kalbir

Late 1970s was ABC huge rise and P&G shows tanked. Did viewers suddenly switch over from P&G to ABC, or did ABC get a whole bunch of new viewers? Y&R was going strong in the late 1970s but would stumble in 1980 after expanding to one hour and changing time slots.

Once again Y&R reads 10% good, 90% garbage time. It's that same holding pattern since the end of the 50th anniversary episodes.

This whole Cameron arc is giving me bad Lifetime movie energy.

@Soapsuds The highest rated episode of the series was February 19, 1982: Family Reunion, rating 25.2, 3rd for the week. Lana Turner's first appearance.

In terms of finish in the weekly ratings, yes. Both of those episodes finished 2nd behind Dallas.

The abrupt ending of the war crimes storyline derailed all of the momentum that had built over the run of the series. Signs of tanking started showing during the final 10 or so episodes of the 1984/85 season. Quite the contrast from Knots Landing, where I thought the final 10 episodes of the 1984/85 season were that show's peak. I also think the late season tanking is why the Spring 1985 cliffhanger is not as well-remembered as Bobby's car accident, Royal Wedding Shootout, and Val's babies. But a good number of them had a death count. You didn't like the season 3 cliffhanger?

Those two weeks in May 1985 must have been a crazy time to be a primetime soap fan.

The most egregious race change recasting was Keesha, a character that was implied to be African-American but was originally played an actress of Puerto Rican heritage and then recast with an actress of Italian heritage.

Lauralee clearly stacked her Cricket and Lifetime movie coins. Gotta hand it to the Bells for their real estate game.

You're welcome @DemetriKane

@Soapsuds Larry Hagman born 1931 so he turned 47 in 1978.

Crazy to think that the child actor who was John Ross is now the age that Larry Hagman was when Dallas began.

This earthquake was some 3 1/2 years before the real-life northern California earthquake. I don't think the real-life earthquake was referenced during season 9 though. There is some soapy goodness in the dangerous villain getting blackmailed into marrying the jealous scheming ho sister when he really loves the kind-hearted sister. She has a scene about halfway through season 5 that made my jaw drop.

I'm sure she does.

This month was definitely May sleeps. There's been a holding pattern since the 50th anniversary excitement ended.

You're welcome. Jealous scheming ho all about the come up that blackmailed dangerous villain businessman into marriage was not going to turn into a Pretty Woman love story.

Segment starts 1:19:09

That same blogger also has another good post: Hill Place: Favoring "Falcon Crest": The Other Major Prime Time Soap That arc specifically is why I refer to Season 5 as Dallas with grapes/Miami Vice hybrid. Did you like that pairing? I recall some scenes in Seasons 3 and 4 where they seemed intrigued by each other but then suddenly out of nowhere comes a blackmail marriage.

Knowing Josh Griffith it will end up coming across as a bad Lifetime movie.

Well there was certainly enough cash to finance the 1989 remotes in Vienna and Moscow, and the 1990 remote in Paris.

Olivia was last seen on Y&R in 2009 I think. I don't blame Tonya Lee Williams for not wanting to return after she was unceremoniously dumped in 2005 after 15 years of service.

Budget mode has trickled down to the costume department.

Was it this blog Hill Place: The Single-Handed Destruction of "Falcon Crest" by Kristian Alfonso's Pilar Ortega A couple more old blogs I found ‘Falcon Crest’ (Season 1): Intrigue, drunk on wine | Drunk TV ‘Falcon Crest’ (Season 2): Melodrama & glamour ramp up in 2nd season | Drunk TV

5 seasons, but not long after Patrick Duffy's return budget mode started and that brought on what I suspect to be the salary dumpings of long-time female cast members and sweet young things hired on the cheap. We saw budget mode leading to the salary dumpings of long-time female cast members and sweet young things hired on the cheap across all three of the CBS primetime soaps. In the grand scheme of things, Victoria Principal and Linda Gray were smart to walk away when they did. In theory getting Victoria Principal and Linda Gray expensive contracts off the books should have freed up cash but budget mode probably lead to a salary cap and I think the bulk of the salaries at that point were probably going to Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy.

Bradley's last hurrah was the Jabot/Newman crossover. I'd say the last good episode of 1999 was the Stephanie/Brooke confrontation at Big Bear that was shown during the classics. 12 years of Stephanie's pent-up rage was unleashed. It was her "I will crush you" and the moment that Bradley went full-on in turning Stephanie into a female Victor.