Words just don't express how sad I am at hearing that Prospect Park has dropped the deal to move forward with "One Life". I think what upsets me the most is how this whole deal has been handled from the get go. I wanted more than anything not to have been canceled by ABC. I find it mind boggling that a company can spend 45 years building the strongest brand in daytime... launch a cable network to support it and then decide to cancel both broadcast and cable airings leaving the beloved fans with no where to turn for that brand. Then PP shows up out of nowhere as the great white hope promising to continue these shows.... I was happy to sign on. I love what I do and I'm proud to go to work everyday. I was asked to take a cut in pay and was happy to do it if it meant our show would go on. That was the first week of September. But other than a very quick speech on the studio floor by PP in late September the company did not give out any information regarding when and where we would be working. Last Wednesday the cast received an email telling us our dressing rooms must be cleared out by the 9th of Dec. or ABC would be tossing things out... and then to hear the official news today via a media report. The last 2 weeks have been emotional for me. The stories are rocking and show is so good. It is must see TV. Don't miss a day... don't miss a scene. My hat goes off to Ron Calivarti.... he has written really powerful stuff and I think the fans are going love it. I especially want to shout out to Frank Valentini... who has fought the hardest to make the transition happen. He has been amazing and I want you fans to know how hard he worked to continue giving you fans the show you deserve. He found out this wasn't going to happen just like I did...via a media report. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be grateful for but I must say I wish things had worked out differently. It's been the best 18 years of my life. I hope you will continue to watch "One Life" until the bitter sweet end.
Have a great feast. Lots of Love. No one in my family understands about this whole mess, only you guys lol. They look at me like I'm nuts if I try to explain how depressing this all is. I'm THANKFUL FOR ALL OF YOU!
There are just no words. :-(
ReplyDelete@issatori
People who dont like soaps will never get it. the rest of us, the soap family,( and we are a family, fights and all!!!)will never forget our soaps and the characters and the actors that we love, and the special connection we shared, and karen, you are a big importaint part of that, thank you for all these years of love and laughter you have given us.
ReplyDeleteThe news is heartbreaking to me.
ReplyDeleteI have LOVED this show. I was SO angry with ABC to be so cavalier as to simply cut it off. After 40 years of pleasure, good stories and bad, fine acting, smooth times and disappointing times, all the great actors subtle or flamboyant, the tears, the laughter, the whole way of life--I cannot help but shed tears. I studied soaps, wrote about soaps, and watched this last year of OLTL with such relish.
A whole small segment of my life will be gone now, a part I cherished. And will sorely miss every day for many years...
I was counting on PP to save this beloved genre. This is devastating. Why oh why...
First it was greed on the part of ABC and now it is lack of funds for PP. Always about money. Never about heart.
Official press release from Prospect Park:
ReplyDeleteIts Over: Don't Blame AFTRA
Karen, I just read this article on another site.
Isn't AFTRA the union side of tv??
According to this article, (how I interrupted it) was that there was funding available, but union laws and such could not be met.
Your thoughts?
This statement directly from the website of Aftra:
ReplyDelete'AFTRA was deeply disappointed to read that the executives at Prospect Park have decided to suspend their efforts to produce the long-running and popular daytime serials, One Life to Live and All My Children, via online distribution.
Despite initial progress in our negotiations with Prospect Park toward resolving a fair agreement to cover the performers appearing on these programs, we were perplexed and disappointed that for the past month Prospect Park has not responded to our repeated inquiries to resume those discussions. We now conclude from the press reports that Prospect Park faced other challenges unrelated to our negotiations, which prevented continuation of those discussions.
We remain hopeful that an opportunity to revive these two popular series will emerge in the future, and remain ready to resume discussions should that opportunity arise."
So now I am led to believe it was PP who pulled the plug.
Will we ever know the truth??
AFTRA is the actors' union-- basically they didn't WANT to make this happen. I don't think we'll ever know. Many people say the PP thing was never going through, it just took the heat off of ABC. I personally believe PP did want it-- they just could not come up with the revenue to ensure success.
ReplyDeleteAs for ABC, those idiots blew it when they didn't move the soaps SOAPNET over time,and have us all migrate over. It would have hurt but we could have done it...and they could have even nurtured it to include shows like "Dirty Soap" and other behind the scenes shows.
I didn't mean the union didn't want it to happen, I think ABC didn't..
ReplyDeleteYour right Karen. Why didn't abc approach soapnet. It would have been a win win situation.
ReplyDeleteNot sure who to blame.
PP or Aftra. Or are either to blame? Each one seems to be pointing the finger at one another.
