soapfan770

Dependent on how Jane thought about Gale and Lucy of course!

@Khan @kalbir I still cling to my idea that Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon would’ve been better doing a short arc as villains (Angela’s goofy but wicked sister in law Lucinda Channing) under Jeff Feilich’s era ons Falcon Crest in 1986 than doing Life with Lucy 🤣🤣🤣 Also @Khan to follow up on the Orleans show, like New York News I was probably the only person in America or one of the very, very few people to watch at least 2 or 3 episodes. It wasn’t bad, typical judicial drama mixed with some family drama. There was an ongoing plot about Hagman’s character’s daughter being long since kidnapped and missing (it was very Samantha Mulder on X-Files minus aliens). CBS probably didn’t give it a chance, and the half primetime soap/half episodic format the show seemed to be angling for would work a lot better for shows like Providence and Judging Amy a couple years later.

BTG: A- Days: C+ Y&R: F B&B: Z-

I assume he was but I wonder what is name was lol.

@YRfan23 Who played Jumbo Man? 😆

Wow lol how did I miss this thread and how quick it blew up? 😅 Some additional stars I hadn’t seen mentioned yet.… @Khan Don’t forget about Larry Hagman. Of course I Dream of Jeannie and Dallas was his hits, but it seemed between the two shows he was just a working actor from guest role to guest role for much of the 70’s. After Dallas In 1997 CBS and Hagman tried to arrange a comeback with a show called Orleans, a blend of legal and family drama set in New Orleans. It premiered decently but immediately lost steam, and CBS actually promoted the fact that they were moving the show to 9PM/8PM on Fridays to the old Dallas timeslot. Obviously that failed even worse and the show was cancelled. Hagman had that brief recurring guest stint on Desperate Housewives but it didn’t go anywhere and that was right before the Dallas revival was announced. Speaking of Desperate Housewives have any of the actresses starred in anything major since? I know Cross and Huffman (before her arrest) starred in a couple of dismally failed ABC series. I know for a while there like around 2000 or so between Lois & Clark and DH Hatcher was actually best known for her Radio Shack commercials lol. Finally for now we’ve mentioned other stars like Robert Ulrich and Morgan Fairchild but what of other recurring stars like Valerie Mahaffey (may she RIP)? Some more modern primetime stars I can think of that had their hits and misses are definitely Peter Krause, Emily Van Camp, Noah Galvin (what a disaster lol), Marcia Gay Harden, and Zachary Quinto.

That’s what I thought too, so I’m glad he sounds like he’s doing much better. And thanks @janea4old! Most of the young Chance actors including Dekker, Courtland Mead, Alex D Linz and obviously Penn Badgely did other significant work. Oddly the kid who played the role the longest, Nicholas Pappaone did nothing else I don’t think. @DRW50 meant to tag you on this because it was no surprise to me to learn that Bryan Fuller was the one to out Dekker.

Came across a 3-year old interview from variety with Thomas Dekker (who’s first big acting gig was playing a young Phillip IV/Chance on Y&R) I hadn’t ever read before. Not sure what’s he’s doing these days and haven’t seen him since his Star Trek Picard episode a few years ago but I am glad he found sobriety and comfortable with his sexuality after years of public denial. I seem to recall him hitting a cyclist while drunk was the end of his career for a long time there: https://variety.com/2022/tv/columns/swimming-with-sharks-thomas-dekker-gay-outed-1235225805/

I feel very bad for BF that Giggly Heffa is being forced onto him. At least BF looked yummy in a scene that otherwise was very icky to watch. I still can’t believe Flynn took this role. He also seems a tad bored/underwhelmed sometimes I almost see the regret in his face.

LOL!!! 😂 He looks like he is reacting as if Luna just passed bad gas or something.

Most likely. The Family Man was also a Miller-Boyett sitcom, although why have a new untested sitcom lead off the night instead of at least giving the Hogan Family the lead seems puzzling. And again on a Saturday night…maybe CBS was hoping for those younger demos? Or contractual obligations to avoid any interference with other Miller-Boyett shows? Both shows were cancelled by seasons end. CBS’ other later attempts with Miller-Boyett of course were catastrophic failures as discussed previously. The CBS season of the Hogan Family was of course particularly dark-killing off a main character after contracting AIDS was definitely not your typical “tonight on a very special…” plot line so many other sitcoms of the era used. Once shows like Dynasty and Moonlighting fell off dramas on ABC had a hard time, even if they were critically acclaimed. It’s striking to see ABC so devoid of dramas for the bulk of the 90’s and early 00’s outside of fare like NYPD Blue, Lois & Clark, and I guess The Commish? Even well praised shows like Murder One and Once and Again ultimately failed after a couple seasons. It wasn’t until the 2004-05 season once Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Boston Legal got going that ABC leaned hard into dramas again.

I think Major Dad and Designing Women were fine where they were, and helped contribute to the even stronger Monday night schedule the following season. By the time CBS moved the shows in 1992 to build that Friday night block, it flopped hard as we’ve mentioned before. I’ve read WIOU was a solid show cancelled too soon, perhaps it should have aired on Monday @10 instead? At some point CBS would move Dallas back to 9 I believe in another desperate attempt to do something with that Fri night schedule. Sitcom heavy is right, and there’s some oddball things going on as well. CBS picked up The Hogan Family from NBC only to air it in a DOA Sat night timeslot at 8:30. Night Court still hanging on Friday nights with middling ratings. Dear John, once a hit on Thursdays at 9:30, became the poster child for the troubled NBC Thursday night 8:30/9:30 sitcoms as it failed to thrive once out of the slot. And as you mentioned there’s a lot of well low quality to garbage across all four network line-ups lol. Cop Rock, anything on CBS Thursday schedule not named Knots Landing, the glut of pointless sitcoms etc.

Thanks @DRW50 much appreciated as always!! The original premise of a primetime soap set in Santa Fe New Mexico itself unique and interesting could added some flair, but retooling it to be set on a ranch in small town in the Four Corners region and adding in Western elements doomed it, especially with the timeslot the show was given. Someone at CBS should have already been aware of this, given the previous dismal failures of the soapy Knots replacement Angel Falls and then Harts of the West flopping despite a supposed cushy spot between Dr. Quinn and Walker a few years earlier. Perhaps had they stuck with the Santa Fe premise and aired it on something like a Friday night it might have at least built an decent audience for a few years. But I suppose that would have also required more investment from someone like Moonves too, yikes.

I was trying to pinpoint when Mack as a character went downhill for myself. I think it was in Season 10 when Mack decided to be a do-gooder lawyer and also with the whole Meg adoption thing. After that I soured on Mack and Karen, but Mack a lot more because the character had become an extremely self-righteous zealot, while PollyKaren became borderline parody (Seasons 11-13 were definitely the nadir of the MacKenzies lol) DIRTY COP!!! was bad, but I actually warmed up to the Tom Ryan character overtime especially as I forgot he ended up being on and off the show through the end. Greg and Paige were okay for me. Entertaining in Season 10 for sure but i wish the show had decided what to do with them one way or another instead of the constant back and forth that occurred. The Paige/Linda rivalry was definitely interesting, and I do wish Greg had been given a son at some point or all along, maybe that could have spiced up stuff for Paige and Linda down the line as well. The whining over Linda’s brutal murder isn’t obligatory, it is required.

44 years ago today on 11/12/81: