GLATWT88

@JAS0N47 If possible, would you be able to post the demos for GL for the weeks of 12/16-20/1985 and 12/30/1985 - 1/3/1986. The week between Christmas and NYE give all the soaps a real boost each year and I'm curious to see who is making up these numbers. GL in particular tends to perform really well, even this year when its numbers have been mediocre in the weeks leading up to.

ABC and CBS saw significant drops this season. NBC was the most stable. Not surprised Capitol saw a drop between ATWT and GL, which lost 1 point and .7 respectively. Even YR was down quite a bit. RH was completely killed off by its move, only to give Loving a slight boost which wouldn't mean much in the long run.

Nice bump for OLTL. Overall numbers have been dipping, but GH and YR remain as the frontrunners

Have you tried searching on Amazon.com for Dallas season 2? You can watch those episodes in the same way free w/ ads. I noticed long ago that Amazon had lumped season 1 and 2 together, but makes no reference or indication of this which can be very confusing - especially for those that aren't familiar with the series. Anyway, you can watch on your computer then switch over to the seasons that are available on your streaming device.

Agree. She did not fit the role, but I can definitely see her as Sue Ellen's mother.

I agree. The numbers Edge was pulling with such modest clearance, it could have definitely faired better with more affiliates. Of course, it is difficult to say how much better, but frustrating that more wasn't done about getting it on affiliates. However, as pointed out it comes down to money and there must have been reasons why...im sure some affiliates had more revenue with local programming at 4 than if they aired EON.

Really? I think it looks like Pam

Seems to have given Loving a boost, but ended up hurting RH even further. Yes, but AMC was in a very different place than those other soaps. I feel YR and AMC would have given each other stiff competition- in fact AMC might have prevented YR from recuperating and growing as quickly especially around that time.

Looks like only the ABC soaps went down (aside from GH), but they were coming off an unsustainable high IMO. DAYS has definitely had an incredible shift.

Yes. Do you feel like Marie Wilson's take on Meg was also very different from Jennifer's? I remember thinking McCouch was so hot at the time, but now in retrospect I may prefer Bloom's looks...lol. Probably off topic but anyway

She was wrong

Both of those periods, although short lived, are also the most hours of daytime TV dedicated to soap operas at 11.5 hours across the Big 3.

With all these streaming platforms, I'm hoping one of them takes a swing at developing a soap opera. It is clear that the model for releasing new content has changed. These platforms are no longer dropping an entire series on the same day, rather choosing to go with a gradual weekly release- which makes good business sense. If someone is really into watching a series, they would have to remain subscribed for three/four months to catch new episodes in real time as opposed to just signing up on the day of release and binging and cancelling. As competition grew, im sure more budget conscious viewers may have subscribed for limited periods to watch a particular series and then cancel instead of maintaining multiple simultaneous subscriptions which is obviously costly. A daily soap that can hold even a modest audience and is cheaper to produce than a 10/12 episode series would be well worth the investment.

Any details on the week of August 27, 1984 for YR. It seemed to be solid leading up to this week, hitting a peak, and then pretty significant drop over the next two weeks. Capitol also had a really good week that week. Also of note that week, Santa Barbara had very significant drop. Even Edge with its low clearance tied in HH. Seems like the Bo and Hope storyline was bringing in the numbers. Location shoot in New Orleans around that time too August 22, 1984: On the famous Oak Alley plantation in New Orleans, Bo and Hope had sex for the first time, with Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack’s “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” playing in the background.

I wonder if the impact of such events would come after they happened rather than on the day they actually aired. While such moments are iconic and memorable, they may spark interest from word of mouth or publications...there was no real way to know they were going to happen. Unlike say weddings or big events, where there was much lead up and more precise timeline in mind.

Yes for sure, but I don't know if the entire lineup was ever as cohesive as say ABC's.

