kalbir

It's never been confirmed, but I wonder if Cricket eating the show was also the cause of Eileen Davidson leaving in 1988. From what I've seen of December 1988, ED didn't even get a proper exit story. I think her last scene as Ashley was at the hospital when Steven died and a week or so later Ashley was in her room at the Abbott house and it was Brenda Epperson.

That was Les Moonves first order of business when he arrived at CBS in 1995. Personally I think Les Moonves had it out for Murder, She Wrote for years. Remember he was moving up the ranks at Lorimar/Warner Bros from 1985-1995 and that overlaps with Murder, She Wrote's first season finishing ahead of both Knots Landing and Falcon Crest, and Murder, She Wrote's second season finishing ahead of Dallas to become CBS's highest rated scripted program (which it remained until 1989/90. Murphy Brown became CBS's highest rated scripted program from 1990/91 to 1993/94, then 1994/95 Murder, She Wrote would once again be CBS's highest rated scripted program.) and also the highest rated drama across the broadcast networks (even beating both Dynasty and Miami Vice. Murder, She Wrote would remain the highest rated drama across the broadcast networks until 1993/94, then ER and NYPD Blue finished ahead of it in 1994/95.). Not to beat a dead horse, but when you factor in everything we know today about Les Moonves and that his time at Lorimar/Warner Bros also overlaps with the timing of the CBS primetime soaps going into budget mode, I don't find it a coincidence that it was the long-time female cast members of the CBS primetime soaps that were mostly affected when the shows went into budget mode. AFAIK none of the CBS primetime soap female cast members have come forward about Les Moonves but we may never know what went down during his time at Lorimar/Warner Bros.

Victoria was born on-screen November 1982. Nicholas was born off-screen December 1988. They are 6 years apart in real time but inconsistent SORASing messed up the timelines.

Cricket wasn't annoying when she showed up on school breaks from Spring 1983 to Spring 1986. Summer 1986 to end of 1989 was when Cricket ate the show. I also skip her scenes whenever an episode from that era shows up.

Nikki was quite the troublemaking promiscuous girl. No surprise she ended up on the pole. After all Nikki is the OG ho turned housewife.

Despite Cricket eating the show?

Thanks @FrenchFan . Y&R's first mention of Nikki. I'm guessing the next summary will be the first mention of Paul.

@BoldRestless Thank you for the links to the Australian broadcasts. With Y&R being so much further behind than B&B in Australia, that messed up the timelines when the crossovers began. I'm sure alot of countries where both shows were broadcast had similar timeline issues with the crossovers.

How would Knots Landing have fit in the mid-1990s network drama landscape? Fall 1993 Melrose Place took off, Beverly Hills 90210 was at its peak, NYPD Blue premiered, and ER was a year away. Knots Landing might have looked old school in comparison. CBS had so much of their own daytime talent that could have worked on their primetime soaps but for whatever reason CBS's primetime soaps grabbed ABC/NBC daytime actors instead.

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Maybe he thought 40 years later the audience wouldn't notice 🤣 I was thinking that this whole storyline is a JT redo.

This was the week of The Cosby Show's first season finale. Cliff's birthday, and Lena Horne guest starred.

I so thought there was going to be a Ashland/Diane hookup. Oh well, at least there's still the potential of a Nate/Imani hookup.

B&B's peak was Sally's arrival through the first half of 1995.

Y&R was killing it in the daytime ratings at the end of the 1980s while CBS was a mess in primetime in that same era.

@Broderick Vanessa Prentiss lasted 5 1/2 years, that's a pretty good arc for a villainess. K.T. Stevens didn't act much after Y&R but from what I've seen of her Y&R work, she had primetime soap matriarch energy. She was written off Y&R just when primetime soaps were taking off but for whatever reason a regular primetime soap role for her wasn't meant to be. Speaking of Golden Age Hollywood actresses, was the casting of Dorothy McGuire as Cora Miller considered a big get for Y&R?

Thanks @FrenchFan Y&R getting close to Paul and Nikki's introductions.

One nomination, Younger Actress in 1988.

Slight correction. Three of the Brooks sisters were originals: Jaime Lyn Bauer (Lorie), Trish Stewart (Chris), Pamela Peters (Peggy). Victoria Mallory (Leslie) was the recast. Janice Lynde (original Leslie) was on One Life to Live in 1984.

I think Victor got more "corporate" when Ed Scott took over as EP. The Newman Enterprises office set that we know today was set up and Victor dressed mostly in suits. During the H. Wesley Kenney years the horse rancher outfits dropped somewhat and Victor dressed more in sweaters and dress clothes, and suits became more frequent. Victor's introduction in February 1980 was around the time Dallas was blowing up in popularity (JR got shot a month later). Yes, Y&R had wealthy businessmen before Victor (Phillip Chancellor II and Lance Prentiss) and Wisconsin has horse ranches, plus EB appeared in westerns before Y&R, but the Dallas influence was evident: wealthy businessman introduced as the new villain that lives on a horse ranch, has a long-suffering much younger wife, and dresses like a horse rancher. Bill Bell might have based the Newman ranch on a horse ranch near his vacation home in Lake Geneva and been familiar w/ EB's work in westerns, or perhaps CBS Daytime wanted to cash in on the Dallas craze (a year later Guiding Light introduced the Lewis family from Oklahoma that owned an oil company). Here's a bizarre coincidence: the Dallas episode that aired Friday February 8, 1980 (the same date as Victor's first episode) was the first time Dallas hit #1 in the weekly ratings.

I remember this scene was shown in a flashback in 2009 or 2010 (maybe to time in w/ EB's 30th anniversary). Victor (who back then dressed more like a horse rancher than a businessman) and Katherine in the Chancellor Estate living room where they went over a contract that would put Victor in charge of Chancellor Industries. Katherine is more suited to a messy wealthy matriarch/grand dame than Kay is.

@yrfan1983 This is when Leslie becomes pregnant with Brooks. Was Casey originally intended to be a Chris Brooks replacement character?

Noah/Allie, like Reed/Mattie before them, are trying to channel the OG Billy and Mac story.

Victor was a blank canvas of a character. All we knew about Victor was that he was a wealthy businessman that lived on a horse ranch and was married to the long suffering much younger Julia. He had no family ties or other connection to anyone in Genoa City. I believe it was rewritten years later that Katherine brought Victor to Genoa City to run Chancellor Industries but I don't think Victor and Katherine met onscreen until sometime in 1981.

When wealthy businessman Victor was introduced as the new villain, he was initially drawn to Lorie, the vixen daughter of the main upper class family. Did you sense there was actual love between Victor and Lorie, or were they more of a set up for a 1980s high society power couple? Among Victor's 1980s love interests as written by Bill Bell, I put Lorie in the "got away" category. I think Victor had some degree of affection for Lorie, but I don't think he had genuine love for her in the way he had love for Nikki and Ashley in that decade. Also Bill Bell writing Victor's 1980s character arc from villain to anti-hero/romantic leading man with the backstory of his painful childhood may have had an element from literature: Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights, the brooding anti-hero abandoned as a child. We've discussed before Bill Bell using elements from literature (Le Morte d'Arthur) and film (My Fair Lady), and biblical allusions in past characters/storylines, so this might be another one to add to the list.