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Prospect Park Amends Lawsuit With ABC! Seeks $95 Million In Damages Claiming "Mega Soap" Fraud!

Courtesy/TOLN

Courtesy/TOLN

While the online revivals of All My Children and One Life to Live season two have been shelved by Prospect Park for now, although no official announcement ever surfaced from the production company itself, Prospect Park has been busy revising their claims in their lawsuit with ABC which was originally filed this past April.

The revisions revealed today include: Prospect seeking more than $95 million in damages for breach of contract and promissory fraud. They are also demanding that they no longer have to pay any licensing fees, but that it still be entitled to an extension of the license agreement for the soaps.

In just a brief overview of some of the key points in the newly filed papers, Prospect Park alleges that ABC, “began unilaterally changing key storylines and themes, literally killing some OLTL characters and deeply integrating others into the GH landscape,” plus hiring two key executives from One Life to Live to create a mega soap of General Hospital without Prospect Park’s knowledge.   In addition, the lawsuit claims that ABC signed OLTL actors to long term contracts secretively behind Prospect Park’s back!  Prospect Park adds that it has tried its best to salvage OLTL, but ABC blocked it at every turn by refusing to run advertisements, by enlisting third parties like Hulu to back away from making any assistance, by keeping its actors away from talk shows like Good Morning America and The View.  Prospect Park is relating in their lawsuit they lost $30 million in investment, as well as profits it could have made had ABC acted as “the partner it made itself out to be.”

Make sure to read the full report on the lawsuit via The Hollywood Reporter here, which begins with:  “On Wednesday, the plaintiff filed a new amended complaint with more details of ABC’s alleged fraud and a demand for more than $95 million in damages. According to the latest court papers, ABC schemed in a quest for a “mega soap.” 

So what do you think of Prospect Park’s latest amended lawsuit claims against ABC?   If you were a juror, and understood both sides of the argument,  who do you think you would side with in this case … ABC, Prospect Park, or no one?

This giant mess continues, which sadly never would have happened had Brian Frons not canceled the iconic All My Children and One Life to Live in the first place!  Lots to dissect here, and lots of reading between the lines!  Weigh-in soapers!

 

 

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Sadly, I no longer care. ABC and Prospect Park deserve each other.

LOL

If Prospect Park wins the 95 million, will we see OLTL V3 and AMC V3 ?

Sure, and Ryan’s Hope and my reality show. LOL Not a chance. They won’t get a dime. ABC Disney has more attorneys than Frank and Jeff have had hot meals. PP should sue their writers, producers, and set designers. How the show was so badly produced did more damage than ABC did.

Not true they’re sets were very nice!!!

They were nice. For a brand new show. They didn’t look anything like Llanview or OLTL on ABC. They did look like Pine Valley, AMC used the same sets. Only Viki’s library was similar to before, all the others were different so the show didn’t feel like the same show.

yes amen PP sets and writters and whole set up was awful i seen porno that looked better .lol

What does V3 mean?????

V3 stands for “Version 3” It is quite common when something is redsigned to call it “V #”

That’s a lot of MONEY! OLTL’s success did not hinge on whether or not Cole and Hope lived or died. Let’s get real PP! Besides Jeff K is no stranger to many failed projects. Now if ABC failed to live up to it’s agreement on marketing OLTL and AMC than that may hold some basis for compensation. But not $95 Million worth! Who was it again that cut production within the first two weeks?!?! Who was it again that had issues with the unions?!?!? I find it hard to totally empathize with PP…yet I’m sure ABC is not devoid of some fault.

i agree… it’s a soap. Re-write what ever you want for Star, Hope, Cole and the rest… not all the OLTL fans watched GH anyways. Who cares! It’s a soap. Write a new story and save yourselves a whole lot of money… that could be used to make new episodes of OLTL.

soaps rewrite their history all the time… why can’t PP figure that out.

I am a OLTL fan and I watch GH.. Would really like to go back to Llanview ! The way it was when on the T.V…

I agree. Three characters do not make a soap or break it. I believe OLTL had a lot of major stars with which to work. They should have focused on stories without the Llanview Three and things could have worked out for them to come back to the show down the road. I can’t help but think that this lawsuit is mainly PP blowing smoke to cover their mistakes.

And ABC? Ha! Brian Frons deserves to rot wherever he is and the idiots at ABC who let him get away with killing two iconic soaps like AMC and OLTL should rot with him. They could have had much better brand loyalty and better shows if they can only stuck with and promoted the soaps they had in AMC and OLTL.

I somewhat agree with you Rodd except for the Llanview three had a lot of time with all the other major stars and there wasn’t anybody around for Natalie. Jolie fans wanted more….. instead ABC raped their story and OLTL was never the same!! Miss OLTL a lot! I hope PP wins and we get a version 3.

The way I understand this situation, I believe ABC was at fault from the beginning. I think Prospect Park did intend to produce AMC and OLTL on the Web for quite a few years. Then ABC said they were borrowing some characters, transferred some to GH where they became permanent characters. Some of these actors from OLTL were killed off. I believe Prospect Park had every intention of producing these 2 Soaps but ABC messed up the agreement and things went downhill from there. Will we ever see an AMC or OLTL Soap again? Who knows????? I think there is a distinct possibility…..but there are a lot of I’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed before this can happen. My personal opinion!!!!!!!!

