RAUCH IS OUT!

Here is the Official statement from Soap City’s website:"Paul Rauch -- long regarded as one of the soap world's most innovative and charismatic producers -- will step down as Guiding Light's top gun when his contract expires on Nov. 9. This announcement, made by Procter & Gamble, comes practically on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his rise to daytime fame."

Yeah, I want to gag too. The rest of it is even more puffery. It’s actually kind of a funny read after you stop vomiting. (Keep those toilet flushers handy!) So, after six long years, Paul Rauch is out. I feel almost as good as I did when JFP left OLTL. And folks, that was damn good. Rauch resigned, huh? I guess that looks better than getting fired because a television institution scored record lows in ratings and demos while you were at the helm! Resigned, fired, mysterious disappearance, I don’t care, just as long as he’s gone. But, for the sake of balance, let’s just go through the objections, shall we:

Paul Rauch could be replaced with someone worse

This is the "Better the Devil You Know" argument. As I so brilliantly pointed out nearly two years ago, the devil you know is still a devil. Rauch is still stuck in the early 80’s, with bizarre absurd plot twists, events instead of stories, actresses hired for cleavage instead of talent, recycled mob stories, and the type of obsession with royalty that killed Dynasty. It was played out when Bo and Sarah went skiing down a mountain on One Life to Live, and it’s played out now. Paulie is innovative? Oh, he has a plan to fix everything, but it’s the same plan! From OLTL to Santa Barbara to Guiding Light, Rauch has not been interested in getting to know the shows he takes over. He has not been interested in finding out what people liked about the shows in the first place, and restoring it. He’s not interested in Springfield or Llanview. All of his shows ultimately take place in Rauchville. I’m tired of Rauchville. I want out of Rauchville.

Someone worse than Paul Rauch may take over? Unless it’s Charlotte Savitz, I’m not worried. Hell even Savitz didn’t pretend to be anything other than she was: a budget slasher determined to cut costs by any means necessary. Rauch clings to some dated artistic vision, and when it doesn’t work he blames his "superannuated hack" writers, while ignoring his own spotty resume. Oh, and when Rauch finally did free us of those hacks, who’d he bring in? Lloyd "Lucky" Gold, whose big idea was to have Reva and Josh ape Dark Shadows in order to prove what anybody who’s followed GL at any point over the past twenty years already knew: Reva and Josh love each other. Oh, Gold also brought back Carmen so he could have fresh material for his wet dreams. Thank you, Mr. Gold. Thank you, Mr. Rauch. Worse than Rauch? It’s almost impossible.

The Show is Doomed

Maybe. GL’s numbers are in Another World territory. And the truth is a number of improvements were made to AW in its’ final year: Better writers were added to the team, Chris Goutman took over as exec. Producer, and the quality went up. But it was too late for NBC’s taste. Is it too late for CBS’ taste? I don’t know. As I’ve said, almost anyone is bound to be an improvement in the producer’s chair. The writing is already seeing improvement, and with Carolyn Culliton coming over, I have higher hopes. If anything, maybe GL will be allowed to spend its’ remaining time on TV with some dignity before it fades out.

Obviously, as I wrote about in my last column, the show is still having some problems. But, I feel more hopeful than ever that they can be resolved. Good luck, GL.

MALONE/GRIFFITH TO LLANVIEW?

As if the exit of Paul Rauch didn’t stir up enough good thoughts and hopes for daytime’s future, Soap City reported that former Emmy-award winning scribes Michael Malone and Josh Griffith are likely returning to One Life to Live. Man, it’s as if Soap City knew I needed some cheering up this weekend! Okay, truth time. Rumors about Malone returning to OLTL have been circulating pretty much since the day he left. They’ve all proven to be false. I don’t even report on them. Maybe I’m just giddy this weekend. I have no clue if Malone and/or Griffith are really returning. I am encouraged that a legit website (not "I have a waiter friend who saw Malone having dinner with Gary Tomlin") is finding this good enough to report. (But, damn, don’t you wish Magnificently Malonian was up so we could just ask him?)

So, what if they do return? Will it be as good the second time around? Probably not. But, after all the years of dreck, who’ll notice? The real question is how much will ABC interfere? Malone left daytime due to the over-interference by the networks; my guess is that if he comes back, that’s a dead giveaway that he’s going to be given a lot of breathing room. We don’t know a whole lot about new ABC Daytime President Brian Frons, but he seems to come from an era where soap writers/producers did their own thing, whether it worked or not. Frons seems high on the little niche Port Charles has carved for itself, and the goings-on at GH these days scream "Guza Unleashed!" Maybe Frons will let the boys be themselves.

Now, all I need is "Culliton/Burke Hit the Happy Trail" and I’ll have pleasant dreams for the next month. How about it, Soap City?

BEVERLEE FRANCIS...ER, GENIE MCKINSEY...UM, UH...

Perhaps a better title would be JFP: Then and Now. No, that would be redundant, since she pretty much does the same stuff. How about, She Don’t Learn Very Well, Do She?

