Franko

Why on earth would the columnist think the 1981-83 opening credits were blatantly similar to the ones running on SFT and OLTL at the time? Am I missing something?

Bringing back Pat Randolph on GL would have been genius. It's not like AW or NBC was doing anything with her.

Roman has deserved much better than he's gotten since 1991. It didn't have to be a game of King of the Mountain. And I want to say he regained his memory from being struck by lightning in Aremid.

I'm intrigued by how Marlena would have spent the rest of the '90s sans John and Roman. Would she become more of a talk-to character (as Maggie was)? Would we have gotten storylines with Marlena and Laura collaborating on patients? Could Eric have come back sooner? Or Johnny, the now-adult she nearly adopted in the '80s? What if the show ripped off Another World and had Marlena and Stefano becoming a genuinely loving couple?

Yes, definitely. The show just could not re-create the magic, no matter how hard they tried. I re-watched a few episodes from the mid-2000s and found myself thinking how pointless it was to saddle Tabitha with Baby Endora (and her speech bubbles).

I could see that happening. I'll see if I can't find anything from that time frame.

Western Washington area, August 1981: KOMO, the ABC station in Seattle, aired EDGE at 9:30 a.m. The station ran The Brady Bunch at 3. EDGE could also be seen at 3 p.m. on CBUT, the CBC station in Vancouver. Family Feud and ABC's four other soaps aired at the same time (11:00 a.m.-3 p.m.) on KOMO and CKVU, an independent station in Vancouver. KING, the NBC station, aired Seattle Today rather than Las Vegas Gambit, Blockbusters and Wheel of Fortune (which all aired 9-10:30 a.m. on KCPQ, an independent station in Tacoma). Password Plus, Card Sharks and the four soaps all ran in pattern (10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.) on KING, with AW also airing at 1 on CHEK and CHAN, the CTV stations in Victoria and Vancouver. TEXAS didn't air at 2 p.m. in Victoria, passed up for The Alan Thicke Show. KIRO, the CBS station in Seattle, aired TPIR at 10 and Y&R at 11 a.m., followed by news and the rest of the soaps. KVOS, the CBS station in Bellingham, aired Y&R at 10 a.m., followed by Dick Van Dyke reruns, SFT at 11:30, Donahue at 12, John Davidson at 1 and the Alice/Jeffersons rerun block at 2.

ABC's fall '76 lineup with lower Michigan affiliates (five stations) 11:30 a.m.: Happy Days reruns (did not air in Traverse City, which aired The 700 Club) 12 p.m.: Hot Seat (aired at 10:30 a.m. in Flint and Grand Rapids, which both aired news at 12) 12:30 p.m.: All My Children (aired statewide) 1 p.m.: Ryan's Hope (aired statewide) 1:30 p.m.: Family Feud (aired statewide) 2 p.m.: The $20,000 Pyramid (aired statewide) 2:30 p.m.: One Life to Live (aired statewide) 3:15 p.m.: General Hospital (aired statewide) 4 p.m.: The Edge of Night (aired at 11 a.m. in Detroit, which aired a movie at 4; also aired at 11 a.m. in Flint, which aired The Wild, Wild West reruns at 4; aired at 11 a.m. in Grand Rapids, which aired The Flintstones; aired at 11 a.m. in Battle Creek, which aired Speed Racer)

NBC's fall '76 lineup with lower Michigan's five stations: 10 a.m.: Sanford and Son reruns (aired statewide) 10:30 a.m.: Celebrity Sweepstakes (aired statewide) 11 a.m.: Wheel of Fortune (aired statewide) 11:30 a.m.: The Hollywood Squares (aired statewide) 12 p.m.: The Fun Factory (Cheboygan/Traverse City aired Lassie reruns; Detroit aired To Tell the Truth; Bay City and Grand Rapids aired news) 12:30 p.m.: The Gong Show (Detroit, which aired The Gong Show at 9:30 a.m., ran news in this slot; Grand Rapids aired The Mike Douglas Show) 1 p.m.: Open half-hour (Cheboygan/Traverse City and Bay City aired The Fun Factory; Detroit and Jackson aired Somerset) 1:30 p.m.: Days of Our Lives (aired statewide) 2:30 p.m.: The Doctors (aired statewide) 3 p.m.: Another World (aired statewide) 4 p.m.: Somerset (Cheyboygan/Traverse City and Grand Rapids aired cartoons; Detroit aired Dinah!; Bay City aired Dark Shadows reruns; Jackson aired children's programming)

