GLATWT88

45 minutes ago, JAS0N47 said:

MAJOR UPDATE ON DAYTIME RATINGS...

 

Another big update for Nielsen ratings fans...I can now confirm that all but 10 weeks (for the time being) will be available for November 1987-September 1989. This time frame bridges perfectly into when the weekly charts started being published in Soap Opera Weekly, which are already available online. There are also 3 weeks that will still be missing from October 1989-January 1990.

 

So, with this update, daytime fans will now have access to ALL weekly Nielsen data from July 1979-Present except for 14 weeks (1 from 1981, 7 from 1987, 5 from 1989, 1 from 1990).

That's incredible! Thank you so much for your work.

1 hour ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

According to Schemering 1977-1978 AW was 2nd with an 8.6/28 share where ATWT was 1st with an 8.6/31 share. The Lemay years were known for good ratings. What makes you think they were fixing it? It wasn't broken. 

72-73 3rd 9.7/33

73-74 2nd 9.7/32

74-75 2nd 9.7/31

75-76 2nd 8.9/30

76-77 2nd 9.0/29

77-78 2nd 8.6/28

78-79 BOOM 8th 7.5/25 Mar. 5th '79 1st 90 min. show. 

It wasn't broken. They broke it with Silverman's cockamamie idea! 

It didn't help that AW was scheduled in direct competition to OLTL and GH right as the ABC lineup was blowing up in popularity. This was only worsened by GL changing its timeslot to also directly compete with AW. GL was performing well around this time. 

AW had the benefit of only facing direct competition from ABC (OLTL/GH) from 1973-1977 as no CBS soap was programmed against it during these years. Around this time OLTL and GH were mid-ranking soaps and not too much of a threat to AW. As GH became a cultural phenomenon and the ABC lineup rose to dominance, it may have attracted even some of the more loyal and curious AW fans over. Around the same time GL expands to an hour and is now also in direct competition with AW. GL was bringing in pretty solid numbers around this time and for a few years after. So in 1978, not only is AW going through some creative changes, it is also facing massive competition from OLTL and GH and to boot has a CBS soap programmed against it as well. 

4 hours ago, JAS0N47 said:

Incredible numbers for Guiding Light!

The clearance for LOL is awful. 

19 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

Thank you for your analysis. I began thinking about gross numbers of soaps & specifically remembering when we had 19 soaps & later when we had 14 soaps. Of course the network expansion made a huge difference, although I'm not sure it was a good difference. 

 

That's when I think the first grievous error in canceling was made. I think 5 NY soaps should still be on the air - AW, ATWT, GL, AMC & OLTL. Of course, they'd be very different. 

 

And it was predictable that viewership would fall & it fell in primetime, too. The only hope was that the soaps would do something to make a difference in the predictability, like reinventing themselves, again. 

My criticisms of the 2 soaps I watch are all in the Writing, although one is their use of personnel but you could call it all about story-telling. 

I assume networks thought it was a safer bet to expand soaps that were working instead of filling a slot with a new soap that might potentially fail. I wonder what the cost difference is for running an hour long soap vs 2 half hour soaps. I always hoped that GL would have reverted to half an hour before it got to the Peapack era. ATWT could have done the same and both could have filled an hour time slot. Same could have been done for OLTL and AMC. 

25 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

54 yrs ago, in 1969, there were 19 soaps on the air.

1976 there were 15.

1989 there were 12.

2005 there were 9.

2007 there were 8.

2009 there were 7.

2010 there were 6.

2011 there were 5.

2012 there were 4.

That's what happened. That's where we are. I think many soap fans would agree that there's something seriously wrong with soaps today. I think it's that the stakes are so incredibly high. Enough wrong decisions & another one could be canceled.

I think our soap leadership is terrified. I can hardly imagine that they would not be. So, who is the most courageous? Josh Griffith? Bradley Bell? Frank Valentini? Ken Corday?

