Khan

It's truly miraculous how "The Jeffersons," "Alice," "Archie Bunker's Place" and "One Day at a Time" took off on Sunday nights, lol.

I've always said Frank and CVE's tastes were questionable, lol.

If you have to guess at the characters' motivations, then the writers have failed. (That isn't a knock on you, @prefab1. I'm just agreeing with what you posted earlier).

OMG. If Frank believes they could somehow become GH's next big pairing, then he needs Jesus and FAST.

Every time I see "Martin & Smitty," I think we're talking about an Irish pub, lol.

"The Jeffersons" aired originally on Saturdays. During its' third season, however, the show was moved twice: first, to Wednesdays; then, to Mondays. Then, beginning with season four, the show was moved BACK to Saturdays before it was moved yet again, two years later, to Sundays. There might have been more scheduling moves during that period, but those are the ones I can recall. They also might explain partly why the ratings fell between seasons 2-5, resulting in a lot of what's called "bottle episodes," where everything occurs on one set (in the case of "The Jeffersons," George and Louise's penthouse and hallway).

Thanks, @DRW50, for sharing that awesome episode with us!!

Oh, for sure, if KL had lasted that long, they would've promised Donna Mills the moon on a platter for her to come back, if only for the "If you think Mondays are a bitch..." ads, lol.

I think Alec Baldwin came closest. Not that Alec Baldwin ever was or has been my cup of Ramen, but at that point in his life and career, he was fit and good-looking, too. If someone hadn't been upset with him or his casting to the point of turning Joshua Rush into a cross between Lonesome Rhodes and Mickey Hughes from "The Burning Bed," I think AB and Lisa Hartman might've matured into one of KL's central couples.

I'll bet it keeps Frank up at nights trying to figure out 1) a suitable romantic partner for LW and 2) an equally suitable romantic partner for EM.

There were times when I didn't want to see the FRONT of Kevin Dobson, let alone the back of him.

Unfortunately, short of turning Ginger into an early version of MP's Kimberly Shaw (i.e., the resident, full-blown psycho hose beast), I don't believe there was any way for the producers to remedy the situation. For one thing, I think Kim Lankford was a very limited actress. For another, with all the other women on the show fulfilling very specific needs - Karen as the moral compass whose job is to be the viewers' advocate and the center of calm in all the chaos, Val as the put-upon heroine at the center of the more emotional stories, Abby as the scheming vixen who brings both the sex (for male viewers) and the wish fulfillment (for females), and Laura as the prickly, sarcastic, often mercurial independent woman who's neither a goody-two-shoes (like Karen or Val) nor a raging bitch (like Abby) - which need is left for Ginger to fulfill (again, besides the resident psycho)? And even if they HAD gone in that direction, would it have been a sustainable one? I mean, from what I remember, even Kimberly was killed off for good eventually, because there was just nowhere left for her to go. True. It's nothing specific. But especially when Mack becomes literally OBSESSED with bringing down Wolfbridge - to the point of lying to Karen, who's still recovering from drug addiction - and Gary says, "I think you've gone a little crazy," it kind of brings to mind one of the tropes of movies like "The Parallax View," where it's one guy (in this case, Mack) and his single-minded, all-consuming quest to unravel a vast cartel or conspiracy whose purpose or reach is equally vast and hard for anyone on the outside to grasp. I mean, isn't there one point where the construction literally traps and kills the dude from the Dos Equis beer commercials? Or did I miss a scene or two during my unintended nap? For me, Wolfbridge and Bobby and Betsy's kidnapping were stories that worked, because they placed characters in actual jeopardy. Even all that drug smuggling nonsense with Manny Vasquez at Lotus Point (a story told about three years too late, IMO) worked to a degree, because there was a risk of Abby, Karen or Gary losing their lives or those of their loved ones. But was anyone in real danger with EV? Hell, who was even INVOLVED in EV, besides Gary, Greg and Abby? Because, to me, it felt like others were involved either peripherally or not at all. And you MIGHT get away with that kind of non-umbrella storytelling on a daytime soap, where storylines are often islanded from each other due to the grind of producing a show everyday; but on a primetime soap, everything NEEDS to tie together, or it doesn't work. The Sumner Group existed for one reason and one reason only: because KL's biggest competitor at that point was "L.A. Law," which was kicking ass on Thursday nights and siphoning off many longtime fans of KL. Which is why I'm glad KL finished when it did, because had it made it to the "ER"/"NYPD Blue" era, oh, Lord, lol.

I'd still love to know what the original plan was for Empire Valley. Did they always intend for it to be a front for some massive spying operation? And just where the hell did they think they could go with that, lol?

I see elements of '70's conspiracy thrillers like "All the President's Men" and "Three Days of the Condor" in the Wolfbridge Group. In fact, I think that's one reason why they hired William Devane to play Greg, since he had had a prominent role in "Marathon Man."

I'm afraid I don't have a "dream Sonny story"...well, not one that doesn't end with him lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood.

I'd love to know if Pam Long named Beth after the woman Phillip always thought of as his mom deliberately, or if that was just the happiest of accidents, lol.

That's because you get the sense from watching the show that these people really care about what they're doing. They're not just showing up for the paychecks and the free food from craft services.

June Lockhart had the most thankless jobs in the TV industry, playing mom to precocious brats on two godawful shows, and she performed them both with nothing less than true professionalism and heart. She definitely will be missed.

Preach.

I agree, although I certainly find a lot of Kirkendolls and Kuykendalls running around here, lol.

Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of folks here who have names like "Harlan Billy" or "Melinda Sue." My own mother and aunt's extended relatives often refer to them by their first and middle names. (Except, that is, for their paternal grandmother, who'd get their first names correct, but who would always mix up their middle names, lol). The thing is, "Harlan Billy" doesn't sound right to my ear or roll off my tongue that easily. I think "William Harlan" or "Billy Harlan" would've made more sense.

IKR? And to think there was a time when I complained about how Bill Bell and Kay Alden gave their otherwise vibrant female characters such old-sounding names like "Phyllis" and "Alice."

I guess they didn't want to confuse the folks at home. But they could've easily said that H.B. maintained both the Lewis family home, in Tulsa, as well as a ranch in some nearby suburb, such as Owasso or Claremore.

It's been my experience, at least, that most who work in this state as housekeepers tend to be African-American, Native American, Hispanic, or a combination thereof. Of course, that doesn't count those who work for professional cleaning services, or who work for more than one household. Nevertheless, a woman with Sarah Shayne's background (white, uneducated, working class, single mother) would've been more likely to work in the steno pool at Lewis Oil than for the boss' wife at their mansion. I definitely agree that the Lewises needed more grit. As I've said before, Oklahomans are not ostentatious. We don't drive luxury cars or prance around in chinchillas or Nudie suits; and those who do tend to get the side-eye BIG time, lol.

On the one hand, it's a very timely story being told about the "golden age" of televangelism and the rise of cable TV. (It's also an almost direct rip-off of "A Face in the Crowd," but that's neither here nor there, lol). However, you have Alec Baldwin, a then-young hunk with real acting chops, who shares genuine, warm chemistry with Julie Harris and Joan Van Ark, gives Lisa Hartman's Cathy a real purpose on the show that she otherwise lacks, and could help carry KL into the next generation, and this is what you ultimately choose to do with him? Someone at Lorimar or CBS should've stepped in and told Mike Filerman to chill the [!@#$%^&*] out.