How affiliates in lower Michigan (six total stations) aired CBS's fall of '76 daytime lineup: 10 a.m.: The Price Is Right (aired on most stations, except in Saginaw, which aired the conclusion of The Mike Douglas Show and the start of The 700 Club) 11 a.m.: Gambit (didn't air in Detroit, which ran Tattletales on a delay, and Saginaw, which aired The 700 Club) 11:30 a.m.: Love of Life (aired at this time on most stations, except in Detroit, which aired Y&R) 12 p.m.: The Young and the Restless (Detroit and Lansing aired news instead) 12:30 p.m.: Search for Tomorrow (aired at this time statewide) 1 p.m.: Open-half hour (Detroit aired Love of Life, Lansing aired The Young and the Restless) 1:30 p.m.: As the World Turns (aired at this time statewide) 2:30 p.m.: The Guiding Light (aired at this time statewide) 3 p.m.: All in the Family reruns (aired at this time statewide) 3:30 p.m.: Match Game '76 (aired at this time statewide) 4 p.m.: Tattletales (did not air at this time in Detroit, which aired The Mike Douglas Show; aired at 9:30 a.m. in Lansing, which ran children's programming at 4; did not air in Saginaw, which ran cartoons at 4)

Over the course of nearly 24 years, P&G soaps were allowed to air opposite each other. I wonder if the company considered the long-term ramifications of this. I forget if we've determined this, but networks were the ones preferring expanding soaps, not so much the creative types, right? December 1975-December 1976: The Edge of Night airs opposite Somerset January-May 1977: Search for Tomorrow airs opposite Lovers and Friends November 1977-March 1979: Overlap of Guiding Light's conclusion and Another World's start March 1979-February 1980: GL airs opposite AW's first two-thirds February-August 1980: Overlap of As the World Turns' end and AW's start; GL airs opposite AW's last two-thirds August 1980-June 1981: ATWT airs opposite AW, GL airs opposite Texas June 1981-March 1982: Overlap of ATWT's end and AW's start; SFT opposite AW's conclusion; GL opposite TX March-April 1982: Overlap of ATWT's conclusion and AW start; GL opposite TX April 1982-March 1987: Overlap of ATWT's conclusion and AW's start March 1987-June 1999: ATWT airs opposite AW (Until right now, I'd never written out the course of events.)

I'll be curious to see if there comes a point where Edward drops out of the Ice Princess storyline. I know Alex goes the distance, but Alan's already pretty well tied up with the Susan storyline.

As of this point in 1981, the WGA has been on strike for nearly two months. I'm guessing this is around the time that the original projections for the Ice Princess story* have come to a close. Carbonic snow, Tiffany and the next couple of Cassadines, here we come. *Although the aspect of it being dangerous in the wrong hands has already been introduced. BTW, @Dion, I'm really enjoying your summaries and commentary. It's the next best thing to watching.

Agreed. I could maybe see him playing a guest role, like Sam Dexter (if they decided to beef up the character) or Joel Abigore (even if the character was intended for a longer run). But that's still pretty tentative. I am intrigued by the idea of him not becoming famous and ending up a few years later as Jack Deveraux.

It's interesting ... I was originally joking about Nicole Love being cured of her insanity, but now that I've looked up what appears to be the cause, I think it's heartbreaking and dramatically sound to keep her so damaged. Unless I misread the 1989 summaries, she killed Jason Frame because he killed Elizabeth Love. The character page for Reginald Love said he was responsible for the death. Either way, this is a woman who despite an ample amount of advantages, just cannot escape her misery.

Detroit, mid-February 1971: WJBK (CBS) aired LOL at 11:30, followed by local news and The Movie Game at 12. SFT aired at 1, followed by ATWT. Love is a Many Splendored Thing wasn't airing in Detroit, so Where the Heart Is and the newsbrief aired at 2 rather than 12 (hope there wasn't anything essential/breaking being reported). TGL, Secret Storm and EON aired in pattern from 2:30-4. WWJ (NBC) aired Somerset at 1 p.m., between local news (preempting The Who, What or Where Game) and Joe Garagiola's Memory Game. The 4 p.m. hour went to The Wild Wild West reruns. WXYZ (ABC) aired everything in pattern.

Yeah, I thought about it afterward and realized there were extenuating circumstances re: Mickey & Maggie.

Generations started 1990 airing at 12:30 on WSAV in Savannah, Georgia. By December of that year, the show must have been dropped, since its timeslot was being used for Sanford and Son reruns. The lead-in was Good Times reruns, which aired after Marsha Warfield's show. All the other soaps aired in their usual times on WSAV, WTOC (CBS) and WJCL (ABC). An update on Spokane: By October 1987, KXLY was airing Ryan's Hope (at 11 a.m.), but not Loving (Truth or Consequences aired at 11:30). Meanwhile, over on KREM, Y&R aired at 3, after GL (news was the lead-in for B&B, airing at 12:30 p.m.). Nothing really out of the ordinary for KHQ, unless you count passing on Super Password (at 11 a.m.) to air Laverne & Shirley reruns.

I could be off base, but did something similar happen (and at more or less the same time) to Mickey & Maggie once Melissa became a romantic lead?

Damn ... John was a dynamo! Over in the divas on the set thread, there's a bit of an interview where SSH alludes to being backburned leading up to her and Bill's departure in 1984. How soon was this apparent? I previously thought it occurred around the time Hope got involved with Bo, but Susan made it sound like this had been happening for years. Paging @vetsoapfan ...

