Connect with us

All My Children

76

Prospect Park Plans To Liquidate Assets In Ongoing Bankruptcy Case For OLTL and AMC! Judge May Soon Allow ABC Litigation To Proceed To Trial!

Courtesy/TOLN

Courtesy/TOLN

Prospect Park’s legal battles and bankruptcy case made news today again via The Hollywood Reporter!

But let’s review what we know of the case:  The company that resurrected One Life to Live and All My Children for one season online,  is suing ABC, alleging fraud, wherein the network asked to “borrow” OLTL characters for use on General Hospital, then changed storylines and killed some characters, and began scheming to make a “Mega-Soap”.

And for all of that and more, Prospect Park is seeking millions of damages against the alphabet network!  And as previously reported, ABC is counter-suing Prospect Park for $5 million in claimed breach-of-contracts damages.

In addition, Prospect Park had filed bankruptcy last March and when that happened the dispute between ABC and Prospect Park was put on hold, but now according to THR, “The judge in the case is conducting a case management conference next week, and in recent papers lodged in the bankruptcy proceedings, an attorney representing the debtor states, ‘It is anticipated that the LA Court will terminate the ‘dark period’ and allow the ABC Litigation to proceed expeditiously to trial.”‘

Now in a new intriguing wrinkle, THR reports that on the road to liquidation and in need of paying its creditors, Prospect Park came to an arrangement with Apple, Inc.  The soaps producer was eligible for a 30 percent tax credit for shooting OLTL in Connecticut, and racked up production expenditures of nearly $20 million. With tax money then due from Connecticut — nicknamed the “Provisions State” — the debtor entered into a loan and security agreement with EP Financial Solutions, which concurrently sold the tax credit to Apple for $5 million.  Apple’s iTunes also had the episodes of  the online versions of AMC and OLTL available in their iTunes store!

So what do you think of the latest on Prospect Park’s legal issues that continue in regards to the online reboots of One Life to Live and All My Children, the ABC case, and those they owe?  Comment and weigh-in!

Leave a comment | 76 Comments

76 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

I am wondering if they win if they might be able to start over and bring our soaps back??

They have no money, havent paid their lawyers, or paid their actors. I doubt THEY will ever be producing anything for awhile.

Let us pray.

All I want is RH back as Todd Manning.

this case should be a case study for business school and law schools. PP had high hopes and thought they would run it the way they run their other shows. soaps are different.

I think ABC & PP both terribly failed the soap world and it’s viewers! I’m for any kind of settlement that would bring back AMC & OLTL! Maybe the 2 networks could reach a compromise? I also agree that I tried the online versions on Hulu and found the online versions substandard. I didn’t like the faster, 30 minute format or the new edgier storylines. I also felt more “tied down” to the computer. The network says there is no audience for the soaps … Well, the same audience they are targeting with all these talk show replacements are the same people that watched the soaps. There aren’t more people staying home from work to watch talk shows! I haven’t spoken to any of the soap fans who like the new talk shows. And, I know for a fact that many of the soap fans just turned off the TV in the afternoons! I personally boycotted ABC from 1-3 in the afternoon for almost a year! I didn’t want to watch any more talk shows! Most days I don’t watch anything after 11 am! Did anybody run the numbers on how many viewers DVR the soaps & watch later? The talk shows may be cheaper to produce, but the entertainment factor is far below the soaps and the viewers don’t have the loyalty to tune in every day. I may occasionally watch The Chew, but I certainly don’t DVR the show if I’m gone! In summary, talk shows may be cheaper in the long run, but the networks are losing viewership. Like I said before, you’ve got the same number of viewers at home in the afternoons. ABC just lost its loyal soap viewers who have decided to turn off completely instead of tuning in to the same old lame talk shows!

Well..
I give Prospect Park’ praise!
They took on the 2 soaps when not one, not one, TV network wanted them..
Both the soaps were taboo to the networks..
And Prospect Park’ took them and gave their all to keep them alive, to the point of financial ruin for Prospect Park’ ..

I thank Prospect Park’ .. they and only they gave a damn ..

sorry su0000…I don’t think they gave anything because “they gave a damn”… they invested in a project which they hoped would turn to a huge profit. Not blaming them…that’s what business is all about.

I totally agree Rebecca.

