kalbir

Not to derail the thread, but Magnum, P.I. was effectively over Spring 1986 when it was killed by The Cosby Show. Even though Dynasty was still a Top 10 show heading into Fall 1986, it was tanking like all the other primetime soaps were at that time. Maybe CBS thought Magnum, P.I. could maintain the audience it had left better at Wednesday 9 pm than at Thursday 8 pm.

Yes, that's right. The addition of the Spectra gang is paying off, plus I think we will be seeing clearances increase during the rest of 1989 and into 1990. I really enjoyed Guiding Light during Robert Calhoun's run and it disappoints me that the ratings didn't reflect the quality of the show. From the annual ratings, GL remains in 7th place in 1989/90 and 1990/91 but the actual ratings drop. It's so funny that during the second half of 1989 CBS daytime is hitting its stride w/ all four soaps plus the game show block and CBS primetime is in the midst of its third place mess era.

Fall 1988 ABC moved Dynasty to Thursday 9 pm head-to-head w/ Cheers where it was DOA. Brandon Stoddard knew exactly what he was doing when he moved Dynasty to a time slot that had been a dead zone for ABC since Fall 1982. Candy Spelling pretty much confirmed that Brandon Stoddard wanted Aaron Spelling shows gone from ABC. I'd say that final season move was sabotage moreso than tank job.

Another top 5 week for Guiding Light. May 30 Springfield learns Roger survived the fall off the cliff in Santo Domingo. June was the EP change from Joe Willmore to Robert Calhoun but we're seeing another ratings drop.

Of all the EPs As the World Turns had in its final 25 years, go figure that Chris Goutman is the one that had the longest run (11 years).

Y&R this week was Phillip III car accident. May 26 Thom Bierdz departure. Also Y&R in May 1989 was Victor taking over Jabot. Guiding Light in the top 5 for the first time since late 1985. The Friday cliffhanger was a masked Roger crashing Phillip and Blake's wedding and the following Tuesday Springfield learned that Roger survived the fall off the cliff in Santo Domingo.

This was when Victor gave Ryan a blank check to stay away from Victoria and Ryan filled it out for $1M. Later Victoria visits Ryan and when the police are taking Ryan away Victoria blurts out that she and Ryan are married.

@JAS0N47 I believe for 1991 you are missing March 14 and 15, NCAA Men's Basketball.

1979 Another World was head-to-head w/ General Hospital and as we all know, General Hospital blew up that year and would dominate for the better part of 1979-1986, therefore Another World effectively over.

Y&R is destroying everything in its path, time slot wise and overall. It's the combination of owing its time slot, having strong lead ins, and maintaining its audience during the writer's strike that got Y&R to #1. 1989 had the pivotal storylines of Victor taking over Jabot and Phillip III's car accident that set everything in motion for the 1990s but the rest of the big storylines Brad in a cage, George Rawlins murder, Kay/Marge I didn't think were very good plus Cricket was still eating the show. Y&R also had their third big cast departure in as many years when Terry Lester (RIP) left in September 1989. Yet Another World managed to stay on the air another decade. If NBC hadn't been such a mess on the whole in the late 1970s, Another World probably would have ended in 1979. Changing times and changing tastes. The big 1980s trends were probably wearing thin at this point.

As I've pointed out before, Ryan's Hope was effectively over in 1983 when Y&R blew up. If we're keeping it real here, Agnes Nixon clout w/ ABC got Loving on the air in the first place. It was DOA head-to-head w/ The Price is Right and stood no chance when it was moved head-to-head w/ Y&R.

We're now at the point that each network has 3 1/2 hours of soaps (3 1 hour soaps and 1 30 minute soap) all broadcast between 12:30 pm-4 pm ET. Let's see how they got there over the course of the 1980s. CBS: The decade began w/ Y&R, Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns, Guiding Light, Love of Life. February 1, 1980 Love of Life ends. February 4, 1980 Y&R expands to 1 hour. March 26, 1982 Search for Tomorrow CBS run ends. March 29, 1982-March 20, 1987 Capitol run. March 23, 1987 B&B premiere. CBS had four different soap blocks in the 1980s. ABC: The decade began w/ Ryan's Hope, All My Children, One Life to Live, General Hospital, The Edge of Night. June 27, 1983 Loving premiere. December 28, 1984 The Edge of Night ends. January 13, 1989 Ryan's Hope ends. ABC had four different soap blocks in the 1980s. NBC: The decade began w/ Days, The Doctors, Another World. August 4, 1980-December 31, 1982 Texas run. March 29, 1982-December 26, 1986 Search for Tomorrow NBC run. December 31, 1982 The Doctors ends. July 30, 1984 Santa Barbara premiere. March 27, 1989 Generations premiere. NBC had seven different soap blocks in the 1980s.

