All My Children

[Critical]

Okay, after doing some reading. I'll be less shocked if they cancel AMC. Apparently, in spite of trying to lower production costs by moving to LA, AMC still runs over budget on a regular basis (where OLTL runs at or under budget). Even though sources have dismissed this latest rumor, it seems to be everywhere. This may just be because things tend to spread on the internet. There doesn't seem to be anything definitive yet. The rumors are saying that ABC will make an announcement maybe on Wednesday. Like I said above, there were rumors like this about OLTL a few years ago and it never happened, so who knows?

I will say that, although this is probably the first soap I ever watched, I rarely watch it now. TPTB keep trying to ram couples like Ryan and Greenlee and Jake and Amanda down our throats while pushing vets like Tad to the back burner (all recent events aside). Don't even get me started on how shabbily Julia Barr and Cady McClain were treated by the show. I think they should bump off characters like Kendall (how many times can that girl be in peril? They should just change her name to Pauline and be done with it), the nuBianca (who is NOT Bianca), Madison, Greenlee, Ryan, anyone who's just come on the show, with the possible exception of Cara because she's given Tad a storyline and then make it a 30 minute show. Oh yeah, and they could get rid of Liza, who is NOT Liza.

ETA: I forgot to mention the most sickening part about the cancellation rumors. ABC is apparently developing a talk show for Tori Spelling and the rumors say that is the show that would take AMC's slot.

[anders332]

I don't watch AMC anymore - haven't since the 90s, but up until recently I had been watching Days of Our lives which has been hanging by a thread the last couple of years and is only renewed til 2012. They let a lot of characters go - including the 2 top paying actors on the show Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn and cut the salaries of many of the remaining cast.

I can imagine Lucci is taking home bigger bucks than Hall was (DH was getting approx 2 mil/yr). DOOL still has a lot of vet actors, and I assume AMC does as well - if they want to keep the show on the air they should consider salary reductions (I'm sure they have already) as well as getting rid of some of the 'incidental' actors.

[Critical]

Apparently, Susan Lucci has been really accommodating about taking pay cuts where some other soap vets have not. From all reports, she's very much a team player. Frankly, though, she's worth more money. It's probably people like Bobbie Eakes and Ricky Paull Goldin who are making WAY more than they should, especially when Crystal and Jake could easily be recast. No one could ever replace La Lucci.

[ButterflyFaery]

Apparently, Susan Lucci has been really accommodating about taking pay cuts where some other soap vets have not. From all reports, she's very much a team player. Frankly, though, she's worth more money. It's probably people like Bobbie Eakes and Ricky Paull Goldin who are making WAY more than they should, especially when Crystal and Jake could easily be recast. No one could ever replace La Lucci.

no they can't she has been on the show since she was 14 years old..she also gives the impression that she doesn't live like a big dog so I am sure she has been careful with money through the years...plus she has other incomes also..she has done tv movies...and doesnt' she sell things on one of the shopping networks...I have heard she is a very great gracious lady in the truest sense of the word

[MHcarrollton]

I read on another board that AMC has been saved for awhile at least. Not sure how reliable, but what I read.

They need to can Bobbie Eakes, Rebecca Budig, Ricky Paul Goldin, and Jamie Lunar and save some money. These four are useless for me. I cannot stand this Jake, and Greenlee is my least favorite character ever, and KWAK is not Dixie so quit trying to act like she is, and Liza do not even get me started on the problems with that recast.

[Critical]

I read on another board that AMC has been saved for awhile at least. Not sure how reliable, but what I read.

They need to can Bobbie Eakes, Rebecca Budig, Ricky Paul Goldin, and Jamie Lunar and save some money. These four are useless for me. I cannot stand this Jake, and Greenlee is my least favorite character ever, and KWAK is not Dixie so quit trying to act like she is, and Liza do not even get me started on the problems with that recast.

Although I like Rebecca, I can't stand Greenlee. They can dump Cameron Mathison for all I care. Jamie Lunar is the worst recast EVER and that's saying a lot. If they wanted to bring her on the show, they should have just created a new character for her. She is not Liza. Not even close.

I think the problem with the show is the writers: they were the co-head writers for Guiding Light when it got canceled and many blame them for the cancellation. They need to give Lorraine Broderick full control of the writing so she can save the show. They had her as interim head writer when Chuck Pratt left. I don't know why they felt the need to bring in anyone else.

I just looked it up and here are some of the things Broderick did in her last little stint as head writer:

The return of Julia Barr’s Brooke English to help usher out David Canary’s Adam Chandler, Cady McClain’s return as ghost Dixie to keep JR (Jacob Young) from going to the Great Beyond, Erica (Susan Lucci) and Jackson’s (Walt Willey) slow build, the wedding day revelation that Greenlee (Rebecca Budig) is alive, the relationship between David (Vincent Irizarry) and Greenlee, not to mention the H-O-T JR and Annie (Melissa Claire Egan) pairing and Palmer’s (James Mitchell) memorial have all been fantastic.

Kreizman and Swajeski

Okay, not so hot on Greenlee's return, but Broderick didn't have anything to do with casting decisions.

I think this show can be saved, but not by this writing team.

[Critical]

I can't even express how much I HATE this Jesse-Angie-baby storyline. So now Jesse is going to take that baby out of the patrol car and pretend it's their baby? WTF? Do TPTB not realize that viewers just want Angie and Jesse to be happy? Save the baby drama for some other couple. This is just too much. I won't watch until this story is resolved.

If they want to save this show from cancellation, they'd better get new head writers in there PDQ, 'cause these people are running the show into the ground.

[Critical]

Well, there's some good news and potentially more bad news. First, AMC has fired David Kreizman and Donna Swajeski and signed Lorraine Broderick to a multi-year deal as head writer. If anyone can get this show back on track, it's her. Sadly, she might not have enough time to do it because....

...the rumors about cancellation continue and now the rumor is that ABC will cancel both AMC and OLTL because Brian Frons has a talk show and a reality show all ready to take those time slots and they're both cheaper to produce than a soap.

[cablejockey]

The name of Brian Frons has come up everytime bad decisions of firings and storylines has come up! One would almost think his mission is to get AMC off the air.

[Critical]

According to the rumors, Frons has been really cavalier about canceling these shows, so he clearly could care less - about the people who work on the shows and those of us who watch them. I've got my fingers crossed that Lorraine Broderick is given enough time to work her magic and the show can come back from these horrible ratings. My fear is that they just hired her to "close out" the show.