I agree with rebecca1, they were only interested in turning a profit and they certainly didn’t have their ducks all in a row. It’s a very sad situation, and I have always been confident that the issues would be cleared up, but at this point, even I would have to say it doesn’t look promising for those of us who loved one or both soaps. Actors have moved on – the ONLY way it could see the light of day is if they possibly combined both soaps into one show, utilizing the actors that are available and of course bringing in new faces.

agreed !

SU – this post is so……..good! I’ll add that I hope ABC loses HUGE.

If ABC loses “huge” this could be the death knell to General Hospital. I want ABC to win! Get back the rights to AMC and OLTL.

Margie….WHY would you want ABC to lose?! Do you understand the ramifications of that that loss both directly and indirectly? If you enjoy the soaps, and I assume you do if you are on this blog, you had better hope that ABC wins…because a loss could be the start of a domino affect that could possibly result in the demise of GH. A win could mean some of the beloved characters could come back to GH. PP is not going to get out from under this.

While we had hopes of this being the salvation of some of our beloved soaps, this proved to be a disasterous move for many involved. You cannot pioneer a brand new platform with Poor Management.

Margie, it looks like to me that PP wants ABCTV to have the rights back of both shows,if they win, Love In The Afternoon will be restored. GENERAL HOSPITAL is still going strong because of its ratings , an people who never watched the show,know about its rich history,and like it.Ron Carlivati who is the Head writer for GH WHO WAS AND IS the writer for One Life To Live is now working at GH. So to say you want ABCTV to lose is pretty much stupid to say on your behalf! PP is letting ABCTV hear their side if the story.

I agree totally with Elite advisors. Though originally I wanted PP to win, and am so thankful to them for taking these soaps on and trying to make them succeed. But they are past tense now. PP Is gone. So we have only to hope that at least ABC will not be hurt so much that they will not be able to have GH and that they will be allowed to use their own characters. I feel what ABC did was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. They were at fault. But at this point if w want any part of OLTL and AMC to come back – even parts of them, sven characters, then ABC has to win or at least not lose. Would I rather any other entity have them instead of ABsleeze. Yes. But I think our best chance is for aBSleeze to win.

still waiting for someone to tell me… I was right! I got slammed by many of you when I said it would not work and the business model would fail… You all crucified me… Hmmmm Can I get just 1 “you were right”?

It’s very easy to be the voice of doom. No. You get raspberries.

Tsuds,you were right to begin with in the first place! Us fans were glad they came back as online versions,they changed the format from the original to 30minutes DOWN FROM AN HOUR! And some key characters were also recasted, and some one had a funny feeling that something was wrong.after the cancellation of both, TOLN PP SAID,, they can’t afford it and it would be costly.

THEY were not doing it because they cared, they were doing these soaps cause they thought they could make a crap load of money. Their plan was flawed from the get go. They should have taken their time and truly learned the soap game as opposed to learn as you go.

I agree with Travis. It was a flawed plan and “learn as you go” just doesn’t work with so much at stake. Really odd business plan. I’m guessing they wanted to strike before fan interest waned, but this “plan” was really ill-conceived. PP should have taken the time needed to get it right. Had they done so, I think it could have been successful.

I agree completely.

If there is any hope at all of any of our fav AMC/OLTL characters showing back up on TV, it’s them landing in Port Charles. And that can not happen until this legal mess is resolved. It just all seems like a horrible mess. I agree with su0000, I give PP credit for trying what others would not. Everyone keeps saying ABC should bring the shows back, but we know realistically that won’t happen. I don’t see PP getting the funds they need to ever bring them back online and have probably– unintentionally– burned too many bridges with the actors.

I just want Todd, Starr and Mc Bain back… Couldn’t care less for their replacements… Major fail

I don’t want Ron to further destroy OLTL’s legacy. No. I’ll remember these three and the rest as they were before abc cancelled the show. ABC sucks.

I just hope ABC has a significant loss. I will never forget what ABC did. My hope is that everything daytime ABC has gets cancelled. Actually, I hope all of ABC gets cancelled. No, I am not going to get over it .

I’m right there with you KateA. I want to see the alphabet people go out of business.

