Khan

DALLAS always wanted to be a modern-day Arthurian saga, and that promo does a very fine job of suggesting as much without overselling.

Perhaps you're right. As far as the thirty-minute, non-Bell-produced soaps go, I think CAPITOL had one of the stronger pitches: the saga of two of Washington, D.C.'s most prominent families, linked together by history and star-crossed romance. There, you have the multi-generational, family drama, set against the backdrop of U.S. politics, with romance and intrigue of all sorts implied. Even if the actual show often came up short, the whole "the passion for power...the power of passion" motif still encouraged the uninitiated at least to sample it. Again, as I've said before, all GENERATIONS seemed to be saying was, "Hey, Blacks are people, too!".

As James Burrows (?) once said, the beauty about the "Cheers" opening is how it gave you the impression of the bar as a place you'd want to hang out at every week; when, in fact, the bar was filled with miserable folks who often ridiculed and insulted each other. Yet, because of the theme song, everyone still remembers the bar as The Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name. Ironically, I think if you were to strip away the "whites vs. blacks" angle, switch out some of the other visuals with those like what we saw on "Cheers," but otherwise kept the theme as it was/is, the concept behind the GENERATIONS theme/opening would have fit much better on RYAN'S HOPE, showing how the bar, the family that owns it and its' regulars have been constants through decades of tumultuous change. Much more appropriate for that show, I think, than RH's actual openings (which didn't even feature the bar!). And the thing is, all TPTB needed to do was to bring back/update the "Autumn Breeze" opening, with an ambulance speeding past present-day GH. It still works on so many levels. It can be brief, which is a plus in a day and age that's all about squeezing in more time for ads; there aren't any cast member shots, so no need to update or rotate every contract cycle (which saves money!); and it can evoke all sorts of emotions for viewers both longtime and new. Even an opening like DAYS' hourglass opening still works, because of what it conjures up for the audience: family, tradition, high romance, DRAMA!!! The DAYS of 2023 is a far, far cry from the DAYS of 1965, but that theme and opening provides some sense of continuity to the show, serving as a bridge of sorts between "old" and "new." (If only they had kept the version of the theme song that played during the "Melaswen" arc....). GENERATIONS was a show that was CRYING OUT for a theme song performed by Jeffrey Osborne or Patti Austin, not an "Entertainer" soundalike. On the one hand, I feel sorry for Sally Sussman, who had to watch her creation die a quick, ignoble death. But, on the other hand, I don't think NBC was so reticent about the show because of its' integrated canvas. I think that tells only part of the story behind their decision to axe the show after only two years. If it had been better made, by people who had had a stronger track record for that type of soap (like, say, Agnes Nixon?), I think NBC would have stuck it out a little longer and weathered whatever controversies came their way. But, the fact is, I think the network recognized right away that they had been sold a bill of goods - I mean, really, Sally, the main (African-American) family on your show runs an ice cream company??? - and just looked for the first opportunity to bail without it looking as if they were dumping it because half the cast happened to be Black.

Exactly. The opening theme and visuals did not match the show's content at all. Even promos for GENERATIONS (created by NBC's own ad department!) could be misleading. As one poster mentioned eons ago, the writing for the African-American characters was often "safe" and bland. Yet, the promos suggested that the show, and its' AA contingent, had more "soul" than "Soul Train"! I also agree that making the Marshalls the proprietors of a chain of ice cream parlors was a stupid idea. I mean, who the [!@#$%^&*] CARES about an ice cream company? If I had created GENERATIONS, I think I would've been inspired to make the family business either "Marshall Communications," which would have been a conglomerate of newspapers, TV and radio stations throughout the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions; or a company that manufactured hair care products and cosmetics for the so-called "urban market" (sort of a Black Jabot, if you will).

The Dobsons' return didn't help either. They wanted to pretend the past 2-3 years hadn't happened, but SaBa was too far gone.

I didn't think there was anything wrong with the premise of Bobby returning home with his father's nemesis's daughter as his new bride. I just think they should've followed through with their original plan to kill him off and make Pam, as his widow, the chief protagonist against J.R.

So, Victor Newman gets the upper hand on Barbara Ryan. It's like I'm having some sort of acid freakout and all these CBS Daytime stars are merging into one show. What's next? Will Dr. Ed Bauer from GL tend to Nick's paper cut of a wound?

Part of me can't stop laughing at the notion of OTT Jordan hiding inside the air vents like the villain in a Lifetime Original Movie. Of course, Michael did the same thing when he was stalking Crick --, er, Christine, but it wasn't nearly as silly as Jordan.

The thing about Bill Bell was, most of the time, whenever a particular story wasn't working, and he knew better than anyone when a story wasn't working, he'd drop it ASAP and move on. Very rarely did he keep pursuing something that wasn't clicking either with himself or with his audiences.

It depends on when NBC announced that they were cancelling AW. If the announcement was made after the show had fired Littlefield, then the show probably realized it wouldn't make sense to recast, knowing they had only so much time left before the finale, so they effectively re-hired him. Anyway, that's my guess.

Well, that's important to know, because if I had been in David Paulsen's shoes, I would've negotiated some way for her to return - if not for the full season, then at least for part of it.

