BetterForgotten

I would have honestly been fine with the show ending with the departure of Donna Mills. She was right for feeling they had done all they could with Abby, and it was time to move on. So many aging actresses would not have been confident enough to admit that.

Oh, I didn’t mean it’s a surprise they kept KL on that long, but it was a surprise they even attempted other soaps in primetime again in the 90’s when the genre was no longer a mainstream ratings winner.

It’s surprise CBS even tried - KL had fallen out of the top 30 in the ratings during its last 3 seasons on the air. Based on ratings, primetime soaps just weren’t popular in the early 90’s or for most of the 90’s for that matter (unless you consider something like ER a soap, which certainly had its soapy elements). The Spelling shows had the benefit of being on Fox, which was still a fledgling network at that point and didn’t necessarily need to bring in huge numbers to stay on the air.

Hard to believe a scene like this happened with a female HW and a female EP running the show. I know cat fights are a staple, but this was so ridiculous and terribly acted by both Lucci and Francis IMO. I almost feel sorry for them.

Tammy Blanchard was one of those who had Lisa Brown as their acting coach, I believe.

The thing is network’s can’t afford to keep shows with such low ratings. They don’t bring in the advertiser revenue to justify the cost of production for these shows. No advertiser wants to pay for ad space on a show that barely anyone is watching (especially one that isn’t resonating with the core demographic they want to reach). It’s a harsh reality, but it’s a business. Streaming plays by a different set of rules, but again, if not enough people are streaming those shows and the streaming services aren’t driving enough new subscriptions based on those shows, they won’t last long.

Not harrowing in the sense of something brutal happening, but the music, directing, and Maureen Garret dropping that damn tray as Holly walks in on Blake and Ross in bed, and Holly's despair and confusion eating her alive in real-time. One of the best soap episode openers ever.

I remember being like 8 when the David Kimble storyline on Y&R was climaxing, this sh!t stayed with me for years:

Angela tells Donahue at the beginning of this interview that they weren’t sure they had a hit on their hands in the beginning and that the show found it’s audience via repeats - but the data we have seems to contradict that. Angela herself said she didn’t expect it to last more than a year as well.

It would be interesting to go back and understand what the expectations and media coverage were for this show before it debuted. Everything I've seen points to it being an "unexpected" and "surprise" hit. I guess that's to be expected about a show starring a senior citizen that's a non-professional sleuth. This promo for a TV Guide cover story on the show and Angela Lansbury certainly spins it as a surprise hit: Barbara Walters does as well in her 1985 Special interview with Angela Lansbury:

MSW's premiere commercial from 1984 and other commercials throughout the years: This one mentions Vicki Lawrence and Macdonald Carey (aka Dr. Tom Horton) as guest stars of the week: 1989-1990 season promos:

In fact, ER's was the #1 show in all of TV in 3 separate seasons (95-96;96-97;98-99). The fact it accomplished this during the height of Seinfeld mania was astonishing (Seinfeld was #1 in the 97-98 season, its last season on the air).

Angela always said one of her favorite things about the show was being able to employ her old Hollywood film star friends in guest roles - many of whom had not worked in ages and were at risk of losing their health insurance.

Who know how Jean Stapleton would have fared, but I can't see her giving Jessica much sophistication, and I think the Edith Bunker was still very much fresh in American audiences minds at that time, so she would have found it much more difficult to break through in something totally different. Angela had the luxury of her Hollywood film career being largely behind her at that point, and of course, most of America didn't see the massive success and multi Tony award winning roles she had on Broadway. She could create something believable from scratch with little baggage.

Angela Lansbury on the wide audience (young and old) that watched MSW:

MSW's ongoing popularity also led to very strong DVD sales (which again, was rare for an hour-long drama that had long been off the air). So much so that Universal once released a trailer ahead of the season 9 DVD release.

The hilarious thing with Betty's career after Sue Ann was that she would go on to play more characters like that vs. Rose on The Golden Girls, or the sickeningly sweet characters she played in early TV.

New trailer was teased during the Super Bowl, and the full trailer was put online.

They don’t write much about television Q ratings anymore, but I recall Angela Lansbury’s being extremely high during MSW’s run. Meaning, the American audience generally regarded her highly and trusted her personality.

MTM Enterprises did Betty and Georgia so WRONG on that show...

Angela Lansbury always said the advertisers never understood the demographics of the people watching MSW, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. It was a very broad appealing show, it wasn't just "old people" or "grandparents" watching that show, it was entire families and a generation of kids who grew up watching it with the elders in the house. To this day, MSW has remained a fixture in global syndication, it's bound to be playing in almost any country you visit in the world somewhere. That cannot be said for those big/glossy primetime soaps (which I liked as well when they weren't too stupid), they just don't have the same type of longevity.

It's also weird when you consider there's no standard timeslots across the country. Like how Y&R can air as early as 11am in some markets and as late as 4pm in others.