Ratings and Scheduling: Who's the fairest of them all?

[maryle]

I am sure if ABC don't renew or other red flags come from says the next convention.

Someone will have petition for Once to be safe including a change of network it almost always happen when a show with a rabid fandom is cancelled or very near to be.

I will wait and see if that do happen. But, I am not sure I want it. But will follow the development its more interesting than anything on the show.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

Colin, JMO, Lana, and Bobby are going through contract negotiations for S7.

Are there any sources of this? I thought Bobby would be leaving this season.

[cappoe]

http://tvline.com/2017/03/10/once-upon-a-time-season-7-morrison-parrilla-carlyle-o-donoghue-contracts/

Sorry I forgot a link. Entertainment Weekly has one too. They're negotiating with JMO, Colin, Lana, and Bobby for S7.

They also state that it doesn't mean they're not getting back the others it's just these are the priority.

Edited March 11, 2017 by cappoe

[Free]

6 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

Are there any sources of this? I thought Bobby would be leaving this season.

They're currently going through the negotiations right now so nothing is finalized, but they're going after the 4 of them right now.

[Mathius]

I doubt Bobby will be staying a regular if S7 happens, but I can see him wanted for guest spots in flashbacks, and that's what's being negotiated.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Mathius

[Camera One]

The shake-up, sources say, is creative driven, in keeping with recent reports of a Season 7 “reset,” versus a Castle-like cost-cutting measure.

So it's "creative" to dump Snow and Charming?  Give me a break it's not a cost-cutting measure.

[maryle]

Well, we have something concrete to chew into it!!

Interesting I thought Colin and Lana was already on continuing contract.

So, Rumple could live for another season. I won't lie I am happy to JMO and Colin be prioritize.

Honestly, I kinda knew Gosh was not their priorities. 

[Tiger]

19 minutes ago, cappoe said:

Colin, JMO, Lana, and Bobby are going through contract negotiations for S7.

No other cast members have been approached yet according to articles coming out today.

I will watch the show if CS are in it, no matter what. If either of them leave I'm done. It's that simple.

 

17 minutes ago, Curio said:

Wait, what articles?

I texted my friend at ABC Studios about this and she replied "FAKE NEWS".

[Mathius]

4 minutes ago, Tiger said:

I texted my friend at ABC Studios about this and she replied "FAKE NEWS".

To be fair, is this something ABC Studios would be aware of?  It sounds to me that it's A&E doing it, still unsure if ABC will renew or not.

[Souris]

ABC Studios produces the show, so they would know who's in contract negotiations.

The fact that two news sites posted within minutes of each other tells me it was a coordinated release.

[Curio]

EW and TVLine are usually pretty reliable, so it seems odd that they'd both release fake news articles at the same time. There's got to be some level of truth to this. Unless Natalie Abrams texted Vlada Gelman and said, "Hey, let's both release the same fake article about OUAT cast negotiations. ABC will have to respond to it by releasing the real news."

If they are accurate, I'm confused about Robert signing on again. As great of an actor as he is, it seems like Rumple's character has run his course by now.

[cappoe]

18 minutes ago, Souris said:

ABC Studios produces the show, so they would know who's in contract negotiations.

The fact that two news sites posted within minutes of each other tells me it was a coordinated release.

Of course it was but I think it was crystal clear the intention was that these 4 are the priority for S7.

If they can get these 4 then we'll get a S7. If they can't then S6 is the end.

[Souris]

Deadline has it now, with a lot of "I'm told that." It was definitely a release from ABC to selected TV writers.

[CCTC]

9 minutes ago, Curio said:

If they are accurate, I'm confused about Robert signing on again. As great of an actor as he is, it seems like Rumple's character has run his course by now.

I agree, Bobby is probably the best actor, but his character is so played out.  Unless they go all out bad-ass unrepentant villain with him, I would put him on the top of my list of characters who are past their time to exit.

Probably could say the same with Lana as well.  If they really want to shake the show up, they need to quit having the focus being the Evil Queen get her happy ending.