I do believe though that PP had a brilliant idea, and needed help getting it launched.
For all the loyal viewers that abc has, you would think they would care enough about us, since without us they would be nothing.
I never agreed that we should boycott abc. However, with the exception of REVENGE, I will chose which network I watch a little more closely now.
hell, 2cents is that your PIC!! WOOT! helloo!!
ReplyDeleteI am going to write about Soapnet on Sunday I think. ;) Part of my bitch fest heh
Yep that is me.
ReplyDeleteGood, bad or ugly?? lol
What did you expect??
(I love hearing stuff like that!)
I didn't expect you to be glam with the football icon and all...thought you'd be bigger with a jersey on, swiggin' beer LOL
ReplyDeleteAnother good article trying to explain stuff.
ReplyDeletehttp://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/plan-collapses-for-reviving-all-my-children-and-one-life-to-live/?scp=1&sq=kroll&st=cse
I didn't expect you to be glam with the football icon and all...thought you'd be bigger with a jersey on, swiggin' beer LOL
ReplyDeleteNovember 24, 2011 11:45 AM
***********
Good thing I love you.
NO NOT a Wisconsite that far...lol
The postings makes me an even bigger fan of Michael Easton and Kassie DePaiva, along with Ron C. and Frank Valentini.
ReplyDeleteJust goes to show yet again, that the networks have no respect for their female audience. What kind of shows do they expect us to watch in place of our soaps? How to cook and how to "reinvent" ourselves. Sterotypical much?
ReplyDeleteAlso very sick of comments about the soaps in "mainstream" media, and the "go read a book" comment made when the first cancelation was announced. GH is the ONE hour of TV I regularly watch. There are some nighttime series, but they are mostly summer series (like Drop Dead Diva). So it really offends me when I read comments (as on the EW site) about getting off the couch and stop eating bonbons. This probably came from some guy who sits all day playing video games, chugging beer and watching football. Now there's nothing wrong with any of those things in moderation. But so often the ones who make those kinds of "well you shouldn't make a big deal over this" statements are the very ones who would go nuts if what THEY like was taken away. I find it offensive that an executive from a network who wants us to watch their other shows would make a comment like that. But there are so many people who look down on our shows, it gets frustrating. Wonder how many books he reads? (I know I have him beat on that count!)I agree with Hope, people who don't like soaps will never get how this hurts, until "their" thing gets taken.
And why is one of the comments always "Well most people work in the day and can't watch soaps anymore"? Have they never heard of VCRs or DVRs? Been around awhile. In fact, I would bet many people bought those items just to watch their soaps! Plus, there was Soapnet and the website too, if you had to watch later. Why were those viewers not counted? Watching in "real" time has not been an issue for over 25 years! I agree Karen, if they didn't want them on ABC,there was the perfect outlet with Soapnet, a channel devoted to the format. But that network diverted from it's original premise, and became a place for 90210 and other primetime reruns. Why couldn't they have aired British soaps? Or reaired "Dark Shadows", even possibly "Edge of Night" reruns, with the huge interest in vampires and the gothic? Old movies and TV shows are a staple of other networks like TV Land or TCM. Starting a couple years ago, with the cancelation of "Soap Talk" and the Super Soap Weekend, the writing was on the wall. ABC just did not care. Where can the profit be in changing Soapnet to yet another kids channel? There must be 15 on my cable now, and most air reruns from other places. Fewer kid's channels would strengthen those ratings, not spreading the audience out more.
Just goes to show yet again, that the networks have no respect for their female audience. What kind of shows do they expect us to watch in place of our soaps? How to cook and how to "reinvent" ourselves. Sterotypical much?
ReplyDeleteAlso very sick of comments about the soaps in "mainstream" media, and the "go read a book" comment made when the first cancelation was announced. GH is the ONE hour of TV I regularly watch. There are some nighttime series, but they are mostly summer series (like Drop Dead Diva). So it really offends me when I read comments (as on the EW site) about getting off the couch and stop eating bonbons. This probably came from some guy who sits all day playing video games, chugging beer and watching football. Now there's nothing wrong with any of those things in moderation. But so often the ones who make those kinds of "well you shouldn't make a big deal over this" statements are the very ones who would go nuts if what THEY like was taken away. I find it offensive that an executive from a network who wants us to watch their other shows would make a comment like that. But there are so many people who look down on our shows, it gets frustrating. Wonder how many books he reads? (I know I have him beat on that count!)I agree with Hope, people who don't like soaps will never get how this hurts, until "their" thing gets taken.
