilliant in that they achieved balance during the run of the show.

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Ratings are low because of talk shows/cooking shows/hundreds of cable channels to select from/budget constraints/economic conditions where housewives returned to the labor force/among other reasons.

The break up, make up, break up is repetition and nothing changes for the better or gets better with that concept and therefore turns away viewers from Soaps because there is a lack of originality and creativity in writing. The same ol' same ol' gets old and tired.

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At least we still have our wedding outfits:

Jesse_and_Angie_edited.jpg

LOL! There's so much potential awesomeness in that it scares me. But let's be realistic, Jesse's not hooking up with Adam. Not when he's Zach Slater's man! Zach's not about to lose his secret love to the Silver Fox.

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