Khan

Exactly. I put 1987 as the line of demarcation between the first wave and the second (which, like you say, was dominated by Miller-Boyett's output). It isn't an EXACT line. "Valerie"/"Valerie's Family"/"The Hogans"/"The Hogan Family" (which is a strange animal in this genre: a Miller/Boyett show that began as a star vehicle for adult Valerie Harper, then morphed into a showcase for Jason Bateman, Jeremy Licht and Danny Ponce once she was fired) premiered the year before; and "Growing Pains," a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing family show that was ostensibly about Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns' characters but really wasn't, the year before that. But, '87 is a good place to set down the marker, as that's the year FH, arguably the most successful and influential series from the second wave, premiered on ABC. I'd also agree that "The Wonder Years" and "Doogie Howser, M.D." were closer to the "adult shows" than they were to the kid ones. Kids and young adults watched them, but they weren't necessarily written and produced FOR them. Same goes for "Family Ties," "Gimme a Break!" and "Who's the Boss?". On each series, there was a balance of story and airtime between the kids and their adult counterparts (although, in "Gimme a Break!"'s case, you could certainly argue that every other character was just a prop for Nell Carter to lug around on set). Pretty much. For all intents and purposes, the end of "TGIF" on ABC's Friday night lineup was the end of all kid-centered sitcoms on the major networks. After that, if you wanted that kind of show, you had to go to cable. Exactly, lol. By any measure, "Strokes" and "Facts of Life" were, at best, middling successes. In fact, it's telling that Norman Lear never had his name associated with either series, even though his production companies, Tandem and T.A.T./Embassy, produced them both, and he had always put his name somewhere on new series in the past. However, "Strokes" and FoL benefited from being on NBC at a time when even a middling success was better than no success at all.

PB (the original, not the revival) was one in a line of kid-centric shows from the late '70's and '80's -- like "Diff'rent Strokes," "Silver Spoons," "Webster," etc. -- that never grabbed huge ratings but were massively, even insanely, popular with younger audiences. In fact, I think the only show from that genre and period that ever cracked the Nielsen Top 30 was "The Facts of Life." "Full House" did better, of course, but I always associate it with the "second wave" of kid- and teen-friendly shows that started in the late '80's -- as stars like Gary Coleman, Rick(y) Schroder, Soleil Moon Frye and the FoL girls were "aging up" -- and continued in the next decade.

Same. PASSIONS was just terrible from day one; and SuBe WANTED to be like SANTA BARBARA, but it lacked the latter show's literate scriptwriting.

Yep, another convoluted story -- this one, involving Travis' fake kidnapping (for the insurance), Bianca's real kidnapping (by the same dude who was supposed to "abduct" Travis, I believe), Erica going incognito and on the run because she wanted to start over and protect Bianca (and falling for the guy who was in cahoots with Travis), Travis finding Erica and Steven Andrews/Dave Gillis (and killing the latter in some farmhouse), Travis somehow contracting amnesia (I forget how) that might have been the result of a brain tumor (again, not sure), and then ending up at Oakhaven for a period with Skye (with the Travis/Erica relationship pretty much dead). Although I still watched as often as I could, because the day-to-day writing was always top-notch, it just seemed like AMC was really into dark, shaggy dog stories during this period. But...on the other hand...Susan Lucci's hair never looked more luxurious. I'm pretty sure it was the latter, as Stephen Schenkel didn't want the strike to mess up what everyone was sure (and rightly so) would be a very powerful story.

It's pretty much what others have explained in this thread: the convoluted saga of Erica, Goldie, Silver/Noelle and Dr. Damon Lazarre, on an island that was owned by Eric, who was presumed dead at that point. IIRC, there was some sort of treasure on the island? And Eric's will stipulated that Erica was to inherit the island. However, because Goldie knew about the treasure, she needed Erica out of the way -- permanently -- so that Silver would inherit the island instead. (It was all very OLTL-esque, if you ask me.) Moreover, I'm not sure, but I seem to recall that was the story where Erica was shot in the abdomen, despite being pregnant with Bianca at the time. And I don't know why, but for some reason, I recall Louise Shaffer looking absolutely hideous as Goldie, with overbleached hair and ridiculous amounts of jewelry. It was as if AMC was trying to recreate the Opal/Jenny or Edna/Dottie dynamic with Goldie and Silver, only Goldie was a murderous psychopath.

I wish they had talked about her guest turns on "Law & Order" as Shambala Green. Otherwise, it was a great read. Thanks, @DRW50!

Ooh child Things are gonna get easier Ooh child Things'll get brighter We need those words like never before.

Trust me: it only gets worse (and I say that as a fan of John Masius and John Tinker's).

