kalbir

With the news of Elizabeth Hubbard passing away, is there any new information on other As the World Turns veteran actors? AFAIK Don Hastings, Eileen Fulton, Larry Bryggman, Marie Masters are still with us.

I know it sounds morbid, but I think the next few years are going to be rough. Many of the long-time cast members of past and present soaps are up there in years. As the World Turns had a large number of older veteran actors right up until the end.

1985/86 the season primetime soaps tanked due to several factors. Sitcoms made a comeback: 1985/86 The Cosby Show became #1 and it pulled up the rest of the NBC Thursday sitcoms Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court. Over on ABC, Who's the Boss took off. The breakout hit of 1985/86 was The Golden Girls. Counter-programming: Miami Vice blew up in 1985/86 and weakened Falcon Crest. Weak/weakening lead-ins: Despite The Dukes of Hazzard ratings collapse from 1982/83 to final season 1984/85, CBS left it at Friday 8 pm. I guess the thought process was Dallas is still CBS's biggest hit scripted show and both Dallas and The Dukes of Hazzard appealed to male audiences. Fall 1985, The Twilight Zone became Dallas's new lead-in but it didn't work. The weak lead-in trickled down to Dallas and then to Falcon Crest. CBS Thursday had a hit lineup with Magnum, P.I., Simon & Simon, Knots Landing but then Fall 1984 The Cosby Show came along and after the Super Bowl it blew up. Magnum, P.I. got weakened by The Cosby Show in 1984/85 and was effectively over in 1985/86. Simon & Simon got clobbered by Cheers in 1985/86. The weakening of the lead-ins trickled down to Knots Landing. Business end: 1985 ABC sold to Capital Cities and that same year Brandon Stoddard became president of ABC. I have a feeling Brandon Stoddard was not a fan of Aaron Spelling and wanted the Spelling shows gone from ABC. Changing times: Looking back as an adult at major historical events during 1985/86 (AIDS crisis, Space Shuttle Challenger, Chernobyl), those were signs that times were changing. 1985/86 Murder, She Wrote became the highest-rated drama series. I think shows like Murder, She Wrote and the big hit sitcoms provided comfort at a time when the world around us was changing so much.

RIP Elizabeth Hubbard and thank you for your contributions to daytime television.

1984/85 season was divided in two. Pre-Super Bowl, Dallas/Dynasty battle. Up to Super Bowl week, Dallas had 6 episodes finish #1 and Dynasty had 5 episodes finish #1. In that same time, The Cosby Show only #1 episode was the pilot. On a win-loss basis, the records up to Super Bowl week were Dallas vs. new episodes of The Cosby Show 13-0, Dynasty vs. new episodes of The Cosby Show 11-2, and Dallas vs. Dynasty 7-7. Post-Super Bowl, The Cosby Show blows up. After Super Bowl week, The Cosby Show had 8 episodes finish #1 in the week of their original broadcast. In that same time, Dallas had 3 episodes finish #1 and Dynasty did not have an episode finish #1. On a win-loss basis, the post-Super Bowl records were new episodes of The Cosby Show vs. Dynasty 8-0, new episodes of The Cosby Show vs. Dallas 8-1, Dynasty vs. Dallas 7-5. In the end, Dynasty moved up from 3rd to #1, Dallas dropped from #1 to 2nd, and The Cosby Show was the breakout hit of the season finishing 3rd.

Susan Walters is nearly 60 years old and she doesn't look over-surgeried or over-injected. We've had Melissa Ordway for 10 years and she's another one we're probably stuck with until Y&R ends.

Blu-ray or streaming?

In my mind a Victor/Stephanie scene would be like watching two gladiators facing off and sizing each other up, one recognizing the other as someone not to mess with. Stephanie would not dare to bitch slap Victor.

The big three sporting events (Super Bowl, World Series, Olympics) played a part in the final finishes of the networks that broadcast them. 1979/80 - ABC had the World Series and Winter Olympics. CBS had the Super Bowl. CBS moved up from 2nd to #1 and ABC dropped from #1 to 2nd. NBC had the broadcasting rights to the 1980 Summer Olympics but the coverage was reduced due to the US boycott. 1980/81 - NBC had the World Series and Super Bowl but was still 3rd. 1981/82 - ABC had the World Series. CBS had the Super Bowl. CBS was #1 and ABC was 2nd. 1982/83 - NBC had the World Series and Super Bowl but was still 3rd. 1983/84 - ABC had the World Series, Winter Olympics, and Summer Olympics. CBS had the Super Bowl. CBS was #1 and ABC was 2nd. 1984/85 - NBC had the World Series. ABC had the Super Bowl. NBC moved up from 3rd to 2nd. ABC dropped from 2nd to 3rd. 1985/86 - ABC had the World Series. NBC had the Super Bowl. NBC moved up from 2nd to #1. ABC was still 3rd. 1986/87 - NBC had the World Series. CBS had the Super Bowl. NBC was #1 and CBS was 2nd. 1987/88 - ABC had the World Series, Super Bowl, and Winter Olympics. ABC moved up from 3rd to 2nd. 1988/89 - NBC had the Summer Olympics, World Series, and Super Bowl. NBC was #1. 1989/90 - ABC had the World Series. CBS had the Super Bowl. ABC was 2nd and CBS was 3rd.