I think Wings Hauser and David Hasselhoff should have switched roles, with Hauser playing Snapper and Hasselhoff playing Greg.

The best opening sequences give you a sense of the show you're about to watch. The openings for the Bell shows, for example, really push the notions of youth, glamour, vitality. You know you're gonna watch beautiful people suffer beautifully. GH's classic opening, with the ambulance speeding past the hospital, lets you know that their show is about action and excitement. Even if the actual show has little to nothing to DO with medical drama anymore, the opening still keeps you on the edge of your seat. But what does GENERATIONS' opening really tell you about the show, other than blacks are people, too? It doesn't evoke anything other than an AP History lesson. They could have followed RYAN'S HOPE's lead and just showcased both black and white characters cavorting around the streets of Chicago and it would've given the audience a better sense of the show.

I agree. I think they would have incorporated an oblique reference or two to the tragedy, with characters mentioning it briefly in dialogue; but aside from the one-year anniversary tribute that you've mentioned, @Mona Kane Croft, I don't see them incorporating the actual event into ongoing stories.

I agree. Also: fans have the patience to sit through a story that unfolds slowly, but not if the story is told badly.

Again, ratings were dropping across the board for all soaps. Apparently, TPTB didn't take that into account.

I agree. Instead of feeling sorry for Claire, I want her to (be exposed as a fraud and then) disappear (and take her "aunt" with her). It's as if the man is afraid CBS and/or Sony will interfere, so he's telling stories as fast as he can before they get the chance. "Yeah, Josh, about this Claire being Eve business -- " "Too late! It's already wrapped up and now she's moved onto having Chance's baby!"

Yes. IIRC, Carl noticed the scars while laying in bed with "Rachel" and realized she was Justine.

I'm not saying Bill Bell wouldn't have had someone poison all the Newmans simultaneously...but I am saying he would've taken more time to build up to it. A LOT more time.

I'd say the transition was seamless for the most part. After all, Kay Alden had been with Y&R since 1974, so she knew the show. Furthermore, even when Bill Bell was still head-writing, she had played such a part in the conception and development of so many storylines that it'd be nearly impossible to tell the difference between her work and his. (Same goes for Agnes Nixon and her protégé at AMC, Wisner Washam. Washam officially became HW in 1981, but reports suggest that Washam probably was head-writing with Nixon sooner). Unless you paid attention to the credits, you wouldn't have known when Bill Bell's work officially ended and when hers began. At least, not until the sperm switch. (I won't go into THAT storyline, lol). Personally, I think it was a mistake to bring in John F. Smith when they did. I think Alden was HW'ing the show just fine (again, sperm switch notwithstanding, lol), but I think TPTB panicked when the ratings dropped - never mind that ratings were dropping for all soaps and that Y&R was still number-one - and decided she needed a Co-HW. And I think it was an even bigger mistake when then-CBSD president (or vice-president) Barbara Bloom had Lynn Marie Latham to join them. At least Smith (and Bern/Jones) had had a long history with Y&R, so they knew the show like Alden did. But LML had no prior relationship with Y&R, nor was Y&R ever her kind of show. Anyone who'd seen her work on other shows - BERRENGER'S, KNOTS LANDING, HOMEFRONT, PC, etc - could've told the network as much. Her hiring was truly the moment when Y&R fell from grace.

Never say never!

Maybe next year, Lifetime could do a "Ladies of the '70's" movie with women like Lynda Carter, Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith.

I've always believed that the best way to know how to write/produce/direct a show like Y&R was to go back and watch the kind of glossy melodramas that the studios made in the '50's: not just the films that Douglas Sirk made for Universal - "All That Heaven Allows," "Magnificent Obsession," "Written on the Wind" - but also films like "Peyton Place," "Love is a Many Splendored Thing," "Cash McCall," "Executive Suite," "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit," "A Summer Place," etc.

Wow, @Franko, thank you for gathering all that information! Looking at those stats, it seems Gloria Monty's second EP'ing stint at GH was an even bigger disaster than I remembered. For example, just 3-4 months after the Eckerts were introduced, Fred and Angela, the patriarch and matriarch of the family, were written out; and less than five months after Nancy was introduced, SHE was killed off! Unless those quick exits had been the plan all along, I'd say either Monty or the network recognized right away that her new vision for the show was all wrong.

I agree. Even Mondays wouldn't have worked, because of "Monday Night Football." ABC would have needed to push back DYNASTY to January; and in 1989, that kind of programming was unheard of on American TV. I have a feeling that if ABC had renewed DYNASTY for another season, the budget would have been slashed to ribbons. Even fewer exterior scenes than there had been in S9, and probably more off-the-rack wardrobe, too. (Bye-bye, Nolan Miller originals!) Moreover, Linda Evans was already gone and Joan Collins had made it clear she would not be back. John Forsythe probably would have returned, if only to maintain some continuity. But the main cast would have been down to him, John James, Emma Samms, Gordon Thomson, Heather Locklear (because, after all, you need some "eye candy" for the men to look at, lol), Stephanie Beacham and Tracy Scoggins. If the rumors about Diahann Carroll returning for S10 had been true, that would have made eight regular cast members. Unless the plan was to lean heavily on recurring/supporting players who could be paid less, it would have been a very, very thin cast.