yrgh
02-12-2007, 07:49 AM
There's a ton of animosity towards Guiding Light this decade, both online and in the "real" world. The print media are getting a ton of mail dissing GL and just about every story on. The ratings for GL aren't moving up, but remaining stagnant and sometimes decreasing. The phone lines at GL are busy most days with criticism. Even the CBS Daytime offices are getting in on the disappointment train with letters galore. So, why is everyone at the soap magazines, NBC, ABC and SoapNet trying desperately to save GL???
It’s a common belief that GL is on its last legs and that it will not be renewed this year when its contract with CBS/PGP is up. You can't really find an editor at any soap mag that thinks any different, nor can you find an executive at NBC or ABC Daytime that believes anything but that. Still, everyone that has anything to do with daytime soaps will tell you the same thing: We have to make sure GL survives!
Why?
I had the opportunity to speak with a leading magazine's editor this morning. Good conversation, but very honest (almost too honest for me). I asked her if she had any advice on how to reach Wheeler or Bloom about my feelings on the show. She bluntly told me, not asked, but told me, "Don't do that."
"If GL is cancelled, it will be the worst thing daytime soaps has ever experienced. We can't allow GL to be cancelled because that will signal to ABC and NBC that soaps are definitely a dying breed. I fully expect a soap on ABC to be cancelled if GL is axed. NBC will be sure to follow with both of their soaps when their contracts are up, given that Hogan Sheffer doesn't pull Days out of the spiral."
I had to keep pushing, "But GL is really bad right now. Isn't there any way to push my opinion?"
Her reply, "If viewers continue to voice their 'GL is terrible' routine, it will be cancelled. They don't care if viewers don't like the stories or the characters, but when we say we aren't watching, that strikes a very bad chord."
"You will see daytime heads protecting GL and really going to bat for GL from now until next year. I liken this to seeing Fidel Castro supporting George W. Bush in accepting Cuban refugees. It’s going to be strange seeing people support a show on a different network, but its going to happen."
So, there's an interesting twist on the situation. Darned if we do, darned if we don't.
Our obligation is not to the preservation of the genre. We owe no one anything. To the contrary, they owe US a product we want to watch. They can't muffle us, when our message is not to eliminate the product but IMPROVE it. All they have to do is read boards (which they do) to figure out what fans are asking for. Some things being: attention to history, continuity of personalities, and stories which take place on planet Earth, not the stratosphere. We acknowledge budgetary constraints, and therefore don't demand the elaborate sets, etc. of the past but COME ON.....Tiki Green hospitals, or everyone living in a hotel? We don't expect characters to remain stagnant and not grow, but COME ON....tearing up divorce papers one day and splitting up the next?
Nothing on this show shows that anyone cares, is doing their best, or is exerting any effort. The sloppiness shows. Yes, the shows have monetary constraints, but they certainly spend their money in what many of us consider to be a problem - poor acting, removal/dismissal of important characters/actors and inconsistent/badly written/executed. The lack of great content and concern is alarming!
If a network/production company doesn’t care about the show they’re airing, why should we care, and more importantly, watch? About 10 million people have tuned off the daytime serials and DON’T miss it. We’d rather not see something awful than watch for the sake of watching.
I think in some ways this is not a surprise - it's rather logical what would happen if GL were to be cancelled, particularly if CBS does not have another serial lined up (very unlikely) and isn't about to take B&B to an hour (somewhat unlikely). With GL gone, CBS affiliates would probably want that 3pm hour back (assuming they haven't already moved GL to 9/10am). If CBS gives its affiliates the hour back, and NBC is already airing 2 hours of programming, ABC will be urged to do the same, which would mean either canceling a serial or cutting two (most likely AMC and OLTL) to a half an hour.
It’s not just serials being a dying breed, though many of the choices of the last decade on all shows have moved them away from what made them great. The situation is also very much a product of unscripted shows (game, talk, reality) being competition and much cheaper to produce, as well as increased power at the affiliate level (the networks aren't the behemoths they once were).
As for other networks supporting GL (this has already happened), Brian Frons (all of people) has gushed about GL repeatedly. Hard-on, anyone?
If everyone at CBS, NBC, ABC, TV Guide, SOW, SOD and SID want to stick their heads up their bottoms and pretend that they can insult and ignore their customers with no consequences they are dead wrong. If I was on a 9 person baseball team (9 soaps) and one member of the team was streaking and shaking their nasty ass at home plate while I was trying to win a game/keep a job, I'd ask them what the hell they thought they were doing and I'd warn them how they'd never work again if they didn't cut the bullcrap out and if they said something stupid, I'd gag them with a baseball.
