Franko

The Ratings in the '80s thread, particularly the comments about shows not airing or at unusual times in certain markets, has inspired me to start this thread. It's as thorough as we can make it, I guess. A few months ago, I stumbled upon Radio Discussions, which has a lot of vintage, market-specific listings. The only thing that stinks is that they're from certain time periods. I guess I'll have to do some cross-referencing. Everyone's welcome to join, especially those who have specific memories. Certainly something to keep busy with for a while. Anyway ... ABC RYAN'S HOPE -- Did not air on WITI, Milwaukee's ABC station, as of late October 1975. The timeslot (12 p.m. Central/1 p.m. Eastern) was used for news. -- Did not air on WDTN, Dayton's ABC station, as of mid-October 1984. The noon timeslot went to news. -- Aired at 9 a.m., apparently on a delay, on WKRC, Cincinnati's ABC station, as of mid-October 1984. The noon timeslot went to news. GENERAL HOSPITAL -- Did not air on WDTN as of mid-October 1984. The station ran cartoons from 3-5 p.m. THE EDGE OF NIGHT -- Did not air on WDTN as of mid-October 1984, preempted for the cartoon block. -- Aired at 9:30 a.m., apparently on a delay, on WKRC. The 4 p.m. timeslot went to The Dukes of Hazzard. CBS SEARCH FOR TOMORROW -- Did not air on WISN, Milwaukee's CBS station, as of late October 1975. SEARCH's timeslot and the free half-hour following were used for Dialing For Dollars. NBC SEARCH FOR TOMORROW -- Aired at 1:30 p.m. on WLWT, Cincinnati's NBC station, as of mid-October 1984. WLWT took some interesting liberties with NBC's lineup. DOOL in the morning, Sale of the Century at 1 p.m. and Wheel of Fortune at 4. The only network shows not to be jumbled around were Today (obviously), Scrabble, Another World and Santa Barbara. -- Did not air on WKEF, Dayton's NBC station, as of mid-October 1984. The station aired All in the Family. DAYS OF OUR LIVES -- Aired at 10:30 a.m. on WLWT as of mid-October 1984

Part IV. Felicia cuts the crap, Victor's body is found and Duke makes a cameo.

Part III. Ask yourself if Katherine going as Tonto would fly today. Also, she's not really a soap star, but Janis Paige (Aunt Iona) is still with us. I'm still not sure what to make of Anna's outfit. Sexy matron?

How many of us are familiar with James from London, at Soap Chat? He's written many, many insightful commentaries on the '80s super-soaps, then outdid himself with an oral history of Dynasty. It holds together better than I expected. Forgive the intrusion from another site, but, well, here's the story breakdowns for several seasons of YOUNG ALEXIS. Personally, I think it should be a theatrical experience, not unlike the "Spoon River Anthology." http://soapchat.net/threads/the-dynasty-verse-an-oral-history.6952/

Part II. Elizabeth Savage, evidently just before she played Gwyn on LOVING. And I suspect I'm in the minority, but I feel kinda bad for Colton.

Thirty years ago, give or take ... Halloween at Wyndermere. The costumes are across-the-board impressive, but I'm shaking my head at quite a few of them. Like what on earth is Monica supposed to be? I could be mistaken, but I think these were Jane's last episodes before her maternity leave and Christine Jones' temporary run as Tracy. Also, in the battle between Frisco and Colton ... I'll take Scotty.

Miss Ellie's fallible side should have been explored more. On the other hand, the fact that she and Jock never quite reconciled their failings as parents made for some really good drama. The J.R./Miss Ellie scene is a classic, but I also love Jock's reaction at the end of his encounter.

Good point about preemptions and out of pattern timeslots. I stand by my call that CAP is an obvious weak link circa '85-'86, but it does seem like the affiliates played a pretty big role for the shows at the bottom of the heap.

My big takeaway from these recent posts is that a rising tide doesn't lift all ships. CAP really isn't doing as well as you'd expect between ATWT and GL. DOOL's success isn't doing much for SFT, AW or SB. It's like people who watched AMC, OLTL or GH didn't bother to tune in for RH or LOV.

When I was a little boy, I thought Lynn Herring was the prettiest woman in the world. I still think she's attractive. Anna gets a good scene the week later, when she finds Victor's body (well, technically, Robin and her friend did) and Robert begrudgingly lets her make sure he's really dead. It's too late to benefit Duke ... as the scene cuts to Ian Buchanan at a safe house, in turmoil for leaving Anna and Robin.

Yup, you're right (and Google News Archive Search confirmed it) -- the episode aired Thursday, Sept. 4, 1986. My mistake. I was so certain when I heard the voiceover promo. The "It Will Excite You" promo also places the action in the fall -- new graphics and a logical reason for Mac and Rachel to be at odds. They would be/were dealing with the fallout of Mitch's return and Matthew knowing who his dad is.

The voiceover during SFT's credits places that episode as airing on Thursday, May 1, 1986.

Followed, of course, by the patented Edith "Ha!" and mini-spit. She *did* put the kibosh on Ed Grimley, Jr.'s audition as Bela.

Thirty years ago yesterday, Victor Jerome bit the dust.

Woof! And here we go! Bye-bye, EON. I was right, RH was near-instantly hobbled by the switch. SFT seems to have gotten a little bit of a boost. I wonder if it was people who tried Loving and weren't hooked or early tune-ins to DOOL. And over on CBS, Capitol is in the rear, but holding its own pretty well against AW.

One of the things I've always been amused by is just how many hoppers there are. I was here when this thread launched and I sure didn't know we'd be up to 100+ pages. Just beyond Pine Valley, Genoa City, etc., apparently lies Soaplandia. Can't wait to see more!

Ah, thank you for clearing that up. For whatever reason, I was getting the impression these snapshots were meant to show the monthly average.

I'm thinking it would be the entry for Sept. 1984, which I believe corresponds with April 1984. Notice that GL is in second place for the month and within distance of GH.

So, if the January 1985 entry corresponds to (approximately) August 1984, that means that from March 1985 onward, we'll be able to track October 1984 and the effects of the Ryan's Hope/Loving rotation. Look at Y&R pulling ahead there. Related to Victor & Nikki's wedding, I'm guessing. A harbinger of things to come.

In hindsight, it seems like a mistake to burn through a TV-movie's worth of storylines. That could have carried the show for a good couple of months. Also, Roger comes across as a total horndog, reuniting with Ann and then ending up with Merrill in less than two hours.

I'm gonna rule out Marcy just because it was the shortest run. Justin and Marj's performances seem to have had a lot of detractors over the years. I've got nothing against her personally, but let's go with Marj just because she was so, so miscast.

I always like to think early Carla and Sadie are the missing link in this pattern.

EON beginning to circle the drain. Losing more and more affiliates couldn't have helped. Also, seeing the healthy distance between RH and LOV's ratings makes me understand why the former's fans have been so ticked about the upcoming timeslot switch for 35+ years.

@beebs said it best. I'd also like to point out that an unsolicited bibliography? Really?

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and guess GH's higher numbers were related to Genie's temporary return.