But what about CBS who cancelled ATWTs and GL and NBC who canceled soaps too…should they go out of business as well…if all people thought that way everytime a network or cable channel cancelled something they like there’d be no more television…just like your job…if two employees got fired for underperforming would you want them to say i hope your business closes because you got rid of them…why wish others unemployment over two tv series…would you like to loose your job the same way!!!

Did you think the same when NBC and CBS cancelled soaps…you make it sound as if only ABC cancels them!!!

Wow jimh. I totally feel u too. Im always trying to figure out why ABC gets all this hate, but no one says the same thing about CBS that did THE SAME THING. Its okay for one network, but wrong for the other. I mean if we truly are gonna call out anyone, its gonna be CBS and PG, which cancelled the longest running soap The Guiding Light….I refuse to call it just Guiding Light. They put this all in motion. The moment the other networks realized that CBS was okay after dumping two soaps, it basically just said to the other networks that they didnt need 3 soaps as well. NBC was already trying to get out of the soap business from the moment they cancelled Another World. And again that was a PG soap as well. Where was the outrage at PG, or CBS. If ABC would have saw the uproar against those 2 soaps, they may have reconsidered the blowback. But mostly everyone just said they were sad, and moved on. So from a business model, I can see why ABC made the move they made cause they didnt see any fallout from NBC or CBS. So if we are truly gonna call out Networks, lets start with who cancelled Two of the most beloved soaps ever. My grandma still has never recovered from the lost. RIP ATWT and The GL

Great posts jimh. Thousands of TV shows have been canceled and millions of people have lost jobs for various reasons. Those of us lucky to have a job replaced someone else. Soap fans continue to embarrass themselves with the diatribes about dying soaps getting canceled. By the time All My Children was canceled it was like a mercy killing, the show was just awful for years and millions had stopped watching.

I did watch any soaps on CBS or NBC. I don’t know how their shows were doing before their cancellation. I don’t know how the cancellations were handled. What I do know is that AMC and OLTL had loyal and steady viewers before they were cancelled. OLTL was gaining viewers. I also understand OLTL came in under budget and the left over money was used for AMC. The alphabet people were completely disrespectful of their viewers and their employees and I will never watch any of their programming or support their efforts in anyway.

What ABC did? Seriously? ABC didn’t do anything. ABC is not a charity. It, like CBS & NBC, simply responded to the one BIG thing that happened to daytime tv over the course of 10 years – viewers abandoned daytime tv. There is no one to “blame”, as much as you seem to want a villain in this scenario. People’s lifestyles changed & watching tv as appointment television in the middle of the afternoon is not possible (or desirable) anymore. Frankly, I think the “rise” in daytime ratings is not that more people are watching. But, that the technical ability to measure viewers is finally catching up to how programs are viewed, with DVR, streaming, alternate outlets (Hulu, On Demand), etc. Anyone who works in a for-profit business should know you cannot keep making a product that no one is buying. And, the numbers in the 90’s said it all – *millions* of viewers stopped watching soaps across all networks, across all shows. That kind of shift isn’t one network’s fault.

They could have made them 30 minutes. They could have combined them for one hour long show. I would have easily accepted the two soaps being intertwined. People have watched these shows for a lifetime. You don’t cancel, you find a way to make them profitable! ABC canceled AMC which I will not get over. I don’t watch talk shows in support of all the other cancelled soaps. The only daytime show I watch on the 3 major networks is Y&R. The rest is cable or Netflicks.

In my opinion, PP is done, finished, kaput. They won’t rise again and be in the soap business anymore. I am still angry the way they treated Easton, Howarth and Alderson by booting them off GH for two months. PP knew nothing of what they were trying to do, produce soaps. I would not want them touching soaps again. They would just fail again bringing more disappointment to the fans.

Most savvy soap fans know that Frons was a red-herring – Disney wanted these shows gone and had them deliberately written into the dirt. They were told by fans that their new shows – The Chew (in AMCs time-slot) and The Revolution (in OLTLs time-slot) wouldn’t survive, and within months, The Revolution was gone. The Chew has only survived due to the lead-in audience from The View, which is sadly suffering after the loss of Barbara Walters as a co-hostess. Rumor is, The View is on the verge of being cut if this season doesn’t improve ratings-wise. If that happens, ABC & Disney will have a hot-mess on their hands & will need to fix things, fast.