Let’s flash back to one decade ago, when this was the big news shaking up the soap industry: GL’s Beverlee McKinsey, known to viewers as Alexandra Spaulding, suddenly quit the show. Here are some highlights from Michael Logan’s piece on the disaster in the 9/26/92 issue of TV Guide: "It's not *my* job to tell 'em what's in their contracts-and it's not my fault they're surprised," shrugs McKinsey, who joined GL in 1984 and (with the blessing of the soap's owner, Procter & Gamble) added the unheard-of clause two years later. "The show has been working me way too hard, and the day finally came when I needed to exercise that clause. *That*, after all, is what it's there for. I no longer want to get up every morning at 4:45 and sit in a studio every night until 10. I want my life back. (SNIP) I'm burnt out, and the only solution to that is to stop-and stop *immediately*.

But it's *how* McKinsey stopped that has tongues wagging: determined to avoid negotiation attempts and soupy farewells, she told no one of her plans and, instead, simply taped the Aug. 18 episode, bid adieu to a stunned cast and crew, and took off on an accrued vacation that used up the eight weeks of the clause. (SNIP) For the record, she did try to notify executive producer Jill Farren Phelps personally, but Phelps was on vacation and her staff (unaware McKinsey was about to drop an H-bomb) refused to disturb her. Reportedly, the producer-not to mention the poobahs at Procter & Gamble-feel they've been sucker-punched. But in a way, they're just getting a taste of their own medicine: soap contracts are designed only to protect the shows from losing their actors. The actors-McKinsey included-technically can be fired every 13 to 26 weeks. "And it happens to us all the time without warning," drawls the Oklahoma belle. "So if they're bent out of shape, it's because, for once, somebody beat 'em at their own game."

Fast-forward to September 18, 2002, and Michael "Don’t Call us, Howarth, We’ll Call You" Ausiello has an interview with Genie Francis entitled "General Hospital Scandal: Why Laura Quit!" on TV Guide Online. Some quotes from Ms. Francis:

"I've been feeling the urge to move on for about three years. I was really disappointed when the death of Lucky storyline happened and I worked so hard, and I still couldn't receive an Emmy nomination. I wish I could have bounced back from that better, but that was a really big blow for me. I guess in a way I felt like I gave up a little at that point. I felt like after all these years that I'm kind of invisible there — no matter how hard I try. Even though that may not be the truth, it felt that way. So for three years I really struggled with, 'Should I stay or should I go?'" (Snip)

"That all having been said, what happened was I turned 40 in May, my husband [Star Trek actor-director Jonathan Frakes] turned 50 in August, and this past summer, we really wanted to do something special. We wanted to take the whole summer off and go and travel. And when I asked for that time off, the [GH] producer gave me kind of a hard time about it.

Ausiello: We're talking about executive producer Jill Farren Phelps?

Snark: DUH! Of course we are.

Francis: Yes. She basically said she wasn't sure how much [time] I could have or when I could have it, but I couldn't have it all at one time and that I was not within my legal right to ask for it. Apparently, they put in my last contract that I had to give 120 days notice to get a six-week vacation. I had completely forgotten that it was there, and that made me really angry because I fought all along to have equality with my partner, Tony, and they don't impose that on him for his vacations, but they do impose it on me. (Snip) I've worked long and hard, and I've fought for equality, and I can't seem to achieve it. (Snip) I wanted to live my life without feeling like I was so owned by [ABC] and that I had to beg for every little scrap of time off. It didn't feel right anymore. Life does not go on forever. So I just felt like, as much as I love the show, as much as I love Laura, as much as I love many of the people there, I really essentially needed a longer leash, and they wanted me to have a shorter one. So I just said, "That's it. I can't do it." (Phelps declined to comment for this article.)

Snark: NO!

Francis: I don't think it's Jill's fault. I actually really like Jill, and I think I was just as surprised by it being the last straw as she was. And I know she was surprised by it. I think that she maybe didn't take me seriously enough when I had said I was thinking of leaving. I think perhaps she thought I was crying wolf. [So], I wrote a letter of resignation, and they never, ever responded to me. They made no effort to put it right. (Snip) I don't think it was Jill's fault. I think Jill was kind of shocked by my letter of resignation and didn't know what to do. And I felt like, "I have to do something to make it seem more official because they're not taking me seriously here." So, in a way, we both kind of collided with each other, and we both kind of made it happen, then we both kind of felt bad. It's very human, isn't it? (Snip) They did nothing to get me to change my mind. Even when I pleaded with them to give me some of the summer off... they said, "No. You're going to work all summer." They knew darn well how much I wanted the summer off. It's tough. My husband has a really big career. He took the summer off so that we could do things together, and I never dreamed that it would be my job that would prevent us. And that was probably stupid on my part. They've given me summers off with ease for the past three or four years, so I didn't know why this year it would have been a problem.

