Khan

And I agree with all three of you!

IDK about anyone else, but I miss the "CBS Sunday Movie." Even the trashier, more exploitative movies - and let's face it, that was about 95% of 'em - were fun to watch.

Only in the mid-'90's could you have any woman losing her [!@#$%^&*] over Fabio without it seeming ridiculous (and even back then, I wondered what all the fuss was about, lol).

I agree. I mean, if I had been in her shoes, and ABCD had come to me and said, "Please give us another show, we'll give you X amount of dollars and even let you own it," of course I'm going to say "Sure." Frankly, ABCD would've been better off cancelling RH in 1983 (not that that would've guaranteed a successful run for LOVING). RH was already on life support by then; it just took ABCD another six years for them to pull the plug.

I think RH (and EON) would have been affected no matter where ABCD would've put LOVING; and I think that's because ABCD really didn't have the room for another soap, but wanted another Agnes Nixon show so desperately.

Beverlee McKinsey was an Okie, like I am an Okie. Okies say what they mean and mean what they say.

I see your point, @Soaplovers. Angela Lansbury had complained for years about being overworked. Moving to ABC and becoming part of their "mystery movie wheel" series would've allowed her more time off, while simultaneously sparing us from the "bookend episodes," lol.

I agree. It just shows to go you how much the networks underestimate the viewers' intelligence. As if we'd watch two, instantly forgettable shows, simply because they "reunited" Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore on CBS. If anything, viewers wanted Dick and Mary back together on the SAME show, not wasting their time (and ours) on two separate shows everyone knew were god-awful and going nowhere fast.

Don't worry, you weren't, lol. I, too, watched "New York News," but only for MTM. The rest of the show was AWFUL. (MTM was reportedly looking to leave the show, too, when CBS announced it had been cancelled. So, even our Mary knew a dog when she smelled one, lol). Yeah, as far as sitcoms went, "Newhart" was the only success MTM enjoyed in the '80s; and as wonderful as that cast was, it still paled in comparison to MTM's successes in the '70's. On the other hand, Allan Burns' shows - "The Duck Factory," "Eisenhower & Lutz" and "FM" - all were what I'd call "noble failures": pretty good shows that had potential, but were being produced by a company and for networks that weren't all that hot about 'em. I think even Burns himself admitted years later that he had stayed at MTM longer than he should've. If he had moved on when James L. Brooks and others had, he might've had a more successful career in television. I think anything would've been worth a try over "Life with Lucy," lol. But seriously. You're not entirely wrong in your opinion, @Paul Raven. Look at Andy Griffith and Dick Van Dyke: the only successes they had in TV after their respective sitcoms had ended was in mystery shows that were geared toward an older demographic. Frankly, I don't know why anyone has never approached Carol Burnett with the idea of portraying an older, amateur sleuth (with a yen for goofy disguises?) unless playing the same character every week just doesn't appeal to her.

I agree. As @kalbir and others have said, CBS was in third place and struggling. MSW and "60 Minutes" were the only two shows keeping them afloat. Which definitely explains why CBS and Universal even allowed Angela Lansbury to reduce her workload to the point that they had the "bookend episodes" during the sixth and seventh seasons.

No, that's not Rosetta LeNoire.

Y'all laugh, but I'd kill to see Dinah Manoff and Diana Canova back on television, lol.

IDK why, but reading that cracked me up, lol. I agree. I remember Megan McTavish's first stint becoming just one stupid, silly gimmick after another. It was kind of like Bob Guza's work on GH in that she had the good fortune to be surrounded by breakdown and script writers who could make the day-to-day stuff work, even if the stories themselves were idiotic.

LMAO!!

That makes sense, too. Karen would be the type to look out for "her girls" and maybe encourage them to get out of "the life" whenever possible. No, she was meant to be "Kristine Karr," or whoever, Katrina's daughter whom Marco and Karen had switched with Jenny's dead baby in the hospital all those years ago.

Allegedly, during the final weeks or months of OLTL's network run, Frank and/or Ron pitched Judith Light (or her reps) the idea of Karen returning with the news that she and Herb Callison had married in the years both were away from Llanview. If that's true - and like I said before, it sounds totally like something Ron would've done - then not only would it have been illogical (they really expected us to believe that Karen would've hooked up with the man who forced her to reveal to everyone in town that she was a prostitute?) but it also would've pissed off everyone who rooted for her and Larry BITD. Fortunately, JL had enough sense to tell them what they could do with their pitch (again, allegedly, lol). Not to mention, her reaction to Larry's admission that he helped Victor Lord take Megan away from Viki at birth.

I think it was Dixie, but that storyline with Will's doppelganger was as muddled as the one with Tad and Ted.

I dipped in and out of OLTL so often after 1994 or so, so I couldn't say for certain. But I definitely would've brought Susannah back to help Viki and Jessica re-integrate their respective personalities and maybe get to the bottom of how and why Viki's alters re-emerged even after she had successfully integrated them before.

No, it's the truth, lol.

ICAM!! He had the love of a lifetime with "Doc," he finally discovered his true identity (he's Ritchie Petrie!); and now, he gets to save the world one last time. Couldn't think of a more fitting way to end John Black's story.

No explanation at all for how Nora's hair suddenly grew several inches, lol! But seriously. It's a shame they didn't bring Felicity LaFortune back to play Nora's sister, Susannah. I actually like her!

I have a vague memory of that scene as well. IIRC, too, they even had "Almost Paradise" playing in the background, even though that was Beth and Lujack's theme. It was weird, lol.

I agree! I feel like Nick and Mindy were together for two reasons: 1) Judi Evans wasn't on the show anymore; and 2) somebody believed pairing Alexandra's son with the woman who helped to detonate her marriage would lead to good story. And it did. For awhile. But once I saw what pairing them was reducing Alex to, it was as if a part of me had died inside, lol. ICAM!! That's what I mean when I try and describe the kind of woman Alexandra became after Roger. Telling Billy about Roger and Mindy's affair like that was out of line, and out of control.

I've wondered that myself. When you've played not one but two, iconic characters on TV, it's difficult to get viewers to see you as anyone else. I give MTM credit, though, for trying to break through that Laura Petrie/Mary Richards image and show everyone her full range as an actress in projects like "First, You Cry" and "Ordinary People." She didn't just keep playing Mary and Laura the way Lucille Ball kept playing Lucy.

Karen returning to Llanview as Herb Callison's wife is just one of those "wacky" ideas that could come only from Ron Carlivati's brain, lol. I believe that Karen would've returned to "the life" eventually. Either Steve Piermont would've forced her back into it because they were struggling financially, or he would've abandoned her in Canada, leaving the uneducated Karen with no other alternative. Some time ago, though, I proposed a "Same Time, Next Year" scenario, where we learn that Larry and Karen bumped into each other years before while Larry was away on business; and that the two have been meeting every year, on the same weekend, at the same hotel, with the understanding that that's all either could commit to, given their circumstances.