I have a feeling in the end, they are going to decide it is not worth it and just end the show.

[cappoe]

17 minutes ago, Souris said:

Deadline has it now, with a lot of "I'm told that." It was definitely a release from ABC to selected TV writers.

Of course. It's an indication that these 4 is what determines a S7 happening.

IMO I say JMO, Colin, and Lana will be returning. Bobby could agree but it'd be tricky.

[oncebluethrone]

41 minutes ago, cappoe said:

Colin, JMO, Lana, and Bobby are going through contract negotiations for S7.

No other cast members have been approached yet according to articles coming out today.

I will watch the show if CS are in it, no matter what. If either of them leave I'm done. It's that simple.

Let's see, my two favorite characters, A and E's favorite, and the main villain.  Sounds good.

[Curio]

15 minutes ago, Souris said:

Deadline has it now, with a lot of "I'm told that." It was definitely a release from ABC to selected TV writers.

EW, TVLine, Deadline... yeah this seems pretty legit. It's no surprise these four are the first priority since their four characters have evolved to become the four most important characters in the series. As sidelined as Hook has been this season, in the grand scheme of things, he's still more integral than Snow and Charming to the story and much more marketable. Rumple is still the question mark for me, but if he signs on for only flashbacks, it might make sense to do a special contract for him.

Ugh, part of me doesn't want Season 7 to happen if it's just going to turn into Emma and Regina with third wheel Hook adventures every week. 

[Rumsy4]

5 minutes ago, Curio said:

Ugh, part of me doesn't want Season 7 to happen if it's just going to turn into Emma and Regina with third wheel Hook adventures every week. 

Same. 

[CCTC]

I actually would not mind a simple action-fantasy show with say Hook, Emma, and Charming having old-school adventures every week.  Just some mindless fun, but if you have Emma, Hook, Regina, you know Regina's issues and pain will dominate too much of the show, and there goes the mindless fun.

[Curio]

4 minutes ago, CCTC said:

but if you have Emma, Hook, Regina, you know Regina's issues and pain will dominate too much of the show, and there goes the mindless fun.

 

I don't even want to think about how much the fandom shipping wars are going to get even worse if that happens...

[Camera One]

At the end of the day, this is A&E and if they had to pick one character, they'd choose Regina.  Rumple and Hook would be second and third.  And Regina needs her BFF, so that's how you end up with the fourth.  I actually still watch for scraps from Snow and Charming, and sometimes Henry, so I would be really disappointed if they're gone.  Clearly, even now, the show is only pretending it's an ensemble.  Cost-cutting may be all the excuse A&E needs to drop the ones they aren't interested in writing for.

[superloislane]

Those four are the most important to the show and the most popular characters too so it's not a surprise.

That does seem like an ABC release. Which makes me think Once has more of a chance of having that season 7 after all. I'm trying to think of any other reason why they would release information like this to big entertainment websites if they weren't seriously contemplating a season 7. Because if they knew it was ending this year, the best thing to do would be to announce it as the final season and they're not doing that, instead they're giving a lot of hope to people.

[Curio]

It would suck if Ginny, Josh, Jared, Emilie, and Bex found out about this news over the Internet. Based on how much their characters are used right now the writing was on the wall, but it still might be awkward going to work for a few more weeks knowing ABC is negotiating with your costars but not you.

[Rumsy4]

There was news about Castle cast negotiations, and it was still cancelled (I believe after the reaction was negative to only one of the leads staying on). So, this could just be an abc tactic trying to put feelers out to see what the general reaction would be to a reboot with a reduced cast. Also a way of putting pressure on the cast members they want to keep on.

[cappoe]

36 minutes ago, Curio said:

EW, TVLine, Deadline... yeah this seems pretty legit. It's no surprise these four are the first priority since their four characters have evolved to become the four most important characters in the series. As sidelined as Hook has been this season, in the grand scheme of things, he's still more integral than Snow and Charming to the story and much more marketable. Rumple is still the question mark for me, but if he signs on for only flashbacks, it might make sense to do a special contract for him.