That being said, I would love to see ABC re-evaluate their daytime line-up and bring back both AMC and OLTL as fast-paced, full hour long shows each. Model them after tele-novelas & tell GOOD stories that hold our attention, do some cross-overs with different characters & bring back a few familiar faces as well. Find writers who know the genre, the Marland rules, and give them the freedom to write character-driven storylines that deal with every-day issues…no more than a 3-5 week lead-time from writing the episode to it airing, and a producer who can & will see the vision the writer has & defend it to the network and a network willing to not only see the vision, but support it financially as well.

I think I speak for most AMC & OLTL viewers — we’d love to see them give us back our soaps – they should never have taken them away to begin with.

I so agree with your comments concerning BF and the mouse company.

I’m over it.

Well said.

If there’s an auction of set pieces, I’ll be on the first plane to Connecticut! I’ll take the entire Llanfair living room!

I want the Llanfair library too!!

OK – there may still be some life to live in the soap world.
ABC – use that ‘extra afternoon hour’ and inject some of Robin Scorpio’s life serum into these two ‘dead’ (OLTL and AMC) shows. Guarantee the viewers will come back!

No they won’t. The viewers did NOT come back when PP relaunched the shows. There were ads every week for a month in TV Guide & Entertainment weekly. iTunes had ads. But, when the ratings were in, the total numbers were pathetic, even combining the viewers on iTunes w/the viewers for the episodes on Oprah’s channel. Fans of Pine Valley & Llanview may be loud. But, they are too sparse. If you can’t bring numbers in the millions, it ain’t gonna happen. AMC & OLTL were barely bringing 450,000…and that’s rounding up. Generously.

I Tried to watch them via Hulu. We don’t have Home internet and I would go to my parents house specifically to watch amc and oltl online. As hard as I tried I just could Not get used to the new OLTL. It was Unrecongizable to the Old OLTL. The cursing and sex drugs etc was to much for me. If I wanted to see that i’d watch HBO lol

IF ABC-TV were smart, and that’s a big “if” – they would combine the remnants of One Life to Live with the cast of AMC and make one soap as an intro to General Hospital. I know that would work – but, unfortunately, it probably won’t happen. Afternoon soaps are NOT dead – they perhaps are not as popular as they were at one time, but viewers will always want to view stories – not just news and information – we get enough of that on our TV sets and our computerized devices and phones – I honestly, sincerely think that a combination of One Life with AMC is the way to go.

I agree that I commend Prospect Park for trying to keep our shows alive. It didn’t work out for various reasons. At this point I just want this whole thing resolved so that somebody HOPEFULLY will give it another try.

All that legal mumbo-jumbo is confusing to me. I just hope everyone gets what they deserve. It’s terribly sad.

Boy, what a soapy mess! We will have to wait for the court’s decision in spite of what we think. I doubt if PP or ABC will ever bring back AMC and OLTL unless they sell “reruns” to other networks.

I so hope Prospect Park is victorious in the litigation against the alphabet people.

I hope ABC loses Huge! I am one of the many still Mad that they canceled OLTL and AMC! I have Never watched the shows that replaced them the Spew etc. It would be Incredible if when all is said and done abc could put the shows Back on.

I haven’t watched the ABC channel day or night except to record GH, since they canceled OLTL and AMC. Don’t intend to watch that channel again, unless they bring them back, which I know isn’t going to happen. That’s why I’ve removed ABC from my remote.

The ONLY shows I watch on ABC is Grays anatomy and General Hospital. That’s it.

If PP is liquidating its assets, it is probably out of the soap opera business for good. I can’t see how they can get rid of their assets, pay off their creditors including their law firm and still have money left over to revive AMC and OLTL again. I agree with whoever said that they have unintentionally burned bridges with their actors. I get that an unemployed actor is less likely to reject a job offer if they ever do revive the soaps again, but there are a lot of bad feelings out there which can’t be ignored. Then we have the fans. I was never convinced that the audience which wanted AMC and OLTL back was that big in the first place, no disrespect to those fans who have posted here who are longing for the show to return. No doubt these fans exist, but not nearly in the numbers which PP needed for the show to be successful, as it turned out. Now with more time passing and a lot of viewers moving on to other soaps and other things, I don’t think the numbers will be as big as PP had in 2013! And there’s the bad reputation which PP has from all the delays, cancellations, reversals, HW firings, and baloney excuses about why they’re doing this and that. None of that has done them any favors in terms of their public image. No, if there’s ever to be an AMC or a OLTL again, it won’t and can’t be PP putting on the shows. I’m just not sure anyone else wants to try with either show at this time. If someone did pop up with a smart game plan, I’d be very happy and give both shows a chance, but I don’t see it happening in the near term, and if it doesn’t happen soon, when if ever will it happen? That’s the problem.

