Unpopular opinions: cancelled soaps edition

[Vee]

It's important to distinguish between the AMC/OLTL productions themselves and the higher-ups, IMO. I think the actual creatives running the shows did very well in an impossible crunch and the shows looked pretty amazing and felt cutting-edge for soaps. I think the upper management of PP above the shows were fraudsters.

[DramatistDreamer]

Unfortunately, Jeff Kwatinez seems to be an unscrupulous guy. I don't like the way the actors were left feeling after the fallout. A few took it on the chin as being the nature of the business but I know a few claimed, if asked, they would not work with PP ever again and I can't blame them.

I think you may be right about fans complaining more about OLTL and the swearing, some of this seemed to be driven by a few bloggers who may have been upset that their fave HW wasn't chosen for the task. Another aspect was the fact that a few production people may have promoted the cursing a little too much as something of an innovation, when they really shouldn't have. It became a big deal.

I also think you have a point about the time jump. In a way, it's understandable since the show did end on a cliffhanger on ABC but it made more sense to mark some type of passage of time, especially when you couldn't secure some of the vital characters, who had last been seen in the cliffhanger.

In looking back yes, but unfortunately the actions of the executives at PP/TOLN negatively impacted these shows and left quite a few of the actors reluctant to work on another such venture. Perhaps minds can eventually change but when you have Debbi Morgan saying she'd never do this again, that's bad and likely to make others wary of the next independent production company expressing the desire to take on such a venture. At this point, the only companies likely to take on such a venture are newer, more independent production companies.

[Vee]

Yeah, Debbi was who I was thinking of too. But I don't think any of the talent would begrudge the creatives at the shows or the EPs who worked hard, like Ginger Smith and Jennifer Pepperman.

I think the only companies likely to do these ventures are the original networks and their parent companies. But as of now they seem to have no interest in advancing the genre.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

I liked Lorraine Broderick as head writer at ATWT. A lot of people don't. I wish she could have stayed longer.

[Liberty City]

Considering the "no swearing" video was exclusively One Life, it's why I believe it was more the viewers of that soap complaining. All My Children really didn't do it. They more-so pushed the button with nudity (AJ) and sex (Colby blowing Petey). It's just a shame Jeff Kwatinetz f*cked it up for all. Shame. So much could've been done and stories that could have been told. The fact head writers of All My Children were changed shows there were things happening on the backside.

[DramatistDreamer]

IMO, Broderick desperately needed a co-HW, someone like Susan Bedsow-Horgan, who knew how to write stories with some interest and also knew the show's storyline architecture.

[Soapsuds]

Oh god...she was going so well and ATWT was up in the ratings and then she lost her mind firing Allyson Rice Taylor and Liz Hubbard.

[Vee]

I'm pretty sure it was Felicia Minei Behr and/or MADD who hired Susan Batten from ABC, not the HW.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

I blame FMB for the worst recast ever Susan Batten.

[Soapsuds]

They were best friends and FMB gave her the job without any test screening.

Connor turned from a savvy business woman to a whiny stay at home hillbilly. 

Susan Batten was down right awful!

The can her campaign came in full force..

[DramatistDreamer]

Tbh, Susan Bedsow wouldn't have needed a co-HW. If it were up to me, I would have tried to get her back to ATWT in the wake of Marland's passing. She would have been more than capable.

I wonder whether anyone in charge, or at least near the seat of power will honestly go on the record to discuss what really went wrong. The thing that irritates me about the soap industry is that there seems to be a distinct lack of introspection. Most people are too busy equivocating, trying to make themselves the hero of the piece.

FWIW, I agree with those who say that the PP/TOLN soaps were much closer to the model of what a 21st century daytime drama should be. 

This is why I am absolutely immoveable on the idea that the network television daytime soaps really haven't been innovative in the past 20+ years. Not genuinely innovative.

[Vee]

The most that's been said is no one got paid at all, lol. I believe Erika Slezak said that flat-out, among others. I've heard a lot of cast and crew (including Horgan and the other revolving door HWs) being surprisingly very positive about the shows - aside from Debbi Morgan, who has every right to be deeply hurt - but I think that positivity reflects more on the productions themselves than the larger venture. I was always fairly aware that the PP head honchos were shady characters with pretty infamous records; it stunned me that they managed to mount the shows at all. They couldn't even adhere to the terms of the legal barriers re: crossover characters which they sued ABC over - Natalie on OLTL mentioned Sam on GH by name on the show, which was verboten yet they were suing the network! Nonetheless, the shows largely worked for me. It's so much else higher-up that apparently didn't.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Vee

[Soaplovers]

AMC had the least amount of time to get things going, and also had a head writer not familiar with the show (Marlene McPherson)...yet she managed to put a show together with strong threads  (JR/Cara/David, sex trafficking story, Dixie's slow forgiveness of Billy Clyde tuggle, and hints were dropped that Miranda would learn of her conception).

And viewership on Hulu was strong for the episodes I recall.

[Frank2803]

I never got the hype with Vanessa Marcil

Like Susan Lucci she's good with comedy but struggles with drama 

After her primetime career didn't take off she should have ran back to soaps 

[j swift]

The TOLN issues are public and easy to understand. 

They were a bit ahead of their time.  They tried to produce and distribute content and they simply ran out of money.  Today a similar production would partner with a known streaming service in order to avoid those costs.  However, ten years ago there were fewer streaming services available, so they tried to create one on their own.  Unfortunately, the only content that they owned were AMC and OLTL, so they could not compete against Netflix and Hulu with their huge catalogue of movies and television shows.  As a result, they quickly ran through their startup investment, and went bankrupt by 2013.   

Similar to the losses that P&G faced after consumer lawsuits over faulty products crippled the company, the issue had nothing to do with the creativity or quality of the content.  It was just a lack of funding that killed those soaps.