Franko

I'm guessing that Christine would have been recurring and possibly promoted to the main cast if the show got picked up. My new goal is to find a pilot with another obscure SNL cast member, like Emily Prager.

I wanna contribute. Bigshots in America, which failed to make NBC's fall schedule in 1985. Starring Joe Mantegna, Keith Szarabajka, Dan Vitale and Helen Hanft, with featured guest star Christine Baranski. Produced by Lorne Michaels, directed by James Burrows and written by Alan Zweibel. As the folklore goes, Zweibel vowed never to work again with Michaels after this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqGFFW9HJMU

I should have started this thread a few days ago, and I apologize if we've done it before. Who do we pick as the soaps' top pop?

I ended up watching the end of the Wednesday, Dec. 22, 1982 episode. The driving action was Marlena's determination to prove that Roman is not actually involved in drugs (he was framed by Stefano; meanwhile, Marlena doesn't yet know of Roman's ISA involvement) and Renee freaking out about being seen with Tony, which only makes her look suspicious as hell to the likes of Neil (and apparently earlier in the episode, Tom & Alice; they were at UH because Scotty was a patient).

We probably all know this, but for the record, the first time Knots beat Dallas in the ratings was the week of Dec. 11, 1987, "Noises Everywhere, Part II."

You're welcome! Both GH and TRSS are plugged on the cover of Richard's Never Say Diet from 1980. Speaking of that, I still smirk at Richard throwing in a plug for the "Live-it" plan while talking to Bryan on the day of Luke & Jennifer's ill-fated wedding.

Unless he had a local show in L.A., Richard appeared on GH first, followed by the nationally syndicated Richard Simmons Show from 1980-84.

Just speculating, but I wonder if it was related to his role in The Rescuers Down Under. Maybe he was required to go plug the movie for a little bit?

Bold move. What can I say? I'm flailing a bit. Oh, absolutely. It's not surprising that they eventually went back to having Sunday night movies.

Yeah, I wasn't especially fond of putting thirtysomething at 9 p.m. on Sunday. It also wouldn't flow that great between Spenser and Buck James. I stand by my assertion that ratings-wise, Dolly would have been at its best at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays. Schedule-wise, I could put it at 8 p.m. Saturday, with Once a Hero in the 9 p.m. Sunday slot. I'm avoiding 8 p.m. Friday because I don't want to put Full House/I Married Dora on Saturday and have a three-way sitcom standoff.

Supposedly, ABC wanted Dolly to go head to head against The Cosby Show, which she vetoed. I feel like Dolly would have had its best chance at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The problem is, even though I know in 2024 that Moonlighting's going to go down the tubes, 1987 me can't justify moving it off the Tuesday night schedule. That means that I have to put it at 10 p.m., and now I run into the issue of what to do with Thirtysomething. I guess I'd put it at 9 p.m. Sunday, but keep an eye on the 10 p.m. Tuesday slot.

How long were Zack & Stacey around? I keep wondering if their story was supposed to go anywhere, and if if was, were they done in by either the writers strike or the apparent decision to mostly stick with what they had in terms of hospital-based characters?

I'll have to give that a watch. Reading the curlyqgrl summaries, I wondered if they were briefly testing them in late '87-early '88.

Interesting idea, although I wonder if the soap press would have criticized it, since 1993 was also the year of Michael E. Knight playing Tad and Ted on AMC.

It really was an event. No other return would have worked. I will say that it might have been great to have Denise Alexander (and eventually Chris Robinson) back under Labine's pen.

Shot in the dark ... were they considering Michael to play Eliot?

May she rest in peace, and I'll also add to the sympathy for Crystal. This was the first clip that came to mind. https://youtu.be/Pfp1r1t_6jQ?list=PLFC14180D252D2E37&t=546

I've been spending the last few minutes trying to think of a recognizable, not currently active, preferably with some history on CBS, game show that could be revived and run in any spare 30-minute timeslot. Concentration? The Joker's Wild? Tic-Tac-Dough? Sale of the Century? Scrabble? I'd personally love to see a Tattletales or Hollywood Squares revival, but who do you get as stars in this day and age? Also, some shows were already revived too recently (To Tell the Truth, Match Game, Card Sharks).

That would have been an interesting (and first of its kind?) situation, since Kim played Betsy's rival, Diana, during the Meg Ryan years.

Thinking about 1983-84 Days for a moment, and remembering back to when the Soaps of Yesteryear Tumblr was active. One particular item stands out -- that Deidre was going to get a raise and/or a better storyline, thus ensuring that she'd stay. I still wonder: if that hadn't worked out, would Marlena have been a Salem Slasher victim?

Oh, what fun! I'll take a peek. The clip didn't give me a lot to work with, but Lynn *might* be the woman sitting to the right of Shawn.

Was that based on an episode or scene, or just that he would walk like his briefs were too snug? I was about to say that I was surprised that daytime would still let a guy wear briefs, but there was Matt Bomer on GL a few years later.

YES! This is the one. And it's just as equally cringe-fabulous as I remembered.

I always thought the lyric was "wings to another world."

"Because of the horrible situation that happened earlier today, we even debated about closing The Lucky Lady for tonight. But Jessica Simpson is not only a remarkable performer ..."