Franko

7 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

I guess Knots wasn’t on that week, wonder why or what aired.

It was a two-hour Simon & Simon rerun.

How soon we forget ...

Harley Jane Kozak, James Rebhorn, Beverlee McKinsey, Mary Pat Gleason, Lisby Larson and eventually Jerry Lanning (plus, if ex-actors count, Pamela Long Hammer and Gail Kobe) all went from Texas to Guiding Light.

The New York Post explains why Dr. Phil is ending.

https://nypost.com/2023/02/05/dr-phil-tried-to-revamp-in-final-months-as-sponsors-fled-sources/

For the TL;DR crowd ...

It's for multiple reasons:
-- The credibility's gone; people tend to link Dr. Phil with Dr. Oz.
-- A-list sponsors and big-name panelists fled.
-- Focusing on harder news topics didn't work.
-- Backstage morale sucks; 25 jobs were cut and before then, it was a toxic workplace.

48 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

I think those last 3 didn't score so well and that was the end of those epic mini series.

The other networks did attempt some of more than the usual 3 parts/6 hours including

Shogun NBC 12 hours/5 nights September 1980

Space CBS 13 hours/5 parts April 1985

Yup, ABC's last biggies underperformed. Space is actually slightly more extreme than The Winds of War. It took up 13 out of a potential 16 hours in its original five-night span.

46 minutes ago, Tonksadora said:

And, they were all so good you didn't even mind that it destroyed your whole week or week & a day. And at the end of it you were tired, behind on homework, behind on laundry, uplifted and you knew you had  been through something. Later, when the mini-series shrank till it shrank itself out of existence they simply weren't as good. My favorites were ROOTS, NORTH & SOUTHs, THORNBIRDS and then changing channels SHOGUN. Thns for reminding me ... fond memories. 

It is interesting to think how these sort of things were shared by the viewing audience. Can you imagine throwing "Thorn Birds parties" for four straight nights (during Holy Week, incidentally!) of 1983?

Not to beat a dead horse, but I just want to marvel one more time at the amount of time ABC would devote to a big event miniseries (eight-day spans in most cases):

Roots (Jan. 23-30, 1977): 12 out of 26 potential hours.

Roots: The Next Generation (Feb. 18-25, 1979): 14 out of 26 hours

Masada (April 5-8, 1981): Eight out of 13 hours

The Winds of War (Feb. 6-13, 1983): 18 out of 26 hours

The Thorn Birds (March 27-30, 1983): 10 out of 13 hours

North & South, Book I (Nov. 3-10, 1985): 12 out of 26 hours

North & South, Book II (May 4-11, 1986): 12 out of 26 hours

Amerika (Feb. 15-22, 1987): 14 out of 26 hours

War & Remembrance, Part I (Nov. 13-23, 1988): 17 out of 35 hours

War & Remembrance, Part II (May 7-14, 1989): 11 out of 26 hours

Did they ever reference the riots on Melrose Place?

11 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Yes, I believe Cap Cities went on a big cost cutting spree and that was reflected in the paucity of big mini series, tv movies , specials and midseason replacements.

Something I've notice about ABC during the miniseries era is that they seemed to have hung longest onto the idea that a miniseries should feel like a mini series. Stuff like The Winds of War/War and Remembrance, the first two North and South sagas and even Amerika were allowed to take up a week's worth of space. The Thorn Birds "only" ran for four straight days. ABC had been airing full-length minseries (not just two-parters) since the '70s with Rich Man, Poor Man and Roots, and I give them credit for sticking to their gimmick for as long as they could.

34 minutes ago, Tonksadora said:

What I was most interested in was that (Silverman) launched CHEERS, HILL ST. BLUES, ST. ELSEWHERE, THE FACTS OF LIFE and THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW.

No on Cheers and St. Elsewhere. Silverman's time at NBC was the 1978-79 season through the 1980-81 season.

16 minutes ago, kalbir said:

ABC having the World Series and Winter Olympics in 1987/88 played a big part in them moving up to 2nd. 1987/88 was also the peak of Growing Pains and Who's the Boss, plus the premiere of The Wonder Years, and Moonlighting was still going strong.

1987-88 and 1988-89 was also when ABC began increasing its sitcom footprint. There were eventually two-hour sitcom blocks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, all of which were prominent well into the '90s.

Incidentally, this coming week marks the 40th anniversary of both Ciji's murder on Knots and Rebecca dying from the plane crash on Dallas. So, you know, mourn accordingly.

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Considering the fate of most men in his age range on the show, probably not that differently. I can't imagine what story he would have had, unless they wanted a toyboy for Cathy.

8 hours ago, Vee said:

Eric's secret college boyfriend, obviously.

Someone who may be Gary's long-lost son.

I am wondering how Christopher would have done on Knots Landing, though.

Hearing that San Cristobel was a location for longer than necessary reminds me that I was familiar with GL before Soapdish. When I belatedly saw that movie, and before I knew that fake nations/islands were a trope long before '91, I was impressed at what I thought was accidental foresight.

A promo I'd never seen before. Now I know where Matthew and Josie's vignette in the opening credits came from. I'll bet good money that RKK got kicked in the shin (or worse) after the cameras stopped rolling. Also, the music's quite pretty.

54 minutes ago, Neil Johnson said:

Tom King seemed obsessed with bringing a strong crime element to the show, and as bad as it was -- the crime segment (at times consuming over a fourth of the cast) remained on the show for over three-years, even out-lasting King.  That crime stuff was BAD.  Really bad.  King may have been trying to imitate Edge of Night, but he clearly did not know how to write compelling crime stories.   