I like to think Cass and Lila would have transitioned into AW's tentpole couple if the series lasted into the 2Ks. Perhaps in any of the thousand other worlds it's Cass and Lila, or Cass and Frankie (who wasn't killed). Or Cass and Kathleen. Cass and Cecile. Cass and no-longer-crazy Nicole Love ... ETA: Oh, hell, might as well go for it: Cass and Felicia.

It's the little victories, you know? Could it possibly have started earlier than that? I just found a listing for Jan. 2, 1998 that has "TBA" for the 9 a.m. hour. Martha Stewart Living and Gayle King's shows filled the post-ATWT hour (2 p.m.) on WBBM. Speaking of Chicago, we've got WBBM: news and Y&R, then B&B from 11-1, ATWT at 1 and the above-mentioned ladies at 2. WMAQ: DOOL at 11, AW at 12 and SB at 1 (With Jerry Springer at 2, the lead-in to Rosie O'Donnell, of all shows.) WLS: PC and news at 11, AMC at 12, OLTL at 1 and GH at 2 Over in Nashville around this time ... WKRN didn't air PC (unless it was late at night); AMC at 11, news at 12; OLTL at 1, GH at 2 and Jenny Jones at 3 WSMV had news at 11; Sunset Beach straddling the hour, Inside Edition at 12:30, AW at 1, DOOL at 2 and People's Court at 3 WTVF had news at 11; Y&R straddling the hour, Talk of the Town at 12:30, B&B at 1:30, GL at 2 and ATWT at 3 GH was still not airing on WDTN (Dayton) as 1989 drew to a close. This time, Geraldo Rivera had the spot. He aired at 4 p.m., after GH, on the Cinci station, WKRC. The other Dayton and Cincinnati stations aired the soaps in pattern. Finally, northern Colorado in mid-Nov. 1994, where the soaps are all over the place: KCNC (NBC): Colorado Today at 10, Other Side at 11; news at 12, Leeza at 1, AW at 2 and DOOL at 3 KGWN (CBS in Cheyenne, Wyoming): Y&R at 10, Love Connection at 11, B&B at 11:30, ATWT at 12, GL at 1, Ricki Lake at 2, Jenny Jones at 3 KMGH (CBS in Denver): B&B at 10, TPIR at 10:30, news at 11:30, Y&R at 12, ATWT at 1, GL at 2 and Sally at 3 (KMGH also had Regis and Kathie Lee at 9 and Oprah at 4) KUSA (ABC): No LOV; Geraldo at 10; AMC at 11; news and Start to Finish (?) at 12; GH at 1, OLTL at 2; Maury at 3 Forgive all these mentions of non-soap programming, but I think it's interesting to note what the heavy-hitters (in soaps and talk) face off against.

Comparing and contrasting Oklahoma City for April 1987 and April 1990. KTVY 4, later KFOR (NBC) DOOL aired at 3 p.m., after AW (1 p.m.) and SB (2 p.m.) in both instances. In 1990, GEN aired at 12:30 p.m. (KTVY cleared all of NBC's game show lineup -- Sale of the Century, Blockbusters, Wheel of Fortune, Scrabble, Super Password and Wordplay -- during the 9-11 a.m. hours in 1987. By 1990, that time was filled by Regis and Kathie Lee, Joan Rivers, and the network lineup of The Golden Girls reruns and Marsha Warfield's talk show. Like the other network affiliates, Channel 4 had a 12 p.m. newscast. Divorce Court aired at 12:30 in 1987.) KOCO 5 (ABC) 1987: LOV aired at 10:30 a.m., followed by AMC at 11, local news at 12, RH at 12:30, OLTL at 1 and GH at 2. (Loving shared the 10 a.m. hour with Sally Jessy Raphael, whose show was still offered in a 30-minute format in '87. Both Loving and All My Children aired on a one-day delay.) 1990: LOV at 10, Home at 10:30, AMC at 11, local news at 12, The People's Court at 12:30, OLTL at 1 and GH at 2. (Sally got promoted to the post-GMA slot at 9, while Donahue moved to 4 p.m.) KWTV 9 (CBS) In both instances, TPIR at 10, Y&R at 11, news at 12, B&B at 12:30, ATWT at 1, GL at 2, Oprah at 3, a game at 4 (syndicated versions of The Newlywed Game, then Family Feud) and Jeopardy! at 4:30. The syndicated Wheel of Fortune had the prized pre-prime time slot of 6:30 p.m. both years.

Thanks for the bump, @kalbir. I should do some more research, see if there's a few more goodies out there.

One more for the what-if pile: Edge premiering at 3:30 on ABC. The OLTL/GH order flip-flop happens sooner, and really, if you wanted to keep the game show The Neighbors, plug it in at 4. I'm just trying to figure out the ripple effect if/when everybody extended to an hour. (In this scenario, the 45-minute experiment never happened). 1-2 p.m.: AMC 2-2:30: Either OLTL or GH 2:30-3:30: Either OLTL or GH 3:30-4: EON Of course, both OLTL and GH could expand (which did happen), either pushing AMC to 12:30 and making RH vulnerable much earlier, or EON eventually ending up at 4.