Did CBS Cancel "GL" and "ATWT" or Was It Procter & Gamble?

[Errol]

I'm interested in your thoughts on this topic as I recently spoke with Angelica McDaniel, Senior Vice President, CBS Daytime, on this very topic in an upcoming interview. I'm interested in seeing the fan response before posting the interview in full on the website.

So, I ask...Did CBS cancel "Guiding Light" and "As The World Turns," or was their production company, Procter & Gamble, the ultimate culprits?

[Vee]

I was always under the impression it was P&G. They didn't give a [!@#$%^&*].

[jfung79]

P&G neglected the shows, but CBS cancelled them. I really don't see that there's any room for dispute of that. CBS is of course going to try to deflect blame.

[John]

I always thought it was CBS. However I seriously doubt P&G put any effort into getting them seen elsewhere

[NothinButAttitude]

I always said Procter & Gamble because Les Moonves made it clear when ATWT was cancelled that CBS was done with production own soaps (even though they still have Y&R and B&B but I digress), but he seemed to suggest that he/CBS would've bought the rights to P&G soaps if P&G would've allowed it. So P&G is responsible. Plus, look at the whole ordeal with SoapClassics. DVDs were selling quickly (and I still need Jennifer's trial on GL to complete the set but will possibly never get it) and P&G nixed that too. It's been Procter and Gamble from day uno. They'd rather kill these shows than allow someone else to gain the rights, fix them, and make P&G/Telenext look like the flops they are.

[Eric83]

I remember a former poster on here, said CBS offered to buy GL and ATWT since the mid-90's, but each time P&G said no.

Honestly, I am glad GL ended. Peapack was a disaster, ATWT could have/should have continued going.

[~bl~]

I blame P&G for what they did to the shows. As a corporation they had tons of money they could have invested in the shows, and didn't do that.

[Soapsuds]

Seriously not to be a bitch but why are we rehasing this again?? Unless the shows are coming back on air which they are not....I dont care what she has to say.

[dragonflies]

It was obvious for years that P&G wanted out of the soap biz........

[NothinButAttitude]

I've heard that too. (Speculation) I've also heard that ABC wanted Another World for their lineup in 99 when NBC cancelled it, but P&G said no. They also wanted the rights to Felicia Gallant too and P&G said no, hence why Gretel Rae Cummings was brought back. P&G has gotten many options over the years and each time they've turned them down when in the long run, it could've suited them.

[jfung79]

It's true that ABC offered to buy the rights to AW in 1999. R Scott Collishaw wrote about finding out as the show was winding down that the ABC rumor was true.

P&G not selling the rights was because they realized the value of the property they had though and saw the value of the archive and the characters -- the exact opposite of not wanting to be involved with soap operas anymore.

If ABC wanted to air AW, they could have paid a fee to P&G to keep making it. Giving ABC creative control over the legacy of Another World would have been a disaster for the memory of AW, given that Brian Frons was just a couple years away from coming to ABC Daytime. So I don't blame P&G one bit for not selling.

I agree P&G may have wanted out of the soap biz, but I think if that is the case, it was the parent corporation that wanted out, not Procter and Gamble Productions/TeleNext. Also while MADD was there, there were still things like college soap writer contests ... The whole P&G conspiracy going back to the 90s is not really supportable in my view. If they firmly decided they wanted out, it was in the mid-2000s, not going back to the 90s.

[Marco Dane]

Imagine if AW did go to ABC when would it have aired???

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks for confirming that! I've always heard that it was rumor but never knew if it was true or not. I agree that giving ABC creative control could've been disastrous but the selfish part of me would've wanted to see if they proved us wrong. And I agree that it was the parent company, Procter and Gamble, that wanted out; however, the last decade these shows were on the air made me question the production company too. Even though I loathed MADD for what she did to Michael Zaslow, I do think that under her rule, these shows did have a central power to answer too, and she did toss people out quick, fast, and in a hurry when ratings did not resonate. IMO, around late 2006-2007 when there was still some hope for these shows, P&G productions should've stepped in and did a massive overhaul behind the scenes, getting rid of Goutman and Wheeler in the process, regardless of them winning emmys, WGA awards, etc.

[MontyB]

That's what I'd like to know.

Anyway, P&G stopped production on The Edge of Night all those years ago when ABC wanted to keep it, so I believe it's the same thing in the case of GL and ATWT.

[NothinButAttitude]

Exactly. Does anyone knows whether or not NBC felt the same way about SEARCH too? (i.e. wanting to keep them on their lineup)