I totally agree with your opinion!

ABC did not borrow characters at the time PP was supposed to originally launch the shows It was only after it appeared that PP was not going to relaunch the soaps that 5 OLTL characters went to GH(Todd, Starr, Mcbain, Blair and Tea). Blain and Tea only made a few appearances. The other were then signed to contract but keep in mind Michael Eason who played Mcbain and Kristen Alderson who played Starr had never agreed to work with Prospect Park.

The only characters from OLTL that were killed was Cole(who could have easily been brought back to life, as soaps do it all the time) and Tea’s baby.

Prospect Park is just money hungry and desperate and sad. They won’t see a penny and even if they do i bet they have no intention of bring back AMC and OLTL

Incorrect. Michael Easton was signed on with PP. Kristen and Roger were not.

Michael Easton was going to PP!

Agreed! I knew that’s what was going on. It was definitely no accident that all of a sudden John McBain, Starr, Todd, Tea became so important to them. It seemed that ABC saw the writing on the Soap Opera wall with the success and the new wave emerging for soaps on Hulu. Even Oprah wanted a piece of the action after she said that OWN wouldn’t take AMC or OLTL. the year before. AMC & OLTL were starting off and doing well, and ABC couldn’t tolerate the success. They wanted them dead and gone. I’m so glad that I don’t watch GH or any show on ABC.

ABC didn’t want AMC &OLTL so they didn’t want anyone else to succeed with them! They wanted them to fail! They sabotaged them at every step!

We soap fans want brian frons to disappear with the fishes. Ava jerome sonny and soaps fans need to torture the man. he is responsible for all of this mess.

i agree with you john. lets beat up brians frons. Brian needs to be handcuffed in the basement, fed rats and spiders. maybe we can call sheila carter. She will deal with the trader, who cancelled amc and oltl. prospect park are so pathetic, where’s the annoucement? they are afraid too talk. lets beat them up too. lol.

Samantha…YEP…the character of Sheila Carter would teach that insufferable DIRTBAG Brian Frons a LONG OVERDUE lesson!!!!! And, Kimberlin Brown (aka Sheila)…WHAT AN AWESOME ACTRESS…LOL!!!!!

I feel its all b.s…this frivolous lawsuit would have made sense had GH also included AMC characters and killed a few off, and not just OLTLs but since it only involves the OLTL 3 i feel its plain nonsense…first OLTL survived on abc for many years with the loss of many characters/actors, and lasted a lot longer than many other serials including AMC…anyway had Bianca showed up in Port Chuck with Miranda and Miranda had died and Cole and Hope from OLTL did too then id be a little suspicious…also didnt the oltl 3 sign on after PP announced they suspended plans to do the reboots in the first place…Frank and Ron were part of the revival in the begining from what i read but when PP announced they werent doing the reboots then they joined GH…a lot of people including several soap stars believed the shows werent returning…how could the oltl 3 save the reboots…Did AMC suffer because PP didnt have John, Starr, Hope and Cole…of course not…so why cancel AMC…because PP didnt have enough money to keep them going…also, big deal if abc refused to advertise these shows…there were other networks and 100s of cable stations, youtube, and magazines to advertise…one network refusing to advertise cant hurt a show, especially when there are over 100 channels to do so…abc doesnt control all the talk shows…the actors couldve appeared on a number of them…OLTL biggest problem wasnt what GH had done…first Todd was in most of the episodes…the biggest problem was Victor and his story…when Todd returned(abc) everyone was shocked and didnt believe he was the real Todd…but when Victor returned(online) only Tea and Dani showed a shocked reaction while the rest acted like it was nothing…why werent they shocked or at least accuse him of being an imposter like they did for Todd…too much focus on Shelter…PP was ok to recast Mathew and Destiny but couldnt do the same for John and Starr…Jack and his teacher storyline was ok but it wasnt really interesting…the teacher shouldve been using Jack to get back at Blair for some reason…maybe Blair had an affair with the girls father shortly before arriving in Llainview and the girls mother commited suicide…Mathews nugirlfriend was boring and casting Jwow and Snoop Dog or puppy whatever didnt do a thing to help…also more sex didnt sell…too much cursing was a turnoff for some and it was a little too late when they cut back on it…Viki and Dorians revived feud showed promise then fizzled as did Ramas and Vimals open marriage…Natalie and Cutter as a couple just didnt work for me…the BIGGEST problem was the writing which is what REALLY killed OLTL…as for AMC it was the cost and the same for OLTL and even if PP put millions into these shows to get them started…i feel they werent a big enough production co. to keep them going…ABC i believe will win…case closed…time to move on.

Didnt edit this very well and i shouldve shorten it…i gotta learn not to post comments when distracted…hope it makes sense…lol

I totally agree with you.

Well said, I agree with your perspective. The lawsuit has to do with using the OLTL characters and violating an agreement, so how can this affect AMC? Very good point. You’re exactly right, Michael Easton originally did sign with Prospect Park, then when the announcement came out that they would be unable to return, he and the others joined GH. Originally, the producer and head writer of OLTL did agree to the show, but then moved to GH when it didn’t move forward. It was the quality of writing that hurt the show and do believe they ran out of funds to produce both shows. Maybe ABC will pick up both shows, but I doubt it. Prospect Park doesn’t have much of a case, ABC will win more than likely.

