I liked the AMC 5 year jump as to me they had quite a few cast members not returning. So was quite believable that people would've moved etc.

This is OT but I think ALL soaps should do a 5 year jump....

Don't all the soaps kind of already do this when a character is SORASed

Linda, I'm sorry but you are making this up. No one has even suggested that PP is micromanaging Agnes and the creative team at AMC, anywhere. And you know it. Having a preference about overall creative choices is not the same thing as what you describe.

Uri is still around because that story isn't over yet. And Jacob hasn't appeared on a soap opera since 1997, but I notice you haven't said [!@#$%^&*] about that because in 2008 it was okay since Angie and Jesse were getting married.

As for the gap, when the hell were they supposed to start, then? With what cast? The 50% unpopular no-hopers that were on the show in 2011, or the other 40% who left and refused to come back? A five-year gap was the perfect jumping off point.

Face it: You're the only one trying to push a crisis narrative with AMC, because you're the only one who can't stand that it's not doing what you emotionally need.

Not talking about Angie and Jesse. Jacob was not there and even Darnell and Debbi went to the producers and inquired about that themselves. PP signs the checks whether people know that or not. and they do have rights to creative control since they sign the checks. Whether people like it or not, there are fan faves that people DO want back.

People will choose to belive the spin out there by PP and they are only getting less than an hour show, that is fact and truth.

I am not the only one pushing crisis narrative with AMC. Just pointing out facts and opinion on a commenters remarks about the show.

I liked the AMC 5 year jump as to me they had quite a few cast members not returning. So was quite believable that people would've moved etc.

Where is the reference that people moved out of Pine Valley? Where are the explanations of characters missing in action in PV?

This is OT but I think ALL soaps should do a 5 year jump....

5 year jumps do not provide consistency and continuity therefore leaving wide gaps and holes in storylines.

This is OT but I think ALL soaps should do a 5 year jump.

And here I was thinking without Jesse/Angie in the eps we'd get through a week "shell of their former selves with a skeleton cast." and the tired "better suited" for 5 days a week 60 minutes argument. Oh well.

I'm not saying I haven't been thrown by some of the changes but they never promised this would be the model for all eternity. There was a LOT of talk about it being a new territory, almost an experiment, figuring out what works etc. I think most of us knew it would not be smooth sailing right away even if we hoped otherwise.

Isn't this the case with all soaps right now? I don't think they had significant rehearsal time on AMC for years. The young actors are mostly doing fine- Denyse Tontz, Eric Nelsen, Brooke Newton, I guess even your favorite Sal Stowers. Sure JLP is inexperienced and Daniel Colvin is just Daniel Colvin but young actors not being master class thespians is not an issue unique to the PP soaps. And its existed in soaps for decades even in the glory years of ample money and rehearsal time.

Why? Because ABC was so uninvolved? Because Frons was a laissez faire kind of exec? Of course they should give creative input since its their millions on the line. And like Vee said, there's been no suggestion of micromanagement from anyone. JP did not say oh PP tells us exactly what to do. Everyone including the #1 supercouple Debbi & Darnell have said Agnes is extremely involved and has creative freedom for the first time in years.

I could not disagree more that AMC or OLTL lack substance or character driven moments. Do you even watch OLTL? Not to hate on the network soaps but with 48 minutes a week, they both often (always?) do more character driven stuff than a full week of those shows. And certainly more than AMC or OLTL did in the later years. If anything, OLTL was all character driven stuff some weeks and not enough story movement.

I will always commend Ginger Smith for doing this. AMC needed this- and she knew this because she had spent decades there. It allowed the writers and Agnes to take back the canvas, reset it and make it their own. It rejuvenated a show that to use your words had on ABC in the last five years become in many ways "a shell of its former self."

AMC still lasted over 40 years to include the 2000's. There are fan favorites from that era too and they remind everyone of that every chance they get too.

