soapfan770

Jumping ahead to March 1989 we have Roseanne winning at #1. Interesting to see Anything But Love here so high. Another example of a timeslot hit with a known star this case Jamie Lee Curtis. Looks like the CBS soaps had all taken the week off due to basketball:

Who knows. There was a lot very odd decisions made on ATWT on 2004, and the Hogen Sheffer era finally came crashing down that year as he finally dropped fell out as being the darling of the soap press at least until his initial Days run. Eric/Caitlin never actually happened but I remember Thudley admitted he had entertained the thought in an interview with Michael Logan.

Re: I have heard the KZ rumor before. I also have read many times that it was planned that Cassie’s father was going to turn out to be Bill Bauer. But I also don’t know how much of than was real vs just speculation or wishful thinking. I had read before thay Mary Stuart was supposed to join Guiding Light around 1987 in the role of Hannah Bauer. I have no idea who Hannah was supposed to be -- perhaps Johnny and Lacey’s mother? But then Teri Keane ended up coming on as Johnny and Lacey’s mother Lainie. The only other Bauer I recall that was slated to be added was Todd, who was the brother of Johnny and Lacey. Supposedly Frank Dicoupolus was cast as Todd. But then Sheri Anderson was axed as head writer and Pam Long rehired. And Long dropped plans to introduce Todd and instead created the role of Frank Cooper. Or so the story goes. I have read there were a couple additional “faux” Bauers planned but never materialized. I remember reading that here on SON. The Henderson family failed miserably though but I seem to recall someone saying Russell was at least mentioned in passing by characters onscreen.

Ah yes, the notorious SOB tidbit that Y&R wanted a certain actress back but were aghast by her “changed appearance” once they located her in Arizona. Which why they supposedly when the Diane route instead and brought AD back. Most assume the actress is question was Lilibet Stern but I have seen some speculate it was actually Andrea Evans, who emerged from her post stalking trauma a couple years later as Tawny on B&B (and Tawny was exactly a glamorous character initially either).

@DRW50 Are you talking about the character that was named after writer Jerry Birn? That was an incredibly odd story. B&B would be the king of dropped plots over the years—Pierce and his creepy assistant Bailey, Amber’s twin, and half of what Thudley spoiled/proposed like from 2003-06 never came to fruition (ie Eric having a Lolita story, Forrester’s being written out in favor of Sydney Penny’s character family, Thomas gf going psycho etc) Same with Days… A few other examples outside of B&B and Days from other shows spring to mind: ATWT-Nikki Munson returns in 2004 and is just dropped as quickly. The actress really should have been a Molly recast. Also a “Julia” returned but turned out to be a completely different crazy Julia I wonder what happened there. GL-During the clone story the guy Sean from the island came to Springfield and was supposedly to have a major backstory in Springfield, but then was quickly dropped and never mentioned again. Y&R-Another show with a number of examples particularly during the Latham and Pratt eras, but one late Bell era story that didn’t really develop to me what the Geri Paulsen story. The show couldn’t decide what to do with the non-story. First it was just Victoria being paranoid and jealous, then it was hinted Geri might be OBSESSED with Cole, to finally Geri admitting she was smitten with Cole and then was completely dropped without mention again.

Late to the party but thanks for the laughs @Khan and @DRW50 for the 86-88 era of 9 to 5. I remember the series being heavily syndicated in the early 90’s (usually on those Indy stations that was destined to become UPN) and watching it with my one of my grandmothers. But when I watched a couple eps that popped up on YT…hoo boy was it…something not good lol. @Paul Raven Interesting that Hotel was #2 behind the A-Team for the week of 10/24/83-10/30/83…It surpassed #5 Dallas, #7 Dynasty, and #10 FC. It was only the 4th episode and outside of Robert Reed guest starring the rest of the guest cast was run of the mill 80’s B-listers (Leigh McCloskey, Leigh Taylor-Young, Dack Rambo etc.) I’d have to go back and see why the ep might have been so big.

LOL!! It’s funny all of those procedurals helped CBS long term but fans were left in the cold when it came to the abrupt endings of Cold Case, Without a Trace, CSI Miami and CSI NY, and even OG CSI. To add insult to injury NONE of them have survived In streaming or syndication the same way the Law & Order franchises are DOA Shows like The Good Wife, Elementary, Point of Interest, and even Evil had vocal enough fan bases to warrant good conclusions.

