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

[Chris B]

My thing is, I AGREE that Prospect Park is a mess, but they tried. And they seemed to care more than ABC did. This is no different than when any show has a season and gets canceled. I think the lack of making it official is because they do hope to make it work sometime. Of course it probably won't happen, but I can see why they don't want to shut the door, especially if a winning lawsuit could fund a second season. Another thing, I don't dispute anything they said about the interview process, but I still have to believe there was value in taking these shows because they got some great talent on board. Not only that, but a lot of those people seemed happy while working on the shows. Maybe it was a front, but it seemed believable. Even the actors were treated so much better while filming than they had on ABC. They had better sets and an overall better creative team, better dressing rooms and actual craft services. If Prospect Park magically had enough money to fund season 2 I don't think that was a bad thing.

What I don't understand is the glee these bloggers seem to take in this. I really don't understand. It's not about Prospect Park, it's about the fact that I found these shows to be very good,e specially towards the end when they had time to work out the kinks. They both had great casts, great writing and good things on the horizon had a second season been approved. Why does nobody seem to care about that? All these people wanna talk about is how hilarious Prospect Park is and how crappy OLTL was, which is a damn lie.

[DRW50]

They don't care about soaps or soaps doing well. They care about a party going on in their own heads, that nobody else is invited to. A podcast cackling over "babies who don't know they're born" is more valid than any soap which is not approved by them. Ron and Frank are approved by them. Ron and Frank are therefore the best ever. Nothing else matters.

My guess is if DAYS, Y&R (now that MAB is gone) and B&B were all canned tomorrow, they'd be happy about that too, because it would prove them right, and mean even more time they get to spend on their party planning.

And someone will shill a book.

The glee and pure joy from that Bowe person over so many lost jobs, the sheer bliss in her responses, is just about an all time low point with soap "journalists". I didn't think anyone could top Nellie or Hinsey, but that's close.

[DRW50]

I think Casiello has been so babied by the soap "press" over the years he doesn't have a lot of boundaries. I guess that it's not exactly a secret how PP operated, so he probably won't be hurt, but you'd think since he's written for wrestling shows, he'd know they don't have a tendency of hiring people with loose lips.

[John]

I find it funny that Tom even attempted to get hired by PP. When the shows first canned, he & Navell J Lee both called a friend who was trying to get the soaps back that she was crazy. Tom even went on to show how cocky he can be by telling my friend that if AMC & OLTL came back he would buy her dinner on him.

Well the shows came back and my friend never collected on that wager. After seeing that discussion between DC and Tom yesterday, she wishes she had.

Also Im not saying Jeff K cant be abrassive at times but also remember, they were hiring staff in December and needed to be in production in 60 days. That would be stressful for anyone especially two guys who never produced daily drama before.

[Khan]

Show me a higher-up (in daytime, primetime, movies, whatever) who hasn't stepped on a few toes and broken a few backs in their career, and I'll show you a business executive who hasn't worked a day in his life.

[John]

Well said

[greens_dupres]

So true. This is why its so hard to have a sane conversation with GH/cartini die hards who act like all soaps that aren't helmed by them are somehow deficient and forget that RC's GH is miles/oceans away from Labine's GH which was fabulous.

Haven't posted on the latest PP developments but I've been reading along. My sense is that they're done for now but are maybe still trying to somehow scrounge up money to somehow string together another season of one or both down the road so they're not saying anything. I seriously doubt the lawsuit prevents them from talking about their current plan. Essentially, the shows have both been shelved for months so I don't really understand the demand for an announcement that I'm seeing all over Twitter. They're out of production indefinitely until PP tells us otherwise. I'm sure most of the actors (and fans at least here) were smart enough to realize that. TK jumping to B&B shows that. I'm not optimistic but I never ever believed PP would make this happen when the news broke last Christmas that they were trying again so who knows what the next year or two will bring.

I just can't with people who are acting like the shows were a failure or some terrible product because PP's financial decisions failed (and the fact was with those licensing fees that I assume were set by ABC legal, it was always going to be an uphill battle) They gave AMC a pulse and a heartbeat again even without Lucci or Michael Knight. Writing for character on OLTL became an actual consistent thing again, not a rare special treat. If the 40 eps of each are all we get, they were like that fifty dollars that you unexpectedly find in an old jacket- a pleasant and welcome surprise that is extra sweet and extra fun to spend because you didn't think it would be there in the first place.

I also don't get the complaining about a "proper finale." The whole point of soaps is that life and time goes on and on in that town. So I don't need everything tied up in a bow because that freezes the characters at a particular stop point. The way things were left both on PP and ABC, you can imagine how things progressed from there based on your own preferences for the characters. I don't see the big tragedy in that.

[ellabelle]

Amen. I am so sick of hearing on various boards that there needs to be a finale. No, there doesn't. I was curious as to who JR shot in 2011, but I assumed it was Marissa, and I was correct. Beyond wanting confirmation that Marissa was indeed shot, I was fine with where everything else was left. I'm thrilled the interest was there to bring it back, but it would take more than a few episodes to tie up all the loose ends, and doing so in a short period of time would feel forced and unnatural. I'd rather NOT hear "and they all lived happily ever after."

[EnglishTea]

I'm not sure if a finale is necessary, but it would be nice to have some storylines wrapped up, perhaps in an open-ended way to leave wiggle room for a miraculous return.

For instance, I'd like to see David reunited with his child, and for Cara to have some consequences for the lie. I'd like to find out who is the mysterious stranger in Celia's visions, and if Evelyn is more than a guardian. I enjoyed Zach for the first time since his existence, and I'd like to know if Kendall's heart condition brings them back together (and then off screen because I can't stand Zendall). I'd like to find out why Tad has been gone for so long, and where are Kate and Jenny. I want to see Miranda's reaction to how she really came into the world, and AJ comforting her. I would like to see Adam and Brooke finally married (legally) in a lavish wedding with Dimitri sulking in the background until Erica makes her grand entrance, which of course, steals Brooke's grand moment just a little (as always). I'd like to see Colby find love or at least that swooning spark (in my scenario with step-brother Jamie since Brooke and Adam are now married).

That said, if the show remained where it left off, I could live with it - it is better than being left with the question of who did JR shoot (although other than that I immensely enjoyed ABC's finale).

[Cheap21]

These two should be easy. Jenny is with Krystal and Kathy is most likely in college

[marceline]

This. I was back to loving AMC again. Not just liking, loving. It was like someone finally took a look at my wish list for soaps and said, "Yeah, we can do most of this."

[Khan]

And thanks to her roommate, Kathy is also working as a call girl.

[EricMontreal22]

Perfectly said.

[John]

From Soaptown USA

http://soaptownusa.com/?p=4647

Loose Lips 11-10-13

November 10, 2013 Loose Lips

There is alot of buzz about the end of All My Children and while a certain magazine mention one certain columnist would make the announcement last Friday as of now nothing has been mentioned and from what I understand this columnist is not very happy being used as a scape goat in a matter of speaking. So in actuality no one knows nothing not even the actors. So I guess we will have to wait and see if the hammer comes down

She is refering to TV Guide's Michael Logan

[DramatistDreamer]

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