Ugh, part of me doesn't want Season 7 to happen if it's just going to turn into Emma and Regina with third wheel Hook adventures every week. 

IMO it's obvious.

Colin and JMO make up the core couple of this show, Captain Swan. They took that from Snowing in S3.

Lana is popular in her own right as ER's

Bobby is the best actor and the most complex of the characters and by that I mean easy to hate.

21 minutes ago, Curio said:

I don't even want to think about how much the fandom shipping wars are going to get even worse if that happens...

While I'm sure there will still be fandom ship wars I doubt it will amount to anything on the actual show. For one if there's a S7 we already know 

Spoiler

CS will be married, so they'll be husband and wife.

3 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

There was news about Castle cast negotiations, and it was still cancelled (I believe after the reaction was negative to only one of the leads staying on). So, this could just be an abc tactic trying to put feelers out to see what the general reaction would be to a reboot with a reduced cast. Also a way of putting pressure on the cast members they want to keep on.

The difference is back then it was the Stana situation whereas with OUAT they're now reporting contract negotiations with 4 of the most popular characters including the core pairing.

Edited March 11, 2017 by cappoe

[Mathius]

JMO and Robert are the people I'm not sure are going to go with a potential S7.  Lana would obviously sign up, and I'm pretty sure Colin would too - he may be shafted right now, but the material he DOES get whenever they give him any isn't awful.  JMO and Robert, on the other hand, have been given crap to work with for some time now, and I think they're tired of it.  A paycheck isn't worth it when they can most likely find one elsewhere.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Mathius

[cappoe]

Just now, Mathius said:

JMO and Robert are the people I'm not sure are going to go with a potential S7.  Lana would obviously sign up, and I'm pretty sure Colin would too - he may be shafted right now, but the material he DOES get whenever they give him any isn't awful.  JMO and Robert, on the other hand, have been given crap to work with for some time now, and I think they're tired of it.  A paycheck isn't worth it when they can most likely find one elsewhere, doing better work.

I don't think Colin will sign if JMO does not as well. CS is a packaged deal, especially with spoilers indicating what they are. Hence why they're negotiating with both.

Plus Colin according to reports has been auditioning for pilots as well, so he's probably going to go if JMO does not resign.

Whatever way we look at it, S7 is going to be the last season. If not this season.

[Artsda]

That's interesting way of contract negotiations. I wonder if cost pricing of less regulars could factor in too. 

Cycling out Jared for a new child makes sense.  

[Mathius]

1 minute ago, cappoe said:

Whatever way we look at it, S7 is going to be the last season. If not this season.

Well, we're screwed either way then, since neither this season nor what we're hearing of a potential S7 sound like good final seasons.

[cappoe]

1 minute ago, Mathius said:

Well, we're screwed either way then, since neither this season nor what we're hearing of a potential S7 sound like good final seasons.

If they got Colin and JMO back I'll watch. OUACS was a great show in S5. 

[TheGreenKnight]

4 hours ago, cappoe said:

I will watch the show if CS are in it, no matter what. If either of them leave I'm done. It's that simple.

I'd continue watching if Hook was cut, but I'd rather he stay.

Contract negotiations don't guarantee there will be a S7, but they're definitely not fake news.

[cappoe]

2 minutes ago, Artsda said:

That's interesting way of contract negotiations. I wonder if cost pricing of less regulars could factor in too. 

Cycling out Jared for a new child makes sense.  

Less regulars means more money for negotiations with regs they want to keep/

[Souris]

The thought of Hook on the show without Emma makes me table-flippy.

All this begs the question of what the season finale will be like, since it's already written and Adam says there's only one version of it.

