Katie Couric Officially has GH's timeslot

[Emma'sfan]

http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/06/06...#comment-89235

Looks like GH will be canceled too now.

[Daniel Avery]

ABC said that she would be in the 3pm eastern slot back when it was announced that she'd be doing a show for ABC. Speculation all along has been what this meant for GH, the current 3pm 'resident'. I think the author of the article didn't realize this was old news. And until ABC actually announces GH's cancellation, they can't say for certain that it is going away. Though no soaps have changed time slots in a long time, it is not heard of for a soap to get moved. Don't get me wrong: I still think GH is toast. But the article's author doesn't seem to say anything new, and doesn't give any credence to the idea that GH might just get moved to an earlier time slot.

[MrsSuperman93]

Gutted
I hope not!

But, if it were to be cancelled, surely this wouldn't happen...:

[carylfan10]

wish they would just come out and announce the cancellation already. TPTB have screwed with the fans enough as it is. It just seems cruel and unneccessary to leave fans hanging on when it is obvious there is no room for GH on the schedule come September. It benefits no one to not announce it. I particularly like the new president's saying that he was a fan of GH. That was a classy touch

don't get me wrong, I am the first one hoping for a miracle. But after the past few years especially this one it is clear the writing is on the wall, and it is obvious the way these execs operate. And the fans are are the ones on the short end of the stick

[CarlD]

They can move GH to another timeslot with no problem, if they chose to do so.

I also wouldn't be surprised if GH was cancelled, they have the same low ratings (sometimes worse) than recently cancelled AMC and OLTL.

[carylfan10]

Part of me has high hopes with the HW and EP and then the stunt casting but it is clear ABC wants out of the soaps. The new ABC daytime president specializes in reality programming. It's just the level of disrepect they constantly heap at the fans that irritates me the most. Frons was just doing the job which he was instructed to do, albeit gleefully. Considering that even CBS wants out of the soap business (and they've been at the top for 15 years) I would say it would take a miracle for GH at this point. I hate sounding so cynical but that's what this past year has done- I have no use for tv execs. I watch the late night talk shows and I never understood how they could make fun of the tv executives before, I thought they sounded a little bitter but now it's all become a little too clear as to why they say the things they do.

[Scarlett]

wish they would just come out and announce the cancellation already. TPTB have screwed with the fans enough as it is. It just seems cruel and unneccessary to leave fans hanging on when it is obvious there is no room for GH on the schedule come September. It benefits no one to not announce it. I particularly like the new president's saying that he was a fan of GH. That was a classy touch

don't get me wrong, I am the first one hoping for a miracle. But after the past few years especially this one it is clear the writing is on the wall, and it is obvious the way these execs operate. And the fans are are the ones on the short end of the stick

They may be saying nothing because they still need to sell advertising for the show right now; prime time shows get this all the time (many don't get cancelled until last minute so that networks can keep selling commercial airtime for the show).

[Daniel Avery]

Even as far back (and as far away) as the BBC's Monty Python's Flying Circus in the early 1970s, network execs were the butt of jokes. They were called "programme planners" over there, but the sentiment was the same. One skit had them doing a faulty "scientific study" trying to prove that penguins were actually smarter than human beings. They cited "proof" that even though the penguins scored lower on intelligence tests than certain unsophisticated human groups like the bushmen of the Kalahari (chart showing "46"), penguins scored much higher than BBC programme planners (chart showing "7"). The "scientist" attributed the "surprisingly high score" of the programme planners to the vagaries of statistical error.

Of course my personal favorite "digs" at the network ("those pinheads from GE") were done by Dave Letterman in his NBC days. In one instance he took a bullhorn and yelled from a window at Rockefeller Center, "My name is Robert C. Wright, President of NBC...and I'm not wearing pants."

[Cliff Barnes]

It definitely seems like a sure thing GH will be gone, no matter what supposed budget-cutting moves FV makes.

[CarlD]

Holly, Robert, and Anna all returning soon.

Maybe that'll boost the ratings.

[Mickey Fairgate]

This article is a sort of rehash of stuff that's been discussed already:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/showbi...tml?hpt=hp_bn4

(EW.com) -- Though "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" are history, "General Hospital" -- for now -- is firmly ensconced in ABC's daytime lineup.

But since ratings aren't as strong as they used to be -- the show's averaging a 1.1 rating among adults women 18-49, down 21 percent from last year -- and given how Katie Couric's syndicated talk show is coming to ABC stations this fall, it's still possible that the good people of Port Charles may lose their home in daytime.

But it could have a future in primetime: EW has confirmed that ABC entertainment chief Paul Lee is pondering one scenario that would allow the soap to air as an evening summer series. Not a bad thought, right?

Granted, it's not exactly a new idea: CBS used to air primetime specials of "The Young and the Restless" that averaged anywhere from 11.5 million to 13.7 million. But those aired in the '90s, when there was far less competition for eyeballs. Even then, the network realized they weren't exactly bringing the house down so it stopped airing them after 1998.

It may be hard for ABC to pull off financially. At a reported $200,000 per episode, a primetime episode of "GH" is still a lot cheaper to make rather than an original for a scripted show (which can ring in at well over $1 million). A move to summer nights would certainly buy ABC some good will with daytime fans, who are still reeling over the cancellations of "AMC" and "OLTL" -- especially since a plan to continue them online was quashed late last year.

There's always the chance that "GH" would stay put, but that's looking unlikely. Back when Katie Couric's talk show deal with ABC-Disney was announced, the company also said it would be giving the last hour of daytime back to its affiliates in September 2012. That's the hour currently occupied by "General Hospital," which airs either at 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. across the country.

Once it gives that fourth hour back to the stations, ABC will only have three to fill but four shows to do it with -- "The View," "General Hospital," "The Chew" and "The Revolution." (Couric will be airing on the ABC owned-and-operated stations).

There's a chance that one -- or both -- of the latter programs will fail, which means "GH" could continue to have a spot on the lineup. But lifestyle shows, unlike soaps, are more relevant and profitable. For one, they are cheaper to make. Two, they can spawn side businesses like cookbooks. The same can't be said for the aging daytime soap genre.

See the full article at EW.com

[Daniel Avery]

Actually, both CBS and NBC would occasionally air primetime episodes of their soaps in the late 1980s and into the 1990s. NBC would usually air an episode of Days of our Lives right before the Daytime Emmys (in years when they had the rights to the telecast). One year they did an episode of Another World, too. CBS put on episodes of Y&R prior to the awards in years they telecast it, but they also did it without any concrete reason, typically during the summer when there were mostly reruns of other shows. This was back when the networks were trying to keep their audience in the summer rather than just giving up.

What was really cool at the time was that the episodes of Y&R often had a wholly different "look" because they would film the episodes rather than videotape them. It gave the episodes a richer look and feel. They would also be able to do stuff they never got away with in daytime, like more frequent swearing and partial nudity. I remember a scene where Peter Bergman and Don Diamont were in the locker room/shower at the country club. They were arguing about...something, and DD took a towel off and walked into a shower stall. You saw he was not wearing underwear, but only saw a "side" shot of him naked for maybe 2 seconds. They continued the argument, but Peter Bergman famously ranted in the soap press afterwards, saying it was all so gratuitous and "it was a scene about a naked guy" rather than a scene about Jack and Brad arguing.

I doubt ABC would let them go that much further than daytime episodes, and they might not even get a higher budget for episodes produced for primetime. GH: Night Shift was given a miniscule budget but had a fairly large fan base, so even if this rumored project comes to pass, there's no guarantee that they will get more money for remotes, real explosions, etc. It just sounds like a variation on a "farewell tour".