In 1969, there were 19 soaps that accounted for 9.5 hours of daytime programming. In 1976, those 15 soaps still accounted for 9.5 hours of programming because several soaps increased their runtime. In fact, the 12 soaps in 1989 were probably the most soap opera programming in daytime ever (based on time) as all 3 networks had 3.5 hours of soap programming each day, a total of 10.5 hours of soap opera programming in daytime. From 1991-1999, soaps made up 10 hours of programming each day (as NBC never returned to 3.5 hrs after Generations was cancelled and ABC continued it's half hour with Loving, The City, and PC). In 2005, there were 8.5 hours of soaps each day and just 2 years earlier in 2003 there was 9 hours. We all know what ends up happening between 2007 - 2011. I think the shift in soap programming began in the 1999 with AW's cancelation and NBC opting for only two hours of programming. Then ABC getting rid of its half hour block in 2003. With Passions gone in 2007 and NBC holding on to a single hour, the other networks soon followed the trend. But it wasn't all necessarily the networks fault, viewership has continued to free fall. 

I honestly think storytelling sucks in daytime right now. Since COVID i have tried to get back into soaps and not a single one has enticed me to continue watching beyond a day or two. Even in the 2000s soaps had more excitement and allure. I honestly watch GH, DAYS, YR, and BB and I can't get into any of it. It's like nothing is happening and nothing about any of it reads soap. The odd thing is that many of these soaps have tried to evolve to feel less like soap operas (imo) but are telling stories that are formulaic and played out. So you lose the soap feel, and get tired storylines on top of that. 

On 7/3/2023 at 6:17 PM, antmunoz said:

The tribute episode with Beth Ehlers as Irna Phillips was the standout. 
 

Such a great standalone episode and so well done.

2 hours ago, JAS0N47 said:

When things slow down, I can find any specials that you want the ratings for. 

Here are that week's list:

Daytime Specials: Week of 3/3/80-3/7/80:

ABC Afterschool Special 430-530PM Wednesday 10.5/26

NBC Special Treat 4-5PM Tuesday 9.3/24

CBS Library 4-5PM Tuesday 7.9/22

CBS Magazine 10-1054AM Thursday 3.1/15

 

 

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 11/24/80-11/28/80 & 12/1/80-12/5/80:

 

GL at #2. Looked up what was happening that week and found the following summary if anyone else is curious:

Holly left with Christina for Switzerland and told Ed she was getting out of his way for the sake of his and Rita’s happiness.  Tim was arrested for drunk driving and later jumped on Kelly for blabbing to Sara.  Elizabeth took Phillip from Justin and Jackie for Thanksgiving.  Andy urged Barbara to go into the restaurant business to get over the shock of Adam and Sara’s planned wedding.  Rita accused Ed of blaming her for Holly’s departure.  Chet drew a sketch of Jane Marie to aid in the search for her.  Ben decided to be a witness for Jennifer’s defense, but couldn’t face telling Amanda.  Diane got fed up with Joe when he insisted that the tapes are missing.  Alan told Rita he will surprise Hope with a Christmas vacation to their deserted island.

Incredible weeks for YR and SFT. 

Yikes, NBC at the bottom. Only Days beat out Edge, and just barely on that second week. GL staying strong against massive GH. 

40 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

I realize GH loves that pool set and wants to use it all summer, but the character meet-ups there are all kinds of hilarious, especially when they're dressed for anything but swimming.

 Tracy, Martin, and Diane in full business attire at the pool. I feel like it would work if it was an outdoor beach club vibe with tables and a bar/cafe. People could be out and about or stepped away from the office, but otherwise it does look a bit silly with Martin lounging on a chair by a pool in a button down and pants. 

Do we have any idea what the budget is like at GH these days? GH is currently pulling in GL Peapack numbers in terms of total viewers and less than half of the 18-49 numbers GL was pulling at the end. Obviously, 2023 is a completely different TV landscape and producing a soap in LA vs NYC has different expenses, but GH is still looking decent as far as sets and production. They also have quite a large cast. Any figures out there?

32 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Yes, that was the Inside the Light that GL did 2006-2007. GL ran those episodes every Wednesday. If I recall right they chose that day because Wednesdays were typically the lowest rated episodes of the week. Originally dedicated to character spotlights, there was some fun ones like the Mothers Day special that brought back Nadine, Jenna, and Sarah Shayne as ghosts. However some of them were crammed filled with stories/events that should have been expanded out more, like Ross’ death & funeral and Springfield Burns.  The majority of them were typically boring, often were weird, and not entertaining in anyway at all as much as they show tried.
 