[sharky]

Interesting but not surprising that the focus would be on those four. Most of what makes Rumple annoying is Belle so ditching Emilie wouldn't be a bad thing for the show. Although I'm kind of surprised about Lana and Colin considering we've been speculating that their contracts aren't up this year. Is ABC trying to extend them to multi-year deals if this reboot works? Or do they need to renegotiate the contracts if the show moves to Freeform?

20 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

There was news about Castle cast negotiations, and it was still cancelled (I believe after the reaction was negative to only one of the leads staying on). So, this could just be an abc tactic trying to put feelers out to see what the general reaction would be to a reboot with a reduced cast. Also a way of putting pressure on the cast members they want to keep on.

Yes, but with Castle, they announced they were ditching one of the two leads. It would be like if they announced they were ditching JMo -- and then JMo went to the press and said Lana was awful to work with. And then they expected the show to go on with Lana and Granny and Henry and everything would be grand. Once at least has a more ensemble cast so as much as it pains me to say it, you can cut Snow and Charming and still have a good show.

Quote

All this begs the question of what the season finale will be like, since it's already written and Adam says there's only one version of it.

I'm sure it's going to be like Castle, which would suck. There's going to be five minutes tacked on to the end or not tacked on. It's either "happily ever after" or "happily ever after....but wait!"

And from the EW article:

Quote

The shake-up, sources say, is creative driven, in keeping with recent reports of a Season 7 “reset,” versus a Castle-like cost-cutting measure.

Eh....OK, sure. If that's how you want to spin it. The fact is that whatever the reset is, it's partially a cost-cutting measure. You can't do a reset this late in a series' run with ratings struggles and not have it at least in some part be about money.

Edited March 11, 2017 by sharky
added ramblings

[Rumsy4]

6 minutes ago, cappoe said:

I don't think Colin will sign if JMO does not as well. CS is a packaged deal, especially with spoilers indicating what they are. Hence why they're negotiating with both.

Colin has a family. So, I think having a steady job might count for more with him than being part of an intact couple on TV. Especially since he had a tough time finding a steady gig until he got cast for this part. 

Quote

Plus Colin according to reports has been auditioning for pilots as well, so he's probably going to go if JMO does not resign.

Sounds like more spec to me. Are there any sources for this? 

[cappoe]

1 minute ago, Rumsy4 said:

Colin has a family. So, I think having a steady job might count for more with him than being part of an intact couple on TV. Especially since he had a tough time finding a steady gig until he got cast for this part. 

Sounds like more spec to me. Are there any sources for this? 

Same sources that said JMO is pilot hunting as well. They're both out if negotiations don't go through.

I think CS fans can take this as a great sign that ABC knows how popular and important CS is. They're the core couple of the show now.

[sharky]

2 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

Colin has a family. So, I think having a steady job might count for more with him than being part of an intact couple on TV. Especially since he had a tough time finding a steady gig until he got cast for this part. 

At the same time, he has a small kid and seems to be a family man who is living quite far from his family in Ireland. I don't know if he would necessarily want to commit to Vancouver with no big assurances or guarantees.

[Rumsy4]

8 minutes ago, sharky said:

At the same time, he has a small kid and seems to be a family man who is living quite far from his family in Ireland.

From what I understand, Colin's wife and kind are living in Canada too. 

10 minutes ago, cappoe said:

Same sources that said JMO is pilot hunting as well. They're both out if negotiations don't go through.

All these sources are unnamed. It's all spec at this point. 

[Souris]

15 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

Sounds like more spec to me. Are there any sources for this? 

I've noticed that Colin has followed a few external producers on Twitter in recent days. Circumstantial at best, but FWIW.

Frankly, given that the show hasn't been officially renewed, it would be foolish of any of the actors NOT to be looking for other gigs.

[sharky]

10 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

From what I understand, Colin's wife and kind are living in Canada too. 

Oh, I meant his extended family back in Ireland. It sounds like he does miss being there, but enough to make him want to go back? I don't know. Anyway, that's just my speculation. Carry on!

7 minutes ago, Souris said:

I've noticed that Colin has followed a few external producers on Twitter in recent days. Circumstantial at best, but FWIW.