NBC also had 1988 Summer Olympics, which were held that September.

I stopped watching in 1999 after the Jabot/Newman crossover ended. Bradley did not give us a scene with two of his father's greatest creations Victor and Stephanie. A Victor/Stephanie scene would have been so epic and EB and SF would have given us a master class in acting. SF herself even said in an interview it was a missed opportunity that Stephanie and Victor did not interact during that storyline.

I think there's a setup for Chance/Sharon.

Has anyone bought the SOD Y&R 50th anniversary tribute issue? Is it worth the $13.99 cover price?

@Gray Bunny Also notice SC voice is different too.

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1984/85 yes, as that season was Knots Landing only Top 10 finish (9th). 1985/86 dropped to 17th, then again all the primetime soaps tanked that season.

@Broderick That's right, Chris Brooks, Peggy, Caroline, Cricket were all virgins when they were raped.

@Dylan There's a thread that talks about Bill Bell elements

@AlexGrimaldi Yes, Bill Bell wrote Caroline's rape two years before Cricket's date rape and Caroline's rape storyline was redo of Chris Brooks' rape storyline. Bill Bell did cover all the bases with both Caroline and Cricket (physical/emotional effects, medical/legal aspects) but Cricket's rape was presented as more of a summer social issue storyline than Caroline's rape was.

On the Entertainment Tonight 50th Anniversary Special where there was the segment on social issue storylines, LLB talks about Cricket's date rape and how she was injured during the filming of the rape scene. She mentions that Bill Bell wanted to tell that story properly. Did anyone else get the feeling that it was sort of a swipe towards how other soaps told rape storylines in the 1980s?

Exactly. MTS has said that Bill Bell saw the connection between her and EB before she and EB themselves even realized it was there. I guess the audience saw the connection too because the My Fair Lady storyline took off.

@Vee Thanks again for the excellent recaps. The final 10 episodes of season 6 are the peak of the series. As I pointed out before, Knots Landing is more community-based so its not the type of soap you'd expect to venture into action thriller/James Bond territory but I think they got Wolfbridge in season 5 right, Empire Valley started good in season 6 but became a mess in season 7, and Jean Hackney in season 8 was awful.

This is good news.

@divinemotion Your breakdown is on point. @Vizion Remember too that 1994-1997 Y&R/B&B were both shaken up by the huge rise of their time slot rival Reilly's Days. I will forever maintain two things about B&B: Belief was Bill Bell's last hurrah before he passed the reigns to Bradley, and Bradley did not inherit his father's talent.

1988/89 the writer’s strike delayed season. NBC sitcoms still dominating, taking 5 of the Top 10 spots. The Cosby Show fourth consecutive #1 season but it wasn’t as dominant as the previous three seasons. 12 out 25 episodes finished #1 in the week of their original broadcast, 10 episodes finished 2nd, two episodes finished 3rd, and one episode finished in the Top 10. This season The Cosby Show saw its dominance threatened by the breakout success of Roseanne. On a win-loss basis, new episodes of The Cosby Show were 14-5 vs. new episodes of Roseanne. Roseanne was the breakout hit of the season and the first show to threaten The Cosby Show’s dominance. Six out of 23 episodes finished #1 in the week of their original broadcast. Roseanne came along at a time when the popular family sitcoms embodied mid-1980s Reagan era ideals and Roseanne was the anti-Reagan era ideal family sitcom. The breakout success of Roseanne was a sign that times and tastes were changing. No change to the network rankings from the previous season: NBC #1, ABC 2nd, CBS 3rd. 1988/89 was another season w/ not a lot of hit dramas. CBS: Murder, She Wrote was still a Top 10 hit but Knots Landing, Dallas, and Falcon Crest were aging (they had all gone off the rails plus budget mode kicked in), and Beauty and the Beast, Jake and the Fatman, Tour of Duty, and Wiseguy were not showing growth. Spring 1989 saw the end of Simon & Simon and The Equalizer. The new drama from 1988/89 that would return was Paradise. ABC: MacGyver, Thirtysomething, and China Beach were not showing growth. Spring 1989 saw the end of Moonlighting, Dynasty, and HeartBeat. The new drama from 1988/89 that would return was Mission: Impossible. NBC: Matlock, L.A. Law, In the Heat of the Night, and Hunter were Top 20 hits. Spring 1989 saw the end of Miami Vice, Highway to Heaven, and Sonny Spoon. The new dramas from 1988/89 that would return were Midnight Caller and Quantum Leap. On the whole 1988/89 wasn’t a very good season. The combination of after effects of the writer’s strike and changing times caused so many shows to feel off.