Unfortunately with the advent of the Peapack era it seemed everyday became a Wednesday.
 

 

Wow, it just all seems like a blur now. Might have to revisit some of these, especially the Mothers Day episode. I caught a bit of the one titled The Law and A.C. is on some reality type show being followed by a camera on a sting operation. I'm honestly surprised they even had a police precinct set at this time. In my mind things looked more bleek, but I guess even compared to a few years earlier it probably did at the time. I may also been thinking about how bad things got in '07. My memory has gotten a bit hazy. 

Didn't know what to watch when I got home today and ended up down a GL rabbit hole on YouTube. I was all over the place, but I noticed there were a few 2006 episodes that have episode titles at the beginning of the episodes and almost serve as standalone episodes. I don't remember this at all even though I was watching at the time. Was this something new GL was trying at the time? 

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

Jamie was killed three times. Twice in the dream season and once in the following season which happened off screen. All we got was Sue Ellen yelling Oh no when the call of her death was revealed. After the lawsuit..I don't think they knew what to do with Jamie.

As for Jack @GLATWT88 @Jagger1966.....Dack Rambo said he and Larry Hagman did not get along the first two seasons. It got worse when Patrick Duffy returned. He accused Larry of having him fired in 1987. 

Dack said Larry didn't like him because of his bisexuality.

I know Dack passed less than a decade after leaving the series, but have any other details surfaced? Do you remember where Dack shared this information? Did Larry ever respond to these claims? 

Did Jamie die twice in the dream season? 

20 minutes ago, Jagger1966 said:

It was odd that Jack was written out after his ex-wife April came aboard but it was no surprise that Jamie was.  I don't know why the show wanted her gone so badly but someone obviously did.  That poor thing was killed off TWICE! 

I know! I always think that they tried to get rid of her once but she was saved simply because the whole season was a dream and then she's killed off again. 

With all the departures in season 10, I don't understand why they didn't hold on to Jamie and Jack. They were Ewings and being torn between Ewing and Barnes lines. Jamie had a romantic connection with Cliff which blurred the line of loyalty she had to either side. Jack had a stake in Ewing which was compromised by April coming into the picture. It would have kept the feud going with both Ewings and Barnes in several directions. 

14 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

Phyliss & Kendall

 

Awww! This is sweet.

Do we have any info or stats regarding how Days is doing over on Peacock?

16 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

After what occurred on the upcoming season of RHUGT, Caroline will never darken Bravo's door again. And thank God to that! Caroline was always a dud to me. Plus, I grew tired of her stories always being her pimping her sons' latest quick rich scheme. 

Regarding the cast, I'd keep everyone and dump Melissa. I'd given Jenn Fessler Melissa's spot. Meanwhile, I might be nice and bump Jackie up to be the 8th wife, but Laura would be the official friend of the season. Why? B/c it is time for Marge to be in the hot season one season. It is long awaited. 

 

RHOA:

In the word of Nene, "You riding on the wrong team." And boy is Sanya on the losing team. I don't see how anyone with a straight face can defend Marlo's antics. Sanya is well on her way to falling on the sword and being iced out. Meanwhile, Marlo and Sheree will skate by and get another season. 

I am so happy Drew, Kenya, and Kandi stood firm and dragging Marlo tonight. Marlo is a heinous beast for using her deceased nephew in some twisted story that doesn't even make sense. Pure clownery. 

Omg, what?! One of the nephews she took in and was caring for passed? I've had a rough time getting into RHOA these past two seasons. It used to be one of my can't miss franchises, but I'm not feeling these new girls. 

8 hours ago, Broderick said:

It happened kinda slowly.  Sue Ellen was pregnant with John Ross over several episodes in the 1978/1979 season.

There was a short-term arc about Pam's pregnancy that culminated in that tear-jerker "Lost Child" episode, in which Pam lost her baby and Bobby's little sidekick-boy moved to Wyoming.  

They were beginning to do more and more "two-part" episodes in 1979/1980 that concluded with "to be continued ...", including the episode in which Digger Barnes died after admitting he'd killed Hutch McKinney years before.  

By the very end of the 1979/1980 season, in "A House Divided", they'd pretty much decided they were a true continuing drama.  

Thanks, seems like it was a gradual build. I wonder how I would feel revisiting those episodes. If it at all feels rushed. 

