(Picture courtesy CBS)
If you haven’t already heard, the big news is this: Both As The World Turns and Guiding Light will be showcased on The Talk on Wednesday, October 12.
A recent Entertainment Weekly article provides some details – we know that Grant Aleksander, Beth Chamberlin, Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer will be representing Springfield, while Martha Byrne, Ellen Dolan, Elizabeth Hubbard and Colleen Zenk will be on point for Oakdale.
I’m excited to see what everyone’s been up to – all of these performers are favorites of mine, and I was lucky enough to meet Aleksander, Chamberlin and Zimmer on that blogger’s trip back eons ago, so this will be awesome to see.
It’s my understanding that it’s a celebration of 30 years of CBS being Number One in daytime, so the Bell shows will also be on this episode. I wouldn’t hold my breath for more than five minutes with each of the P&G shows. But still, five minutes is better than zero.
I saw a reaction to this news online and while it was understandable in some ways, it still surprised me. Basically, the response was this: “I swore I’d never watch The Talk because it replaced ATWT, and I never will!”
I get it. I still make a point of not watching Let’s Make A Deal for the same reasons. Unless I’m stuck in the doctor’s office and have no choice! And it’s not like that show killed GL. It just happened to be its replacement.
My point is this: I hope everyone watches. And Tweets about it, or writes about it on Facebook. Or hey, pick up a pen and write Angelica McDaniel at CBS. (Or Tweet her – she’s all about Twitter!)
I get that the likelihood of us seeing GL or ATWT – or both – back on our ad-supported screens for an hour a day, five days a week is somewhere between “not even” and “none.”
But a warm and positive response to the reunion could encourage them to think about more content like it.
For example, there’s CBS All Access. You know, that’s the streaming thing CBS is doing. It’s on Apple TV (and Amazon Fire, I think) among other places.
It’s some flat rate a month that gets you access to a set of CBS shows, including streaming of shows DVR style.
They’re beginning to create content specifically for this platform. Like the upcoming Star Trek show, and the spinoff of The Good Wife.
They have to offer some interesting content that’s exclusive to that platform. The fact that it’s subscriber based probably has them thinking of content with specific, focused and dedicated audiences.
Hmmm, sounds like soap fans to me.
So a great reaction to these reunions might make them think about, oh, a whole hour reunion for each show. Or maybe….just maybe…..a reunion movie. Or a limited series. Transparent is ten half hour episodes. We could get caught up very well in five hours with our friends, couldn’t we?
Of course, we do have to remember that this loopy brainstorm of mine also involves Procter & Gamble/Telenext, and with all due respect, this is a team that in the past has, metaphorically speaking, driven a one car funeral into a ditch.
But it’s a possibility. And it starts with supporting these reunions, talking about them, and dropping CBS a note or a Tweet to say, “Hey, I enjoyed this content. I’d like to see more of it.”
And hey, if nothing else, we get a few glimpses of old favorites. Sounds like a win-win to me.
A | THOUSAND | OTHER | WORLDS 