OLTL Shelved

[John]

Right they may not get the actors back. But if they can prove their contracts as the L3 were done in bad faith that gives more credence to PP claims that ABC was trying to saboatge them

[Chris B]

I don't think the contracts were done in bad faith because nobody expected these shows to continue. Also, you need to keep in mind that Kristen Alderson was never going to do OLTL whether it was launched in 2012 or this year. When the shows couldn't come to terms with sharing the characters and ABC didn't want to give them back, they should've just recast. They had Todd, just recast John (re-writing scripts severely hurt Natalie's story) and you could keep Starr off screen since she wasn't vital to the launch. As they said, they only wanted Kristen Alderson for a week anyway.

[rhinohide]

Yeah. Piss off two of the biggest fanbases the show has right off the bat. Brilliant strategy.

I think it's definitely for the best that any crossover plans were squashed regardless who gets credit/blame. In hindsight I almost wish OLTL had jumped three years like AMC did five. They could have shown Todd and Blair together. Discovering Victor was alive should have made more impact story wise. Introduced the tattoo story and exited Todd and Victor together. OLTL spent way too much time trying to resolve storylines that happened on GH instead of propelling their own stories. They fumbled awkwardly through that explanation and it would have kicked things off better IMO to just ignore GH.

[frequentsoapfan]

Exactly those crossovers did not a damn thing for GH and part of the reason why is because GH and OLTL are just two completely different shows.

[marceline]

That's something I think keeps getting glossed over. Crossovers work a lot better when both shows are truly part of the same universe. That tends to only happen with spinoffs. Dr. Who/Torchwood, various Star Trek properties, the old Norman Lear comedies, David E. Kelly crossover shows, the Whedonverse, the CSI franchise and even then they can be problematic.

These shows aren't really like that. No matter how much people try to paint them as "sister" shows just because they once shared a network, they have their own tone and creative direction. Especially with GH in the mix because that show can't even lay claim to the vestigial Agnes Nixon DNA that OLTL and AMC have. One of the best things I think PP did was bring back a noticeable tonal difference between AMC and OLTL. Crossovers would just muck that up. Look at the difference between the teen scenes on each show. Dani went from OD-ing at Shelter to boning a man twice her age that she met on the internet and Jack is basically being molested by his teacher. One AMC, Miranda is mooning after her best friend and asking Jane for a summer job while AJ is fighting with his dad and making out with his girlfriend. It's like the difference between Downton Abbey and Scandal.

[DramatistDreamer]

I do agree with whomever suggested that PP hire a PR firm. This 'fly by the seat of your pants' way of doing things works for You Tube or tech companies that have audiences that are more attuned to rapid changes and are not only used to frequent adjustments but demand them.

The soap audience skews older (judging by all the griping about the soaps initially going online) and tend to panic by frequent and abrupt changes. This, coupled with scars and doubts from past experiences from soap cancellations on network TV and it's not a good combination.

PP needs outside functionaries that can help them understand this and communicate better with the audience that they have.

[Cheap21]

well to be fair Dani and her friends are not teens. They represent the college aged 20s crowd and OLTL is lacking in an actual teen scene bc Jack alone doesnt make for one. Such a difference from how things were on ABC as AMC was lacking and OLTL was all about embracing that set

And just one other correction, Dani didnt meet Arturo on the internent. The internet story was with Matthew and his gf Michelle. Dani met this guy bc he was her dead friend's bf and they started bonding after she died.

[~bl~]

Sara Bibel has twitter, you can complain about her blog commentary in that manner if you so chose. If PP doesn't want to deal with soap press, why can't they talk to TVLine, they are seen as a mainstream website and people who work there actually know a bit about soap operas.

I want them to make a statement of some sort especially regarding when AMC will be back. And the only other statement I'd like isn't for me, but for those people who work(ed) at OLTL. They should be informed either way as to what is going on officially so they can make arrangements when it comes to their careers.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree. If this is a victory, it's a truly hollow one. *I* stand by that OLTL this comeback had so much good in it that I want it back--and I still, perhaps foolishly, hold on to the fact that it will.

[EricMontreal22]

Exactly. I admit--I love crossovers between the Nixon soaps--it's how I got hooked on Loving (one of the few flawless cross-overs I can think of.) I like thinking of them as a shared universe. That said, if they have them, keep them non-story. When Tad's talk show would go to Llanview, etc--that stuff works. The babyswitch was a well done story but it didn't really help either show. Others, like Rae's search for her mom and daughter simply made no sense.

[John]

Whatever statement PP makes it will be lose lose and they will still get [!@#$%^&*] on. How bout they just work to get the shows back

[frequentsoapfan]

Thank you! I was starting to think I was the only one that didnt consider GH a sister show to either AMC nor OLTL despite them having shared the same network at one point. GH does not have the same tone as OLTL.

[marceline]

Ugh. That whole Myrtle/Rae/Skye thing was the pits and only served to turn Rae and Skye into jokes. I don't care about Rae but it still makes my teeth itch to think about how they bent up Skye's character like an unspooled paper clip just to serve some pointless obsession with moving these actors and characters from show to show.

[greens_dupres]

I agree. I don't expect that a PP statement re OLTL would be anything enlightening or useful or even well written. But as a business practice, I think they should just throw something out there, more so that the actors have something to stand behind than for the fans.

I never really saw it as one show versus another (certainly not from discussion here- everyone has preferences but seems to be genuinely pulling for the Nixon soaps with I guess a few exceptions) so its weird that it seemed to end up that way at least for now. I do hope that AMC isn't hurt by OLTL fans tuning out- not necessarily boycotters but the people who just mainly watched OLTL and ran AMC on their computers as well to support PP.

My feelings on OLTL returning change on a dime. I range from thinking its totally over to thinking an hour later that this is a bizarro lawsuit strategy and PP hasn't really decided anything at all.

As I've said before, that will forever remain one of my least favorite things ABCDaytime ever did. ABC fans didn't really care about Rae or Linda Dano. And you couldn't escape it because it infiltrated every show. I came to accept Skye as part of the extended Q clan and even enjoy it but there was NO reason for it.

[Vee]

I think the tonal difference was very important - but at the same time, a lot of people out there took the difference to mean OLTL was now horribly misogynistic and twisted (as opposed to, you know, the Fords). When in reality the Dani and Arturo storyline (she didn't meet him on the Internet) was not that removed from Karen Wolek or the young Tina and Marco Dane.

I think they are sister shows, but they're very different siblings in many ways. And I don't think it's one show versus another anymore. I think they both had a lot to be proud of, and I think OLTL got back to some basics it hadn't had in many years while also pushing some boundaries (sometimes not enough for me). I've always loved them both.