On 6/12/2023 at 9:41 PM, Soapsuds said:

Nielsen Ratings: Week Ending February 7, 1988

 

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the 20th week of the 1987-88 television broadcast season. The chart below includes viewership and household (HH) ratings for every broadcast program that aired during the week.

Broadcast ratings:

Show	Net	Viewers (millions)	HH Rating	HH Share
Monday, February 1, 1988
ALF	NBC	29.8	18.0	26
Kate & Allie	CBS	19.2	13.7	20
MacGyver	ABC	16.4	12.9	19
Valerie's Family	NBC	27.6	16.0	24
Frank's Place	CBS	16.9	11.4	17
Newhart	CBS	23.2	15.6	23
Weekend War	ABC	20.1	14.9	24
Flashdance	NBC	19.1	13.5	22
Designing Women	CBS	22.5	16.3	25
Wiseguy	CBS	14.6	11.1	19
Tuesday, February 2, 1988
Who's the Boss?	ABC	31.4	22.3	32
Matlock	NBC	25.7	18.4	27
48 Hours	CBS	11.9	8.9	13
Growing Pains	ABC	31.2	22.5	33
Moonlighting	ABC	27.9	21.4	32
Hunter	NBC	21.6	15.0	22
Jake and the Fatman	CBS	15.5	11.8	18
thirtysomething	ABC	17.7	15.3	26
Crime Story	NBC	16.9	13.7	23
Cagney & Lacey	CBS	17.6	13.6	23
Wednesday, February 3, 1988
Perfect Strangers	ABC	22.5	17.1	27
Highway to Heaven	NBC	21.6	15.5	24
The Law and Harry McGraw	CBS	13.1	8.4	13
Head of the Class	ABC	22.6	17.8	28
Hooperman	ABC	19.7	16.4	25
Kate & Allie	CBS	18.3	12.7	20
A Year in the Life	NBC	15.3	12.3	19
The `Slap' Maxwell Story	ABC	16.3	13.8	21
Frank's Place	CBS	16.5	12.2	19
Dynasty	ABC	15.5	14.9	24
Smothers Brothers	CBS	20.5	14.6	24
St. Elsewhere	NBC	15.5	13.4	22
Thursday, February 4, 1988
The Cosby Show	NBC	46.5	32.3	47
Firefox	ABC	17.3	12.9	20
Political Broadcast	CBS	7.7	4.9	7
A Different World	NBC	40.7	27.8	41
Bugs Bunny Valentine	CBS	13.1	7.7	11
Cheers	NBC	33.5	24.9	37
Simon & Simon	CBS	14.6	11.9	18
Letterman Special	NBC	23.6	19.3	31
Knots Landing	CBS	20.1	16.5	27
Friday, February 5, 1988
Wrestling	NBC	23.7	15.2	25
Beauty and the Beast	CBS	21.0	13.9	23
Full House	ABC	18.1	12.5	21
Mr. Belvedere	ABC	18.7	12.6	20
Dallas	CBS	24.9	18.6	30
Miami Vice	NBC	22.9	14.1	23
The Thorns	ABC	11.6	8.6	14
Sledge Hammer!	ABC	11.7	8.3	13
Unsolved Mysteries	NBC	22.7	14.8	26
Falcon Crest	CBS	19.5	14.7	25
20/20	ABC	16.8	11.4	20
Saturday, February 6, 1988
The Facts of Life	NBC	22.9	16.5	27
High Mountain Rangers	CBS	17.4	11.7	19
Dolly	ABC	19.6	11.5	19
227	NBC	26.6	17.3	28
The Golden Girls	NBC	37.6	24.6	39
Houston Knights	CBS	13.4	10.0	16
Ohara	ABC	13.1	8.8	14
Amen	NBC	29.8	20.7	34
Bloopers & Jokes	NBC	29.5	21.3	37
For Hire	ABC	16.4	11.2	20
West 57th	CBS	10.5	7.6	13
Sunday, February 7, 1988
60 Minutes	CBS	27.3	21.3	33
Disney Movie	ABC	21.8	13.6	20
Our House	NBC	18.1	11.0	17
Murder, She Wrote	CBS	29.9	21.5	31
Family Ties	NBC	25.2	16.6	24
My Two Dads	NBC	20.7	14.7	21
Elvis & Me, Part I	ABC	32.4	23.9	35
Windmills of the Gods	CBS	22.0	19.0	28
Rambo	NBC	21.1	15.5	23

Didn't realize that Beauty and the Beast was on the same night as Dallas and Falcon Crest. 