5 year jumps do not provide consistency and continuity therefore leaving wide gaps and holes in storylines.

That is GREAT actually because instead of retconning past stories to accommodate new ones NOW they have a 5 year "Blank Slate".

How does it leave holes in storylines?

Three comments:

First, I don't understand the constant harping that AMC and OLTL have "skeleton casts". AMC has 20 contract actors and OLTL has 18 contact actors, which is pretty much on par with the number of contract actors on the other half-hour soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. And pretty much all of the actors on both shows are being utilized.

Second, it is quite possible for a soap that airs twice a week to have in-depth, character-driven storylines. For proof, just look at EastEnders in its early days. The show started out twice a week with about 18 or so characters (a skeleton cast, in your words). The show offered compelling stories that drew in lots of viewers, myself included. One of the most powerful stories EastEnders offered involved teenager Michelle Fowler having an affair with and getting pregnant by her best friend Sharon's father. It was an engrossing story that played out over a number of years.

Third, as for Jacob's involvement in Cassandra's story, none of us know all the details behind Prospect Park's agreement with ABC and what PP can and can't use. The fact is that Jacob was not an AMC character. He appeared on Loving and The City so it's quite possible that PP doesn't have the right to use the character. Clearly, at this point, Jacob doesn't figure into AMC's plans so what's the point of bringing on Jesse's doppelganger?

I see some valid points here in this commenting. As a babyboomer, I have watched the show since its beginning. Prospect Park specifically said that they were invested to retain the dedicated and faithful longtime fans like myself while expanding to new viewership too. They spoke of the key age demo 18-49 that they were also going to be zeroing in on (advertisers). Then they announced the 4 day a week, 30 minutes a day schedule which they failed to follow through on with fans and viewers alike. Now it has been chopped up, sliced up, and shredding all the way down to just 2 episodes at 20 some odd minutes per episodes to attempt to have a show. Then the Headwriting change, the forced extended hiatus, the union mess with the crew, worries over budget, the first Prospect Park deal collapse and failure, and PP generally not holding up to their campaign selling points in the beginning of promoting the shows, both shows. Their trustworthiness and honesty continues to come into question.

You are right about actors being overworked and no quality rehearsal/blocking time. Just rush and hurry up production. The younger less experienced actors are not being given a fair chance with what they are being put through.

Ginger Smith is in the drivers seat, so far. According to Jen Pepperman of OLTL, PP is not favoring bringing back characters from the dead and so they seem to be putting their two cents worth in as far as characters/storylines go. Agnes Nixon, Ginger Smith and the writers are at the mercy of PP when it comes to characters/storylines because PP still signs the checks. I was very surprised to to hear that PP was putting their input into storylines/characters.

AMC and OLTL are a shell of their former selves with a skeleton cast and significantly reduced schedule/airtimes. Both are down to the bare minimum of less than 1 hour per week, 20 something minutes, 2 episodes. Audiences are just going to see bullet points/moments/snippets of stories without in depth character driven build up and little substance to allow audiences to see the why's and how's. So alot will be missing in storylines, incomplete in some ways. The Cassandra storyline made a huge mistake by not having her father Jacob in the storyline. It was not realistic. There is still Uri out there and the writers failed to wrap up that angle of the storyline to move on to other storylines. Ginger Smith in her interview did say that there can be NO ROOM FOR ERROR when they come back into production this month August timeframe. So she realizes that writing, continuity and production consistencies and accuracy has to happen.

The 5 year gap probably did not help in some ways too. A starting point/jumping off point might have been better if that 5 year gap never happened.

At the end of the day, would AMC and OLTL be better suited for at least a 4-5 day a week, 30-60 minutes a day type of show? Who knows but with going back into production, it is my hope that PP will try harder this time to be more honest and trustworthy to the fans and not say something that they have to take back later on and get a better PR team in place in dealing with announcements/sudden out of nowhere changes that has been consistently going on from the start. and take their time in the decision making process with changes. Slow down the train PP.