Also Y&R was killing it. Remember that in the Eastern time zone second half of Y&R was head-to-head w/ first half of Days.

Two pivotal events are coming up on Y&R: Victor takes over Jabot and Phillip III's car accident. That sets everything in motion for the 1990s. B&B is showing growth. April 27, 1989 was Bobbie Eakes debut. Guiding Light is showing some signs of life. We're a month away from Springfield learning that Roger survived the fall off the cliff in Santo Domingo, and two months away from Robert Calhoun becoming EP. The last year and a half of the supercouple era is starting with a ratings crash.

CBS and P&G were really shaken up by the huge rise of ABC in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and we've seen evidence of that in the ratings threads and of course on screen.

@Paul Raven @AbcNbc247 Bo/Hope wedding May 20-24, 1985 Days was 3rd tied w/ Y&R. Remember that 1985 Days time slot competition was strong All My Children, rising Y&R, middle ranked As the World Turns. 1987 Days time slot competition was strong Y&R, not yet a hit B&B, weakened All My Children.

Y&R is killing it! Brad in a cage had wrapped up and the next big storylines were Phillip/Nina wedding and George Rawlins murder. Surprised to see Generations premiere w/ 97% clearance. I thought it would be lower.

Scrabble dropped w/ the move and Generations didn't inherit the Scrabble audience. Thank you @JAS0N47

Remember too Days gets a new lead in on March 27, Generations. NBC moved Scrabble from 12:30 pm to 10 am. I wonder if the change in lead in played a part, but then again, 12:30 pm had been a dead zone for NBC for many years. @JAS0N47 Do you have ratings/clearance for Scrabble March 20-24, 1989 and March 27-31, 1989. Thank you. 1989 was big for daytime network game shows. NBC runs of Sale of the Century, Super Password, Wheel of Fortune; Win, Lose or Draw came to an end. CBS run of Card Sharks came to an end. CBS had a short-lived revival of Now You See It, and picked up Wheel of Fortune after the NBC run ended. 1989 in syndicated talk shows saw Hour Magazine end its run and Joan Rivers launch her talk show in the fall.

Also 1985/86 Riptide was head-to-head w/ Moonlighting, which was showing growth that season.

Peter S. Fischer Dead: ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Co-Creator Was 88 – The Hollywood Reporter

Miami premiere tonight. I am only here for any Larsa/Marcus drama. Marcus Jordan Wants Dad Michael as His Best Man at Larsa Pippen Wedding (usmagazine.com) AFAIK an engagement hasn't been confirmed. If there is a marriage, get ready for Larsa Pippen Jordan. She's so going to be using both last names.

Michael Zaslow (RIP) returned in January 1989 but everyone in Springfield didn't learn that Roger survived the fall off the cliff in Santo Domingo until May. January 17, 1989 Darlene Conley (RIP) debut. SOD named Sally best new character in the Best of 1989 issue. Maybe viewers were getting tired of the action/adventure and supercouple trends. Most Days fans I know consider the Summer 1990 shipwreck as the last big action/adventure storyline of the supercouple era and Stephen Nichols departure that fall as the end of the supercouple era.

What to watch for in 1989. Y&R dominates. The two big storylines that set everything in motion for the 1990s were Victor taking over Jabot and Phillip III car accident. 1989 the big cast departure was Terry Lester. B&B Darlene Conley arrival and not long after B&B will start showing growth. As the World Turns Martha Byrne and Hillary Bailey Smith departures. Guiding Light Michael Zaslow returns. Robert Calhoun becomes EP. Debuts of Jean Carol, Morgan Englund, Kimberley Simms, Sherry Stringfield, Beth Chamberlin. Ryan's Hope ends. Generations premieres.

Knowing Josh Griffith, it'll be sleeps.