kalbir

1984/85 Simon & Simon got weakened when Cheers started showing growth. 1985/86 Simon & Simon got clobbered by Cheers. 1986/87 the ill-fated move to Thursday 8 pm where it would be DOA vs. The Cosby Show and despite the return to Thursday 9 pm the damage was already done and was effectively over the end of the season. 1987/88 short season with a late start. 1988/89 the move to Saturday 9 pm and a short final season.

@Broderick I think Bill Bell began losing interest in the Abbotts around 1987. First Traci role was reduced, then the Ashley and Jack recasts threw off the balance in the family. For whatever reason Bill Bell kept the Abbotts instead of replacing them with a new family.

I say when ED left in 1988, Ashley was the #3 female, behind Cricket and Nikki. Remember too that ED departure and MTS pregnancy leave overlapped. 1989 was the wonky year with the females, with Bill Bell's new pet Cassandra becoming the #2 female after Cricket, BE Ashley floundering until the Brad/Traci/Ashley triangle, and Nikki floundering from MTS return until the storyline with PB Jack began. Hahaha. Dead.

Agree. Brenda Epperson left December 1995. Shari Shattuck arrived March 1996. That's why Bill Bell didn't give us a Victor/Nikki/Brad/Ashley quad and instead put Christine in the Ashley role. Could you imagine Nikki confronting Shari Shattuck Ashley in the hospital when Victor got shot?

That pretty much describes first half of 1997. Bill Bell's second worst nepotism. That casting derailed a potential Victor/Nikki/Brad/Ashley quad and none of the subsequent storylines worked.

1984/85 Magnum, P.I. got weakened by The Cosby Show. 1985/86 Magnum, P.I. got slaughtered by The Cosby Show and was effectively over at the end of the season. 1986/87 CBS moved Magnum, P.I. to Wednesday 9 pm but that didn't help. 1987/88 Magnum, P.I. got a definitive final season with a proper ending.

@soapfan770 1986/87 was a sign of things to come for CBS. Murder, She Wrote their only scripted show to finish in the Top 10. Dallas fell out of the Top 10. The rest of the dramas were either aging or not showing growth. Still struggling with sitcoms.

I'd say yes. Broderick you are killing me 🤣

The final three seasons of the 1980s were overall not very good. 1987/88 Nielsen people meters wreaked havoc. 1988/89 after effects of the writer's strike and changing times. 1989/90 was probably the worst primetime television season of the 1980s.

Tyrone could have been another go-to lawyer in town and Jazz could have been a restaurant/night club owner. I don't think the Jackson brothers got a proper exit storyline.

Thank you @Maxim and happy holidays to you as well.

Corrected that for you

So your mom stopped watching in the aftermath of Bobby's car accident, but then stopped again after it was all a dream?

Season 9 had a Christmas episode, A Christmas Secret.

I'm seeing elements of two future Bill Bell storylines. B&B Thorne shooting Ridge in the aftermath of finding out that Ridge and Caroline became involved and then not remembering, and Y&R Victor meeting Hope in Kansas.

Knots Landing was effectively over with Abby departure. The final five seasons were a chore to get through. I feel the final four seasons happened because CBS was in their third place primetime mess era.

@soapfan770 Thank you for the holiday greetings and same to you. Happy holidays everyone. Stay safe 🤗

Maybe that's why Donna Mills walked away when she did, and she was smart to do so.

Yup. Popular daytime star from a show popular with a younger audience brought on to aging primetime soap with the expectation that their huge daytime following would carry over. Notice how most of the former daytime actors/actresses that were on the CBS primetime soaps were from ABC/NBC. CBS had so much of their own daytime talent they could have used on their primetime soaps but for whatever reason that didn't happen and I think demographics played a part in that (CBS daytime skewing older than ABC/NBC).

Knots Landing goes off the rails in the aftermath of Laura's departure. I've brought this up before, but I think the Williams family was added in an attempt to get the African-American audience away from NBC.

@soapfan770 I've pointed this out before, but NBC got away with scheduling garbage shows at Thursday 8:30 pm/9:30 pm in the Seinfeld/ER/Friends era that finished in the Top 10 because CBS and ABC were in their primetime mess eras. It's because of the garbage shows that I don't hold the Seinfeld/ER/Friends era of NBC Thursday to the same regard that I do the The Cosby Show/Cheers era of NBC Thursday.

@Liberty City I missed that, thank you for the additional info.

I doubt that, considering that Jeanne Cooper and Elizabeth Hubbard were only 5 years apart in age.

That was the only episode of Knots Landing to finish #1. Falcon Crest never had an episode finish #1, but the season three finale and season four premiere both finished 2nd. The series high was Lana Turner first episode February 19, 1982.

If we're keeping it real, after watching Falcon Crest episodes I was surprised it made it past season 5. That season tanking was cemented (signs of tanking were showing during the last 10 episodes of season 4) and the storylines were so start and stop plus most of them didn't really work. Season 6 was an improvement but it was still tanking. Season 7 it started going off the rails and that should have been the end. Seasons 8 and 9 were not necessary and I feel they only happened because CBS was in their third place primetime mess era. When Falcon Crest ended in May 1990, it was CBS's 8th longest-running primetime drama series, after Gunsmoke, Lassie, Dallas, original Hawaii Five-O, Knots Landing, Perry Mason, The Waltons. Since Falcon Crest ended, 12 CBS primetime drama series have had equal or longer runs: NCIS, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles, Blue Bloods; Murder, She Wrote; CSI: Miami, Hawaii Five-0 reboot; Walker, Texas Ranger; Touched by an Angel, JAG, CSI: NY. Time slot hit or not, it's notable that Falcon Crest had the longest run of a CBS primetime drama series that premiered in the 1980s which was not named Murder, She Wrote.