And why is one of the comments always "Well most people work in the day and can't watch soaps anymore"? Have they never heard of VCRs or DVRs? Been around awhile. In fact, I would bet many people bought those items just to watch their soaps! Plus, there was Soapnet and the website too, if you had to watch later. Why were those viewers not counted? Watching in "real" time has not been an issue for over 25 years! I agree Karen, if they didn't want them on ABC,there was the perfect outlet with Soapnet, a channel devoted to the format. But that network diverted from it's original premise, and became a place for 90210 and other primetime reruns. Why couldn't they have aired British soaps? Or reaired "Dark Shadows", even possibly "Edge of Night" reruns, with the huge interest in vampires and the gothic? Old movies and TV shows are a staple of other networks like TV Land or TCM. Starting a couple years ago, with the cancelation of "Soap Talk" and the Super Soap Weekend, the writing was on the wall. ABC just did not care. Where can the profit be in changing Soapnet to yet another kids channel? There must be 15 on my cable now, and most air reruns from other places. Fewer kid's channels would strengthen those ratings, not spreading the audience out more.
One more thing. With AMC, OLTL and GH being both owned and aired by ABC/SoapNet, it greatly limited the chances once the ABC bigwigs decided to get out of soaps. With independent production, like the Bells running Y&R and B&B, they could more easily shop their shows if CBS choose to stop airing them. Not being network owned allowed both Y&R and Days to air on the ABC owned SoapNet. But having made the decision to give up on soaps, I don't think ABC wanted to see that decision proved wrong, by letting someone else succeed where they gave up, hence all the roadblocks.
ReplyDeleteIf you can remove the double post Karen, please do. I only hit post once, so no idea how it happened but can't figure out how to remove it. Thanks. Sorry it was a long winded one. :D
ReplyDeleteabc is about one thing: Making money. They are confident with their daytime President, obviously. They could have taken one soap off, replaced it, and see how much profit/loss it was costing them. But they YANKED them all. And YES, GH is done. So 3 soaps will be off the air by 9/2012.
ReplyDeleteThe 'Fat Lady' has literally sung her last song on OLTL. Now she is getting ready for GH's curtain call.
I won't so much miss the storylines as I will miss coming to the blogs and discussing.
I will miss people like Victoria Lord. Clint Buchanan.
They are OLTL. I thank them for their many years of entertainment that gave to me.
Both deserve a great retirement.
I wish that for the both of them.
They have earned it. For the others, I wish them luck. Like alot of Americans, they too are out of a job.
I love the pic My2Cents2 and I am going to truly miss OLTL I have been watching them since the debuted.Vicki will be missed as will all the cast members.....so sad so sad
ReplyDeleteThank You Mamaspat...
ReplyDeleteThis is the worse part of the shows ending.
Our time on the blogs where we come to debate, fight, laugh, relax & release our fustrations with each other!
In honesty, the stories aren't that good anymore. The stories are mostly redone, with newer younger faces!!
Times have changed in society since soaps first were introduced.
'back in the day' if someone had an affair it was the 'talk' of town. Now if someone doesn't have an affair nobody believes it!!!
The shows have been declining in value.
However, I still hate abc!!!!!
You have Occupy Wall Street now how about Occupy ABC and Occupy Disneyland?
ReplyDeleteI think Kassie Depvia is getting her similes confused. She meant to say PP showed up on a "white horse" (like a knight) rather than "white hope" which is a term used in boxing and basketball for a white guy who has some athletic skills when everyone around him playing is African-American.
ReplyDelete-OldSchoolGHfan
i feels like it's april all over again: OLTL canceled even before it got started.
ReplyDeletebeen watching since DAY ONE. we used to hurry home after school to watch dark shadows, and when it got moved half an hour later to make way for a new soap, we started watching it -- OLTL -- too.
i feel like someone died. and no one else who "gets" soaps will ever understand. oh, people say, it's just a tv show. hell, so was gunsmoke but it was only on 20 years -- and only once a week. OLTL had nearly 11,100 episodes.
i dont know what i'll do with that hour just before i go to bed. it was just a great escape every weeknight. watched GH for 30 years but gave up about 10 years ago with the mob, mob, mob. (just how many times can sonny be shot and NEVER have a scar when he takes his shirt off?) hell, i even tried two months of Y&R but i just couldnt get into the plodding plotlines and that every other scene was in the glow worm restaurant or the coffeehouse. z-z-z-z.
a big thanks to agnes nixon, ron, frank, the cast, crew ... oh, oh, oh how i'll miss llanview.
Anon...it's worse than April. In April we fought and had hope.
ReplyDeleteThis time around, there is no hope. Its over. Like bringing a dead person back to life after an hour.