I suspect there was also a mandate for more action and or plot-driven storylines.

MISS:

RH -- The Kirklands (to the point that even cast members joked about it)

SB -- The Walkers (in terms of fan reaction; they were still around when the show ended)

You said it earlier, Vee, and now I can't not see it -- the sequence really does play like a fancy dress episode of The Jerry Springer Show. I keep expecting Roger to shout out "You don't know me!" or "How do ya like me now?!" or "Whateva, whateva, I do what I want!"

Successful:

GH -- Quartermaines; Bobbie, Luke & Ruby

OLTL -- Buchanans

Unsuccessful

DOOL -- Chandlers

GH -- Eckerts

I think the key is that a good new family should come gradually, 1-2 members at a time if possible.

17 hours ago, j swift said:

Like Alan Spaulding escaping to Tenerife on the day of Luke & Laura's wedding or Reva's introduction happening around the time of Laura's return (and the subsequent exit of Luke and Laura) in 1983.  It's so fun to know which stories were being programmed against each other.

Speaking of Alan, his return on Friday, July 18, 1986*, coincided with Duke and Anna having sex for the first time on General Hospital and Mason lashing out at Mark, Julia and C.C. in the wake of Mary's death (which was the Friday cliffhanger the week before) on Santa Barbara.

*The day after that year's Daytime Emmys.

11 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Connie sitting beside that huge-ass headshot of Bill cracks me up.

I hope that at least once, Connie imagined "Bill" talking to her.

Going back to the lack of a salt of the earth mom and striving for more daughter on Agnes Nixon's OLTL, I've started wondering if/hoping that this was part of the initial plans for Sadie and Carla.

18 minutes ago, will81 said:

Hey everyone I was doing a bit of searching on Eileen Fulton and went down a rabbit hole. I found some info on her run on the show and her temps that contradict wiki. Here goes

Eileen first left in April 1964 not 1963 and Lisa was offscreen for a couple of months. Pamela King debuted in July 1964 but audience reaction was so strong (and negative) that both P&G and CBS (according to Eileen at the time) wined and dined her until she returned in August 1964.

Eileen then left in early 1965 to do Our Private World, however unlike what is on wiki, Eileen returned almost immediately to ATWT with press stating she would be back on daytime in early October 1965. Eileen then quit the show a second time with one report stating her last day would be Dec 17, 1965. However no idea if this is tape or air date. I could find no replacement information and it seems that Lisa was written off the show?

It was announced Eileen would return Jan 16, 1967 after touring with her nightclub act for the last year.

Temp - Lynn Rogers I could find no information

Temp - In June 1980 Eileen contracted hepatitis and was off the show for six weeks and Betsy Von Furstenburg replaced her

Eileen quit the show again, in April 1983 stating the show had gotten bizarre but it was also reported she demanded more money and better writing. Betsy Von Furstenburg replaced her until Eileen returned August 03, 1984.

Temp - Jane Powell subbed in July 1990 for a few weeks while Eileen had surgery. Eileen returned but it seems she returned too early and had to take sick leave again and as far as I can tell Jane continued in the role. Apparently Eileen returned and once again was still too sick and left again but this time.......

Temp - Maeve McGuire stepped in around Oct or Nov 1990 (couldn't find an exact date but it wasn't 1992 as far as I can tell) and Eileen committed to staying out until her health was back. No idea when she returned.

Temp - Jane Powell replaced her again in August 1996 for a few weeks when Eileen had an emergency apendectomy on Augst 07, 1996. It was reported she would return the week of Sep 02, 1996

That's all I have and not sure if this is common knowledge but thought I would share what I found as it is different to what is on wikipedia. 

Nice work, @will81! This solves a question I had when I first read The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, which mentioned that Eileen had quit "three times 'forever.'"

I'm sorry I haven't said so sooner, depboy, but these loglines are the best!

18 minutes ago, Vee said:

I still don't understand how he can be Mac's son by Dominique. Didn't Dominique and Mac first meet onscreen, in 1991, and she wasn't offscreen for any extended period between then and her death? Or was there a prior romance?

There was not. The only time Dominque was away from the canvas while still involved with Mac was when she was instiutionalized (in order to facilitate the recasting with Shell Davidson).

Forty years ago this week, ABC announced the show that would become Loving.

Geez, was it ATWT or was it summer stock for soap veterans?

I can answer some of this.

30 minutes ago, j swift said:

Is this timeline correct?  Brooke left Tom, while pregnant with Laura's because Tom slept with Erica, moved to New York, began a relationship with Mark, then returned to Pine Valley, had an affair with Giles, then Laura died?

Laura's death was in 1988, while Brooke was married to Adam. Most of the events in your timeline appear to be from 1984-85. If I'm not mistaken, it's Tom, Mark, Giles and Adam.

30 minutes ago, j swift said:

At what point did Ellen Dalton take over The Chateau and did Tom only own the Goalpost and The Disco (were they in the same building)?  Also, I guess the Goalpost was never re-built after the bomb that killed Laurel?

I could be wrong, but I'm going to assume that Ellen took over The Chateau after Nick Davis left. I believe the place was originally his.

Laurel did not die from a bomb at The Goalpost. I don't believe The Goalpost was still around in 1995 (the last clips I've seen it in are from approximately 1989-90). Janet had originally planned to have a bomb go off at Laurel and Trevor's wedding (this was rewritten in response to Oklahoma City). Laurel was instead shot during a taping of The Cutting Edge.