Could 'Passions' live on?

Now that NBC has made the cancellation of "Passions" official, is there any hope the show might live on in some other format? Here is what NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said this week:

"We are going to be looking very, very seriously at keeping Passions alive. The fact is, there are loyal viewers of this show who love it and show up every day. And in a perfect world, we'd like to keep the brand alive. There may be another network. You know, I don't think it's a broadcast network, but there may be another cable network that wants to get in business with us and have some sort of on-air presence for the show. We're certainly looking at online options. That audience is very, very faithful in the online world, and it's not inconceivable that we could see a daily episode of Passions online. And I think it would really succeed and draw advertisers."

Time will tell if that's just lip service, but I will say that if "Passions" did exist online-only, the show would have to drastically reduce its already squelched budget & cast. No word from ABC-owned SOAPNet if they would be interested in handling the sci-fi sudser.

As for its current incarnation, NBC is contractually committed to "Passions" through June, but will likely extend the show to an August end date, so that the 4th hour of "Today" would coincide with the Fall 2007 TV season.