PORT CHARLES Bites the Dust

ABC bears responsibility for sinking this original, marvelous, awe-inspiring 30 minute escape we’ve all grown so attached to.  But the real miracle is that the actors managed to keep us connected to the characters with their committed and effective performances, despite the whiplash the writers put them and us through.

 

Its official everyone. PORT CHARLES has been cancelled.  I’ve been sitting in front of my computer all day wondering how to even get the words out. That 11^th hour miracle I was hoping for just didn’t happen. The only good news is that the next arc – The Gift – will air. Whether there will be a proper ending, a proper goodbye to quote Alison and Rafe, who knows, I can only hope that ABC has enough respect for the fans and the actors to end it with a satisfying goodbye, offer some sort of closure. We all deserve at least that much.  

Here’s the “official, official” to quote Alison once more, press release:

PRESS RELEASE - DAYTIME - ABC DAYTIME

ABC DAYTIME

ABC Daytime's half-hour serial, "Port Charles," will have its final airdate on Friday, October 3. The serial, which is a spin-off of the network's popular "General Hospital," launched on June 1, 1997.

From Brian Frons, president, ABC Daytime:

"This was an extremely difficult decision. We were very pleased with the creative execution of the show, but the 30-minute format in this time period posed significant financial challenges, which ultimately led to this decision. 'Port Charles' allowed us to develop a wonderful stable of talent in front of and behind the camera, and it is our plan to place as many as possible throughout our other ABC Daytime shows. I am extremely grateful to everyone who played a role in developing, creating and making this show on a daily basis."

I’m afraid there’s nothing left to say on the subject. The decision has been made, there’s no going back. Believe me it gives none of us any satisfaction here at Soaptown USA that we broke this story last week. Even those of us who basically knew still didn’t want to believe it until ABC confirmed it. I still don’t want to believe it. I’m filled with a sense that I’m losing my best friend. I’m grateful we’ll have another three months together but it makes it all that much more bittersweet knowing the ride is almost over. The best thing everyone can do right now is show our support for the remarkable cast who have given us so much of themselves in the roles they’ve created  - keep watching with the same fervor and interest we always have. It’s the least we can do.

Judging from the deluge of mail I received last week, it is obvious this soap is much loved in the hearts of its fans everywhere but the consensus is the extreme risks the writers took with the characters and storylines of late just didn’t work for the viewers. Perhaps if it had, financials wouldn’t have been the deciding factor.

I don’t want to revisit last week’s column, I just can’t analyze, bitch, complain, gush, or heap praise as I usually do right now about what went right or what went wrong. It simply isn’t appropriate or the right time. I will save it for next week and the week after that, and the week after that, when the sadness has worn off, when the fantasy pulls me back in and inspires me to muse on storyline or character integrity once more. 

Vicky from Ohio summed it all up in her letter last week – “They have squandered the gold mine they had at their fingertips.  They had great actors, great characters, and a great stage on which to move them.”

Sometimes truth is more shocking than fiction.

Vicky from Ohio writes:

Your latest column about the state of Port Charles is one of the most intuitive ones that I have ever read. It expresses my own feelings about the show. I have been a loyal viewer from day one, following Kevin and Lucy from General Hospital, and the things that have been done to this show by the writing and production staff are criminal. Plot holes big enough to drive a Mac Truck through. Changing the rules left and right.  Character assassination. Storylines started and then dropped for no reason that I can see. They have squandered the gold mine that they had at their fingertips. They had great actors, great characters, and a great stage on which to move them.  And they threw it all away without a second thought. I just don't understand. I will be so sorry to see the show go even though I hardly recognize my favorite show any longer. I have gotten to the point that I only watch out of loyalty to my favorite actor, Jon Robert Lindstrom. Maybe there will be a miracle for the show out there and it can be turned around, but I won't be holding my breath.

Joni writes;

“Sadly, sadly, sadly..... I agree with all the points you've touched on in your Musings essay. I have continued to watch DESIRE out of habit, and a desire to see Michael Easton on the screen as a daily fix.  I no longer look forward to the daily recording of  the show, waiting for me as an appetizer before dinner, as I had for months during Naked Eyes or the beginning of Surrender. The plot has become tedious and the characters bogged down in an endless merry-go-round of repeated cliché plot devices. I too find it is painful to watch good actors wasted on poor product.  Woe is us!”

Carolyn Oldham writes;

“After reading your column on PC's possible cancellation, I do mourn the probable loss of the show. I have tuned into a few of the 'story arcs' but dropped off I think when all the things you describe began happening. However, it seems to me that much of ABC's lineup suffers from all the things you mention in connection with PC, in particular General Hospital Characters who seem to have no heart, there is no romance, rushed scenarios and things that don't completely play out, and chasing after 'demos that don't exist' (which I think all soaps have tried to do at one point or another.”
 

Karen Whitney writes;

“I'm so sorry that PC has gotten into the state it has. That being said, you have so encapsulated what ails PC--I have been fearing since mid-way through this arc that PC
is going to dig itself so big a hole that it will be too late to fix it once they can finally respond to fan input when they resume filming in August. PC has been alienating one fan base after another. And the sad thing is they have alienated so many people so far that a lot of them AREN'T hanging in there anymore. I know at least one viewer who has thrown in the towel has a Nielson box.”

ABC bears responsibility for sinking this original, marvelous, awe-inspiring 30 minute escape we’ve all grown so attached to. Perhaps the real miracle is that the actors managed to keep us connected to the characters with their committed and effective performances, despite the whiplash the writers put them and us through.

Ironically, DESIRE has risen to the standard of excellence PORT CHARLES is known for these last few days as it follows the very same pattern the last few arcs have, a race to its end.  Vintage PORT CHARLES in all its permutations and glory. Emotional, character driven, interpersonal relationships in the forefront, riveting plot twists and surprising revelations.  I still can’t wait to find out what happens.  I will still watch The Gift with eager anticipation as I always have.  I won’t acknowledge the end, until the end.  I’ll worry about all that in October.       

Comments/feedback?
Email me musings@soaptownusa.com

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