February 13-17, 2006

[alwaysAMC]

ITA - I thought the dynamics were great....it couldn't have been better and wouldn't have made sense IMO.

[Cheap21]

I have to disagree. AMC rarely does a big sweeps event like this. Something like this is so rare that when they do do it, it comes out well and it makes for great television. I cant see how AMC fans can get tired of the disaster sls bc we dont get many. On the otherhand, a show like GH does one every few months, and yes I do get sick of those every time bc its nothing but a ratings grabber. I didnt feel such was the case here bc it fit in wonderfully with the story and didnt seem contrived at all. Plus most of the stories climaxed and came to a head. I know I have been fascinated by what I've seen onscreen and AMC has been on a roll long before the explosion and still doing pretty good onscreen since it happened. Of course thats just my opinion, but I really do think its the most entertaining soap on tv at the moment

[Skin]

I agree Cheap. AMC usually sticks to the family traditional climaxes for sweeps like when a big reveal come out like the Surrogacey storyline with Greenlee and Kendell or When Greenlee revealed that she was Jacks daughter at Erica's wedding.

AMC doesn't do this kind of stuff normally they usually stick to family issues and stuff like that not explosions and gunshots and spontaneous fires and epidemics like GH. Even thou GH does them well storywise it's obvious it's only for sweeps and then it goes back to the sonny show.

[SteveFrame]

That might be the case but AMC does do them occassionally. The thing that is happening right now is that it is overkill so much in the genre and AMC is suffering from the overkill. Because GH does them so much and most people who watch AMC also watch the other ABC shows, they have seen it too much. GH just had the big hotel fire recently, then the train wreck, now the epidemic, and at the same time OLTL was gearing up for the plane crash. Right in the middle of all of it AMC pulls the explosion. It is overkill. Like you said AMC only does these occassionally. The last time was at a the Crystal Ball I think several years ago. This also goes to the point that I was making a couple of days back about AMC. The show used to be unique and it had its own pattern of doing things. They are losing that uniqueness and becoming just like all the other shows. Even pulling out a big event like this for sweeps just like GH does. The show did use to focus on family oriented drama for sweeps and for everyday. They use to have socially relevant stories which hardly any other soap did on a regular basis. But that show is no more. It's key thing now is to be entertaining no matter what the cost and to get the rating point - screw the rest. I want my old AMC back.

I did not watch any of the explosion after half way through Tuesdays show. That was the last day I have watched AMC and probably will for be that way for awhile. But I have yet to see the reason for doing this. The few things that progressed in the storyline could have been accomplished in many other ways. There just was no real reason to do it other than to maybe grab someone's attention which obviously it didn't do or if it did it definitely didn't keep them.

[jpoliver78]

One reason for this "sameness", I believe, is ABC Daytime President Brian Frons. In my opinion, ABC Daytime as a whole has become interchangable ever since Frons took over. During the Frons Era, the soap population dropped by one with the cancellation of "Port Charles" and its timeslot going back to the affiliates. Another hallmark of Frons is the revolving door that seems to exist at the ABC soaps. PC refugees Julie Hanan Carruthers moved to AMC; GH rehired their old writers; AMC became the latest soap to hire Megan McTavish; DAYS reject Dena Higley moved to OLTL. The constant recycling of writers and producers from one soap to another is not healthy. Even the opening credits of the three ABC soaps - which all changed since Frons took over - are similar and interchangable as well.

In todays television environment - especially daytime - the status quo, which Frons seems to adhering to, isn't accomplishing anything. I did note that in January, prior to the (literally) Disaster of February sweeps, that all three ABC soaps posted half-a-point declines from the same period one year earlier. Wonder why?

[SteveFrame]

ITA with you and I am a fan of the network.

BTW AMC didn't just become the latest soap to hire McTavish. They rehired her for the 2nd time, making her 3rd stint as head writer for the show.

[WTGH]

[!@#$%^&*]!!! ATWT is tanking...

[SteveFrame]

I can't believe it either. Last week wasn't the greatest weeks but it was still good. Maybe next week will be better.

[Adam]

Pretty amazing as they were consistently top 3 and 4 for the last half of last year.... I tuned into ATWT for the babyswitch reveal and all the fallout but I quickly became bored with it....

[alwaysAMC]

Ok - well AMC's numbers actually are much better now that all the results are out...they are so close to #1 for the main demo! I like that.

[OneLife Fan]

Not bad for the OLTL ratings in some demo's!!

[psychofan]

I'm actually surprised that OLTL is so low. I thought that the plane crash would draw in viewers!

[MichaelGL]

GL's ITL seems to have a real big problem with keeping viewers tuned in for the next days episode.

[FanSoAp07]

B&B

Thursday: 3.2/3,972,000

Friday: 3.5/4,722,000

What happened on B&B for such a huge spike in ratings?

That's almost +1,000,000 in one day!

[dragonflies]

ATWT has been really boring lately IMO. It's starting to pick up some though.

I think AMC has been great the past couple weeks, it's my favorite soap on the air right now