Does anyone ever remember watching David Jacobs’ Paradise? Western family drama with some serialized aspects. I feel like I might have liked it but also I’m not much of a western fan aside from a few movies/shows. PARADISE (also known as GUNS OF PARADISE for its final season) is a Western television series that aired on CBS from October 27, 1988, to May 10, 1991, totaling three seasons and 57 episodes. Set in 1890, the show centers around fictitious gunfighter Ethan Allen Cord (Lee Horsley) who is left the custody of his sister's four children after her death in a Nevada town. The show was created by David Jacobs, as both those Dallas and Knots were in a continuing decline -- at least ratings-wise -- on CBS. Meanwhile Lee Horsley was an actor who was pushed around as a leading actor on multiple short lived shows in the 80’s and ‘90’s. Paradise’s first season aired directly before Knots on Thursday nights before moving to Saturday nights at 8/7, and finally a shortened 13 episode 3rd season in the 8/7 as CBS unveiled an ultimately doomed Friday night drama line up of Paradise, Dallas, and Sons & Daughters in the spring of 1991.

The backstage clashes were definitely a big factor for sure. BTS Drama + Cast Changes + Bad timeslot = Disaster I was trying to think of a saving grace for each season for CBS. The 85-86 had The Equalizer but that’s it. The 86-87 season had Designing Women. I was coming up almost empty handed with the 87-88 season til I remembered Jake & The Fatman…really lol? The 88-89 season had Murphy Brown. The 89-90 season was another hard one…Major Dad and then I guess a summer replacement series with Northern Exposure.

Thanks @DRW50 Poor 9 to 5 had been done dirty. Regarding Masquerade, What is even wilder is not only was each episode very expensive to produce, but after seeing the weak ratings in the ABC attempted to move it to bolster ratings. The new timeslot? 9/8 on Friday nights. Whoever was in charge of programming ABC for the 83/84 and 84/85 seasons needed their head examined…

Yes, JG is that bad. I can assume he has a mandate of some sorts from our lovely executive in charge of nothing Steve Kent, but JG has proven track record of writing dark depressing and boring [!@#$%^&*] across multiple shows for the last 30 years (ATWT, Y&R, Days, Y&R again). He also has an ego that makes him think this is “genius” writing.

Thanks I was confused for a second as I knew Jorgeson had passed but thought he was talking about one of the Ben Reade actors. I remember really enjoying Molly’s return arc as well and I do remember Abigail’s brief return too. We never found out what happened to Adam and her which was probably for the best given what the show had done to Adam already.

Oh what actor was that?? As I far as knew Gregory Burke was still alive. Ugh I remember that. Not long after they brought in some recast named Alan White and boy he was TERRIBLE. Largely to close out the Chris/Abigail/Adam triangle (when Lucy Johnson infamously ordered Craig Lawlor’s dismissal, but that’s a whole other story) Unlike others I didn’t mind Bailey Chase in the role of Chris, although he was probably too old be in a triangle with barely legal Alison and Aaron and Chris being a doctor all of the sudden was weird. He also had some surprising chemistry with KMH, but Hogan lost interest and ended up writing out Chris while Chase went on to have a fairly decent career. As for the actress who played Abigail…ehhhh. Definitely lacking spark her contemporaries had and even other younger cast members from that era. She was way more memorable when she was on Passions a few years later LOL.

Going back to our 40th anniversary of the 85-86 TV season, here’s the ratings from 40 years ago from the week of March 10-16 1986:

Thanks @Franko ! The IMDB rating for “Between Two Brothers” is only a 5.4 LOL must have left a lasting negative impression. Taken aback to see Schneider in a dramatic role too.

Thanks @Soapsuds and @Paul Raven FC hadn’t aired the previous week and with the show still being somewhat episodic outside of the Jason mystery I imagine some probably felt like they could skip a week if it didn’t look interesting as the show didn’t do an exactly sufficient follow-up to the season high episode that first featured Lana Turner as Jacqueline. Ouch at Chicago Story. Like I mentioned earlier the idea of a 90 min drama, on Saturday night no less, was absurd. Here’s what happened on the soaps that week: Knots 3/11/82: Val writes a journal about the Ewings of Dallas for an assignment. Without her knowledge, Abby shows it to Karen's brother Joe, who believes that it is good enough to be published. Laura leaves Richard. Dallas 3/12/82 J.R., through his manipulations, dupes Cliff into spending millions on a phony land deal. Farraday meets with Bobby and wants money and a ticket to Rio while Cliff proposes marriage to Sue Ellen. Lucy leaves Southfork for a few days, hoping to resume her life with Mitch. Instead, she runs into a belligerent Roger. FC 3/12/82: Angela sets out to destroy Melissa Agretti's budding romance with Cole. Chase and Maggie persuade Julia to take Emma to apsychiatric clinic, but Angela stops Julia with the truth about Emma killing Jason Gioberti. Note that is also Ana Alicia’s debut episode as Melissa replacing the forgettable first actress. Dynasty and Flamingo Road didn’t air that week. Knots came in at #28. Here’s the full week that has just surfaced as well