We babyboomers kept the gainfully employed show going for over 40 years and so we have a tremendous investment in the show. We are the true dedicated and loyal faithful. We miss the 5 day a week 1 hour show. We want PP to give better and do better.

Clean slate. No. 5 year gap is not a smooth transition at all. Lost time.

In your opinion.

We babyboomers kept the gainfully employed show going for over 40 years and so we have a tremendous investment in the show. We are the true dedicated and loyal faithful. We miss the 5 day a week 1 hour show. We want PP to give better and do better.

What does being a baby boomer have to do with this? I am far from being a Baby Boomer and I am just as faithful and loyal as ANY Baby Boomer fan!!

Actually, I possibly more dedicated, loyal and faithful then MOST Baby Boomer fans!! I never gave up on the show and never will. When ABC announced the cancellation I knew something good was going to happen and when PP shelved the project I said to my self "just wait until September 2012 and maybe ABC will reconsider". Once September passed and no press release was sent out most fans had gave up. I still didnt. I was actually convinced something was in the works!! My "Baby Boomer" professor who is one of my greatest friends and a fellow AMC Addict gave up after PP folded the project and kept trying to convince me the show was dead in the water. Most people thought that. If you followed us when the news broke they decided to come back there were MANY skeptics here!!

I doubt you can't tell me ONE story line from the 70s that Is not in any of the Anniversary books!

What does being a baby boomer have to do with this?

Absolutely nothing. Linda, on the one hand, seems to think PP owes something extra to her as a 40 year fan. On the other hand, she's constantly complaining that they are ignoring the Rylee and Zendall fans of the 2007-2011 era. What matters to PP is if you're loyally watching their version, not when you started with ABC. Anyways if Angie and Jesse were in every episode eating breakfast in bed or talking about their #1 supercouple love, we would not be having any of these conversations.

I have not seen one other fan who is not supportive of the time jump decision- I'm sure they exist- probably on Facebook or SOC. It made sense for AMC based on where the show ended and what the canvas was and who was available to PP. I don't think it would have been as a wise a choice for OLTL but it was absolutely the right call for AMC. As soon as I heard that was the plan, I was instantly much more excited for the show.

Edited August 8, 201312 yr by greens_dupres

Awwww, y'all are being too hard on our dear allmc... especially since Linda has taken his place as our resident crazy.

Edited August 8, 201312 yr by Pine Charles

Awwww, y'all are being too hard on our dear allmc... especially since Linda has taken his place as our resident crazy.

Spoiler regarding me and Linda!!

I was never crazy. Linda through me in a well and hacked my account. Once I was free and sent her away to Oak Haven she was forced to create her own account.

Edited August 8, 201312 yr by allmc2008

Absolutely nothing. Linda, on the one hand, seems to think PP owes something extra to her as a 40 year fan. On the other hand, she's constantly complaining that they are ignoring the Rylee and Zendall fans of the 2007-2011 era. What matters to PP is if you're loyally watching their version, not when you started with ABC. Anyways if Angie and Jesse were in every episode eating breakfast in bed or talking about their #1 supercouple love, we would not be having any of these conversations.

I have not seen one other fan who is not supportive of the time jump decision- I'm sure they exist- probably on Facebook or SOC. It made sense for AMC based on where the show ended and what the canvas was and who was available to PP. I don't think it would have been as a wise a choice for OLTL but it was absolutely the right call for AMC. As soon as I heard that was the plan, I was instantly much more excited for the show.

You are aware this person is from SOC?? I tried to got there once the Soap Net boards closed but I find this place better. Errol, Toups, Angela, Scotty, and the rest are a thousand times more intelligent than the SOC people. I do think Dan Kroll is also at our level so it is a shame he can't sell it and join SON.

Not worth it with this circus act.

Edited August 8, 201312 yr by Vee

xxxxxx

Edited August 8, 201312 yr by cassadine1991