ABC took who they thought were the 3 strongest younger characters from OLTL. There is no doubt that it hurt the reboot of OLTL. With Anna back on GH, I could see them bring in David to lure the AMC viewers. Many of our favorite characters have been added to GH to try to get us to watch GH. I will never watch GH because I know my favorite characters do not fit the age group they want. The older characters will be off GH soon. AMC reboot did not have any characters in the age group they are looking for that the viewers cared about….they were newbies. If they can get away with it, I can see them trying to get David on GH. But he wouldn’t be there for long.

For me watching GH isnt totally supporting ABC, its to show them there is support for the genre and they were fools to think otherwise…This lawsuit claims to hurt the reboots but how did it hurt AMC? AMC had none of its characters on GH! Yes, GH use of 3 OLTL couldve changed PP plans for OLTL storylines but not as bad as they claim plus these 3 joined GH long before PP got their act together…would it been fair to GH and the actors to have the 3 sit around and do nothing while waiting to see if OLTL would ever come back? PP went ahead and used GHs storyline anyway when they didnt have to…if GH can drop the OLTL characters and their stories as if they werent there PP couldve wrote the reboot as if Cole and Hope never died…and PP had no trouble recasting Mathew and Destiny so they could have done the same with John and Starr…Jessica was an important character but they didnt write her in and rarely mentioned her, and Victor who was the shows most important character was only there for a handful of shows…plus his storyline wasnt well done…and that had nothing to do with what happened at gh especially Todd who made more appearances than Victor who wasnt tied to another show…i understand why you feel that way about ABC, Kate, and i respect your opinion but boycotting GH just because its on abc(unless you just dont like it) really isnt going to hurt the network…it hurts the genre we are trying to save.

At the time OLTL was the highest rated soap of the three, that is why they used OLTL characters to boost GH and guess what it worked!

ABC & PP BOTH SUCK!!! They had there character back abd they out out a TERRIBLE 1st season ABC was really good but now they have ruined that again thanks PP & ABC for screwing it all up. Clearly they don’t give a damn about the FANS!!! What’s the point if the law suit since PP ruined the shows abd aren’t bringing them back. KILL FRANCO KIKI & Cylis and bring back Todd , Star & John
#annoyed

I don’t think we will ever know what really happened. I remember thinking in 2012 when Prospect Park announced the 1st time they were not going to be able bring back AMC and OLTL that ABC simply licensed the 2 shows to PP to appear like they were trying to calm the upset viewers. I sincerely hope if ABC is found guilty, that not only they pay the damages but sign over the 2 shows over to PP free and clear. ABC actions appear as TPTB never wanted PP to succeed cause it would make ABC look very bad. Actions referring to are: Hiring FV and RC, Michael Easton, Roger Howarth, Kris Alderson and killing off Hope, Cole and Tea’s baby.

I hope PP wins every penny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agreed… and the free licensing! 🙂

I never felt that ABC was supporting this venture, because of the signing of 3 actors from OLTL. It seems to me they did every thing they thought they could get away with, to undermine the success of shows they dumped.

Good luck, PP!

Agreed!

It’s so odd how much anger is directed at Prospect Park for trying. Even a little try was more than ABC did. ABC has some army of paid bloggers always at the ready to yell about what cheats PP is, how awful they are, how they screwed it all up, when it was PP that actually brought the shows back to life. It was free to watch on Hulu, I never paid for it. What’s the loss? What if PP had never even appeared? We’d have had nothing. Yell at ABC and Brian Frons for being so selfish and stupid. Yell at Couric for taking all the money.

Agree!

I agree. I wish PP had kept going. I enjoyed watching on Hulu.

hmm
Q
” Prospect Park is relating in their lawsuit they lost $30 million in investment, as well as profits it could have made had ABC acted as “the partner it made itself out to be.”

—– ABC, from what I saw were terrible partners..
And tried to down Prospect Park at every turn..

Q
” They are also demanding that they no longer have to pay any licensing fees, but that it still be entitled to an extension of the license agreement for the soaps.”

—–That tells me; the soaps are not dead and PP indeed is not letting them go..
IF PP wins I see the soaps reborn, once again ..

Q”
”Prospect Park is relating in their lawsuit they lost $30 million in investment, as well as profits it could have made had ABC acted as “the partner it made itself out to be.”

—- that seems logical and also why season 2 is not being produced.

Q
” hiring two key executives from One Life to Live to create a mega soap of General Hospital without Prospect Park’s knowledge. In addition, the lawsuit claims that ABC signed OLTL actors to long term contracts secretively behind Prospect Park’s back!”

I do not see how leasing the soaps would in any way include the ”people” the actors, and writers, the characters yes..
That will be the tricky part..
The writers were free to move on, not owned/leased to PP, no way, never happen..

Anyways this lawsuit is why season 2 is not going to happen, not until the lawsuit is settled.. Then I feel the soaps will return..