I am interested to see Luke and Laura's impact later on in 1984 when they return for a short stint. Laura's return in late 1983 brought a big spike. The second promo in this clip seems to be around this time either week leading up to

I agree on the RHOBH being contrived and the women wanting to be perceived a certain way on camera. It may not be a popular opinion, but Kyle is not a good housewife...she cares too much about what the audience thinks and this plays a role on how she maneuvers and acts on camera because she wants to be portrayed in a certain light. As seasons went on, Kyle began to demonstrate this more and more, to the point I don't even get why she's there. I think this is a big issue with many of the longstanding housewives shows, because the women know how to play the game, they want to be liked and well received, so you're getting less authenticity and more of a forced persona. There's also more hiding or control of the narrative on their part. All of which makes it less fun to watch.

While I love to see GL so high on that list, beating GH with a low 8s doesn't seem like much of a victory. Seems more like a failure for GH than anything else. GL was easily hitting 8s a few years back, it's finally finding its groove again. Would have been nice to see GL with a 9 again, but still pretty impressive that it beat out its time period competition which it hadn't in a long while. All though, I still hold that it was more impressive how strongly GL performed 78-81 when GH mania was in full force and their ratings were insane. OLTL no longer benefitting from AMC or GH as both have seemed to drop

I totally get what you're saying, but your generalization here makes it seems like one's tastes/preferences are isolated to very specific "flavors" - while the truth is we can like things that might seem as though they are opposites. Some who likes trashy reality TV shows can similarly like hard hitting investigative documentaries. Where I do agree with you is branding and identity...ABC soaps while all different did seem to be geared towards similar audiences. They had elements that carried over to each which gave them a sense of familiarity to anyone who watched the others - especially the trifecta of AMC/OLTL/GH. I also agree that while the CBS soaps exhibited this to a lesser degree, it was still there. That's why I could easily picture someone watching the entire CBS soap lineup or the entire ABC lineup...while the NBC one just didn't feel like it would appeal to the same audiences. Clealry there were many who enjoyed all of them, but on the surface they were catering to very different types of viewers as you mentioned. The issue really stems from NBC not having any long running soap debuts since the 70s. SB and Passions were the longest running new soaps on NBC from 1970s until its demise and neither lasted a decade. It is difficult to build a brand identity this way. Meanwhile the trifecta had been around since AMC's debut and had all that time to figure it out. It also helped that they were ABC's soaps. Meanwhile ATWT and GL had been around forever and YR since the early 70s. Had NBC expanded the Doctors to an hour, had Days and AW follow and potentially allowed one of the fourth soaps - Somerset most likely establish itself - it may have been able to solve this long identity crisis. A crisis which was brought on in large part to it never finding its place in daytime. Apart from a bit of success in the 70s, it began to fall apart and was always looking for something new or different to solve its daytime ratings.

Thank you. I feel like I recall seeing this now but didn't make the connection.

Enjoy! I've only ever seen her at the Sticky and Sweet tour in NYC. Would love to see her again, but when I look at the prices, I'm always a bit hesitant.

So what's the story surrounding this. I've seen it mentioned on this forum a few times that GL supposedly ranked #1 a few weeks in the summer of 1984, but others have pointed out that while GL had surpassed GH, it was not in fact #1. Where did the misinformation originate? Did the message get twisted along the way? I can see how it would be easy to assume that GL was #1 if it beat out GH considering GH was pretty much a powerhouse in the 80s. Is it possible that GL did reach the top?

The rumor going around about a complete ATL reboot is interesting. While I have struggled to follow ATL the past two seasons, it used to be one of my favorite franchises. I don't know if a complete reboot is necessary. I think a Miami style reboot would be better. I honestly think Kandi should go. She doesn't bring anything new IMO. I do like her but she's expensive and I don't think she adds that value back into the show. She had a good run, but I believe her time is up. I haven't been drawn in by Drew or Sanya, but tbf I haven't really watched faithfully these two seasons. I think the cast needs to be refocused around two or three of the girls with a few newbies. I doubt there is much truth to this rumor yet as casting decisions don't happen until after the reunion but the show is definitely in need of a refresh.

No problem. I hope you are safe and not staying in a harmful situation. I know it's not always easy to get out of such things, but there is help out there. I'm very sorry you are in this experience. Let me know if you need to talk.