And those Cosby ratings are insane. I can't even imagine a TV show on broadcast pulling in half those viewers on a weekly basis anymore. 

I believe Joe and Melissa are lying about Gia. That left side was just throwing anything hoping it would stick and for all the receipts they brought, they produced nothing credible. 

Louie is weird. I am not team Louie and my lord do I want to smack him when he does his little handshake at the end of these reunions. You all just talked smack to each other for hours, cut the bullshit and forget about shaking anyone's hand who just accused you of the most vile [!@#$%^&*]. It doesn't make you look like the better person. That said, I don't believe he contacted Fuda's ex. John wanted a moment and he had it. Plain and simple. 

Joe and Melissa claim to be done with Teresa all season to the point they skip her wedding. Soon as Teresa says she's done and wants nothing to do with them, they're on WWHL saying it's not done, it's never done and on the reunion they say they love her and care about her. As if it wasn't already obvious they need Teresa for a paycheck. 

The cast needs a refresh. I honestly can't tell you what Melissa, Margaret, or Dolores' storylines were this season. Danielle and Jen's storylines were also weak. We had one therapy session with the Aydins and Danielle crying about her relationship with her brother but giving us some bs reason as to why they stopped talking. 

I know this may be unpopular, but I think Caroline should come back. I would have never said this before as I am not a fan. However, Teresa opened the door when she "apologized" to Caroline at the reunion. Also, there is so much unresolved issues between Teresa and Caroline that could be hashed out. Similarly, Caroline has a connection to Dolores and Danielle. 

It's a shame Jacqueline and Dina live so far. Not that Dina would return anyway, but to have those four back to do some healing would be great. 

I remember when Joan Van Ark joined YR, my first reaction was that she hadn't aged as gently as some of the other primetime soap ladies. I think because she's quite thin, it does tend to age her a bit more on top of some of the work she's had done. 

I do think Linda is looking great as well. 

On 6/17/2023 at 4:05 AM, Paul Raven said:

As discussed before they burned through a lot of story in the self contained episodes. A lot of those plots could have been multi ep arcs.

When did Dallas officially switch over to multi-episode arcs? 

I've watched the earlier seasons but can't really place when it officially happened. 

4 hours ago, te. said:

Mandy and JRs first time was very rapey.

 

We almost need a thread about the whole "Woman overtaken by passion" trope that Dallas and similar soaps often tried to present.

I just watched it recently and my first thought was well that wouldn't fly on TV today. 

47 minutes ago, Liberty City said:

Same.  I liked her in the role; I couldn't have imagined Morgan Fairchild long-term in the role.  If anything, she would've been a limited pop-in every so often to stir things up for Bobby & Pam.

I agree. I don't know if Morgan Fairchild's interpretation of Jenna would have meshed with the other characters as well as Presley's. Presley's came across as likeable whereas Fairchild's had a more self-serving and manipulative edge. 

3 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

Once Bobby and Pam reunited in Swan Song, Jenna had outlived her usefulness. Priscilla Presley has her finest moment as Jenna in the scene at Lucy’s wedding where she lets Bobby go (“I really would understand if things weren’t the same.”) The whole situation is soap opera at its best:

• Pam is willing to sacrifice her happiness for Jenna’s sake (she tells Bobby that he is obligated to marry Jenna after her release from prison).
• Jenna is willing to sacrifice her happiness for Bobby’s sake.
• Bobby sacrifices his life for Pam.

There was no reason for Jenna to hang around an additional three seasons after this. She had served her purpose. The Presley version of Jenna simply wasn’t built to be a character in her own right; she was merely a plot device to keep Pam and Bobby apart.

I personally loved the direction of Jenna and Jack. Even if Bobby returned for season 10 (awaking from a coma) it would have been interesting to see him struggle with wanting to be with Pam, but not being able to see Jenna with someone else. Would have been an interesting dynamic to explore since Jack also had a stake in Ewing Oil.