Ten years, two actresses, two shocking departures, one executive producer. According to the Logan piece, Phelps felt sucker-punched when McKinsey left, without warning. Apparently Phelps didn’t know about McKinsey’s contract perks or just didn’t think McKinsey would ever utilize them. Granted, McKinsey didn’t tell Phelps underlings that she was about to walk, but one wonders why they did not want to disturb Phelps, not even when one of the biggest stars on the show wanted to talk to her? Still, JFP did not know McKinsey was going to exit, and there was probably nothing she could have done to keep McKinsey there.

Now, fast-forward again. JFP has the McKinsey experience under her belt. Why would she assume Genie Francis was bluffing? Francis was upfront about her problems with the show. JFP was not on vacation. Francis turns in a letter of resignation, and nobody acknowledges it? Huh? How could JFP possibly end up being surprised yet again? Even if the balking at Francis came from higher-ups at ABC, couldn’t JFP been taken more of an interest in keeping Francis on the show? Francis is being as nice as she can be here, but the best she can say is "She thought I was jus’ playin!" It’s not like Francis hasn’t left shows before. Did they think she would grovel at the last minute? Or that she’ll come running back any day now? Francis seems to think that’s what JFP thinks.

I don’t want to paint Genie Francis as a saint here. She obviously has some resentment going on that’s got little to do with JFP. Francis feels that she’s not respected by her peers because she can’t get an Emmy. Was Francis robbed three years ago? Hell yes! Get over it! People get robbed every year at the Emmys! The Emmys are a joke! Your peers are nominating Finola Hughes over you! That should be enough reason to laugh it off.

What’s not easy to laugh off is three years of boring go-nowhere storylines, and your acting partner get loads more perks than you do. Then, you ask for vacation time, at a point where your character is basically attractive wallpaper, and they say no. Then you resign, and they don’t acknowledge you. DAMN! No wonder she left! I don’t want to put an ego trip in Ms. Francis mouth, but she’s talented, popular, and half of the biggest supercouple ever, and she’s being treated like Rodney Dangerfield! If she were to call ABC from London, they’d probably reverse the charges! Did they at least wait until her last day before they cleaned out her dressing room? Did she even get a cupcake with a candle on it? Maybe a pat on the back? "Thanks for the memories, Jenny. Onward with Sonny and Brenda!"

And in the center of it all, we have an executive producer who couldn’t be bothered with one of her top employees, and ended up getting hosed--again. McKinsey, Phelps, not to mention that contract idiocy with Jensen Buchanan, which added up to a big bunch of nothing Why do people still insist Phelps is wonderful and brilliant? She seems increasingly arrogant, dumb--or both.

BECAUSE YOU’VE MISSED HER...

Admit it. You’re dying to know what former ABC Daytime President Angela Shapiro has been up to since she took the helm at ABC Family Channel. Right? (Humor me.) Right! Well, wonder no more! On September 30, 2002, Allison Romano filed a piece for Broadcasting and Cable, called "No Room for Ma, Pa in Family". Excerpts Below:

The new ABC Family, though, is less about kids and their parents and more about teens and the 18- to 34-year-old viewers most attractive to advertisers. To appeal to those younger sensibilities, ABC Families is lining up original reality shows and a weekend block of repurposed ABC comedies.

In earlier incarnations, the network tried to lure the entire family around the set. No longer, says ABC Family's new President Angela Shapiro who joined in April and is the rebuild's chief mechanic. In the real (television) world, she says, "Friends and Will & Grace come closer to defining family than Ozzie and Harriet. You'd love to think family co-viewing is a reality, but it's not. To program that way would be a mistake."

Observers say tapping a younger set is shrewd. Cable is already laden with older-skewing general-entertainment channels like USA (its prime time median age last season was 44.4) and A&E (57.8). "There is an oversupply of older adult [gross rating points] and an undersupply for younger viewers," says Andrew Donchin, director of national broadcast at Carat USA. "This could be a very interesting play."

USA is older-skewing? Is that why they run Adam Sandler movies every eight minutes? Leave it to Shapiro to take the "family" out of the Family Channel. After doing a bang-up job of attracting younger viewers at ABC Daytime, Shapiro is employing the same strategy at ABC Family. Tops on her agenda is repurposing ABC sitcoms (a tool she’s familiar considering her involvement in Soapnet) and reality programming. I guess The Last Resort will have a permanent home after all. Elsewhere in the article, Disney Pres. Michael Eisner admits he overpaid Fox, the previous owners of the network. Want to bet he takes another loss unloading this baby in a few years?

So, Rauch is gone, Malone and Griffith may be coming back, JFP and her bosses look dumb to any non-JFP worshipper, and Disney’s getting what they deserve on ABC Family. This was a damn good weekend! The only thing that could make it better (besides the headline SHAKEUP AT AMC!) is your e-mails. Send them to snarkieposter@yahoo. com. I’ll be probably be around, watching the net for more good news.

LINKS OF INTEREST

Paul Rauch Exits. Savor those words...and prepare to gag on the rest of this gush piece.

Changes at OLTL? I sure hope so.

Why Genie Francis Quit--and Why JFP"s A Dink

Fun for the Whole Family...Provided You’re Between the Age of 18-34.