Khan

I guess our current discussion of all things "Valerie"/"Valerie's Family: The Hogans"/"(Just) Valerie's Family"/"The Hogan Family (Valerie Who?)" would be incomplete without posting the show's many, MANY openings in all their late '80's/early '90's glory. (You know the show doesn't have a prayer on CBS when the new opening (featuring John Hillerman) features zero "fun with food" scenes, a Miller/Boyett opening sequence staple, if ever there was one).

I agree. In Sandy Duncan's case, being a successful replacement for Valerie Harper was a vindication of sorts for her, since her own attempt at a sitcom in the '70's seemed doomed by poor scheduling and her own, real-life health problems. She got to be known for more than just "Peter Pan" and those damn Wheat Thins commercials. That's true. Of course, I don't know how interesting one could BE on a Miller/Boyett show. Like, that's asking a lot out of your employers, Miss Harper! (Heartfelt? Maybe. Interesting? Nah, lol).

That's...a tough one, lol. In a way, I think that the role of Greg Foster was tailor-made for James Houghton, or vice-versa; and that Houghton never should've left Y&R, as I don't believe anything he did as an actor afterward was as successful (and yes, that includes playing Kenny Ward, lol). I also think Howard McGillin would've worked out fine as Greg, but I think he came along at a time when Y&R was in a sort of tailspin after the expansion to 60 minutes and subsequent cast defections/overhauls and ratings drop. So much of the show was in flux; and unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time to figure out how McGillin's Greg could fit in with the overhauled cast.

Of course, it could have been just a case of egos clashing - I mean, I've read stories about "Rhoda" rehearsals being tense at times (unlike rehearsals at "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," which were reportedly congenial) - but I do think it's telling how Valerie Harper, an Emmy winner with two other, successful* series under her belt, might have been the only leading actor not to have the greatest working relationship with Miller/Boyett, despite the insistence from others (Suzanne Somers and Telma Hopkins being two off the top of my head) that they were fabulous to work for. I mean, can you really think of any other actor with a similar track record who went anywhere near M/B, let alone worked successfully with them? Maybe Sandy Duncan, but that's about it. Everyone else who worked with them were B/C-level actors, people who weren't known for doing comedies, or people who just weren't known before their shows. And even though VH wasn't the first to leave an M/B under less-than-ideal circumstances, I don't think M/B went out of their way to trash a departing actor's reputation as much as they went out of their way to trash hers - to the point where, according to Harper herself, she and her husband had Carol Burnett (!) watch some footage of their show for the arbitrator and testify that, contrary to M/B's claims, Valerie couldn't have been intoxicated or some-such while rehearsing on the set. (*Okay, "Rhoda" imploded after S2, but it managed to run for 101 episodes nevertheless.)

I think what helped "Sisters" a lot was that, even though they always landed among the middle of the pack in terms of overall viewership, they still managed to grab a sizable portion of the audience that was female, urban and presumably upscale on a night when that type of viewer wasn't expected to be home watching television. (Sort of like with "St. Elsewhere": not a lot of viewers, but those who did watch spent an awful lot of money, lol).

IMO, Ted Bessell was cast for one reason and one reason only: for the meta joke of Mary Richards (or Laura Petrie) getting Ann Marie's guy. I agree that Mary's second apartment didn't have the peculiar charm of her first, but I also think having her change apartments at that point in her life - when she was promoted to producer and presumably making more money - made sense. More sense than if she had remained at her first place even after "making it after all." Conversely, look at the original "One Day at a Time": Ann Romano seemed to do better professionally every season - going from working (as a secretary/assistant?) at Connors & Davenport, to being promoted to creative director, to launching her own ad agency with Nick, to launching another one with Francine after Nick's untimely death - yet, she stayed in the same, cheap apartment all nine seasons, for the sake of continuity (and, of course, for Schneider, lol).

Honestly, having watched Valerie Harper in so many other things since the first time I watched her in "Valerie," I'm not sure she and Miller/Boyett ever would've been a good fit. As I've said, M/B kept their focus squarely on kids and families; and while I wouldn't classify VH as edgy, I do think her comedic style was more appropriate for older and more intelligent audiences.

