Franko

Throwing this out to the universe: finding Elisabeth Shue's episode of As the World Turns (which I guess would have been circa 1983, maybe just before RDJ started watching Search for Tomorrow).

As it happens, 40 years ago this week, ABC and CBS revealed their 1985-86 fall schedules. NBC revealed theirs the week before. ABC's would end up changing. The original plan for Tuesdays was to have Diff'rent Strokes lead the night, with He's the Mayor at 8:30, followed by Who's the Boss at 9, Growing Pains at 9:30, and Moonlighting at 10. There was some surprise over MacGruder & Loud not getting renewed, but it was considered part of Aaron Spelling's declining influence at the network. Yes, Dynasty was still a hit (for a while longer), but Aaron's shows steadily took up less and less of the schedule. Fall 1984: Seven hours, five of which were new programming (Dynasty, Hotel, Glitter, Matt Houston, T.J. Hooker, The Love Boat, Finder of Lost Loves; MacGruder & Loud aired at midseason, by which time Glitter was gone.). Fall 1985: Five hours, two of which were new programming (Dynasty, Hotel, The Colbys, Hollywood Beat, The Love Boat). Fall 1986: Three-and-a-half hours, a half-hour of which was new programming (Dynasty, Hotel, The Colbys, Life With Lucy). Fall 1987: Two hours, none of which was new programming (Dynasty and Hotel; HeartBeat premiered at midseason). Fall-winter 1988: Two hours, none of which was new programming (Dynasty and HeartBeat). This led to Variety's infamous shady headline in spring 1989: "Aaron's Dynasty Over"

The bit with the scarf reminds me of the fabled stuffed animal scene with Rick and Phillip. (That wasn't debunked, was it?)

I'm not at all surprised the 10 lowest-rated episodes are all from Season Seven. Moving The Golden Girls from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. was foolish.

As the folklore goes, Love Boat episodes generally had one "heart" story, one "laughs" story, and one "tears" story. I guess Hotel just stuck with "heart" and "tears."

And if I remember correctly, at one point, they were considering having Linda Thorson play Opal's sister.

Okay, now it's my turn to ask about the Thorntons, namely Edna. Did she and Opal have any scenes together? I ask because I was familiar with Opal first, so when I found out about Edna, my biased mind saw her as the first try for that type of character.

Randall Edwards (and Brian Tarantina), with the opening night cast of 1985's Biloxi Blues, plus director Gene Saks and playwright Neil Simon.

It's such a delicious set of circumstances that I'm actually a little surprised that I can't think of ones that exactly match. I've just got a couple of close but no cigars (the reveal wasn't public, like when Alexis told Dominique at her and Garrett's engagement party that Garrett lied about being married; or the revealer didn't come up with the idea of the party). Maybe I need to think some more about it.

Not too shabby, making her mark in only six episodes. There's a project for the soap historians -- characters with the least episodes/most impact.

May she rest in peace. Ruth also played Nurse Kravitz on Passions.

And then to break the trend, Thorsten Kaye (German-British) on OLTL.

I blame myself. I'm up to "Requiem" in my viewing of Season Five. Come take me away, Sheriff Washburn.

Still making my way through Season Four, and I'm wondering who's paying Chip for promoting Ciji. Gary? Kenny? Jeff Munson?

Thank you! I figured it became a regular thing, I just hadn't realized it would happen so soon.

REQUEST, @kalbir. How many times did Knots Landing beat Dallas in the ratings? I know the first time was in 1987, for one of the "Noises Everywhere" episodes.

While I would love for Shannen to have auditioned for Hayley, I think she would have already been attached to 90210 by the time that character was introduced. During 1988-89, after Our House ended, Shannen could also have read for the recast Emily Ann, Katie Kennicott, or Lanie Cortlandt.

I've made it to "Abby's Choice," the second and last episode with a script from Oliver Clark, who also was a memorable guest in "Night." Oliver has two notable pre-show connections with Knots ladies. He and Beverly Archer starred in We've Got Each Other, which also featured Tom Poston, JVA, Martin Kove, and Ren Woods. A decade before that, Oliver and Donna played Arab royalty (!) on Broadway in Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water. I think Donna's the one with the high hair.

That's exactly why I went with that clip. Linda wasn't telling any lies there.

Lar Park Lincoln has died. https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3865708/friday-the-13th-part-vii-star-lar-park-lincoln-has-passed-away/

It looks like they just took a pair of heart boxers and slapped the word "Passions" on it. Maybe if initial sales were better, they'd have upgraded them with the actual Passions logo, then one with the hourglass for Days. (And for old school fans, the Another World interlocking rings.)

Oh, that's just fabulous!

I like this a lot. Not to get too OT, but "gay Ava Rescott" was what I wished Leo on DOOL had been.

For me, it's Richard, who spent the last few months being as welcome as a mosquito and half as useful.