Khan

I'd say the '80's were evenly divided between CBS and NBC. The latter had the "prestige" shows that attracted buzz and won awards, while the former had the older-skewing shows that were audience pleasers nonetheless. ABC, on the other hand, was really spotty (especially their sitcoms, which tended to be run-of-the-mill) until then-president Brandon Stoddard began pushing for more unique fare, like "The Wonder Years" and "thirtysomething." Agree. Not only was she replacing a very popular (and very notorious) star on a show that was wrought with behind-the-scenes drama, she was also still shaking off the memory of her own, very successful character on "Newhart." In fact, I think that's why they made Alison so unsympathetic: they were trying to make her different from Suzanne AND from Stephanie, but it was just a total misfire.

Hey...

Well, I hear Joss Whedon is free. I'm kidding.

Well, I think that was intentional. Carlene was conceived as a young, naive girl, who was leaving behind her hometown, her family and her ex-husband to make it in the big city. (Sort of a cross between Mary Richards and "Coal Miner's Daughter," if you will.) To me, there was nothing wrong with Julia and Mary Jo taking Carlene under their wing. My bigger concern was that they were making Alison so OTT in her obnoxiousness that they were forgetting that the other ladies (and the audience) were still supposed to like her in the end. As much as Suzanne grated on everyone else's nerves, at the end of the day, they still cared deeply for her, and vice-versa.

Boom.

Sorry if this takes the discussion even further off-topic, but could you imagine Johnny Carson courting the urban demographic like Arsenio Hall did? I mean, I just can't see him bringing on, say, Naughty by Nature or Soundgarden without doubling over with laughter, lol.

She went someplace where Ken Corday couldn't find her.

She was lucky to get time off to watch her stories on the portable TV in the kitchen!

That's the next arc of their journey: after Duke the Bear and the porcelain cat declare their love for each other, the elephant statue will attempt to drive a wedge between them (while wearing a Duke mask, of course). This [!@#$%^&*] better end with Ava being diagnosed with a brain tumor. That's all I'm saying.

Melissa Ordway's just waiting for the Hallmark Channel (or GAC Family) to give her a jingle.

The oral history of "The Arsenio Hall Show," and its' impact, not just on late-night TV, but on pop-culture in general, is another book that's still waiting to be written. True. However, the takeaway here is that, whatever his faults, Arsenio Hall still managed to shake up a part of the TV landscape that, up to that point, had been controlled by one (white, older, conservative) man in particular. Johnny Carson held almost a death-grip on late-night; Arsenio was the one who pried loose some of his fingers.

It never sat well with me either. Look, I'm not saying I was a diehard Arsenio fan -- for God's sake, I was probably the only one who liked "The Pat Sajak Show"! -- but I believe in giving the devil his due. Arsenio's show provided the first, real platform to a demographic (young and urban) that late-night had never served before. In doing so, he also did the impossible: he made Johnny Carson blink. (And don't tell me Arsenio had nothing at all to do with Johnny's retirement. I know better. Johnny saw the writing on the wall, so he got off the stage before he got carried off. Period.) Again, a person of color forever alters the television landscape -- I mean, was a late-night with hip-hop influences and without Carson even fathomable before '92? -- but in the official oral and written histories, he gets nary a mention. Same [!@#$%^&*], different day. Which is ironic, since Phil Rosenthal designed ELR as the kind of sitcom you could see being rerun on Nick-at-Nite for an eternity.

RR always played Alan as if he were still doing dinner theatre with Debbie Reynolds in Florida.

Exactly. I didn't get it either. Remember, too, that was also the period when CBS believed David Letterman could topple "The Tonight Show" before they realized he couldn't. In retrospect, I think they should have courted Arsenio Hall instead, as he was the only one who gave Carson a serious run for his bucks.

Agree. Even before Delta Burke officially left, there were episodes of DW that featured her very little, if at all, and you hardly ever felt the loss. Conversely, Jean Smart's departure really left a hole that the show never came close to filling. To this day, I contend that "The Nanny" was extremely lucky to be on a network that was desperate even for a modest hit. ELR is that rare hit show that nobody ever claims to have watched, lol.

Both true. By the late '80s and early '90's, many of the hit shows that had defined CBS -- the nighttime soaps, the Monday night "Ladies' Night" lineup, the action-heavy shows like "Simon & Simon" and "Magnum, P.I." -- were either gone or about to be gone. Things were looking bleak for the network, with its' only bright spots being its' NFL coverage (which is why losing them at some point during the mid-'90's was considered the biggest blow), its' Sunday night lineup, "Murphy Brown" and maybe "Touched by an Angel." Then, along came a little show called "C.S.I.," and the rest is over-exposed franchise history lol.

Agree. Unfortunately, JH joined at a time when the show was on very shaky ground. They were so preoccupied with weathering the cast departures and building up Julia Duffy as a worthy successor to Delta Burke's antagonist role that poor Jan got lost in the metaphorical shuffle. Carlene never got the attention that she deserved.

Exactly. Those shows -- "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Green Acres," "Mayberry R.F.D.," etc. -- were still doing reasonably well for CBS; however, the perception at that time was that CBS' demographics were becoming too old and too rural, so they had to go. Enter "All in the Family" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

Fantastic! My advice? Appreciate the first three seasons, lower your expectations for S's 4, 5 and 6, and avoid S7 at all costs.

Poor LS. They never get the proper credit for doing the young-professionals-in-the-big-city concept before "Friends" and "Sex and the City." If you haven't done so already, I would suggest googling TC Carson (Kyle) and reading all about his struggles in maintaining dignity with his character against a network and production company that continually tried to paint him as the stereotypical buffoon. It's enough to make you throw something out the old window.

On the one hand, it was an unprecedented feat that will likely never be repeated. On the other hand, I feel like "Hearts Afire" and "Love & War" definitely suffered from structural flaws, which is why it didn't surprise me when both shows were retooled heavily in subsequent years. Yup. Yup.

Yes. If Marcia McCabe were playing Hope, I could see her having good chemistry with either Jay Hammer or Jordan Clarke. True. But, on the other hand, I think Roscoe Born would have made a much better Andy Norris recast.

Good question, but I'm sure the producers, with or without pressure from the network, designed S5 like they did every season with sweeps in mind. It's as if Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and/or her writers didn't know what that week's episode was going to be about, so they'd just start with the four talking about whatever popped into her head. It was her method of stalling until she could think of something to write about.

Aw, but you're gonna miss when Duke finds true love with Lawrence Alamain's porcelain cat! Honestly, even the late Stefano DiMera would have said "Pump the brakes, bruh!" at this point.

The truth is, Joss Whedon is a one-trick pony whose trick wore out a long time ago.