Reviving the Soaps

[JKG]

Hi All...First time poster here. Besides catching up on shows I wanted to check out this quarantine I have been watching The Locher Room. Its great to see the old cast members and great to see people are still interested in seeing the actors and hear about there shows. I think we all can agree soap fans are passionate about there shows and not afraid to post here how they truly feel about casting/storylines etc. So this got me thinking if you could play Hollywood Executive and were able to revive any of the shows (primarily GL, ATWT, AMC and OLTL) how would you do it? What cast would you bring back? What would be the initial storylines? 

[Melroser]

okay I'll play...

Since AW is my fave show, I'd bring AW back (tho Proctor and Gamble would never let it happen!) I would do it as a "next generation" type reboot though. 

The characters I'd bring back as grown-ups:

 

Ali Fowler (daughter of Amanda Cory and Sam Fowler)

Steven Frame (son of Jamie Frame and Vicky McKinnon)

Kirkland Harrison (Grant Harrison and Vicky' McKinnon)

Bridgett and Michelle McKinnon (twins of Jake McKinnon and Vicky.)

Dante Carlino (son of Joe Carlino and Paulina Cory Carlino)

Jasmine Cory (daughter of Matthew Cory and Lila Winthrop)

Cory and Elizabeth Hutchins (twins of Carl Hutchins and Rachel Cory Hutchins)

 

I'd focus on Cory Publishing again and have many of them (that are the Cory relatives) be employed there trying to be the top in command. Maybe Kirkland, Bridgett, and Michelle have a beef with the Corys, have their own company that is in competition. Cory Hutchins could be secretly in a "love" triangle with twins Bridgett and Michelle and be the Romeo/Juliets of the show until it all blows up. 

The parents could be possible "guest stars" on the show in a recurring basis. Sandra Ferguson. Judi Evans. Tom Eplin. Ellen Wheeler (as Vicky since Jensen is probably unavailable...), Matt Crane. Not sure if Vicky Wyndham or Anna Stuart would make appearances as grandparents but would love it! 

 

[Vee]

I know exactly what I'd do with OLTL, which is why I will never talk about it too much in public, lol. My first love and the focus of my career is not television or the soaps, and I don't have any real expectation of going into that at any point unless this genre revolutionizes on streaming, but you never know what could happen in some bizarro world, and too many of y'all know me.

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I will say it would be arc/season-based for a streaming format, 3-4 months on and off with 3-5 episodes per ideal 'week', and it would focus on the political currents and social issues in the country right now. There has never been a time a soap like OLTL has been more essential or more missed for me. (I will say that I'd try to snag someone like Anne Heche to play a short term Kirstjen Nielsen/Bill Barr heavy in a politically relevant arc - soap fans still love her, and I bet that wacky broad still loves the soaps.)

[JKG]

@Melroser Thanks for responding. I believe you are right thats where you would need to start to revive Another World. Unfortunately with it being off the air for 21 years it would be almost a brand new show. One thing interesting is that maybe you don't need a central family for a new AW. It could be a show based on the twentysomethings and thirty somethings in Bay City which was a big city in the midwest if I am correct. 

 

Steven Frame is related to all the younger characters by siblings (Kirkland, Bridget/Michelle), first cousins (Alli, Jasmine) uncle/aunt (Cory/Elizabeth). Dante isn't blood but he is a Cory and if you throw Charlie Winthrop in there, they're distant cousins. I feel like that enough is a family unit when thinking of people who live in big cities. From personal experience I lived in NYC and saw my cousin and siblings occasionally and friends would occasionally overlap. You can easily have a few of the other main characters be siblings and woven into stories with the other characters plus bringing back in a recurring form the older cast members and I think this would be a great way to revive the show. 

 

 

[titan1978]

I agree with @Vee.  Even though OLTL was not my favorite ABC soap, there are enough pieces and actors left and ease of contemporary storytelling to build a great show out of it for streaming.  I think streaming needs a hook, and OLTL provides that better than AMC does in my opinion.  Start off with Viki deciding it is time to let Kevin take over The Banner as Editor, but staying on as Publisher (Katherine Graham style), and butting heads with an increasingly TMZ/Fox News styled Sun now being run by her sister, Tina (Andrea Evans only please).  Round out with new generations of classic families and focus on the class divide that worked so well on this show.

 

The Banner and The Sun competing creates such an excellent and easily modern template to build from.
 

As far as the others, a reboot of The Edge of Night would be cool- completely recast though, with the characters solving a mystery a season, while in true soap fashion, the next one is being set up to build on.  Maybe even a great role for Sharon Gabet in there.  It would be fun for an arc with Francis Fisher too.

[Vee]

The Sun would be run by the widowed Blair for me, but Dani might enter into that sphere at some point. I feel a wise new take would be a focus would be on Destiny, Matthew and Danielle as the younger leads, with Destiny as a crusading journalist (she did get her start working for Viki as a single mom in 2013), and yes, with Kevin in the mix there too. That's all I'll say on that.

 

I agree EON is timeless and could be rebooted literally any time.

[soapfave06]

Oh God, I miss OLTL. Love the ideas! I would love to see the Halls back too. 

[titan1978]

I would not be opposed to Blair running The Sun.  Kelley Missal was so great on the OLTL streaming series, and I agree those three characters should be there.

[Vee]

I would absolutely bring the Halls back. But that's all I say in a public forum, lol.

[Fevuh]

I didn’t watch any ABC soap, but if I did any kind of reboot, I’d do “All My Life to Live”. And combine AMC and OLTL vets.  Proctor and Gamble is dumb and would never allow it but I’d do similar.  Remaining cast members “As the Guiding Light Turns”