You are delusional if you thinkg this is going to be resolved quickly. This lawsuit will drag on for a couple of years and by that point, they are not going to re-boot these shows.

I think what Prospect Park is getting at with the GH3 actors is that since the actors were (allegedly) tied to ABC that delayed production and the writing. As a result of the characters’/actors’ status being in limbo, it prevented PP from putting out as quality a product as ossible. Which I can see a jury finding validity in that claim.
I think people are putting too much focus on the “killing off of Cole/Hope” claim. It’s not being presented that them being killed off was an insurmountable detriment, it being done without PP’s consent that’s being presented as evidence in furtherance of demonstrating ABC’s alleged “uncooperative” attitude/intent to undermine PP.
ABC blocking Hulu from financially assisting PP that is the real whopper. I hope they have more than just suspicions to back this claim. Though I think they might be banking on the jury believing ABC’s prior acts in undermining PP to get them to swallow this claim.

OLTL failed because it didnt have Frank and Ron. Plus it had characters that we did not care for (except Vicki and Dorian) OLTL could have lived on Life Hospital with Dorian and viki making visits.

Prospect Park has seemed disingenuous from the start. First they announced plans to reboot both soaps right after their network finales. Then they cut down from four episodes per week to a mere two. Their explanation- blaming Internet viewing habits just proved that they I’d not have an intrinsic understanding of soap opera viewing or soap fan. 0f course ABC would not promote their online soaps. If the online. Soaps really succeeded- it would have been a total embarrassment for the network. Most importantly, I do not understand why they proliferate the idea that Hopevand Cole were main and pivotal characters. Hope was an infant and cole had not been on the canvas for YEARS. I believe that PP wanted this experiment to fail early on- so they could sue for monetary damage. In hindsight , Susan Lucci was damn smart to stay away from this mess.

“Disingenuous” seems like the perfect word to describe Prospect Park’s motives. When they stated shortly after their initial launch that “four shows a week” were too much for Viewers to handle, I found that difficult to believe. It was fairly obvious that was just an excuse to produce less episodes. I wouldn’t mind if they announced from the start that they would do forty episodes, take a long break and then return with another forty episodes.
I do not think it’s impossible that ALL MY CHILDREN could possibly return at some point down the road if this mess is ever straightened out between ABC-TV and Prospect Park.

I agree. In addition, the bodies of Cole & Hope were never recovered so in soap terms that left the door wide open for them to return. There was also a man watching Starr at the site of the accident also lending credence to the theory that they weren’t dead. Tea’s baby dying lent to some hefty drama if written well. And, PP had no plans to resurrect either show until GH kept interest alive. This is more BS from PP IMHO. In addition to having their cake and eating it for free, would they like the kitchen sink thrown in as well?

PP’s lawsuit is laughable! I mean, really. They claim potential stories were ruined because some OLTL characters were killed off on GH? All they had to do was instruct their new writers to bring them back to life as every soap has done with “killed off” characters since the beginning of the genre. If I were the judge, I’d throw the case out faster than the blink of an eye.

I agree…plus OLTL had enough talented to carry the show…Victors unexeciting return and short stay, too much focus on Shelter, no talent JWoOPS, and stories that showed promise:Mathews mysterious girlfriend, Dorian/Viki feud and the Patels open marriage all fizzled…Natalie and Cutters relationship came out of nowhere, and Jack and his teacher was an isolated storyline that affected no other characters…its failure had nothing to do with Cole and Hope being killed off(they could easily be written back off and imo werent that important. Did PP really believe these two characters couldve saved the show. and if abc really wanted to stop the reboots how come gh didnt use AMC characters and kill a couple of them off?) The writing hurt OLTL not the missing characters…Jessica was more important to the show than Cole and Hope…and she wasnt involved in the gh scandal…and if the two actresses werent avaiable who played Jess, they couldve recast…anyway GH was able to drop the OLTL characters as if they werent there so PP couldve simply wrote in Cole and Hope as if their deaths never happen…whoever wins or looses this case i no longer care…

ABC originally signed an agreement to keep PP informed and confer with them the direction the used characters would go…………..ABC didn’t. They did what they wanted to. ABC Sucks!

LMAO ABC wanted to create a “mega-soap”. Who are they kidding? You JUST got into the game PP while ABC as well as the other “big two” PERFECTED the genre. All along Kwatinez and co. were way in over their heads and might as well filmed the re-boots on a replica of the TITANIC and HINDENBERG!!! Sorry but these were two sure fire failures that won’t soon return to the land of the TV living. Let’s all just please have a moment of silence for AMC/OLTL/PP. OK. Now on to my dvr ep’s of the “mega-soap” that is GH.

Sounds like ABC wanted them cancelled but, they didn’t want the fans to blame them. If they did go behind their backs to play dirtyI would go with Prospect park. I hate the word sue,this country seems to sue for everything and nothing. And these idiot juries actually award money. ABC got the three most known parties PP got the newbies. PP got the shaft but, I would have to be there and hear it all.

The sum of the effect of ABC’s actions towards Prospect Park’s licensed property certainly damaged the launch and run of One Life to Live and to a much lesser degree, All My Children.