It’s a common belief that GL is on its last legs and that it will not be renewed this year when its contract with CBS/PGP is up. You can't really find an editor at any soap mag that thinks any different, nor can you find an executive at NBC or ABC Daytime that believes anything but that. Still, everyone that has anything to do with daytime soaps will tell you the same thing: We have to make sure GL survives!
Why?
I had the opportunity to speak with a leading magazine's editor this morning. Good conversation, but very honest (almost too honest for me). I asked her if she had any advice on how to reach Wheeler or Bloom about my feelings on the show. She bluntly told me, not asked, but told me, "Don't do that."
"If GL is cancelled, it will be the worst thing daytime soaps has ever experienced. We can't allow GL to be cancelled because that will signal to ABC and NBC that soaps are definitely a dying breed. I fully expect a soap on ABC to be cancelled if GL is axed. NBC will be sure to follow with both of their soaps when their contracts are up, given that Hogan Sheffer doesn't pull Days out of the spiral."
I had to keep pushing, "But GL is really bad right now. Isn't there any way to push my opinion?"
Her reply, "If viewers continue to voice their 'GL is terrible' routine, it will be cancelled. They don't care if viewers don't like the stories or the characters, but when we say we aren't watching, that strikes a very bad chord."
"You will see daytime heads protecting GL and really going to bat for GL from now until next year. I liken this to seeing Fidel Castro supporting George W. Bush in accepting Cuban refugees. It’s going to be strange seeing people support a show on a different network, but its going to happen."
So, there's an interesting twist on the situation. Darned if we do, darned if we don't.
Our obligation is not to the preservation of the genre. We owe no one anything. To the contrary, they owe US a product we want to watch. They can't muffle us, when our message is not to eliminate the product but IMPROVE it. All they have to do is read boards (which they do) to figure out what fans are asking for. Some things being: attention to history, continuity of personalities, and stories which take place on planet Earth, not the stratosphere. We acknowledge budgetary constraints, and therefore don't demand the elaborate sets, etc. of the past but COME ON.....Tiki Green hospitals, or everyone living in a hotel? We don't expect characters to remain stagnant and not grow, but COME ON....tearing up divorce papers one day and splitting up the next?
Nothing on this show shows that anyone cares, is doing their best, or is exerting any effort. The sloppiness shows. Yes, the shows have monetary constraints, but they certainly spend their money in what many of us consider to be a problem - poor acting, removal/dismissal of important characters/actors and inconsistent/badly written/executed. The lack of great content and concern is alarming!
If a network/production company doesn’t care about the show they’re airing, why should we care, and more importantly, watch? About 10 million people have tuned off the daytime serials and DON’T miss it. We’d rather not see something awful than watch for the sake of watching.
I think in some ways this is not a surprise - it's rather logical what would happen if GL were to be cancelled, particularly if CBS does not have another serial lined up (very unlikely) and isn't about to take B&B to an hour (somewhat unlikely). With GL gone, CBS affiliates would probably want that 3pm hour back (assuming they haven't already moved GL to 9/10am). If CBS gives its affiliates the hour back, and NBC is already airing 2 hours of programming, ABC will be urged to do the same, which would mean either canceling a serial or cutting two (most likely AMC and OLTL) to a half an hour.
It’s not just serials being a dying breed, though many of the choices of the last decade on all shows have moved them away from what made them great. The situation is also very much a product of unscripted shows (game, talk, reality) being competition and much cheaper to produce, as well as increased power at the affiliate level (the networks aren't the behemoths they once were).
As for other networks supporting GL (this has already happened), Brian Frons (all of people) has gushed about GL repeatedly. Hard-on, anyone?
If everyone at CBS, NBC, ABC, TV Guide, SOW, SOD and SID want to stick their heads up their bottoms and pretend that they can insult and ignore their customers with no consequences they are dead wrong. If I was on a 9 person baseball team (9 soaps) and one member of the team was streaking and shaking their nasty ass at home plate while I was trying to win a game/keep a job, I'd ask them what the hell they thought they were doing and I'd warn them how they'd never work again if they didn't cut the bullcrap out and if they said something stupid, I'd gag them with a baseball.