Were any of them from Doctor Who? Seriously, I need this to happen to my life.

Although I do think it's fine for them to be meeting with people about pilots. Technically, pilot season is over. They've been shot and are waiting approval. The next pilot season is mainly early next year. So in case the show doesn't get renewed, I wouldn't be surprised if actors are covering their bases just in case.

[jhlipton]

11 hours ago, tri4335 said:

This is why I don't begrudge any of the actors for not wanting to resign.

FWIW, to "resign" means to quit.  To "re-sign" means to stay on.  I mention this because I wasn't sure which one you meant at first.

[jjjmoss]

A problem with Freeform is that if you look at Nashville, moving to CMT has cut the average viewership from over 4 million to under 1 million. The only show Freeform has that can get a million viewers is Pretty Little Liars, so it's not like it's a popular network that would sustain what's left of this show's audience.

Edited March 11, 2017 by jjjmoss

[Curio]

3 minutes ago, jjjmoss said:

so it's not like it's a popular network that would sustain what's left of this show's audience.

 

True, but there would also be less pressure to perform well because it's on cable. I think OUAT has a strong enough fanbase where the fans would travel over to a new channel surprisingly well, and at least for a few weeks, it would probably be Freeform's top-performing show.

[Camera One]

What's the access to Freeform, though?  I don't have it at home.  

[maryle]

Everyone see news from their bias.

For me am more a cs watcher than Once as a whole.

So, I am really happy to see Colin and Jen both be a priority.

Probably totally not like it. But, it remember me the cast of Friends use to negotiate together.

Since, everyone have their unproven theory I choose to believe it is something similar Colin wait to see if Jen will sign. Even if he will probably sign it anyway because it is a secure gig for one more year.  Lana should be easy to convince too.  

Robert and JMO are where the negotiations are happening.

[RedKeep]

4 hours ago, cappoe said:

If they got Colin and JMO back I'll watch. OUACS was a great show in S5. 

I really don't think storywise it was all that great. Which isn't surprising, mind you, since it's an aging show written by two guys who mostly ran out of original ideas long before season 5 rolled around and who are massively talented at wasting whatever interesting scenarios they (accidentally) come up with in their day-to-day writing. Much of what is happening with CS now strikes me as "fanservice" and I wouldn't count on that meaning great things for them if the show is indeed renewed. Snowing/GG and JD are great examples for what happens to characters/couples once the writers have officially lost interest and they feel like they've hit every relevant milestone with them. If they drop GG/JD or the two of them want to leave if the show's renewed, I'd bet on CS taking their place as the mostly-off-screen-happy-couple while others get the meat of whatever storylines they come up with. Especially if Rumbelle doesn't survive and Regina currently has no love interest anyway since Sean's alternative Robin Hood won't stick around. I'm no shipper so really don't care on that level, but if JMo resigns I'd rather not have her suffer through the Ginny Goodwin treatment since that's just a waste of everyone's time and her talent. (I know GG had to two children over the course of the show, but I honestly don't think that's an excuse for how her character's been written since basically the beginning of season 3.)

[Serena]

6 hours ago, sharky said:

Oh, I meant his extended family back in Ireland. It sounds like he does miss being there, but enough to make him want to go back? I don't know. Anyway, that's just my speculation. Carry on!

But if he finds another Pilot he wouldn't go back, at the most he'd have to move to LA or wherever it is his new project would be film. I think, when he chose to be an actor, he knew he most likely wouldn't be doing it from Ireland.

[Rumsy4]

Exactly. Whoever has left their home countries for the sake of their career (including me) are not going to be thinking of extended family when it comes to life decisions. It's really not hard to keep in touch these days from anywhere in the world. And he goes back to visit Ireland during Christmas IIRC. Colin's career is best served in the Americas than in Ireland. That's why I wouldn't be surprised if he choses to remain even if Jen leaves. Unless he lands a role elsewhere. And all these rumors of him and JMo auditioning are just that--rumors. 

