If you didn't like AMC/OLTL on ABC, then why the outrage over the cancellations?

[Steve]

ABC, specifically Frons, even lied to Susan Lucci when she was on her book tour that the show wasn't being cancelled. Nothing PP did has topped that, imo!

I think we all did.

ABC ran these shows into the ground with bad headwriters and there was always the possibility if someone in charge cared to make them great again. PP brought in Agnes Nixon and her influence showed strongly on the internet version of AMC, which was the best that soap had been since the mid 1990s, imo.

I love the graphic and agree we've discussed this ad nauseam, but I couldn't resist putting in my 2 cents one last time.

[Nate4]

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[vote4llama]

I still enjoyed OLTL the last few years on network, so I'm not really in the target range for this question but it depends on the individual person's feelings. Some people see their soap limping along and want it to be taken out of its misery which is understandable. I'm the type of person who wouldn't want my soap to be canned because A) it's a comfortable niche I at least have the option of visiting everyday to see actors and characters I love. It's a niche and a comfort zone. I think having a "bad" soap on air is better than having no soap on air. While it's still on TV (or Internet or wherever) there's still a chance for improvement IMO.

[will81]

I didn't watch either show but just being around these boards during that period I got these impressions.

People were still invested in the shows/characters on ABC even if the shows were not great. I think audiences wanted the shows fixed not cancelled and were upset by the treatment by ABC of such legacy shows. The cancellations received outrage simply because ABC made no real effort and didn't seem to care in the slightest. All decisions seemed to be business only and no real considerations were given to the creative aspect of the shows.

The move to PP was dreaded by some as the internet is still new for original content programming. There were no guarantees who would be involved or how good the product would be, if it would find an audience and survive. Plus as bad as network tv is, there is still a prestige over internet programming.

Once the shows aired, most seemed very happy and in fact excited about the shows and felt the quality, care and investment that had been missing on ABC was returned. Having had a better shows(s) during this period and knowing the kind of attitude ABC had towards them in the past, it would make sense that no one would want them back on that network.

It isn't a contradiction of emotions, you just have to follow the evolution of that period to understand it, even somewhat.

[ellabelle]

This. I didn't like AMC's final years on ABC. I tried to get into OLTL in the early to mid 90s and couldn't and never bothered to go back, so I didn't care about OLTL's cancellation. Because of that, I resented the way the shows were presented by PP as a package deal.

Despite my dislike of AMC's final years, I didn't want to see the show END. I would have preferred that Lorraine Broderick be given a chance to actually do her job - the cancellation notice came out just weeks after she returned - and see if she could tell compelling stories and get the ratings up. They'd gone to a tremendous effort to move everything out to the west coast, and canceling it all just seemed like such a waste after so many people had uprooted their lives for the show.

I was enthusiastic about PP's version at first, but I soon realized that while it did have some good qualities (excellent production value, and Agnes' obvious touch in making Jesse and David both more layered and less one-note characters), it simply wasn't appealing to me personally. I didn't like the story direction, and the changes in the number of episodes per week messed up the pacing. Perhaps if PP had had the funds to continue with a second season, it could have gotten better. I would have been willing to give a second season a shot anyway.

Regardless, if PP or ABC or anyone else wants to produce AMC again, I'm willing to give it a chance and watch and see if the stories draw me in and keep my interest. I'm torn as to the ABC/PP lawsuit. I do think ABC attempted to sabotage PP, but IDK how much of that will translate to a settlement or award. I think PP mismanaged the reboot in a lot of ways, but at least they tried. I'm not sure that rooting for ABC to get the rights back is going to result in us ever seeing AMC again.

[katie_9918]

I agree, and I never gave a damn about the ABC soaps, always thought they were all overhyped to the extreme.

But I was outraged when GH was the one to survive. And I'm even more outraged now, seeing how much further it's sunk.

[Mathewson]

I didn't watch AMC that much. But for OLTL, while a lot of the stories made me sick for years, not to mention some horrific non-actors, there was still a lot for many of us to invest in. I watched OLTL for years and many people watched it a lot longer than that. There were still a lot of stories and characters that everyone still cared about. The same goes for AMC. I was hoping Prospect Park would be more successful but I can't say I'm surprised it wasn't. I don't like how the casts and crew for those soaps were treated by ABC or PP, but I was happy to see both shows continue online, no matter how short it was.

And as many have said, this topic has been rehashed many times.

[Max]

The topic of the cancellations themselves has been rehashed. The unique thing here (and the reason for this thread) was my puzzlement over the sentiment that there are folks here who don't want ABC to retake creative control of AMC/OLTL, even though many of these same people were upset over the cancellations at the time (back when ABC had full creative control of both shows). (As I alluded to earlier, I did previously mention this topic in existing threads, but I never felt as if I got thorough answer, and furthermore this particular matter always ended up getting lost in the shuffle. If I felt I had received a sufficient answer, I certainly wouldn't have started a new thread.)

Prior to starting this thread, I just looked at things with my own mentality (which infers that if you thought the shows were so awful on ABC, then why would you have been so angry when ABC cancelled them). There were a lot of really insightful responses on this thread (especially from the posters who usually don't discuss ABC soaps), and it made me realize that the opposing mentality wasn't contradictory. In other words, I realize people weren't enjoying the way the ABC soaps were in 2011, but were still outraged over the cancellations because it capped a long period of neglect, and that--once PP put out a supposedly superior product--these same fans now had a strong aversion to ABC reviving these soaps.

I personally disagree with the key premise that these soaps would be in better hands if they remained under PP's control, but I now fully understand the logic behind the "contradictory" set of feelings outlined in the question posed by the title of this thread.