Showing posts with label AfterElton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AfterElton. Show all posts

Soap Fans, What the Heck Happened?


If you were hiding under a rock yesterday, you missed the big news that ABC Daytime cancelled the long-running and beloved soaps, All My Children and One Life To Live.  I am old enough to remember my mom ironing while watching the beginning stages of Tad and Jenny's romance or the antics of Opal on AMC.  I personally never latched on to the soap genre despite a brief flirtation with General Hospital during the Luke and Laura days.  I never found the story lines appealing enough to warrant programming our complex top-loading VCR back in the '80's.  Nevertheless, it is devastating news to the entertainment industry that the two shows were cancelled.  The loss of jobs and revenue to Los Angeles and New York were enough for the DGA, AFTRA, and the WGA to make official statements.


Now, I have a few questions for those of you who are soap fans because I want to understand more about this dying television genre.  Brian Frons, president of Daytime for Disney-ABC Television Group, has been vilified for years by the fans and based on the numerous "I Hate Brian Frons" forums, I bet yesterday's announcement that "Their time has come to an end" didn't win him any new friends.  The shocking thing is that under his tutelage over the last 9 years, the soaps have seen their lowest ratings ever.  So, how is it possible that Brian Frons is still employed?  Can anyone answer that question?  As for the fans, you have been dropping dramatically in numbers and ratings over the last decade.  Did you abandon the genre all together?  What would it take to bring you back?  Based on my recent interview (and the follow-up article with AfterElton.com) with Chandler Massey of Days of Our Lives, I know you are still strong in numbers.  Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Of course with today's big news, the rumor mill has started.  One of the biggest pieces of gossip was floated exclusively by Blind Gossip that perhaps Susan Lucci is joining the cast of Desperate Housewives as a series regular.  If true, this would bring a big boost in ratings to the flailing DH series.  The other great story floated about is that both soaps might wind up on the web versus traditional broadcast television.  I think the first rumor is a strong possibility while the second story would be far-fetched at this point, let's see if it rings true. Okay, soap fans, fire away!  I want your opinions on this whole breaking story.



Wrapping up An Elf-filled Week

Ah, my post comes a bit late as I have a bit of an event week hangover.  Not a real hangover from delicious cocktails, but from a week filled with excitement and dreams. I don't know where to begin, so I will just bullet point all of the fun things that happened.

1.  I started the week with my official investment in the Broadway revival of Godspell coming in the 2011-2012 season.  You can read all about it here.

Photo courtesy of Nicholas Sayaan.  Me and Roni B.

2.  LA Premiere Shorts:  It was a blast supporting my pal, Roni B, in her film debut!  Her store was used as a part of the film, Brownie Points, so it was the perfect backdrop for the cute romantic comedy.

Photo courtesy of Robert Welkner, Coin-Op.TV.  Me with Richard and Wendy Pini

3.  ElfQuest:  I was thrilled to be asked by SAG New Media to host the live stream for the red carpet for the premiere of the ElfQuest fan trailer.  It was exciting to meet the creators of the original ElfQuest series,  Richard and Wendy Pini, but what made it even better was watching my friends, Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes, turn their dreams into reality.  There has been an incredible amount of press surrounding the fan trailer, so here are a few links to take a look at if you are an ElfQuest fan:

The Fan Trailer

Live Stream Red Carpet/Q&A

SAG New Media article

Mingle Media TV-photos

Robert Welkner/Coin-Op.tv-photos

Eddie Carrington AKA Brigwyn article

Interview with Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes:


4.  I love it when something I cover resonates with fans, so I was pleased to see that my interview with Chandler Massey at the GBK gifting suite was a hit with Days of Our Lives fans on AfterElton.com.  Check out the article here.

5.  Finally, many thanks to my friend, Leah Cevoli, for including me in her series, On the Road with Leah Cevoli. I make a little cameo at about 2:53 and yes, this cameo was done on the fly which means no hair and makeup!  You will see it does take a village to put me together.

Phew.  I think that is it for this weekend.  I have a crazy few weeks coming up with NAB, Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix, and our last Toyota Live run for the season.  I promise it won't be boring.  Have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday at Red Carpet Closet!
 
© 2009 Oscars Red Carpet Live | Powered by Blogger | Built on the Blogger Template Valid X/HTML (Just Home Page) | Design: Choen | PageNav: Abu Farhan