whotony

i havent watched the Chw, will never watch Revolution and never liked Couric so doubtful i'll ever watch her show either.

whotony

In what may be seen as the ultimate irony, Katie Couric may be trying to save General Hospital -- the very show whose timeslot her yet-to-debut talk show wrestled away. A published report cites sources as saying that Couric isn't happy with the performance of the show that would be her lead-in.


In June, General Hospital fans were left reeling when ABC announced that it had given General Hospital's timeslot to a yet-to-be-developed talk show hosted television personality Katie Couric. The move was part of a sweeping deal that brought the former Today host and CBS news anchor to the network.


With ABC already having canceled two soaps -- All My Children and One Life to Live -- just two months earlier in favor of cheaper "lifestyle" programming, it appeared that network was looking to move out of the scripted daytime drama business completely.


ABC has had mixed results with its two replacement shows. The cooking-themed The Chew has been equalling the ratings of All My Children's year-ago ratings. One Life to Live's replacement, the lifestyle makeover program, The Revolution, hasn't done as well. In the most recent ratings, The Revolution has pulled in just 40% of One Life to Live's audience.


Citing sources close to Couric's camp, TVGuide is reporting that Couric and her executive producer, Jeff Zucker, have "expressed concern about the disappointing ratings of ABC's The Revolution which, if GH gets the ax, would be the lead-in to Katie when the talker debuts this fall. Couric and Zucker want to see GH get that slot because it's a stronger show, Nielsen-wise, plus Couric does not want to face the wrath of GH fans and risk the chance they'll organize a boycott."


Skeptics have questioned if Couric is trying to play both sides of the field. By voicing support for General Hospital, if ABC ultimately does cancel the long-running soap, Couric might avoid the wrath of soap fans.


In announcing the creation of Couric's self-titled talk show, an ABC spokesperson explained that it did "not mean the inevitable cancellation of General Hospital."


"Rather it means that in September 2012, we will program our daytime block with our three strongest shows," the spokesperson added. "We'll have options for the daytime daypart just like we do each year with primetime. We believe in all of our shows and the ones that our viewers want will be the ones that continue. There are many options that could happen... only time will tell."


In January, ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee told reporters, "We have not made a decision and we do not have a timeframe for that."


Insiders speculate that a decision will be made by the of April.

Shannon Nutt

GH deserves to be cancelled...the producers/writers over there have known for over a year now that the axe may be coming, and have done nothing to up the ante or draw in more viewers. I know they have a limited budget, but that doesn't excuse lazy writing. They seem happy with doing the same old slow-paced/drawn-out format that soaps have followed for decades. That may have worked in the 70s, but today's viewers are far too ADD to commit to TV shows where it takes six to twelve months for one story cycle.

MikahC

Sometimes lower budget does excuse (or at least cause) "lazy" writing. If you normally have 6 writers working on a show and you have to cut down to 4, each writer has to "throw out" more stuff in the same amount of time. Things suffer.

Anyway, I watched GH just to see Robert, Holly, Anna (and Luke). It was really bad, though, so I remofved it from my recording schedule. It would be nice to see Felicia. I recently did some reading on Kristina Wagner triggered by an article on Jack Wagner (Frisco). Heather's another character I remember from back in the day, but my expectations are tempered at this point. What I saw in the aftermath of Robin's death was really bad. Actually, the most interesting thing to watch on the screen was Todd soming from OLTL. I don't know about fake Todd's and stuff like that. As far as I remember, the Todd on GH is the only Todd I've known.

Maybe they should bring back Scotty!

Sonny Corinthos

The Online Network Confirms Story Progressions For AMC to Five Years & OLTL In Real time.

So all the rumors and reports have now come to a conclusion with official word today from The Online Network. They can confirm that the premiere episode of All My Children will be set approximately five years later from the time setting of the last episode, unlike One Live to Live which has advanced in real time.

Brand new 30-minute episodes of One Life to Live will be launched each weekday beginning April 29th and available to stream online in HD (when available) via the free Hulu.com service and to subscribers of Hulu Plus making these venerable dramas available in a new format that suits the viewing habits of the digital generation. In addition, the iTunes Store will offer both series via iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV and Mac or PC.

