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

[marceline]

[John]

Well put and sadly I agree

[Vee]

The claim for awhile has been that oh, if only ABC had kept the rights we'd have summer series or something for OLTL and AMC right now, with the existing team at GH shepherding that process. Yeah, that's a nice thought, but first of all I'll believe that when I see it, and secondly, as things stand at GH - and just in general, really - I would never want one unilateral voice stamped on all of these shows, no matter who it was, especially now when that GH team is not at all what it once was. It's not healthy for soaps, it's not the future of soaps to have them all go back to the same network which cancelled them and then have them churned out by the same old hacks, and by that I mean a lot of different people who keep floating around daytime, including Jean Passanante, etc. She may be a great breakdown person but as HW she has always stunk on toast.

And the fact is ABC has no real loyalty to the soap opera anymore. None. They are biding their time. It doesn't matter which executive is in place giving happy talk, the bottom line is that they want to push that cost out the door. And they can't entirely be blamed for that. I don't mind ABC working with the soaps in the future, but licensing them out to people who actually give a [!@#$%^&*] (PP or otherwise), who are outside the existing soap bubble and want to do something new with the product seems like the way to ensure something of quality again, something contemporary. By contrast, watching the soap press cheerlead for ABC to take back the rights under lock and key - or potentially push out future product produced by the same old team that is already busy with one soap opera - seems like self-immolation to me. But again, it's what they know and are comfortable with. And yeah, most of it has to do with OLTL and that team, which is silly because I know for a fact that some of those loudest voices hadn't watched that show for even a decade. Teams come and go, and Ron and Frank are not without their skills but the show is the more important thing. And these shows are not going to be serviced by having a couple guys spread out across two or three different shows when they're barely keeping their heads above water at GH.

[Juliajms]

To what end?

[allmc2008]

I do to. They realized that you can be more successful by staying true to the core of the soaps by telling compelling character-driven stories composed of characters that are believable.

They never would have allowed characters like Jane and Heather to fly yet they are the most popular. They also wouldn't have brought in those vets from the past and give them REAL storylines because they werent in the target demo's yet the fans responded really well.

That said, I doubt they will produce them but I do think they will gain exclusive broadcasting rights.

[EricMontreal22]

I should too. And you're right--much of the reaction I read is either "Arrgh they should have left me with the network finales which I was more than happy with!!" (As if they were FORCED to watch these things.) Or else "Good, now ABCDaytime which, due to GH being SOOO fabulous right now, now loves soaps, can bring them back!!" ummmm

Nope. Not a single chance in hell. If they really did, it actually would have been relatively cheap for ABC to simply get PP to continue, and pay to air them as an hour block--cheaper than doing it themselves.

[Vee]

Which was on the table for some of the affiliates, apparently. And would still be my optimum solution.

[marceline]

Help me out here. Is there some change in the way ABC is treating GH to make people think that? Are they advertising GH more? Are they doing something on the ABC website or something? I know that they had half the cast of the show on The Chew but that's nothing new. They've always cross promoted because it doesn't cost them anything. Has ABC given some indication that they have a renewed commitment?

[Errol]

‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live’ Done?

[allmc2008]

I actually do.

1. They explored Loving/The City/RH. not saying they are bribing those back but it could be a sign of a renewed interest.
2. They are actually bragging about ratings again.
3. They held a 50 hour marathon on SoapNet
4. They had GH on the talk show circuit for the 50th anniversary
5. They actually did a prime time special for GH (the Katie Couric thing. I think it was 20/20.)
6. Even though Nurses Ball and the return of Several GH vets including Bobbie and Leslie were not exactly successful it still happened.

[allmc2008]

Hell.

[Vee]

The new head exec or whoever, who I think replaced Frons, is a woman who's been very complimentary and supportive of GH and its place in the line-up, at least publicly. She's also gone out of her way to court the soap press and make them feel important.

I do believe she is a fan of GH and watched the show when she was younger, as she's said. But ABCD's bottom line is still their bottom line, and ABC wants out of soaps. They're praising it now because they have nothing ready to take it out yet; their commitment, IMO, is no different than before. They might have potentially resurrected AMC and OLTL on a short-term basis, sure, if they have poor summer programming options - I was hearing that even before PP ever came back from the dead - but the prescription, namely summer series with the existing GH team supposedly helping to mastermind that resurgence, just sounded to me like even more of an cheapo assembly line than before. And again, any talent you have in that team is going to be extraordinarily diluted if it's spread across all that work for three shows, even if they're only consulting or whatever, especially considering that their GH is not exactly a flawless masterwork. It's just not a way to service or modernize soaps for the next generation.

And what's more, there's so many stories, actors, moments and nuances from the new AMC and OLTL that would never have made it past ABC or that team onto TV. I'm thinking of actors like Eric Nelsen, or the depth in the material given to Kelley Missal, or Erika Slezak and Jerry verDorn sans their kids, or a black leading male, or Debbi Morgan and the abortion story. Or the fact that AMC frontburnered Julia Barr, Jill Larson and Michael Nader. That's why I think it's a much forward-thinking idea for ABC, if it wants to air the shows in any available slots, to simply keep licensing them out. The talent well is dry at ABCD. Or when it's not, it's all the same folks. The handful of relative new blood are all career GH staff under Ron and Frank, and they've got a reliable gig there (for now).

[Dee41]

I'll guess we'll see on Friday. Too many rumors floating around...Where there's smoke there's fire IMO

[Ryan Chamberlain]

I knew this would happen.

I loved the AMC reboot. And, I was waiting for season 2 to see if Tad really did come back. That cliffhanger pisses me off more than the ABC cliffhanger.

Up yours'! Prospect Park.

[EricMontreal22]

No. But GH ratings are UP! (barely.) And The Revolution was canceled! (a year ago.) And GH is now in a new GOLDEN AGE! (...)

I admit this isn't great news by any stretch, but if they were waiting to make an announcement--pro or con, they would NOT, when asked to comment in advance, say anything but no comment. Did they also not deny that AMC wasn't scrapped?