While I’ll give Prospect Park credit for bringing back two very good soaps, I’ll be the first to say that they probably didn’t quite know what they were getting themselves into. For one, they didn’t staff up with the proper amount of professionals in the story, PR and legal departments in my opinion. Had they had better legal representation, much of their issues would have been overseen and dealt with. From a PR standpoint they just didn’t get the proper message out about PP in a timely fashion. Everything was always like a game of cloak and dagger with them on things that should have been part of basic communications. Onto story lines. It seemed to me that in trying to get a younger market share they failed to tap into the history of what made these two shows great. In doing so they alienated the veteran fans and never got the new fans they wanted. The simple fix would have been to work the show 50/50. They should have never of strayed to far off from where the shows were when they ended. Kept veteran cast members and story lines and then weave in new characters with the younger show characters that had connections to each town. And that other show that they had on Fridays to sum up the week. NO, NO, NO. It wasn’t needed and was a waste of money. Also, they should have aimed at giving the soap a primetime season schedule. Soaps in the daytime format that they are currently in are way to expensive and this is why they OWN Network didn’t take them. What did OWN do? They created their own soaps with the help of Tyler Perry! And get this, those are doing well AND they are only say 10-13 episodes a season. That is what PP should have done with AMC/OLTL. They should have dare I say gone to a 3 month on, 3 month off schedule. We could have seen the show for 3 months with a finale and then have it come back 3 months later with another finale at the end of the year. Cable TV formats have been doing a similar thing and it’s been working (Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, etc) real well.

I also don’t see why PP didn’t cross characters over from AMC into OLTL from the get go. Why not have the young characters from Pine Valley hang out with those in Landview. They are only towns apart. Who of us hasn’t hung out with our friends a town or so over. Heck, maybe they should of just hired me to oversee things! LOL! In any event I just hope things get resolved and I guess ABC will have their “mega-soap” after all and well why not at this point.

I just have to shout “ITA!” to so much of what you said, but especially the poor staffing behind the scenes which led to delays in getting started and some bad PR decisions, and my personal favorite, “It seemed to me that in trying to get a younger market share they failed to tap into the history of what made these two shows great. In doing so they alienated the veteran fans and never got the new fans they wanted. The simple fix would have been to work the show 50/50. They should have never of strayed to far off from where the shows were when they ended.”

You couldn’t be more right. I think PP was starting to realize this, at least with AMC, as they tried to recruit Walt Willey, Michael Knight, Alicia Minshew and Susan Lucci for the October tapings, but it truly was too little, too late. I know so many fans who had watched AMC on ABC, but were turned off by the five-year jump, the depressing storyline involving sex trafficking, and the bizarre storytelling that had Tad and Dixie engaged and Zach and Kendall happily married at the end of the ABC version, but both couples apart for no decent reason on PP’s version. I know for a fact that some viewers were not going to sign up for an online version that damaged their favorite couples. Heck, even Jack and Erica fans were upset that PP’s AMC didn’t even mention that the couple had reunited and were living together on the west coast! All it would have taken was one sentence to make some viewers feel better about the fate of their favorites!

And sticking with AMC, it’s not acceptable to say that because MEK and Alicia Minshew weren’t available when the online show first started taping in February, PP’s AMC had no choice but to write Tad and Dixie and Zach and Kendall this way. There were other ways to write Tad’s and Kendall’s absences. They didn’t have to say that Tad had still not married Dixie and was now travelling who knew where, never in contact with Dixie as he was on assignment somewhere, or that Kendall had divorced Zach because they’d been threatened by the mob. That was some majorly stupid writing that made many viewers not want to watch from Day 1, and sorry to say, the clicks/ratings only went down from there. These were all such short-sighted, foolish storyline decisions, and I haven’t even mentioned Adam and Brooke not having married in the five years that passed, or Cara keeping David’s son from him, when last we saw Cara and David, they were falling in love with each other and looking forward to the birth of their child. That was a couple with a lot of potential, but instead, PP’s AMC chose to show David having sex with Colby, and developing feelings for Angie.

