kalbir

@Darn Completely spot on.

I am so glad I did not see that episode when it was originally broadcast. I probably would have had nightmares the entire weekend and been traumatized the entire school year. It wasn't long after the school year ended that another CBS soap had their heroine from its first episode die onscreen and I cried so much after that episode (thankfully there was still a few weeks left of summer break). Two CBS soap heroines with sad onscreen deaths 10 months apart, yikes. (Side note, when going through SOD best/worst, I was surprised this death was not chosen as the worst of 1989 yet the other death was chosen as worst of 1990.)

1980/81 season start was delayed due to an actor's strike. 1981/82 season start was delayed due to a writer's strike.

Maura West and Emme Rylan overlapped 2010 and 2011. Emme Rylan and Genie Francis overlapped 2012.

The two most killer shows of the 1980s were 1980/81 Dallas and 1985/86 The Cosby Show. 1980/81 Dallas had 18 out of 23 episodes finish #1 and the other 5 episodes finish 2nd. 1985/86 The Cosby Show had 23 out of 25 episodes finish #1 in the week of their original broadcast, 1 episode finish 2nd, and 1 episode finish 3rd.

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Cagney & Lacey was cancelled and uncancelled twice, Spring 1982 and Spring 1983. 1983/84 was it's only Top 10 finish (10th), then dropped to 28th in 1984/85, and was below the Top 30 in its final three seasons 1985/86 to 1987/88. I think CBS kept Cagney & Lacey as long as they did because it was an Emmy favorite plus it was female-focused counterprogramming to Monday Night Football.

@jcar03 I didn't know that the age limit for Younger Performer was lowered. I think combining the Younger categories plus lowering the eligibility age was done due to the shrinking talent pool.

This should be good.

February 14-20, 1983. Two weeks before the series finale of M*A*S*H.

The Cosby Show was a repeat on January 24, 1985. Robert Kennedy aired instead of Murder, She Wrote on January 27. The following week The Cosby Show would have it's first #1 finish since the pilot.

The flashbacks were the highlight for me.

Sheila has been Bradley's "break glass in case of emergency" character for over 20 years now.

CBS aired Any Which Way You Can on January 18, 1985. Super Bowl week was the turning point of 1984/85. The season began with all the hype being a Dallas/Dynasty battle for #1, but the momentum shifted after the Super Bowl when new episodes of The Cosby Show began regularly finishing #1. Dallas had 9 out of 30 episodes finish #1, 16 episodes finish among the Top 5, and 5 episodes finish among the Top 10. Six of the #1 episodes were before Super Bowl week. On a win-loss basis, Dallas record vs. Dynasty was 12-14 and vs. new episodes of The Cosby Show was 14-8. Of the 14 episodes that finished ahead of new episodes of The Cosby Show, 13 of them were before Super Bowl week. Dynasty had 5 out of 29 episodes finish #1 and the remaining 24 episodes finished among the Top 5. All five of the #1 episodes were before Super Bowl week. On a win-loss basis, Dynasty record vs. new episodes of The Cosby Show was 11-10. All 11 of the episodes that finished ahead of a new episode of The Cosby Show were before Super Bowl week. The Cosby Show had 9 out of 24 episodes finish #1 in the week of their original broadcast, 6 episodes finish among the Top 5, 8 episodes finish among the Top 10, and 1 episode finish below the Top 10. Eight of the #1 episodes were after Super Bowl week. The season ended with Dallas losing #1 to Dynasty and finishing 2nd. The Cosby Show finished 3rd.

1983/84 Dallas regains #1 but the battle with Dynasty explodes as Dynasty scores their first weekly #1 finish over Dallas. That season Dallas had 9 out of 30 episodes finish #1, 19 episodes finish among the Top 5, 1 episode finish among the Top 10, and 1 episode finish below the Top 10. On a win-loss basis, Dallas record vs. Dynasty was 21-4.

@BoldRestless Your list and descriptions are completely spot on. You nailed it

For CBS, I'd say the Bell shows are family/business conflict based and the P&G shows were community based.

1982/83 Dallas loses #1 to 60 Minutes and the Dallas/Dynasty battle begins as Dynasty scores their first weekly win over Dallas. That season Dallas had 5 out of 28 episodes finish #1, 20 episodes finish among the Top 5, and 3 episodes finish below the Top 10. On a win-loss basis, Dallas record vs. 60 Minutes was 13-15 and vs. Dynasty was 18-3.

Correction, the ratings you posted cover January 18-24, 1982. Super Bowl XVI was held January 24, 1982. The NBC lineup on January 23, 1982 was One of the Boys (series premiere), Harper Valley, Barbara Mandrell, Steve Martin Special.

1981/82 was Dallas second consecutive #1 season, but it wasn't as killer as 1980/81. 13 out of 26 episodes finished #1 and the other 13 episodes finished among the Top 5.

It seemed every show in the 1980s chased the trends of Dallas/Dynasty influence, supercouples, action/adventure. Yes it worked on some shows but chasing trends didn't really suit many shows original identities.

1980/81 Dallas was a killer show. 18 out 23 episodes finished #1 and the other 5 episodes finished 2nd. That season Dallas also had its highest-rated episode ever, "Who Done It?".

Would you say that the 1970s were the peak of soaps in terms of impact to the genre and the 1980s were the peak of soaps in terms of impact in pop culture? Many of us feel that soaps never really recovered from the aftermath of OJ but could the decline have started nearly a decade earlier w/ Summer 1987 Iran-Contra pre-emptions and 1988 Writer's Strike?

Going way back, Y&R Ashley learning she was the result of an affair between Dina and alcoholic Brent Davis. Yes in a way it was a dust off of Lorie Brooks parentage reveal a decade earlier. The initial impact of Ashley's parentage reveal is that it lead to so many storylines that still impact the canvas. The downside though is that it was largely forgotten after the initial storyline. Also John Abbott never found out that Ashley wasn't his biological daughter.

Bill Bell said in a 1996 interview that he regretted writing the storyline where Malcolm took advantage of an over-medicated Dru. It was brought up again in 2000, when Dru/Malcolm got together. Dru reminded Malcolm of the night that he behaved impulsively with her and Malcolm mentioned he regretted what happened that night. There was no mention though that Lily may have been the result of that night.