Sunday, November 27, 2011

SURVEY: Who Do You Blame for the Loss of ONE LIFE TO LIVE and ALL MY CHILDREN?

ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE will not return with new web episodes this winter. In fact, it seems they may both be gone for good. Something clearly went very wrong.

Not everyone is equally responsible. In your opinion, which of the parties involved had a hand in demise of not one, but two American institutions? Choose all that apply, and please, go ahead and add your own. Check back for the results.


RELATED
- AFTRA: Prospect Park Has Not Responded For The Past Month
- Writers Guild of America West: Had Been Close To A "Fair Deal"
- Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz: ALL MY CHILDREN, ONE LIFE TO LIVE To Be Streamed On Web (TOLN), Then On-Demand, Then Cable Channel
- The Online Network & Universal Music Group Team Up To Bring "Music, Ecommerce & Artist Participation" to ALL MY CHILDREN & ONE LIFE TO LIVE
- ABC Confirms AMC/OLTL Licensed to Prospect Park
- Prospect Park, ALL MY CHILDREN & ONE LIFE TO LIVE: Five Things Every Soap Fan Should Know about Daytime's New Powerhouse
- PRESS RELEASE: Prospect Park Names Technology Pioneer Stratton Sclavos as Partner & Member of Executive Team in Company's Online TV Venture
- REPORT: Susan Lucci Turns Down AMC Offer; Will AMC Continue Online After All?
- THE Online Network: Ron Carlivati Stays With ONE LIFE TO LIVE; Archer, Missal, Trishcitta, VerDorn Sign On
- PROSPECT PARK: The Online Network's Pitch to Investors & the Profitability of ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ALL MY CHILDREN

26 comments:

  1. I had honestly thought that PP had bitten off more than they could chew (excuse the pun) by promising two full-hour daily shows. I never fathomed how they could pull it off in the same manner, financially.
    If they had said from the start, that it would be a web series in the manner of Venice or The Bay, then expectations for the same soap transferred from ABC directly to the internet wouldn't have been in place.
    But I hadn't considered that it was all a scheme by ABC/Disney for publicity and to appease the fans in the interim. Do you really think that could have happened?
    In that scenario, was Prospect Park just a 'front' for ABC/Disney all along?

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  2. Really, WLS? You're really giving even a smidgen of credence to these ridiculous "this was Disney's plan all along!" conspiracy theories? I'd thought better of you.

    News flash to people: DISNEY DON'T GIVE A FUCK! ABC DON'T GIVE A FUCK! BRIAN FRONS DON'T GIVE A FUCK! They certainly don't give a fuck enough to engineer elaborate conspiracies with some vague goal of "taking the heat off."

    What would they be afraid of, anyway? A boycott? Disney's been dealing with boycotts from the Southern Baptists, for instance, for years, an organization with a lot more leadership and muscle than soap fans. Guess what? The boycotts never work, because people's kids want to go see Mickey in Orlando! They aren't afraid of "heat."

    Meanwhile, Brian Frons cares about The Spew and The Revulsion, not soap fans.

    Why the hell would PP go along with this whole thing, anyway? To fall flat on their face for Disney's sake? I don't think so.

    Also, it seems to have escaped people's notice that several non-ABC soaps have been cancelled in recent years, and NBC and CBS were not crippled by an angry audience. ABC has no reason to fear us so much that they'd concoct a ridiculous scheme to deflect it. And, even if it were a conspiracy, it's the most cockamamie one I've ever seen, because I don't see much "heat" getting deflected! And now people are mad all over again! Really, a lot of things went into the demise of AMC and OLTL online; conspiracy isn't one of them.

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  3. Time for an insightful and determined individual or group to revive amc either online or cable or back to tv. There is someone out there who can do it. You will make lots of people happy.

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  4. Inept ABC management is clearly responsible for the entire debacle.

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  5. Hello My Name is Raylene Moody - I Have Been Watching AMC & OLTL Since I Graduated From High School in 1995 And I Think That Taking These 2 Shows off The Air And Replacing Them With Other Shows Was Not A Smart Choice. And I Think That ABC Should Have Given The Shows Another Chance.