There was a solid jumping off point for AMC from the ABC finale, but PP’s AMC, complete with writers who had no history with AMC and an inexperienced Executive Producer in Ginger Smith, chose to abandon what worked and try a lot of new things with too many new faces, which ultimately resulted in failure. Sorry to say, but it’s true.

I actually agree w/your idea of how to develop a “modern soap”, which is basically the British series model, a la DOWNTON ABBEY. The problem is that many of the few fans who actually watched AMC & OLTL are very rigid in their thinking. A lot of the feedback I read after the first week were from people who couldn’t get over the fact that there were new episodes on “only 4 days a week” as opposed to 5. They griped about that one missing day. Can you imagine what those people would think about only watching 10 new episodes per season? They would flip out! It would not make sense to them that their daily, 250 episodes-per-year program would go down to just 10-13, like DALLAS. It’s too bad because that flexibility is necessary to make any relaunch financially viable. BTW, the relaunched DALLAS is FANTASTIC. It has old & new fans thrilled at how well it’s turned out.

Don’t forget it’s not on TV complaint. If I got a dime everytime a fan said it’s not on TV, I would be a billionaire by now. AMC and OLTL fan base was to old and set in their ways to follow a soap online.

It is really too bad for all parties. Especially the fans of these iconic shows.

I watched the PP versions and enjoyed them. I wish it had worked out for PP since ABC didn’t want them. If they would have had the resources they needed to be successful I think the concept worked. The shows actually got better as they moved forward IMO.

As a fan, I’m intrigued by the concept of the ABC “mega-soap”. I think that could have worked too.

This is a real shame that they are spending all this money on law suit ,when they didn’t have the money to keep the soaps on originally.

I want to know more about this alleged mega-soap? Were there plans to bring more OLTL characters into the GH family or make a GH/OLTL soap?

I don’t even know what that means – “megasoap.” If “mega soap” means twice the sets, staff, writers, and most important, the big “name” actors who do not work cheap, then that goes against everything ABC was putting on-screen – programming cheaper to produce than the 2 soaps it cancelled. It doesn’t make sense.

Prospect Park had know idea what they were getting themselves into. If they were smart, PP would have produced 1 or 2 brand new soaps and hired some actors from each cancelled show in order to build their audience.

I see some are still in denial about why soaps are canceled, people quit watching by the millions. This prospect park fiasco made me laugh, it didn’t have a prayer so now they look to the courts to try to get a quick buck. Meanwhile they have millions in unpaid bills.

Most of that was due to people’ s lifestyles have changed over the past twenty years. The big 3 failed to change with the times and that is why soaps have lost their viewing audience. The big 3 should have moved their product to cable and reformatted their production model. Otherwise there would be more than 4 soaps left on the air. I am crossing my fingers that Ken Corday will have better luck with his online soap model due to premiere in the Fall.

I agree, Rapids. Many people are blaming one tv network for a cultural & generational shift in how Americans consume entertainment. The ratings of ALL the soaps plunged by millions of viewers. However, I disagree that any adjustment would have kept the viewing audience. I think the decline was inevitable, & daytime tv was just a casualty in how the U.S. population workforce changed. The audience that used to stay at home between 11:30am-3pm & just watch soaps vanished, to put it gently. The seniors expired (and are expiring), adult women entered the workforce out of necessity instead of becoming homemakers, & the teens who watched Luke & Laura’s wedding are now in their prime income-earning years. Nothing would have made people stay at home & watch tv over earning a living to support their families. Most people still can’t work & watch tv at the same time.

PP shouldve transformed the two soaps into weekly one hour shows like Dallas…i bet that wouldve worked better than a daily soap…GH a mega soap? Sounds pretty pricey for a network to do especially after claiming soaps are too costly ect.,…both sides were at fault here…others can blame ABC all they want…i dont…all three networks cancelled soaps just not one!!!

It’s over folks..
All done but the wiping..
AMC and OLTL will never return, never..