I believe Prospect Park has a very good chance at winning compensation if Prospect Park can prove their allegations, including:

“Hulu’s management was prepared to assist Prospect Park toward
production of a second season of OLTL and AMC. However, Prospect Park is informed and believes that senior ABC executives discouraged Hulu from assisting Prospect Park.

ABC repeatedly lied to Prospect Park, breached the express terms of the parties’ contracts, violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing at every turn, and, on information and belief, even interfered with Prospect Park’s dealings with Hulu. …”

After reading the amended lawsuit, I’m left wondering if perhaps ABC is still playing the villain to the expense of the millions of loyal fans, as well as our beloved show’s cast and crew. Truly, our hearts are collectively breaking.

There’s surely a lot more to follow with this lawsuit. Since there’s presently no AMC or OLTL, this is all diehard fans have left to tune in tomorrow for.

I’d love to see actual proof of the claims Prospect park is making.

Kind of odd that once they basically ran out of money and couldn’t produce the shows anymore they now amend the lawsuit.

And what megasoap did ABC create? Yes GH’s numbers are up but the numbers are still nothing to brag about.

I don’t trust or believe that comes out of Prospect Park. Until actual proof of their claims is shown I have to believe this to be desperation on their part.

Who really cares at this point. All my children and One life to live are.off the air we the fans should be the ones that sue abc and prospect park for.pain and suffering.

That is my feeling too

By the time this gets settled and the dust clears the real losers from this mess with be the fans that lost their beloved soaps twice and the casts and crews that lost their jobs again.

It’s November 2013 and I am still desperately missing JOLIE. Every time, I see Silas Clay on GH, especially during the outing of Julian Jerome scenes, it still seems like he is playing Detective John McBain. Every time, I see him with Sam, I feel sick and wish he was back home with Natalie and Liam. Michael Easton is wasting his time playing a doctor. He was born to play JOHN MCBAIN.

ABC should settle with Prospect Park and get back the rights to OLTL. It should then let Frank and Ron reboot OLTL in LA. They should share space and everything else with GH to cut costs. Okay, yes rebuild the key Llanview sets but think of it – Roger could play Franco on GH and Todd on OLTL. Michael could play Silas on GH (he is rarely on) and John McBain on OLTL. Round up all the Buchanans, Rex, Cord, Tina, Kevin, Joey, Jessica, Natalie, Bo, David, Nora, Destiny, Matthew and Clint and Vicki. Next, round up the Lords, Mannings, McBains, and Delgados. Add in Roxy, Max Holden and Christian Vega and you have pure gold. Much better than the CHEW, Katie or Meredith.

Plus ABC would have wonderful cross-over opportunities. Frank and Ron could pull it off and make it a ratings winner again and undo the awful story lines promoted by Prospect Park. SOAP Fans would embrace ABC again.

After all, you ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE TO LIVE!!!

Gentry, love your posts and yes missing them as well. From your mouth to God’s ears

If PP really wants to revive AMA, they will make it a true revival, bringing ‘vintage’ characters to the show in order to re-connect with the core fan base: the females who were watching in the heyday 20 years ago, when AMC was most popular. I’m happy to bring Brian Bodine back to Pine Valley and get back to what worked.

I would side with Prospect Park; however, I would rather sit on a jury that sets free Brian Frons’s murderer. Oh why why why did not some nut job from a fly over state not kill him when he started this mess. Does anyone even remember that stinking pile of a life change show that took OLTL’s time spot. Sadly even though I personally know and love Jason Thompson I will not watch GH. ABC to me equals the people who killed my oldest friends and burned down my happy place Llanview.

What a mess! Sadly though, I did not enjoy either show’s online versions. It’ll be interesting to find out the resolution and who the courts decide is responsible for this mess.

I hope PP gets every penny from ABC!!

ABC KILLED OUR SOAPS!!

ABC Killed OLTL..
ABC Killed AMC..

WE the fans begged ABC to reconsider, er protested, wrote, had petitions, boycotted, and ABC never so much as said a one to us, we and the 2 soaps were nothing to ABC..

ABC needs to pay up!! If us fans could have sued ABC for killing our soaps, we would have.. ABC treated the fans like dirt..

PP gave 100% to bring back what ABC killed..!!
IF PP wins the lawsuit perhaps they will buy into a cable network and bring the OLTL and AMC back to life..
If PP wins and ABC pays for their dirty deeds, there is chance PP will have the money means to bring our soaps back!!!!

GO PROSPECT PARK!!!
and
FUK YOU ABC!!

Yes!

Let’s keep All MY CHILDREN out of the fray. we have read from a few stars and news sources that AMC is not moving forward. Is ther any chance that prospect Park is looking for a new location or medium to have the show (ie cable)? Truly hope that AMC continues!!

Let’s not forget that that Brian Frons started all this when he cancelled BOTH AMC and OLTL to save $$$. Brian Frons aka BALD-HEADED JACKASS!!!!! Asshole.

I like you!

Thank you, Kate. I like you, too!

Peace.

Part of the changes to the lawsuit were a result of information that PP Lawyers received during the Discovery Process. Sounds like a plot from The Good Wife. I want my soaps back and was pleased to have them on line. I did anticipate that the quality would improve. If I was a Juror I would award PP more than the requested award, ABC Disney is a large Company and should know better.

