kalbir

These were on my wish list during the classics: EB's first episode Victor and Nikki first scene together Christmas 1981 Victor and ED Ashley first scene together Victor and TL Jack first scene together

We saw Sheila pregnant once on Y&R (Scott's child that was miscarried) and once on B&B (Mary Warwick). The rewrite children are Finn, Diana Marone, Daisy Fisher, and Ryder Fisher.

To tie the 50th anniversary into the storyline, I like the idea of a Jabot anniversary celebration with a gala. Maybe also a primetime special look back/reunion.

ABC was sold to Capital Cities in 1985 and Brandon Stoddard became president of ABC that year. By Fall 1985, Aaron Spelling was losing his clout at ABC as he was down to only four shows on the network (The Love Boat, Dynasty, Hotel, The Colbys). I have a feeling Brandon Stoddard was not a fan of Aaron Spelling and wanted the Spelling shows gone from ABC. It wasn't until Robert Iger became president of ABC in 1989 that the Spelling shows were totally gone from ABC with the ending of Dynasty and HeartBeat in Spring 1989.

@j swift The Bayou was a honky tonk dive bar, not a strip club. There was no pole, no roped off VIP section, no dollar bills on the stage.

1991/92 was a transition season for sitcoms, with four sitcoms reaching their highest finishes ever and five of the big 1980s sitcoms ending. CBS: Murphy Brown (3rd), Designing Women (6th), Major Dad (9th) got their highest finishes ever. This was the first season since 1981/82 that CBS had multiple sitcoms in the Top 10. ABC: Roseanne (2nd) was still going strong. New comedy Home Improvement (4th, tied w/ Cheers) was the breakout hit of the season. Full House (7th) got its first Top 10 finish (1991/92 was also its highest finish ever), and this was the season it moved from Friday 8 pm to Tuesday 8 pm. Coach (10th) got its first Top 10 finish. Who's the Boss and Growing Pains both were moved to Saturday and they ended this season. NBC: Cheers (4th, tied w/ Home Improvement first season) was still going strong but the rest of the sitcom lineup was not looking good. A Different World and Empty Nest fell out of the Top 10. The Cosby Show and The Golden Girls fell out of the Top 10 in what would be their final seasons. This season was also the end of Night Court.

At the height of primetime soaps (Fall 1982 to Spring 1985), Knots Landing set itself apart from the others with high emotional stakes character driven storytelling. Knots Landing may not have been the pop culture phenomenon and ratings grabbing monster hit that its parent show Dallas was, but I think the place Knots Landing has in television history is that of a spin off done right. Knots Landing carved its own identity separate from Dallas, and that's how its run and episode count pretty much equaled Dallas. Both shows ran 14 seasons, Dallas produced 357 episodes, and Knots Landing produced 344 episodes.

Tuesday 8 pm/8:30 pm vs. The A-Team is where The Jeffersons and Alice ended their runs in 1985, so that time slot was where CBS sent the sitcoms they no longer had interest in.

Katherine memorial service maybe? But then Paul being MIA has to be addressed. Michael Damian could be around for a while. I think he would be a part of an episode for Tracey Bregman's 40th anniversary in January.

@soapfan770 Thanks for the correction re B&B Christmas Day 1997 repeat. I also remember 1997 as the first year of CBS Christmas Day classics.

@soapfan770 I think December 25, 1997 B&B rebroadcast one of the Lake Como fashion show episodes. I remember that date Y&R rebroadcast the episode from December 24, 1987.

Hahaha Brad in a cage, not one of Bill Bell's finest hours. I remember someone here pointed out that it was sort of a redo of Michael Scott in the dungeon. SOD had Y&R as most disappointing in 1990. I thought 1990 was improvement over 1989, mainly because Cricket wasn't eating the show as much.

@soapfan770 When Bill Bell put Victor in Cassandra's orbit in 1989 it felt like a cat/mouse game and in 1990 it felt like a rebound pairing. I did feel that EB had more of a connection w/ NA than he did w/ BE though. A Victor/Cassandra marriage might have been more 1990s high society/business power couple than genuine love. On a totally shallow note, EB was anti-aging in 1989 and 1990. I guess getting the show's new pet that's 20 years younger than he is as his new love interest played a part in that. Go figure 1989 was the year Y&R finally beat General Hospital for #1 overall but I think Y&R's reaching #1 was mainly due to holding on to their audience during the writer's strike, plus the factors of weak time slot competition and strong lead ins The Price is Right or local news.

Happy holidays everyone. Stay safe 🤗

And never will be.

Nick already has three biological children that are grown (Noah, Summer, Faith) and one non-biological child he's raising (Christian). He doesn't need any more children.

1983/84 the last season Dallas would finish #1 and the peak season for The A-Team, Simon & Simon, Falcon Crest, Kate & Allie, Hotel, Cagney & Lacey. Knots Landing was excellent in 1983/84 and it missed the Top 10 by very little. From what I've seen of 1983/84 Hotel it was The Love Boat on land but a little soapier. I don't feel that it was a better show than Knots Landing that season though. Hotel was discussed in the Time Slot Hits thread and even though it doesn't fall into the time slot hit group, I can't help but think that it's first season Top 10 finish was the result of being the lead out of Dynasty when that show was at the height of its popularity.

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@Broderick The departures of BD, ED, TL overlapped w/ Cricket eating the show, but Bill Bell also had a new pet in that era, Cassandra. Looking back, I don't think it was a coincidence that Bill Bell elevated Nina Arvesen to front burner around the time MTS was on pregnancy leave and ED was on the way out. 1989 had Cricket eating the show and Cassandra as front burner, while the rest of the main females (Jill, Katherine, Nikki, Ashley, Traci, Lauren, Nina, Leanna) were given second and third tier storylines.

All three networks had a primetime mess era in the 1990s. CBS: Basically the whole decade. Starting when Dallas fell out of the Top 10 in Spring 1987 and ending in Fall 2000, the start of the Survivor/CSI/Everybody Loves Raymond era. There were some signs of life from Fall 1991 to Spring 1994, but it didn't last. ABC: Starting when Roseanne fell out of the Top 10 in Spring 1996 and ending with the premiere of Who Wants to be a Millionaire in Summer 1999. NBC: Starting when The Cosby Show and The Golden Girls ended in Spring 1992 and ending in Fall 1994, the start of the Seinfeld/ER/Friends era.

@Vee I think budget mode started a while back but it wasn't until recently that it really looked like budget mode was in place.

Is it safe to say that Y&R is in budget mode?

@will81 It's been years since I've read Jeanne's book but I don't recall her mentioning anything negative about John Conboy. Of the Y&R EPs during the Bill Bell years, it seems H. Wesley Kenney is the only one who was well-liked.

@will81 Yes, the John Conboy/Bill Bell beef has been documented. EB wrote about his dislike of John Conboy in his book.

@Sapounopera I feel all of Y&R's backstage drama really began when ES took over as EP. Something about him has always given me s--t disturber vibes.