By definition, most Miller-Boyett shows were cheesy, as if all they had learned from working with Garry Marshall were the wacky supporting characters, the annoying catchphrases and the tender "family moments" with their hug-and-learns (tm Larry David/Jerry Seinfeld). They weren't playing for the "Cheers"/"Newhart" crowd; they went strictly for the kids who wanted to see Urkel every week; and their parents, who just wanted to know their kids weren't watching something that had foul language or had boobies and butts cluttering up the screen.

I can't remember - did "Alice" air the same night as "M*A*S*H"?

I can see why! With the exceptions of "Cosby," "Cheers" and "Murder, She Wrote," just about all my favorite shows from that period had a bad week, lol.

Wasn't it Don Chastain who explained Billie Lou Watt's departure by writing that Ellie had run off with some cook off-screen?

Wait, "St. Elsewhere" is still on Hulu? I don't blame you for bouncing, @All My Shadows . After all, the idea behind "cutting the (cable) cord" was to spare yourself the outrageous monthly bills. Now, it seems, subscribing to all these different streamers has become as expensive as cable; and with Paramount Plus Warner Bros. Discovery* on the horizon, I doubt it'll get any better. IIRC, the producers added Mary Kay Place and Penny Marshall to the recurring cast as Mary's new neighbors, but the chemistry just wasn't the same. (*I hope they come up with a better name, lol).

True, lol!

Well, when you put it that way, lol. Continuing with the analogies: which personality does THE CITY represent? The "Tommy" side, or the "Tori," lol?

ICAM! And I, too, kept thinking Shout! or some other service would do for PP what they did for "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." I'm with @vetsoapfan : it's a shame that "St. Elsewhere" doesn't appear to be streaming anywhere. Granted, the show had its' issues, especially in the later seasons. But it's still a reminder of when network TV produced dramas that weren't cookie-cutter procedurals that were simultaneously sleazy (dead hookers!) and mundane.

True! And it's remarkable to me, too, how Agnes Nixon set the tone for both shows, despite their contrasting vibes. It's almost as if AMC represented the "Victoria Lord" side of her personality, while OLTL represented the "Niki Smith" side. (Which, I guess, means that LOVING was her "Jean Randolph" showing out, lol?)

You know...all this talk of Dack Rambo has me thinking...what if Jack had been openly gay? I mean, it probably wouldn't have changed anything BTS, but....

All I can say is, you know your show's awful when neither nudity nor the supernatural gets the viewers interested.

They truly did. Perhaps it's just because the videotape is old, but SFT's scenes don't appear to be lit as brightly as the other CBS soaps from that period were, with Y&R being the notable exception. Honestly, John and Stephanie's marriage deserved to die. Stephanie tried to help Jennifer end his marriage to Eunice with that cockamamie rapist/stalker story, and what's her payback? She wins the guy! LOL!

Ah, those Republicans. When in doubt, start a war.

"But, the Barrymores ARE the American theater!"

For me, the ideal team would have been Shelley Curtis as EP (w/ Riche as Executive Consultant) and maybe Sheri Anderson and Thom Racina as HW's.

Thanks, @Errol and @Liberty City , for your explanations! I must admit I find it highly charitable of Amell to "take one for the team," as it were, regarding the failure of "Suits L.A." However, I think the show failed, because TPTB overestimated the demand for "Suits" to return in any form. I read stories about people rediscovering "Suits" on streaming during the pandemic and whatnot, but I always suspected those stories were blowing things out of proportion, making it seem as if more people were falling in love (or falling in love again) with the original series than there actually were.

Apparently, RKK is JFP's favorite kind of actor: the kind whose behavior toward women borders on the criminal. (Get help, Jill!)

I agree. They might've been able to get away with bad stories and no budget - God knows FC had survived through seasons of the former! - but Ana-Alicia had proven herself to be a real asset to the show. She provided a lot of continuity for longtime fans and she could hold her own with the Big Three (Angela/Jane Wyman, Chase/Robert Foxworth and Richard/David Selby), too. Even just sending her away to a sanitarium for most of S8 and allowing her to return later, at a critical point in the story, would've helped save some money and hold onto the audience as well.