Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Daniel Avery" data-source="post: 444258" data-attributes="member: 27">When soaps were making lots of money for the networks (up to the mid-1990s), it was okay to be &quot;okay&quot;--that is, you could be consistently delivering X number of viewers and the network would be fine with that.&nbsp; You didn&#039;t have to be pulling huge numbers, though of course they would have preferred it.&nbsp; But as ratings slid downward all the networks (even boring, &quot;solid&quot; old CBS) began to freak out.&nbsp; They began trying to tinker with all the soaps, worried that if they did nothing that the slide would continue.&nbsp; Though the networks always had people offering &quot;advice,&quot; it became more like &quot;you will do X or I will fire you and hire someone else who will&quot;.&nbsp; Their &quot;tinkering&quot; became more pronounced.&nbsp; Shows like GL that had been &quot;okay&quot; (or even &quot;really good&quot; at times) were thought to be the ones most in need of &quot;revitalization&quot; so they began a series of hirings/firings in Executive Producer and Head Writing roles.&nbsp; The revolving door led to uneven storytelling, multiple shifts in tone, and occasional flights of fancy (Reva got cloned) that did little to bring in new viewers (the stated goal) but instead drove away viewers who loved the show&#039;s consistency.GL took a dangerous roll of the dice by embracing a new production model later in its run.&nbsp; As is the case with most pioneers, they took a LOT of incoming fire from critics and fans.&nbsp; By that time I think P&amp;G had exhausted all the good will with CBS that came from the &quot;oldest soap on the air/started on radio/piece of CBS history&quot; talking points.&nbsp; It may have been an institution, but it was not earning its keep in the final years and CBS could not keep it around just for sentimental value.&nbsp; The new production model they attempted in the final years (which featured a shoestring budget and was filmed with handheld cameras) was not just an effort to keep the show going but an effort to see if a soap could transition away from the expensive studio model.&nbsp; Most reacted unfavorably (he says with understatement), but I don&#039;t blame the then-EP for trying something different in order to keep +/-200 people from losing their jobs to cancellation.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Daniel Avery, post: 444258, member: 27"] When soaps were making lots of money for the networks (up to the mid-1990s), it was okay to be "okay"--that is, you could be consistently delivering X number of viewers and the network would be fine with that. You didn't have to be pulling huge numbers, though of course they would have preferred it. But as ratings slid downward all the networks (even boring, "solid" old CBS) began to freak out. They began trying to tinker with all the soaps, worried that if they did nothing that the slide would continue. Though the networks always had people offering "advice," it became more like "you will do X or I will fire you and hire someone else who will". Their "tinkering" became more pronounced. Shows like GL that had been "okay" (or even "really good" at times) were thought to be the ones most in need of "revitalization" so they began a series of hirings/firings in Executive Producer and Head Writing roles. The revolving door led to uneven storytelling, multiple shifts in tone, and occasional flights of fancy (Reva got [B][I]cloned[/I][/B]) that did little to bring in new viewers (the stated goal) but instead drove away viewers who loved the show's consistency. GL took a dangerous roll of the dice by embracing a new production model later in its run. As is the case with most pioneers, they took a LOT of incoming fire from critics and fans. By that time I think P&G had exhausted all the good will with CBS that came from the "oldest soap on the air/started on radio/piece of CBS history" talking points. It may have been an institution, but it was not earning its keep in the final years and CBS could not keep it around just for sentimental value. The new production model they attempted in the final years (which featured a shoestring budget and was filmed with handheld cameras) was not just an effort to keep the show going but an effort to see if a soap could transition away from the expensive studio model. Most reacted unfavorably (he says with understatement), but I don't blame the then-EP for trying something different in order to keep +/-200 people from losing their jobs to cancellation. [/QUOTE]

Verification

Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?