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  6. Mo, I said the exact same thing in the LA Times article so great minds!

    Frank, I am so anti-conspiracy theory but I've had a lot of industry friends say things like "If I didn't know Prospect Park was a real company, I'd think this was all a hoax..." Seriously. They have no website, they don't talk to the press, and they took on producing two shows for five hours a week for the web when no one has even been able to produce one hour a week for the web consistently. Perhaps they were overly ambitious or maybe naive, but as somone who never thinks anything is a "conspiracy" I could see where people might make that leap here. I know they hired some new people (which wasn't reported in the press) and they were looking at studio space, but the lack of communication to the strangest thing I've seen in a very strange entertainment industry.

    When people at OLTL and AMC have to find out about Wednesday's press release on the internet, something screwy is happening.

    We couldn't be more supportive of anyone's efforts to bring soaps to the web. We are reviewing shows in preparation for the 3rd Annual Indie Soap Awards now and they quality has improved by leaps and bounds since the first show two years ago. I rooted hard for PP to somehow pull off something no one else has come close to doing. Hopefully someone else can take on the challenge in the near future with a business plan that is actually feasible.

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  7. As much as I hate to lose the shows, I blame the economy. The networks can make more money off cheaper shows, whether or not people actually watch. Prospect Park thought they had the backing, it fell through. It could have been because of the business model, or perhaps not. I see no nefarious shenanigans, just a sad statement on the times.

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  8. Fabricated?? It's not as if Prospect Park was just a made-up production company. They produce Royal Pains and Wilfred, which actually exist. The Online Network was a new thing that didn't exist yet, but they ARE television producing executives. I think it's safe to say that Kwatinetz, Frank, and Barry aren't just puppets who took money for this hoax that will undermine their professional credibility forever.

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  9. Roger, I think "screwy" is definitely a good word for a lot of this story. I just don't think conspiracy is behind the screwiness. As I said in my post, scratch the surface, and there's absolutely no logic in a conspiracy, and I simply can't see ABCD exerting that kind of energy on a product they've obviously given up on long ago.

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  10. I find it sad that we've lost both AMC and OLTL. I do understand that if the company was losing money on both productions then the cancellations were just. However, if they made no efforts to improve the quality of the productions before the cancellations then I find it unjust. I mostly watched OLTL and for years have watched Ron Carlivati singelhandedly ruin the show by being the Headwriter. If ratings were going down then clearly the shows writing wasn't up to par. Did they fire RC and replace him? Did they hire a co-headwriter to keep things in check? No. They didn't. I've heard that Frons didn't like the Soap Opera genre. Whether that's true...I don't know, but what I know and what I've seen is that ABC made no efforts to improve the quality of the productions.

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  11. I'm with Frank. I think it's absurd to think that this is any kind of conspiracy - why bother? The soap audience is small and shrinking, and it's not as though the potential move to online delayed some major, devastating consumer action. It sounds to me as though PP simply didn't have all their duck in a row, and the deal(s) fell through. I feel sorriest for the people who thought they had jobs and essentially lost them twice.

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  12. Oh, honestly. Frank's right. This conspiracy nonsense is beyond silly. The hard truth, guys? We're just not that important in the grand scheme of things. If the opinions of soap fans actually mattered that much to anyone at ABC, then they wouldn't be canceling these shows in the first place.

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  13. Ron Carlivati was working his ass off to save the show. Frons and company dictated changes and storylines, but RC and Frank V did everything they could to give us a superlative product daily, under budget. Were there mistakes? Sure; they're human, but compared to the dreck that GH was ladling out daily, they were producing a damn dream soap. Romance and intrigue and wit and charm-if ABC had a brain, they'd be backing this show and not GH.

    But a conspiracy-ABC would have to actually care.

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  14. F u ALL! THOUSANDS, possibly MILLIONS W-A-N-T a product and you MEAN TO BS that NO ONE wants to sell it to us. PULEASE.