Accept it, deal with it, let it go ……. be happy 🙂

Prospect Park is just one giant hot mess! They have had one problem after another… doesn’t matter one bit that ABC used characters or changed storylines on GH. PP could have gone on paying no attention and had their own storylines and just ignore other stories on GH… their problems are their own creation! They just had no financial control in any direction from the sounds of it, from the very first moment. Like when they had all the problems going online with the soap after it ended on air…. that didn’t happen for about a year. And then there were problems with the unions, and having to give the audience less and less when they had promised more. Then a full season is only lasts a few months? And then they take a break and are coming back later? No, nevermind. Completely broke. Let’s blame our problems on ABC so no one notices that we aren’t paying for the license, or the actors, or the crew….

I agree…i also dont see why the blame ABC and GH…what about AMC…ABC didnt have any of that shows characters on GH so what is PP excuse for that one not surviving…PP complained about the GH storylines used for the OLTL three but used it in their OLTL reboot anyway when they couldve easily rewrote what happened on GH…GH wrote the characters out with no problem so PP could have easily wrote them in as if characters Hope and Cole were alive…as for baby Victor i dont see how killing off the baby hurt OLTL when it actually gave the writers more story to work with like Tia’s grief and neglect of Dani which pushed her further into drugs as for another reason for Victor to hate Todd…the real problem is the two soaps were costly to produce in a daily format and PP didnt have enough money for them to succeed…they shouldve retooled both shows as a weekly 1 hour versions like Dallas and they might have had a better chance to succeed…jmo!!!

Well, now that Apple is involved, will they have an interest in the soaps…

it is funny how everyone loves to comment on what went right and wrong, but the truth is not enough people watched – and those who did had no patience – as it was a start up!! so go ahead and complain away on mindless message boards – but the fact that there only 4 soaps left – is your fault!!!!

Oh, gimme a break already!!!!! That heartless schmuck Brian Frons was the one who started all of this foolishness when he VERY STUPIDLY cancelled BOTH AMC AND OLTL to supposedly save $$$. As far as I’m concerned, Brian Frons is the REAL VILLAIN here!!!!!

BOTTOM LINE!!!!!!

Don’t know the politics behind the scenes, but PP did a great job with these 2 shows. I thought they were better than when on ABC. They seemed updated, slick and streamlined. Plus they could swear a little. It certainly wasn’t enough time to prove they did it better, but I’d give them an A for the shows we got. I still have Hulu plus, but OLTL and ABC were by far, the best shows they have offered. And, BTW, coming back from the dead on a soap isn’t that hard. Cole and Hope had 3 minutes after the car went over the cliff and before it blew up. I am sure an Alison/Mitch crony could have saved them before the explosion. (RH) Todd’s first scene on GH with Sonny is by far the best soap scene ever made. Bring back OLTL. Support PP!

Mess. Hopefully somebody that is interested in bringing the shows back ends up with the rights. I hope ABC doesn’t win them back or I think we will never see them again.

I wouldn’t believe anything Prospect Park said at this point. They have jerked me around long enough and I won’t allow it any further!

I think Prospect Park had their interests which included

1. Trying to look like the hero in saving two beloved soaps
2. Making a profit – the bottom line
3. Expanding their empire

They lacked experience in soap operas and the business end of such an endeavour. THey were facing challenges from a different market – online. And in the case of AMC in particular, were missing its biggest stars – Michael E Knight, Susan Lucci , Alicia Minshew et al.With Susan not involved that should have signalled to many a problem.

They also poorly handled the relatiosnips with their Stars especially Susan Lucci who seemed interested but they just stopped talking/negotiating.

THey brought in too many new characters especially on AMC.

They couldn’t decide if they were new shows or relying upon the old ones. New looks, swearing, and getting away from the core families.

One also wonders if PP had the finances to actually develop and produce two soaps -including giving time for the audience to grow. In stead they seemed to be panicking from the beginning.

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.

Continue Reading

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.

Continue Reading

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.

 

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

Peter Reckell returns for a second visit with Michael Fairman following the wrap-up of his recent run as Bo Brady on Days of our Lives.Leave A Comment

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Kim Coles as Whitley

Days of our Lives

Airdate: 7-24- 2023

Popular