What a mess. Although this is better soap than the ones that are/were on the air in some ways:)

Some of PP’s claims seem to have merit like ABC blocking PP advertising and promotion when and where it would have been the most effective. Refusing to turn over the URLs as promised until absolutely being forced to seems to have some merit as well since that’s naturally where fans actively trying to find out how to watch the new shows would have gone. And if it’s true that ABC maliciously worked to tank a potential deal between Hulu and PP that’s pretty low of them. Ditto if they also tried to circumvent PP’s negotiations with actors. If ABC did that stuff then they very likely did damage the product was licensed to sell either by trying to shift the assets to themselves or just out of malice. Some of the character/storyline stuff seems pretty frivolous though.

I do believe PP was sabotaged and damaged to some extent but the damages they’re asking seem pretty outrageous. The 8.5 mil licensing fees due to Disney are pretty common knowledge as is the need to keep the production costs per episode under $100,000 since that was the subject of the union dispute. Unless I flunked math that adds up to $16.5 mil in cost for the shows but it seems to me PP also wants to add in another $8 mil in profits that THEY’VE arbitrarily decided they should have made even tho there’s no way to prove that. Aside from that they also seem to be asking free rights to the shows and characters for the NEXT TEN YEARS.

That makes no sense. I have a feeling that sort of over the top greed will not go over well with a jury and may even end up taking down those points that do have some merit. If I were a juror that’s how I’d be inclined to see it.

When suing, you ask for 95 million with hopes of getting 60 million..
You always ask very high because millions from the settlement go to legal fees, also..

Yes of course but you don’t ask for the whole solar system in the hopes that maybe you’ll get a moon rock. I would have been OK with PP arguing that the deal was not as promised and maybe Disney forgiving past due licensing fees as well as the coming year’s fees to give them a fresh start but that’s a discussion they should have been having with a whole different arm of Disney who were the ones they actually made the licensing deal with PP from the start.

I’m not sure people get that PP did not license the show from ABC but from another arm (paw?) of The Mouse. Neither of the mouse kids played nice so really it was up to the head mouse (at least as far as the one who broker this deal) to work out disputes.

PP is suing the wrong people here and the lawsuit is over-reaching. It think at this point they will get slapped down whereas they may have had chance at reaching an equitable settlement with the Disney branch who actually leased the show to them before this nonsense.

If I were on the jury, I would award every dime to PP. I hate ABC and will never watch anything on ABC. Including GH. I only watch Y&R. There is no doubt in my mind that ABC tried to screw PP.

ABC and Brian Fons are the villains here. PP may not get $95M, but I hope PP does get some justice or restitution. ABC should roast in a special place in hell for what they did in canceling AMC and OLTL in the first place! I have heard that their replacement shows have even lower ratings than AMC or OLTL ever did. ABC and Brian Fons, you should be boycotted for life, and I hope you get your karmic just desserts! I hope PP will ultimately prevail in this lawsuit.

I hope the jury is made up of soap fans! No to all things involving ABC. That said, if PP had continued with the soaps immediately after they were canceled, they would have had all the actors and writers that they wanted. The delay allowed actors and writers to go elsewhere for employment. It gave ABC time to plot. I do believe that PP should be compensated. I am sure that many of the delays were caused by ABC setting up road blocks. Nothing would make me happier than to hear that ABC goes bankrupt and disappears.

#bitchplease

I support Prospect Park. Perhaps they aren’t commenting until lawsuit is over? Win big, Prospect Park.

So PP wants to extend the license, cancel the license fee it owes ABC, and collect $95 million. Sounds to me like PP is not out of the soap opera business despite “cancelling” the shows. I’ll never defend ABC after cancelling AMC and OLTL on the same day and treating both shows like dirt, but PP’s track record so far has not been that great with dealing with the audience and not making announcements, and some of the announcements they’ve made have been rude to fans. If there’s a chance AMC and OLTL can return, I’ll all for it, but PP has to handle its press better and show that they’re more dependable than they have shown so far.

Finally someone is standing up for OLTL! I read the complaint, and PP has a lot of valid points. OLTL was the highest rated ABC soap and was cancelled. The ABC execs laughed at soap fans. OLTL was always the underdog – less promotion, less flashy actors, and less publicity than the other 2 soaps. Maybe ABC did regret canceling OLTL. The hired the Exec. Producer, OLTL writers, and some directors for GH. Then they brought over 3 front burner actors. I remember KA was bragging about a 3yr. contract she signed for GH (really, are you kidding me, is she that valuable to GH??). All of this sounds like sabotage to me. When Starr’s family was killed on GH along with Tea’s baby, it set up a depressing scenario for OLTL for PP. I never watched GH again after that.

Of course, it would take PP time to line up the financing for this huge project. So GH has OLTL’s timeslot, producer, writers, and 3 long time OLTL actors, that does sound suspect. I hope PP wins big and goes on to do Season 2 of OLTL.

OK people. this is the reason that both show were shelved.. to make a point that the production company is being thwarted by ABC.

While that may be the case… there are plenty of other on-line alternative that PP could use to distribute the soaps… but if ABC colluded with HULU to stifle the advertisement and promotion, then the lawsuit seems legitimate.

