COMMENTARY: And Then There Were Four

In the back of my mind I knew it was coming, but I tried to deny it.  We all did didn't we?  It can't happen to us.  All My Children is the most beloved show on daytime.  Erica Kane is an icon, a household word.  They wouldn't do it, they can't do it.  Well, they did it.   They put another nail in the coffin of soaps.  A dying genre.  It's been dying a slow death, but it is dying.  Suddenly I feel like a betamax, a vinyl record, hell even a VCR.  Obsolete.  

Right now I'm a combination of the first four stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression) with just a smidge of the fifth (resignation).  I don't want to be resigned to losing AMC, but hope is very very slim.  As fans try anything to save these shows I keep thinking about the fans of Another World, Passions, Guiding Light, Port Charles, As the World Turns... and other soaps that met with a similar fate.  The fans of those shows campaigned, petitioned and fought to no avail.  I'm not saying AMC fans shouldn't do these things, but the likelihood of a save at this point is slim.  Extremely slim.  Why do I think so?   Several reasons.   First, an official cancellation has been issued with replacement shows announced.  That is a done deal.  There is no "we're thinking about canceling" talk, it's canceled.  Second, a few weeks ago when the rumors started (again) about the cancellation the stars came out in droves urging fans to support the show, write the show, sign petitions, etc.  Now?  Nothing but stars resigned to the end of the show.  None of them have urged support.  None.  That tells me a lot.

And now that I've mentioned a few weeks ago, let's go there.  Because for me, this is where a lot of my anger at the whole situation is centered.  It was less than a month ago that the news broke that AMC would be canceled.  And yet, we were told all was well.   We were told AMC was in good shape and not going anywhere.  The stars tweeted, gave statements, and poor Susan Lucci was on talk show after talk show and appearance after appearance, talking about how great everything is.  We were all lied to.  All of us.  It was certainly known then that this was going to happen.  But TPTB chose to lie to everyone, fans and stars alike.  From what I've been hearing when the news broke yesterday, the media announced it before the cast/crew was told.  Nice work Mr. Frons.  Why not just be upfront and tell us.  So it was a few weeks before you planned on breaking so many hearts.  What's a few weeks.  Why the lies?  Why the pretense.  Oh that makes me SO mad!!!

Yes, I put a lot of this on Frons.  I put a big part of this on him.  And another part of it on.... you know who I'm going to say don't you?  Yes, I do put part of the blame on Pratt.  He destroyed AMC.  His storylines were ludicrous and poorly written and it was because of him that the ratings tanked worse than they ever have and have yet to truly recover.  Does that mean that if he had never been a writer for AMC the show wouldn't be canceled?  No, it probably still would have happened.  I don't watch OLTL but from what I understand their storylines have been stellar for quite some time now and they still got the ax.  But I can't help but put part of that blame on Pratt.  He should go down in history as the man who destroyed AMC and Frons as the man who destroyed ABC Daytime.  Is that unfair?  I don't think it is.

And so we have a little more than five months left after 41 years on the air.  Five months.  What will happen?  How will it all end?   Will iconic characters make a final appearance, like Brooke and Adam, Joe and Ruth.  Is Zach alive?  Will he come back and give Zach and Kendall a happily ever after?  Will Jack and Erica have theirs?   Will Dixie be raised from the dead and reunite with Tad?   Will all the wrongs be righted?  Will the show go out with a bang or with a whimper?   So many questions.   I have hope for a strong ending now that Lorraine Broderick is back at the helm of the all but sunken ship.  Another lie by the way, Lorraine Broderick has been rehired has head writer, and for a long term contract this time, they told us.   Long term?  Really?  5 months constitutes long term?  There is nothing I hate more than lies.  Nothing.  And it shows what little respect Mr. Frons and co. have for the people that have supported his shows for so very long.  

So what can fans do at this point?  Well get involved.  Write, call, email, sign petitions, support campaigns.  It can't hurt!