Nielsen TV ratings report for the week of March 8-14 1982: ABC wins Nielsen race again NEW YORK (AP) "Dallas" was the No. 1 show in the week ending March. 14, but ABC had five of the 10 highest rated programs, and won the networks' competition for the second straight week, figures from the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed. ABC now has been No. 1, or tied for first, in the three-way race three times in the last five weeks. CBS continues to dominate for the season so far, and has won the competition 16 times in the 23 weeks of the current TV year. "Dallas," first in the ratings for the 10th time this season, had a rating of 27 to 26.4 for the second-place show, ABC's "Night of 100 Stars," a three-hour special taped at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Nielsen says the rating for "Dallas" means in an average minute of the show, 27 percent of the nation's homes with TV were tuned to the CBS program. CBS' "60 Minutes," No. 1 in the ratings a week ago, was third. ABC's rating for the period was 18.5 to 17 for CBS and 13.9 for NBC. The networks say that means in an average prime-time minute during the week, 18.5 percent of the television -equipped homes in the country were watching ABC. ABC's newly introduced Hooker" was the week's top-rated new series, in 11th place, with "Falcon Crest" on CBS No. 17. ABC was moderately successful with a theatrical film, "Coma," in 23rd place, NBC less so with "The Wild Geese," a TV premiere, No.30. NBC had the six lowest-rated programs, beginning with a movie, "The Great American Traffic Jam," in 60th place, and followed by "Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters," "One of the Boys," "Chicago Story," "NBC Magazine" and "McClain's Law." Of the four lowest-rated show, all but "NBC Magazine" are new series. Here are the week's 10 highest-rated programs: "Dallas," with a rating of 27 representing 22.1 million homes, CBS; "Night of 100 Stars," 26.4 or 21.6 million, ABC; "60 Minutes," 25.6 or 21 million, "The Jeffersons," 25.4 or 20.8 million, and "Alice," 24.2 or 19.8 million, all CBS; "Too Close for Comfort," 23.3 or 19.1 million, "Love Boat," 23.1 or 19.1 million, "Three's Company," 23 or 18.8 million, all ABC; "Dukes of Hazzard," 22.6 or 18.5 million, CBS, and "Hart to Hart," 22.1 or 18.1 million, ABC. The remainder of the Top 20: "T.J. Hooker," ABC; "Magnum, P.I.," and "One Day at a Time," both CBS, tie; "Trapper John, M.D.," and "Archie Bunker's Place," both CBS; "Real People," NBC; "Falcon Crest," CBS; "Happy Days," ABC, and "Facts of Life," NBC, tie, and "Laverne and Shirley," ABC.