THis lawsuit is beginning to soud like a soap isn’t it.

I am not giving up hope….. Maybe ABC will see the current success of GH and realize the mistake that they made… Can you say reboot on ABC?

So far this lawsuit is more compelling then some of the storylines depicted
on the Online version of ALL MY CHILDREN.

The only advertising that ABC ever did on the soaps revival was a few stars from both soaps appearing on The View and Tuc Watkins appearing on the show that replaced All My Children on ABC, The Chew. I did see a Hulu ad on Comcast Cable here in Baltimore that had a 6 second clip of One Life To Live over the summer, but I haven’t seen it on there since the middle of September. I don’t know if the ad was a cable buy or a network buy, though.

This is getting tiresome… and there’s no one to route for here. Just let both shows die with dignity already…

If I were a juror I would be excused based on my known bias against ABC.

Maybe we AMC & OLTL fans should start a class-action lawsuit against Brian Frons & ABC for killing our beloved soaps?

I was surprised that PP cancelled AMC, as it weakens their lawsuit. How can using the Llanview 3 on GH have hurt PP’s version of OLTL if AMC couldn’t make it either? Actors and characters change all the time so I don’t buy that part of the lawsuit. Not sure what to think of the points about keeping the actors off GMA and The View, not allowing adverstising, etc. It does seem odd to say you’ll act as partner, take money for licensing, then thwart any advertising efforts. Something’s off, yet I doubt PP’s going to get anything out of it.

Michael Easton, Roger Howarth, and Kristen Alderson did not have a contract with Prospect Park so I have to laugh at PP claims that ABC secretly signed them. If those 3 did have contracts to work for PP then PP should be taking them to court as well.

PP never had any rights to humans, the actors..
The actors were all free from any contracts, to live their lives as they chose to.
NO actor was obligated to PP..

Read the complete lawsuit you can link it on the Hollywood Reporter then judge for yourself.

I think that with most messy lawsuits, there is a lot of truth and a lot of lie mixed together, but at the end of the day I’m rooting for Prospect Park in a big way. I don’t think they’ll be able to prove all of their claims, seems like a lot of heresay, but I do think they can prove some: the URLs not being turned over, the failing to consult on storylines, and the using the “temporary” OLTL characters heavily on GH as front runner characters/stories. All these things seem to be pretty clear fact, and all of these things hurt the reboot. Regardless though, it’s still a mess. An ABC mess. They deserve a little fallout, IMO.

Shouldn’t have canceled the shows in the first place!

Be careful what you wish for. ABC might release PP from the licensing fess that are still owed but in order to settle, PP may have to relinquish said rights. ABC will them shelve the projects, just like PP has.

Isn’t it remotely possible that abc-tv might want ALL MY CHILDREN back as a half hour show?
I wish that things looked brighter on the horizon for ALL MY CHILDREN, I know it’s not impossible that it could still come back since it was barely given a chance as an on-line inception, but at the same time would the actors want to be caught in the corner and then forced to give out a statement in an obligatory sort of way like Debbi, Cady and Jill no doubt felt that they needed to do?

Or maybe…..
ABC sees the viability of bringing OLTL back to network…

With the soaps gaining viewers once again , what would be better than reviving the best soap ever……

Please ABC programming, give us back OLTL …. even 30 minutes would work.

2:00 OLTL 2:30-3:30 GH 3:30 ABC News?

How bout it ?

So, if PP is saying that ABC shouldn’t have hired out of work Actors and Writers and Producers from OLTL, will they be filing a lawsuit against CBS next? Perhaps they will say that hiring Thorsten Kaye for B&B forced PP to shelve AMC? After all, if they can’t rewrite/recast characters from OLTL, perhaps they couldn’t recast Zach Slater for AMC. PP’s reasoning is just laughable. When will the ridiculous accusations end? Sadly they are turning two beloved showed into punchlines. AMC & OLTL deserve better.

I am so sad that I am losing my OLTL family yet again. I hope somehow PP is still going to try to put OLTL and AMC back on the internet. If they are gone for good, please don’t put the r.i.p. sign next to their names again michael. Maybe another icon can be created for former soaps and do what are they doing now sorta of thing.

why don’t pp just admit that they were in way over their heads with the remakes and stop this craziness. Let us OLTL fans mourn its death in peace instead of having it drudge up like this every year. Also, why doesn’t ABC just admit it messed up by even cancelling OLTL in the first place?

Someone said they no longer care, that PP and ABC deserve each other . I care because it loved both of these soaps for decades, and because I loved the online AMC more than I’d liked the ABC version in years. I am grieving over the loss again. And though I was not as enamored about the 20s and teenager orientd plots of the PP version of one life, I watched, loyally, waiting for it to improve. I will always miss them, and hope somehow they will come back. Very least we need a movie tying up loose ends. I hate ABC for all they did, and am angry at PP for not communicating with us.

All My Children

Carol Burnett Talks About Being a Superfan of ‘All My Children’ on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’

In a heartfelt reunion, of sorts, the one and only Carol Burnett appeared on Monday March 25th episode of Live with Kelly and Mark.