Yep. Like I said, there's a period of about a year (1988-ish to 1989) where AMC was sputtering its' wheels creatively, with many stories that simply weren't clicking. It's truly amazing, therefore, that the Adam/Brooke/Tad/Dixie story took off like it did. Especially in an era of totally off-the-rails stuff like "The Mystery of Cobbler's Island," Marissa Rampal and Bianca's kidnapping. IIRC, once she left AMC, Maggie DePriest was transferred to OLTL, co-HW'ing with Craig Carlson and/or S. Michael Schnessel. Her time there wasn't well-received either -- although, in her defense, OLTL was in such overall, terrible shape by that point and in desperate need of an overhaul. I think so. Or, if not her, then it was Megan McTavish. Either way, I thought the idea (of Erica becoming romantically involved with Phil and Tara's son) was very intriguing, but ruined by the fact that Charles Van Eman was not a great fit with Lucci.

As I understand it, Agnes was always involved with AMC to a certain extent, offering guidance and input. However, as LOVING continued to struggle to gain traction among viewers, she decided her newer creation required more of her attention, thereby leaving Wisner Washam (and later, Washam and Lorraine Broderick) with the actual HW'ing duties. On her own, or w/ Victor Miller as her co-head, Lorraine Broderick wasn't terrible as HW during the late '80's. (Of course, it helped that Broderick had been with the show since, I think, 1979, so she was familiar with it). But, once the AIDS and hit-and-run stories concluded, it seemed like the show hit a creative wall. There's a period of about a year in AMC's history where the stories felt very lackluster and the cast very bloated. That's when Felicia Minei Behr and Maggie DePriest were brought in -- presumably, to give the show a jolt, which it did (IMO) w/ the Adam/Brooke/Tad/Dixie quad.

I know this much (from reading Soap Opera Digest at the time): under her predecessor, Maggie DePriest, AMC had fallen to sixth place in the ratings. So, essentially, then-EP Felicia Minei Behr and the network brought back Agnes -- who, in turn, convinced Wisner Washam to return as associate/breakdown writer -- to bring the ratings back up. You're talking about Kim Delaney, right? Yeah, that's the story I've heard over the years: KD was high on cocaine when she fell off, which prompted then-EP Jacqueline Babbin to basically tell the cast to cool it on the drug use.

Like Marland himself said, in Christopher Schemering's book commemorating GL's 50 anniversary, he knew Roger's death couldn't be anything small, "like a shooting or stabbing." Not after the years of havoc he had wreaked upon so many people's lives. But, more than that, Marland, for all his deficiencies as a writer, knew the importance of structure in storytelling. There was always tremendous build-ups and payoffs in his stories -- payoffs that, in turn, planted seeds for further stories -- so that the viewers were left satisfied at the end.

I know I've said this before, but Joe Biden is PRECISELY the kind of leader we needed at this point in our nation's history. He understands exactly how it feels to lose loved ones to forces beyond anyone's control; and instead of pushing junk science and quack cures on the public, or waving it away as some minor annoyance that'll disappear as soon as the weather changes, he's working as quickly as possible to get out the facts AND the vaccine, so that we can stop more people from dying and resume some measure of our normal lives. No matter what happens from this point forward, he'll always rank among the best in MY book.

The "Lars Bogard is a Nazi" storyline -- that's the infamous storyline where Erica said, "I don't have the right shoes to chase Nazis!". Waymin. Tony Dow once auditioned for a role? Tony Dow? As in "Wally Cleaver" Tony Dow?

Meghan McCain has got to stop pandering to the urban demographic.

She was gonna join the show as C.J.

Great. Now there'll be yet another vanity project from the Kartrashians -- this one, all about how Kim copes with "Life After KanYe."

Exactly. The O.J. trial didn't erode the audiences for soaps; how the networks responded did. If they had simply rode it out, I think the numbers would've bounced back. Maybe not to the same levels they were at BEFORE the trial, but close.

Agree. I don't love dogs, or ANY animals, and even *I* thought what Cruz did to Snowflake was beyond the pale. Just as I think Greg Kelly is a jackass for picking on a defenseless, 12-year-old German Shepherd. I hope karma lifts its' leg and takes a ginormous piss on them both.

Again, this all could have been avoided had they elected more responsible people into office.

Honestly, I would have had more respect for him if he had stayed true to his "Scooby-Doo" villain roots and said, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids and your cameraphones!". True, it would've been an equally bastard-y thing to tell the public. But it would've been honest. Because, if you're gonna do something that'll look bad in the eyes of the public, you might as well invite your friends to join in!

Moral: Whenever you find yourself backed into a corner, blame your kids. And I...would have to agree. I don't like to see anyone suffer under any circumstances, but even as I applaud Beto O'Rourke and others for reaching out and providing badly needed resources like blankets during this crisis, at the same time, I'm also "I told you so"-ing Texans who elected idiots Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott into office. The polar vortex was not of their making, but Texas' abysmal reaction to the crisis largely was.

That's assuming the devil would have anything at all to do with him. Ted Cruz should've stayed in Cancun. He wasn't doing any good for his constituents anyway.

That's why I never applauded Mitt for doing the bare minimum, like observing COVID-19 protocols and voting to impeach and convict Trump at both trials. I knew that, no matter what, Mitt was never REALLY our friend.