@DRW50 @kalbir @Khan @Soapsuds @Chris B @te. @Chris 2 This might have been shared already or not but a friend of mine in a classic primetime soap group on FB shared with me the alternative scripts for each character revealing that they killed Carlo Agretti. To have Angela and Melissa or even Chao-Li be the culprits is wild but I can definitely see them revealing themselves with such confidence and gleam in their eyes lol. Then again to have Julia be the culprit itself is wild as another show would have probably just let it be Diana or Phillip. Lance: "He [Carlo] kept pushing me. First the marriage. Then he threatened to cut Melissa out of his will. He was pushing me around... You [Chase] were pushing me around... She [Melissa] was even pushing me around. Then, at the baby shower, he [Carlo] threatened me. I wasn't going to stand for that. Not after what I'd already put up with..." Richard: "Carlo Agretti was a hypocrite who spurned me in public while privately trying to bleed me dry. I offered him double the market value for his property. But he resented that and threatened to expose my own father as a Nazi. I couldn't let him do that." Diana: "It was my only option. I had orders to get the Agretti Vineyards at any cost, and 'the company' has never recognized any limits. Results are all that count. There was an agreement... Richard had to deliver the entire California wine industry to 'the company' or give up any hope of independence. I wanted him to survive out here... to succeed. I was in love with him. I wanted him free... for me..." Phillip: "It was the only thing left to do. Agretti had fought Angela for years. He was preparing to sell out to Richard. That would've been disastrous for Falcon Crest. With Carlo and Richard both clawing away at her, there was no time for the niceties of legal maneuvering or negotiating. I had to expedite matters. Angela has given her life to Falcon Crest, and... you see... I love her..." Angela: "Carlo got exactly what he deserved. He sealed his own fate when he threatened to cut Melissa out of his will. I have no regrets. He would've done the same to me. You [Chase] don't understand anything, do you? From the time I sat on my grandfather's knee... until now, I was the chosen one to care for and enhance the legacy of Falcon Crest. Your father had no aptitude for that challenge. My strength, my dedication covered for his weakness. And then you came here to change all that? You're nothing but an opportunist who still has his head in the clouds at thirty thousand feet. You don't have the faintest idea what it takes to maintain the greatness of Falcon Crest!" Melissa: "He was no father. I was nothing more than another bargaining tool to him. He wanted Falcon Crest so badly that he traded me in marriage to Lance. Then he threatened to cut me out of his will. That didn't give me much choice. With him gone, I controlled the Agretti Vineyards, I finally had my own source of power." Chao-Li: "Mrs. Channing took me in when I was a young man with no place else to turn. She made me a part of this family. I owe her everything. Carlo Agretti... he fought her at every turn. There is nothing he would not have done to win control of Falcon Crest." Cole (an idea from an early stage; neither scripted in detail nor photographed): "I did it all along because he would not let me prove to Melissa how much I loved her — and she was carrying my child."

LOL obviously it’s been 20 years and I recall this on either the WOST boards and/or the long defunct Snark Weighs In blog (what the heck ever happened to that guy??). Basically you were like “Boy it’s takes a lot nerve when you know your own [!@#$%^&*] show you’re on smells to high heaven to pass judgement like that” or something that. Sparks had made the comments in an interview with the infamous Daniel Coleridge.

True haha although that was more realistic then and even B&B had Stephanie secretly intercept a letter from Taylor to Ridge about her affair with James a couple years before that lol. That said, I will say B&B is refreshing to watch since we finally have a new set of characters to focus on and the Liam 1/2hour is finally a thing of the past but Electra and Nick Newman Jr. aren’t it to me either.

@Khan I do to this day remember your snarky response back in 2006 when actress Dana Sparks (yes, the Dana Sparks of Falcon Crest and Passions infamy lol) in an interview openly criticized how low brow the MyNet shows were to daytime soaps🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 @te. Thank you for informing me that all the shows are on Tubi. Down the rabbit hole I go. The MyNetwork TV experiment was interesting but turned into a disaster quickly. I think Fox was supposed to air some other programs but they never materialized. After the 07-08 writers strike the network was effectively dead and has been ever since. The only shows I actually mildly enjoyed on there were Fashion House and Wicked Wicked Games. Fashion House started off so rough until MF finally showed up then it became pure camp. @dc11786 I recall there was another show that actually already lined up to replace Saints and Sinners (or was it that very trashy American Heiress?) starring Sean Young as the lead, but ultimately cancelled once they pulled the shows off.

Haha you read my mind! The whole Patty and Jack on a boat in the middle of the ocean is basically Jack and crazy Kelly all over again. Don’t tell me Marco aka Yack will be back for May sleeps next. Apparently Josh Griffith misunderstood the meaning of “March Madness” when it came to Y&R like he always does 🤣

That sounds like someone MAB/Rauch/Sheffer/Hamner would have cast during their reign of terror lol.

LOL. I remember watching years ago on Encore or something. Didn’t James Brolin play her husband? I always had to laugh at the scenes in Hall’s Never Say Never movie which showed Hall as a struggling actress who couldn’t get an audition following Our House’s cancellation, yet in reality she was quite busy on TV movie circuit.

TV Ratings 35 years ago for 2/25/91-3/3/91. Was a bit surprised at first by MSW but then realized it was a rerun. 80’s sitcoms like WTB? and Growing Pains were dropping fast. Overall they still ranked in the Top 30 for the season with WTB? at #19, but when they returned in April I know the season’s final few episodes ranked outside of the Top 30. Was the Gulf War (and changing tastes) the first nails in the coffin? Dallas dying, Knots even in S12 at a respectable #34, and of course DS, Twin Peaks, and Sons and Daughters had all failed in some doomed timeslots.