Spoiler

If the reboot is going to be Henry and OQ-baby centric, as many of us suspect, I rather Jen and Colin don't re-sign. Ugh. Get Rebecca Mader to play the BFF supporting sister to Regina's pity parties.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Rumsy4

[Shanna Marie]

As a veteran PR writer, I'm kind of interpreting "it's not about cost, it's a creative decision" to mean "it's totally about cost." Otherwise, I don't see why they'd be renegotiating contracts for actors who are already contracted -- unless they mean the reboot to last for multiple seasons, and they don't want to commit to a reboot without the cast being locked in. Renegotiating suggests to me that they're perhaps going for lower salaries and a reduced role, with some flexibility for being able to take on other projects being worked in, which would fit with the idea of rebooting with a new main cast and these existing actors mostly showing up for the flashbacks to show how the present situation came about.

Otherwise, if it really is just creative, I don't see how you'd get much of a reboot or course correction with the characters played by these actors. That particular grouping is a big part of the current problems with the show. There's Rumple and his back-and-forth, but if he becomes a true villain without Belle as his leash, then we run into the competence issue, where if he can't get rid of his enemies or if they can't stop him, then both sides look incompetent. If there's no more risk of losing Belle if he misbehaves, there's no reason for him to not just kill Hook. Then there's Regina, who's been kind of the black hole of the series who eats up screen time and warps reality around her. One of the problems with the writing has been that the show isn't big enough for both her and Emma to function as protagonists, and it's hard for Regina to be a protagonist when her goals are so very vague. Maybe that's not an issue if neither of them are protagonists, but it's hard to imagine these writers having Regina in the cast and not making her a focal point. With Hook, Emma, and Regina, we're still stuck with the writers trying to appease the SQ crowd but not really, so Hook and Emma seldom get good scenes without an equal scene between Regina and Emma, and that keeps Hook and Emma's relationship moving at a weird pace because the writers freak out and backtrack every time they get criticized on Twitter.

[Free]

12 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

As a veteran PR writer, I'm kind of interpreting "it's not about cost, it's a creative decision" to mean "it's totally about cost." Otherwise, I don't see why they'd be renegotiating contracts for actors who are already contracted -- unless they mean the reboot to last for multiple seasons, and they don't want to commit to a reboot without the cast being locked in. Renegotiating suggests to me that they're perhaps going for lower salaries and a reduced role, with some flexibility for being able to take on other projects being worked in, which would fit with the idea of rebooting with a new main cast and these existing actors mostly showing up for the flashbacks to show how the present situation came about.

Otherwise, if it really is just creative, I don't see how you'd get much of a reboot or course correction with the characters played by these actors. That particular grouping is a big part of the current problems with the show. There's Rumple and his back-and-forth, but if he becomes a true villain without Belle as his leash, then we run into the competence issue, where if he can't get rid of his enemies or if they can't stop him, then both sides look incompetent. If there's no more risk of losing Belle if he misbehaves, there's no reason for him to not just kill Hook. Then there's Regina, who's been kind of the black hole of the series who eats up screen time and warps reality around her. One of the problems with the writing has been that the show isn't big enough for both her and Emma to function as protagonists, and it's hard for Regina to be a protagonist when her goals are so very vague. Maybe that's not an issue if neither of them are protagonists, but it's hard to imagine these writers having Regina in the cast and not making her a focal point. With Hook, Emma, and Regina, we're still stuck with the writers trying to appease the SQ crowd but not really, so Hook and Emma seldom get good scenes without an equal scene between Regina and Emma, and that keeps Hook and Emma's relationship moving at a weird pace because the writers freak out and backtrack every time they get criticized on Twitter.

Yeah, I'm not sure it would last multiple seasons as it's currently declining, there's more risks to losing main characters than not.

It's definitely gotten costly, they've allowed the cast to swell up without doing much to control it until this point, even wasting series regulars like that 1 season with Will Scarlet.