So AMC and OLTL fans, how do you feel about the progression? Do you like the idea that One Life is advancing story in real time while All My Children leaps five years ahead?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WuP-eKZ0H-M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/news/...ime/2013/03/18

whotony

So I have to pay Hulu to watch this. Not doing that.

hanshotfirst1138

You know if you were to put episodes in regular SD onto Blu-Ray (I'm assuming it was shot on videotape for years and DV recently), you could probably cram tons of episodes of soaps onto BR. They almost never seem to get releases though, doubtlessly because of the huge amounts of episodes.

disneyguy

Hulu is free... Hulu Plus is not..

DG

whotony

Yes but the only way to get Hulu is on a computer as far as I can figure. Hulu+ is on iPad and roku.

Sonny Corinthos

I just watched the new One Live to Life episode on Hulu. I will be honest, I wasn't expecting much but I enjoyed the heck out of it. It's a lot edgier than when it was on ABC. If they continue with this type of quality episodes, I can say I will be a loyal viewer.

I guess i'm going to have to force myself to watch the new All My Children show next. Not really looking forward to this one as much.

adamblast

I enjoyed S01E01 of the new OLTL more than I expected to. I don't think I'm gonna follow AMC, I bailed on them years ago.

So apparently they're gonna follow the normal broadcast rules *except* cussing. They made a point to have drug-induced Dani asking "where's my shit" several times. Roger Howarth won't be sticking around long--even tho he's heavily featured in the new opening theme. So the lurking guy was the *other* Todd aka Victor? Anyway, 'cept for the youth push--which I know they had to do--I liked it alot. Great to have so many regulars back.

Sonny Corinthos

I watched the AMC episode and don't care for it. I'm one and done on that one.

draven31

I'm not liking the recast of Destiny. why cast a teen model type? The show itself looks good though. Not watching the AMC episodes. Lost interest in that before it was canceled.

Double_Oh_7

No... Todd's kinda permanent. He will be on both OLTL and GH. They taped a whole bunch of OLTL scenes that will spread out over months, and will do that as Howarth's schedule permits.

DJariya

Which one is Paula Garces on? I follow her Facebook feed and know she joined one of these soaps.

I would be interested in watching just for her alone.

Edit: Nevermind, just checked and she joined All my Children.

Shannon Nutt

If they'd be open to nudity, it would probably be a bigger hit.

Isn't OLTL set 10 years in the future? I thought I read that somewhere. Or did they just age all the characters 10 years but keep them in 2013?

Sonny Corinthos

Five years has passed in All My Children's world since it ended on ABC. Supposedly only 6 months as passed in OLTL's world if I read it correctly. I thought Natalie looked very hot and I thought we might see a boob shot but no such luck. The new Destiny is super hot but she's jailbait to me.

Shannon Nutt

Okay, thanks...must have been AMC instead of OLTL that I read that about.

whotony

I watched OLTL and thought it was kinda corny, mostly during the club scenes and with Natalie dancing with the scammer guy.

HUG-H

No, it ended 9/23/2011 (less than 2 years)

whotony

HUG-H

Oh, sorry, I didn't see it until now, didn't know he meant 5 years had passed in the story--I already don't like that they aren't picking up where it left off. Lucci hasn't signed on to do this one yet, so, this is probably the reason.

hanshotfirst1138

If wonder if someone will ever figure out a viable way to release soaps? There're too many episodes for DVD releases, maybe cram tons and tons of SD episodes onto BR or something.

adamblast

Sounds more like something tailor-made for streaming. Imagine Amazon with the full 50 yrs of General Hospital eps, streaming at 99c each. They'd make a fortune if people got hooked on the whole run.

Dark Shadows had a successful full 1225 ep release on DVD, at way more than $1 an ep.
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Edit: Hell, if OLTL & AMC succeed via a combo purchase/free streaming strategy, I could see "classic" soap runs being a logical extension. I like your idea of bulk-pak BRs, but physical media is growing into something you only get when you *know* you'll be it watching over and over, and I wonder how true that is for huge soap runs.

adamblast

The original Destiny was booked for the first Propect Park attempt that failed in 2011, don't know what happened since then. Was she unavailable, or did they decide "to go another way" with the role? Neither one would surprise me. New girl did *not* shine in her first real dialog scenes. New Matthew's a better actor than the original, but the character's undergone a jerk-ification I'm not fond of yet. I thought they already hit the young jerk demo with the soras'd Jack.