kalbir

Fall 1994, aftermath of OJ plus Reilly's Days was about to blow up. B&B starts tanking in the second half of 1995. Yeah, we can really see the difference between Bill Bell's masterpiece of 1987-1993 and Bradley who did not inherit his father's talent.

You're welcome @soapfan770 Murder, She Wrote was one of those shows I took for granted as a kid/teen, but it's a show I appreciate so much more as an adult. There's something comforting about it and maybe that's why it appeals to viewers of all walks of life.

NBC Midseason 2023 Schedule: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Gets Season 5 Release Date | TVLine

I think we're going to get Nate/Victoria.

I was surprised 1985 was Most Improved. Seasons 2 and 3 were the peak. Season 4 was still enjoyable, but signs of tanking were showing after the war crimes storyline was abruptly ended. The remaining 10 or so episodes after felt like so much of the momentum that had been built over the run of the series was gone. Season 5 is when the tanking started (keeping it real, all the primetime soaps tanked in 1985/86) plus being head-to-head w/ the new hotness that was Miami Vice didn't help matters either. You must mean the 1987 Best Love Story write up. That was a surprise choice for the time. Back then popular soap romances were mostly young and beautiful star-crossed lovers. These were middle-aged adults with a more emotional connection (I never sensed any longing fueled by passion and heat that the 1985 write up described) that had formed unexpectedly a few years earlier and over time that connection slowly grew into a love that neither one was prepared for and both were a little scared of facing. Perhaps your mother was a fan of Golden Age Hollywood and liked the guest stars in short arcs.

Y&R - 10% good, 90% garbage time

Y&R Summer 1994- Spring 1996 Bill Bell tried so hard to make Joshua Morrow happen.

I hadn't thought of this song for years, but the video is the story of pretty much every 1980s/1990s teen movie.

GL Roger/Holly storylines from March 1979 marital rape to April 1980 Roger's fall off the cliff in Santo Domingo. Those 13 months of storylines set in motion so much of what we saw a decade later during the Calhoun era.

This also led to Bill Bell creating Victor's back story of being abandoned by both parents, growing up in an orphanage, and his becoming a self-made man, thus Victor's character arc from villain to anti-hero/romantic leading man. MTS has said that Victor/Nikki were an accident pairing that just blew up and it was Bill Bell that saw the connection between her and EB before they themselves even realized it was there. It's funny that Bill Bell's initial plan Victor/Lorie didn't happen, but the two accident pairings Victor/Nikki and Victor/Ashley would be the eternal triangle that still impacts so much of what we see today.

I think Victor/Lorie was Bill Bell's initial plan, but he changed course with the unexpected popularity of Victor/Nikki My Fair Lady storyline, MTS real-life pregnancy, and JLB departure. When Bill Bell put Victor/Lorie in each other's orbit in 1980, it was the wealthy businessman introduced as the new villain that was drawn to the vixen daughter of the main upper-class family. A Victor/Lorie marriage probably would have been more along the lines of a 1980s high society power couple. While Victor may have had some affection for Lorie, I never felt that there was genuine love between them.

🤣 He's trying to avoid having a dad bod. Keeping it real, JM has never appealed to me in either acting or looks. His whole overgrown frat boy persona doesn't help either.

Similar vein Terry Lester's Jack.

I'd say MAB-era Sharon.

Leslie Brooks in the same vein.

Y&R Jill and Katherine's first encounter at the hair salon led to nearly 40 years of storylines. Victor entering the Abbott orbit with the Mergeron takeover storyline set in motion so much of what we see today.

Then again, bringing together the kind-hearted heroine and dangerous villain is a tale as old as time.

@Soapfan8 Victor was introduced as the new villain but once Bill Bell created the backstory of Victor's childhood and his becoming a self-made man, Victor became more of an anti-hero/romantic leading man than a villain.

I never liked Jack and Nikki as a couple. I didn't feel that they had a great love between them. PB has never worked for me as a romantic leading man.

Dallas mentions in SOD Best and Worst. 1984: Best Prime Time Cliffhanger, Gimme a Break!, Most Tortured Love Stories 1985: Best Prime Time Show 1986: Best Story Line, Biggest Cop-Out, Best Dream 1987: Best Scene Stealers, Most Pointless Story 1988: Gimme a Break! 1989: Best Casting - Prime Time 1990: Best Reincarnated Twosome The write ups are posted here Classic Soap Opera Digest News on Tumblr - #Best & Worst

Knots Landing mentions in SOD Best and Worst. 1983: Best True-to-Life Storylines, Best Nighttime Show 1984: Best Casting, Best Story, Best Show 1985: Best Weddings, Most Romantic Scenes, Most Intriguing Characters, Best Performance by a Celebrity 1986: Most Surprising Relative, Best Prime Time Show 1987: Best Prime-Time Casting 1988: Best Wacko (Prime-Time), Biggest Waste of Talent 1989: Most Shocking Twist, Best Show- Prime Time 1990: Best Villain (Prime Time), Best Hidden Pregnancy, Best Widower, Best Prime-Time Show 1991: Best Villainess, Most Disappointing Show The write ups are posted here Classic Soap Opera Digest News on Tumblr - #Best & Worst 1985 is incomplete on Tumblr but the missing write ups (text only) are here Voldemort Best & Worst -- 1985 - Daytime Royalty (daytimeroyaltyonline.com) The 1991 mentions are here 1-7-92 Soap Opera Digest THE BEST & WORST of 1991 | Soap Opera World but I couldn't find the write ups anywhere.

Falcon Crest mentions in SOD Best and Worst. 1983: Best Nighttime Cliffhanger 1984: Most Intriguing Characters, Funny Couples 1985: Most Improved Show Prime Time 1986: Biggest Letdown 1987: Best Love Story, Most Shocking Twist, Best Prime-Time Show 1988: Best Reconciliation, Most Intriguing Characters, Best Prime-Time Show 1989: Biggest Waste of Talent - Prime Time, Most Ruined Show The write ups are posted here Classic Soap Opera Digest News on Tumblr - #Best & Worst

Dynasty mentions in SOD Best and Worst. 1984: Most Daring Plot, Best Dressed Women, Best Dressed Men, Thumbs Up!, Gimme a Break! 1985: Biggest Waste of Talent, Worst Casting 1986: Most Melodramatic Show. The Colbys got Best Prime Time Casting. 1987: Most Pointless Show. The Colbys got a mention in Gimme a Break. 1988: Worst Storyline, Most Ruined Show 1989: Best Enemies - Prime Time The write ups are posted here Classic Soap Opera Digest News on Tumblr - #Best & Worst 1985 is incomplete on Tumblr but the missing write ups (text only) are here Voldemort Best & Worst -- 1985 - Daytime Royalty (daytimeroyaltyonline.com)

Victor owns this thread. I can't really think of anyone for B&B though. Maybe early 1990s GL Roger.

Three Dallas-related anniversaries, both real-life in the city and fictional on the show, are each separated by a day. November 22, 1963: President Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas. November 21, 1980: CBS broadcasts the Dallas episode where who shot JR is revealed and it is the highest rated episode of the entire series. November 23, 2012: Larry Hagman passes away in Dallas as he was there filming the TNT revival of Dallas. It's so surreal that the episode where the most famous cliffhanger of the series was resolved was broadcast one day before the 17th anniversary of the most infamous real-life shooting that took place in the city of Dallas, and that Larry Hagman passed away 32 years and 2 days after that episode was broadcast.