Burnett had first met Kelly Ripa (Hayley) and Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo) back when they all appeared on All My Children together. Carol played Verla Grubbs first in 1983 and then again in the 90’s.

Host Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley, AMC) noted to Burnett that “we go back a long time”. She also described Burnett’s character of Verla Grubbs, “extraordinary in every way.”

Carol’s love for All My Children is well-documented, hence legendary soap creator, Agnes Nixon, created the role of Verla for Burnett.

Photo: ABC

Speaking on how her passion for All My Children began, Carol told Kelly and Mark, “It started with my kids. They would watch at noon. I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’ I sat down and I started to watch and I got hooked!”

When Carol’s family decided to travel through Europe during one summer, the comedic legend recalled thinking, “How am I going to last if I don’t know what’s going on in Pine Valley?” She revealed she had a friend, “who sent me a telegram to the (different hotels) on Fridays to bring me up to date.”

Photo: ABC

In a hilarious moment from the segment, Carol recalled receiving a late night telegram while in Lake Cuomo when there was a knock at her hotel room door from the hotel manager who was shaking.

Carol related what it said, “Erica is still in a coma. Mark slipped again and ran away from rehab.” As Kelly and Mark broke into laughter, Burnett continued, “Chuck has learned that Donna is carrying his baby, who was once a hooker.”

Check out Carol explaining how she became an AMC Superfan below.

Now, let us know, did you enjoy Carol as Verla Grubbs? What show do you consider yourself a Superfan of? Tell us in the comment section.

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All My Children

Malachy McCourt, ‘Ryan’s Hope’ and ‘All My Children’ Actor, Dead at 92

If you watched Ryan’s Hope through its 14-year-run, you know that Kevin the bartender became a beloved “member’ of the Ryan clan on the defunct ABC daytime drama series. The character of Kevin MacGuiness became so loved by the fans because of the actor who portrayed him, Malachy McCourt.

Sadly, according to his wife Diana McCourt to The New York Times, Malachy passed away on Monday from a heart condition and battling cancer. The actor was 92-years-old.

Playing Kevin on Ryan’s Hope was not much of a stretch for McCourt, because in his lifetime, he was the owner of 1950s Irish pub Malachy’s on Third Avenue in Manhattan. Known as one of the city’s great story-tellers, patrons from longshoremen to the actor Richard Harris would stop in and talk all things Irish with . On Ryan’s Hope, Kevin was best friends to “Ryan’s Bar” owner, Johnny Ryan (Bernie Barrow) and he tried to keep Delia (Ilene Kristen) on the straight and narrow.

Photo: ABC

In his soap opera career, McCourt also was widely-known for his role of Father Clarence McCourt on All My Children especially come Christmastime. Was Clarence, actually St. Nick? That was always the proverbial question. McCourt also appeared on the New York soaps: One Life To Live, Search For Tomorrow and Another World. Other roles included: Devil’s Own, Brewster’s Millions, The Molly Maguires, and Starman, to name 

Later in 2006, Malachy ran for governor of the state of New York as a Green Party candidate. He tackled social issues of the time including being an advocate for gay and lesbian groups to march in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Photo: ABC

McCourt’s childhood was recounted within his brother Frank McCourt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angela’s Ashes, which detailed their mother’s attempt to raise the four of their surviving seven children in poverty in Limerick, Ireland. Later, Malachy wrote his own memoirs: 1998’s Monk Swimming, and 2000’s Singing My Him Song.

Malachy is survived by his aforementioned wife, Diana, daughter Siobhan McCourt; sons Malachy Jr., Conor and Cormac; stepdaughter Nina Galin; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

Share you remembrances and condolences for Malachy McCourt via the comment section, but first check out this scene from a 1983 episode of “Ryan’s Hope” featuring the late actor with Ilene Kristen.

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All My Children

‘Live with Kelly and Mark’s’ Annual ‘After the Oscars’ Show Brings Backstage Interviews, Fashion Review and Red Carpet Arrivals from Movie’s Biggest Night

Monday morning, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos took to the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the talk show’s annual Oscar post show.

However, this time it would be Consuelos’ first time as the co-host of ‘Live’ for an Oscars episode. Mark took over the gig from Ryan Seacrest to team with his wife back in April of 2023 and since then the show has seen a ratings spike hitting several all-time highs.

The After the Oscars show opened with a tribute to the movies were the former All My Children stars took on iconic roles from: Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct to Barbie and Ken in Barbie, to the Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller role’s in the romantic comedy Something About Mary and more.

Courtesy/DisneyABC

During After the Oscars, Kelly and Mark were shown in clips backstage as the first stop for the newly-anointed Academy Award winners including: Finneas and Billie Eilish and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. The Bachelor host, Jesse Palmer was the talk show’s guest correspondent who spoke to the nominees, and celebrities as they were entering the Dolby Theatre on Sunday night.

Singer Andy Grammar took to the stage and performed on Live’s  After the Oscars show as well, and Project Runaway’s Elaine Welteroth shared her thoughts on the night’s Oscar fashion.

You can watch the full ‘Live with Kelly and Mark After the Oscars’ show below, plus the full movie parody below that. Now let us know, what do you think of Kelly and Mark’s first post-Oscar show together on ‘Live’? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

 

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