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

[JONNYSBRO]

Maybe u should follow your own advice. I am tired of this PP toying with us honestly if I could have gotten the original series finale of Amc which was supposed to beautifully written by Lorraine and Agnes i would have rather had that then what PP nightmare has been. Even if the lawsuit is settled and pp is awarded money it's to break even with there investors they owe money too not to reinvest for future seasons.

[Vee]

Yes, what a terrible nightmare it's been. The best AMC in maybe 13 years.

[marceline]

"Toying" with us? These people aren't terrorists. If you are bothered by the lack of news then that's on you. You don't need PP's permission to give up. You can walk away anytime you want. Just stop clicking on the thread and *poof* your "nightmare" is over. None of us knows what the future holds but if you are going to obsessively look for news then bitch when you don't get it, that's nobody's problem but yours.

[John]

AMEN

[allmc2008]

+1

[Chris B]

It would be weird to speak now, but they do need to say something. If they keep silent to us and the actors, they won't have a cast when these shows return. When they announced the season finales, they should've shut their mouth and said the shows would return next years. Most cable shows take a full year to return. They gives them PLENTY of time to figure things out, film both shows and get them on the air. THEY are the ones who got everybody worried by saying OLTL is shelved because of this silly lawsuit. Now with AMC actors leaving and knowing nothing, it's making it seem like that show is in just as much trouble as OLTL. Had they simply said the season was over and they'd be back next year, we wouldn't be so confused.

[Vee]

I don't think there's any denying that, us aside, PP has not handled the ensemble or the staff well at all in terms of keeping them in the loop. I was beyond disgusted with their behavior re: the OLTL ensemble and especially Susan Lucci the first time around in 2011 (which the later sections of Jeff Giles's excellent Llanview in the Afternoon brought rushing back for me, with some really sad testimonials from the cast and crew) and it took a huge amount of effort to get me to even consider their good faith this time. Which I think they came in with this time around, up to a point. I think they genuinely want to produce and distribute these shows, and worked hard to make that happen. And I generally thought the product was pretty damn good, which in the final analysis is all that matters to me.

I've often felt PP's idea of PR owes more to the fast-hustle L.A. school of doing business than it does daytime. Khan and I used to make endless jokes about the prospective hires being intimidated, stalked, buried alive, etc. until they acquiesced. I still sometimes think it's a high-pressure sales thing, and I often find it distasteful and hamhanded and just bad form. I think they made a similar mistake this time not being straight with the two casts about the current hiatus. Tell us whatever you want, we're on the outside, but tell them the truth. I don't know what the truth is at this point - I have my suspicions - but I hope there's someone outside the executive suite, who's worked on these shows on the line, that knows. Certainly at least the EPs, who have put their heart and soul into this endeavour. There's also a few too many stories about the HW teams being jerked around - I know Thom Racina and Marlene McPherson, at least, were pretty pissed about their dismissals, though I don't know details.

So I don't approve of all their behavior, and I think that needs a lot of work. I also am tired of the melodrama and theatrics in the press, and I believe the lawsuit, while it has several fair points, is ultimately a transparent ploy to retain their funding and cut their licensing fees to ABC. It's certainly true that Valentini and Carlivati believed OLTL would be their fiefdom at GH unto infinity and acted accordingly, but PP supposedly signed off on a lot of those liberties over the course of 2012 and then didn't keep them in the loop the whole way around. And while FV and RC did allegedly double down on their claim once they heard OLTL was coming back without them, and if that's true I think it's really shitty, deeply selfish behavior on their part - ultimately none of this kabuki needed to happen. I think it's caused weird cultish factionalism among the fans and the amateur online soap press, and I think it's stupid and bad for everyone's business, however short-term gratifying for someone's personal preference. I think there's plenty of blame to go around at either end of the conflict. And I don't think it helps or changes anything. Frank and Ron have a hustle, and so do PP. (And we can say whatever we want about Frank Valentini, but I know that the PP failure two years ago broke his heart. Whatever I sometimes think of their attitude or their show, I know they adored OLTL.)

In another way, I feel that PP's lack of the usual PR grace - or daytime mindset - has sometimes helped them. They haven't enabled the online press through the usual circle-jerk a lot of those guys engage in, where they think they're part of the firmament as well, part of the tapestry. (There's a couple of smart folks, like Roger Newcomb or Dan Kroll, who know better.) And I think it has to be acknowledged that the fact that they're so divorced from the usual cliched daytime strains of thought has led to increased visibility for minorities and African-American characters and storytelling - Angie and Jesse's storyline was the central core of AMC 2.0 and did very well, and while it took time to unfold, OLTL 2.0 was very invested in Jeffrey's role in several major stories, including hiring a "name" AA star for the role. There wasn't a lot of skewed, biased writing that told us what to feel, and people broke out of most of their old boxes. I never thought I'd see Opal in such a major-tier role on AMC, and Jill Larson just sparkled every single day - she's never looked more beautiful. And all of that difference mattered to me. OLTL took a lot of [!@#$%^&*] because it was at the center of the conflict with GH and because it had a number of issues in terms of pacing and structure and yes, at times, characterization, but as I told Carl the other day, it was the first time in ages that I thought the show was genuinely interested in people and how they felt and thought and lived day to day. And that, again, was important to me. Even those sloooowwww weeks which were just character.

Whatever PP's mistakes and there are a great many, I thought the shows themselves, divorced from that, were a very earnest, very sincere effort, and a damn good product from a rushed, independent start-up. So while I hope they get their [!@#$%^&*] together in the public eye and in terms of how they deal with their employees, I think the product is as close to the future of weekly serialized soap opera as we have gotten yet. So I absolutely believe in it.

[JONNYSBRO]

I think the problem was the rushing of production before the deadline and then they tried to do network tv adaptations of the web and it didn't work. I just feel most people felt apathetic to their returns. I would have rather gotten true series finales from these shows then what transpired. We have our memories but I think once pp finally announces its over we can just breathe and will feel a weight had been lifted off Our shoulders.

[John]

where do u get your stats from? Most were apathetic? Really I wanna see your data. Please stop relaying your OPINION as FACT. We here get it, the PP versions are not AMC & OLTL to u. Thats Cool, However, STOP telling us at every turn we have the believe what you do.

[Vee]

Please speak for yourself for once.

[EricMontreal22]

I'm glad I never bought her book...

[EricMontreal22]

I'll give you the benefit of doubt (Heaven knows why) that you missed his earlier similar posts. He comes in constantly and calling anyone fools for even liking the PP product (and then, yes, complains that anyone would question the fact that Emmy Award Winner Jean Passanante is the answer to Y&R's prayers.

[AllMyDaysatGH]

Basically!!

LOL!

[allmc2008]

A little of topic but I kinda miss dear sweet wonderful linda!

[John]

Visit the soap central boards. She is over there a lot