Titans

[Alison Carr]

So....had a go at a version with less of a daytimey feel to it...

 

[HelloHappy]

The cancellation disappointed me. The feud between Victoria and Yasmine's character was becoming entertaining. Casper Van Dien was handsome; however, his acting was horrible. Bleeth was good as the villainess. I think nighttime soaps had fallen out of favor, along with the element of predictability Spelling shows often brought.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I'm glad you're enjoying it!

As to why it flopped, I'll leave it to Victoria Principal to answer that one:
http://www.ultimatedallas.com/victoriaprincipal/victoria3.html
"Well it got axed because it became a lousy show. I think the original concept for Titans was really exciting, it was going to be a dark, funny, satire. It was going to be a cross between Soapdish and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman but instead it didn’t know what it was, it lost its way. It aspired to be something really interesting and really smart and it lost its way."

Maybe VP wasn't as capable of carrying a significant role in another ensemble show as much as she believed.

Admittedly I have never been much of a VP fan.

I remember the cast of Dallas on "Family Feud"
Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Steve Kanaly, Charlene Tilton and VP were on the panel.
LH,LG, SK and CT all seemed happy and enthused, talking and joking.
VP seemed bored, indifferent and aloof as if she was too good to be there.
Further Note - All TV shows that competed were representing charities.

I would admit that Dallas was not as good without the Pam character,
but since she was bandaged, maybe Pam could have been recast and come back from the injuries
with a villainous edge, teaming with Katherine and rivaling JR, Bobby and even manipulating Cliff

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Happy Titans Day for all those who celebrate it. The shortlived saga premiered on this date 24 years ago! It was trash, and not good trash but occasionally it would give us a scene like this to relish “Please un-retire her”

 

[Soaplover]

Timeslot change damaged whatever momentum the show had... plus killing off Perry King's character in episode 5 seemed short sighted.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Timeslot change damaged whatever momentum the show had... plus killing off Perry King's character in episode 5 seemed short sighted.

The move to Mondays in order to capitalise on the audience that didn’t want to watch the football only really worked for Melrose Place. They tried it with Models Inc, Savannah and then Titans, to no avail. It didn’t help that Titans was an awful show either.

For anyone that’s interested, episodes are currently resurfacing on the same channel that Berrenger’s is being posted to.

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

Timeslot change damaged whatever momentum the show had... plus killing off Perry King's character in episode 5 seemed short sighted.

No wonder King left. I would have done the same thing if I had seen those awful scripts... He did work beautifully in "Melrose Place" though, as the daddy of mini-b*tch Kristin Davis.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

VP wouldn't come back to Dallas, but she agreed to another short-lived hour long series?
I doubt that they were paying her more than Dallas would have

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

No wonder King left. I would have done the same thing if I had seen those awful scripts... He did work beautifully in "Melrose Place" though, as the daddy of mini-b*tch Kristin Davis.

My understanding is that King was fired, rather than left of his own accord. Apparently, producers decided that they wanted a patriarch figure with a darker edge, which is why they brought in Jack Wagner as Uncle Jack. Why they didn’t come to this conclusion prior to casting King and filming the pilot, I don’t know, but it’s indicative of the mess that the production of the show became.

VP wouldn't come back to Dallas, but she agreed to another short-lived hour long series?
I doubt that they were paying her more than Dallas would have

I think there was a fair bit of wooing involved in getting Principal onboard. She was on NBC’s radar after impressing them during a guest arc on Providence. She also said that the show they pitched her (a dark, Soapdish style satire) was not what they ended up making. I don’t think she would’ve signed on had what played out onscreen been part of the original pitch.

 

[Soaplover]

From what I understood.. Jaclyn Smith was also wooed to play Gwen and she turned them down... and Michele Phillips auditioned for the role of Gwen before VP was decided on.

From watching the few episodes reposted on that channel, I have to say that VP was a total pro. She alternated between being maternal, vunerable, stoic, and also throwing subtle shade at Heather. Yasmine was no match for VP..imho

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

From what I understood.. Jaclyn Smith was also wooed to play Gwen and she turned them down... and Michele Phillips auditioned for the role of Gwen before VP was decided on.

Wow! I’d heard Jaclyn Smith’s name mentioned before but I never knew that Michelle Phillips had auditioned. She was a Spelling regular over the years, so it makes sense that she’d be on the long list of actresses in that age bracket who were considered.

From watching the few episodes reposted on that channel, I have to say that VP was a total pro. She alternated between being maternal, vunerable, stoic, and also throwing subtle shade at Heather. Yasmine was no match for VP..imho

VP was probably the best thing about the show. Yasmine was going through a turbulent time offscreen, so she wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Which I’m sure came as a shock to the producers who apparently had negotiated to have her released from her Nash Bridges contract so that she could take on the role of Heather.

 

[Retired Member 5]

Titans made sense on paper - as the promos said, both Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210 had gone off the air, so launching a new prime time soap opera for the new millennium made sense - after all Beverly Hills 90210 started in 1990 as the other prime time soaps were dying and while both Melrose and BH90210 were limping in the overall rankings, they still consistently did well in the 18-49 demographic, even towards the end.

The main problem can be summed up with Charles Pratt Jr. Why, oh why did Spelling think it was a good idea to sell a prime time soap by him? Models Inc had been a mess a few years earlier and while Pratt might have a few fun ideas here and there, he absolutely can't plan something long-term (which Models Inc showed). The fact that Titans got a "re-tool" five episodes in by killing Perry King (something that wasn't the plan from the get-go) says it all. In a way I wonder how it would've developed if it got a full 22 episode season, or even worse, a 32 episode one a la Melrose Place!

There is not much room for different Hit shows. By 2000 SATC was already in full swing and had major impact pop culture. The was no need for a show like Titans.

I wouldn’t consider Beverly Hills, 90210 a typical prime time soap, it was something completely unique. MP was the prime time soap of the 90s.