PP: AMC & OLTL to air twice weekly

[greens_dupres]

First weigh on this topic so sorry if I repeat anything that has been said- I did try to read through the entire thread

---Hated the length of the press release and how they tried to bury what was essentially bad news with tons of extraneous info about viewership. I was reading it on my phone on line at Starbucks and at first glance, I thought they were going to 2 eps of AMC on M/W and 2 eps of OL on T/Th- a restructuring rather than a reduction of content. After several hours, I'm finally out of panic mode because you guys have me convinced this has to do more with production than viewership.

----Wish PP had spent more time thinking about feasibility instead of fighting with ABC and spending legal fees on McBain & Starr. If they had initially come back twice a week each, we would have been thrilled. Now it looks PP is panicking and backtracking on their commitment at lightning speed and that is a lot to take for fans who have been through the ringer and back since January 2011 (even longer for AMC fans given the last 5 years of that show).

--That said, I don't think PP is throwing in the towel, they seem to have a lot of eggs and dollars in these baskets (example- the red carpet thing seemed like a huge thing that was completely unnecessary for a soap relaunch but they did it anyway) and I don't think they'll give up on their investment without riding it out and trying anything and everything to make this profitable and avoid a big loss.

--I wish they had done their homework and figured out how many fans really watch both shows. Since this seems to be an issue for them, I wish they had considered the idea of making these semi-telenovela soaps. 13 weeks of AMC four times a week followed by 13 weeks on OLTL alternating. 1 show in production while the other airs (or something like that). I would rather have this than just 2x per week for each one. But maybe my perspective is skewed as someone who has always watched both. (Yesterday I watched OLTL before AMC for the first time in my life and felt like I was betraying the ghost of my grandma.

--Really concerned about the impact on cast size. I think the casts are a good size for the 4x a week, 25 minute show. Cutting that in half worries me in terms of our canvases becoming too bloated.

--I know a lot of people are yelling about getting rid of the More shows. I don't particularly love or even like them but its clear they cost PP nothing (hosted by Rich Frank's wife for God's sake lol) and were a way to attempt to give fans soapy content on Friday without spending money. I'll keep watching them to be supportive. I was impressed at how they tried to adjust the content from the first week to the second- hopefully again a sign of PP's commitment to this project succeeding.

--In freak out mode this afternoon, I purchased every episode of both shows in iTunes and the multipasses for the next 20 episodes. I told myself I would wait a month to see if I "loved" them before getting Multipasses. When I was crying into my Frappuccino after rereading the press release, I remembered I have always and will always love these shows.

[EricMontreal22]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I didn't see any criticizing of the audience. We can argue if this was really the main reason or not, but they stated it as a fact.

[Khan]

First of all, Vee, don't take that tone with me. I owe neither you nor anyone else on this board anything, certainly not more explanation on what I think I made damned clear in my post.

Second, I said AMC and OLTL needed to stop thinking and acting as if they were daytime or even "anytime" soaps. Just because they are daytime or "anytime," that doesn't mean they need act like it.

Now, perhaps, if you're nicer about it, and for once, you were willing to read what someone else has to say with an open mind -- the same open mind I'm supposed to extend toward your arrogant and judgmental posts -- without shooting them down and dismissing them as some sort of imbecile because they don't happen to breathe the same rarefied air as you, I'll elaborate. Otherwise, just move along.

[marceline]

I love your entire post but this is the only part I have issue with. Since there's apparently a bigger difference in the audiences for these shows, I think it would be a bad idea to alternate runs. That would only serve to frustrate and/or alienate both audiences. As someone who only watches one show, I would be pissed if AMC disappeared for three months just to have OLTL take its place.

Is there any hard data on the numbers?

[DRW50]

Don't really know how to react. I'm way behind on watching so I can't speak to quality, but I think it was always a huge gamble to assume these shows would work out four days a week right off the bat. I think they might have been better off starting at two days a week and then slowly expanding.

I do think that their cutting down instead of stopping entirely means they have the resources to keep this going, I just hope they do it right. Above all else they need to pare down to even more of a core group of actors who can deliver, and make sure they have writers who can really make those two episodes a week count. I'd say have a cliffhanger in every episode.

[Vee]

I just don't understand what the shows are if they're not either daytime soaps or anytime soaps. What are they? Llamas?

I'd sooner see the shows run in "seasons" - with concentrated episodes of 3 or 4 per several months - than run all the time on a reduced level. But that's me.

[Khan]

Well, that's nothing new, is it? You never understand half of the comments I make, nor do you try to.

[Vee]

Of course I do, and I do try, which is why I asked.

[dragonflies]

So basically this from their press release about the first week was a load of crap?

Recap shows air today and numbers are strong heading into the weekend as viewers are likely to binge view.

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2013/05/all-my-children-and-one-life-to-live-top-the-itunes-and-hulu-charts-in-debut-week

What are they then? PP flat out just said they're not shows we're supposed to watch anytime, and they said recently they're not daytime shows.

So riddle me this, what are they then?

[Khan]

But you didn't ask nicely, which is why I am tempted to tell you what you could do with your chinchilla of doubt.

[Vee]

Hey, don't look at me, man, I didn't say they weren't either of those things. I think PP's reasoning is all over the place, but I consider them soaps to be watched whenever you can during your day (or night, or strange limbo beyond life or death).

[Khan]

Neither did I. I didn't say that anymore than I said I wanted Katrina Karr to return and become the new lead heroine of ONE LIFE TO LIVE or Sally, as she was presented, to be the new generation Erica of ALL MY CHILDREN.

See, Vee, you jump on statements I make, twist them to your advantage so I can come off like a fool, and I'm sick of it. I forgave you once, but not again.

[Vee]

I was responding to dragonflies, actually. I honestly have no idea what these shows should be considered if they are not or should not be soaps, be they at day or night or any other time. AFAIC they're soaps, serialized dramas - period. If you (or Prospect Park) has another term for what they should be seen as, I'm all ears.

[greens_dupres]

Yeah the paragraph doesn't make sense on reread. I have so many thoughts in my head about all of this! Like I said, I've watched both for pretty much my entire life. As a two show fan, I would prefer to see AMC characters four times a week, as opposed to two and then switch into OLTL mode after three months just for the sake of not going weeks without seeing Dorian Lord or Opal. But yeah if I watched one, I would be annoyed to have no soap for half a year. Ughhh there is no ideal way to reduce the epsidoe numbers here so I just hope in time, the twice a week eps get a little longer. An extra 8-10 minutes could be a big difference.

[dragonflies]

Oh I know you didn't say that, but I guess they're just online shows since they're neither daytime or anytime lol