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  15. and wish I could "like" Anonymous' comment. ITA on so many levels. Exactly how I feel. And I would go as far to say that those who are whining about their satisfying endings not happening, that our OLTL teams did well to balance. #1 If they leave it a place we can imagine our own endings, then THAT was the win, and better than any written end AND, AND AND!!! we leave it open for OLTL 2.0, even if its not the show we had hoped for. Its WORTH the gamble, and my MONEY is on OLTL working with the IMPOSSIBLE and leaving us with beautiful cliffhangers!!! Worst case, let me imagine how it worked out. Course, I can't say I'd BLAME RC or those left with the hard questions about OLTL 1.0 either way. Bottom line is we CAN'T JUDGE what we DON"T KNOW. I mean, budgets were spent on an ongoing show, and then they had to cut all their investments to change gears for a happy ending and THEN AGAIN find the funds to leave cliffhangers. I MEAN, please understand my INABILITY TO HAVE COMPASSION FOR THE folks who cry foul unless they get their fantasy personally delivered.

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  16. I think it was a combination of everything except the conspiracy theories. ABC has given up on soaps. They figure that a show costing 1/3 the price and getting 1/2 the ratings can be profitable.

    The well meaning people at Prospect Park couldn't find a way to make the money work. The investors were nervous about the uncertain revenues and would not commit. The unions were fighting for living wages for their people, and asking for more than PP could find a way to pay. It was all a house of cards that came tumbling down.
    I now have no doubt that General Hospital will be cancelled some time in the next few months, and there is no way to save it. I'm heartbroken, but not at all surprised.

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  17. Always thought ABCD had a huge hand in this entire deal. Never trusted this setup from the beginning. This is sad, but not surprising. Do they honestly think we are ready to quite? Really??? What a joke!

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  18. Hello Buddy! This is joya, I have to say this is fabulous story. I am so exciting for you. Thanks for your exciting! Cheers.


    Sample Survey

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  19. Susan Lucci is to blame.

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  20. Susan Lucci is to blame.

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  21. As soon as it was announced about AMC then a week later the actors was thrown out of the studio and then came the news about OLTL, I knew something was right in Denmark. Conspiracy is a big possiblility, both were involved with Disney in the past and this is a way to hush the fans. Look, they tried to use Susan Lucci (mainly)as a scapegoat, then the unions, etc. They lost investors which makes me wonder the investors lost interest when PP couldn't sign SL. Regardless how people about SL...she is the face of ABC daytime and if they signed her the publicity investors could milk for both shows. They stopped communicating with Susan before AMC went off the air!! Susan wanted to sign on and it wasn't about money it was about guaranteeing a year committment to the shows. They I believe already knew at that point and ABC & PP went after SL, because she spoke some truth. They are to many things that didn't add up, PP's silence says a lot about this so called production company.

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  22. I put the blame solely on Brian Frons and ABC. Did it ever occur to them to PROMOTE the soaps in other dayparts?? How odd that when it came to promote the replacement shows, suddenly it was in the budget to do so. About all I can hope for now is a Lifetime movie to tie up the loose ends on AMC, and even then I'm not holding my breath. As for ABC, I'm so done.

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  23. ABSOLUTELY DONE BY ABC!! There was NEVER any intention by PP to put anything online!! No Company unless they are getting paid is going to announce something like this that involves peoples jobs, futures! Rage of Fans unless they are 99% SURE it is a done deal. OR they had their pockets lined to play the scape goat. ABC WANTED all the e-mails, calls, boycotts, and bad press to STOP!! And when they created this farce it did!

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  24. I blame viewers.

    1) They kept having birthdays and eventually got old, and

    2) They didn't tie their children and grandchildren to the sofa and force them to watch daytime soap operas with them so that they'd
    get hooked and always keep the median age of viewers below 40.

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  25. I didn't believe that PP even existed, Come On, Any-One with a little customer experience would give feed back. They didn't show any concern. The plan for internet was a way to shut up the fans for a few months. ABC figures it was the best way to silent the fans and there hositily. ABC has schedule line ups that will fail. People that stay home to take care of young children do not want to excerise. We get enough excerise with our children our home and outside work. We want entertainment! Watching another soap. But not ABC.

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  26. Since one of the guys in charge of PP is a former Disney employee, I wonder if the entire story about AMC/OLTL going on line was a big fat LIE attempting to take some heat off ABC. I would not put it past Frons and Igor and the rest of those snakes.

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