kalbir

Here's what happened on the soaps and two rookie hits the week of February 4-10, 1985. The Cosby Show - Theo and the Joint (episode 17, February 7, rating 26.1, #1): Theo searches for the culprit who put marijuana in his schoolbook. Dynasty - The Ball (February 6, rating 25.9, 2nd): Alexis attempts to persuade the head of the Chinese delegation to hire Colbyco. Blake is surprised that Lady Ashley is an Acapulco. Amanda has a romantic fling with Prince Michael of Moldavia. Dallas - Sins of the Fathers (February 8, rating 25.0, 4th): Cliff gets an injunction, but victory is short-lived. Pam learns Mark may be in Hong Kong. Lucy and Eddie's construction project starts. Knots Landing - Fly Away Home (February 7, rating 21.9, 10th): Ben has a flat tire on the road to Empire Valley. A truck with radio receivers stops to help him. Ben takes one of the receivers and tells Mac that he thinks that Empire Valley is only a cover for something bigger. Falcon Crest - Retribution (February 8, rating 20.3, 13th): Angela's kidnapping results in a meeting with Julia. Chase risks all to save Julia. Gustav finally finds the Falcon Crest treasure. This episode of Falcon Crest is notable in that it would be the last episode to finish ahead of a new episode of Murder, She Wrote. Murder, She Wrote - My Johnny Lies Over the Ocean (episode 14, February 10, rating 19.9, 16th): Jessica goes on a cruise with her friend Pamela, who has just been released from a sanatorium where she was recovering from the suicide of her husband Johnny. However, on board the ship Pamela is the victim of a terror campaign, and then another passenger is found dead.

For whatever reason, CBS decided not to tank job The Dukes of Hazzard but in the mid-1980s they did tank job other 1970s holdovers The Jeffersons, Alice; Trapper John, M.D.; and possibly One Day at a Time.

It's unfortunate that so little of the Potter/Dobsons era has surfaced. I've accepted we'll probably never see 1976-1978. All in all, the two bright spots in GL's final 35 years would be 1976-1982 Potter/Dobsons/Marland and 1989-1991 Calhoun/Long/Curlee.

Bill Bell started losing interest in the Abbotts around 1987 when Traci role was reduced. Then came the Ashley and Jack recasts which threw off the balance in the family. To me, BE Ashley and PB Jack are separate characters from ED original recipe Ashley and TL Jack. Considering Traci role was reduced, there were times it felt that Bill Bell wrote BE Ashley like she was both Abbott daughters as one character.

So the best era of the 1970s would have been 1976-1979 Potter/Dobsons then?

I guess CBS logic was Dallas is our biggest hit scripted show and The Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas both appealed to the same audience. I think 1983/84 The Mississippi might have worked at Friday 8 pm, but then that could have lead to The Dukes of Hazzard getting tank jobbed at Tuesday 8 pm vs. The A-Team.

@TEdgeofNight Thanks for the info. The Dukes of Hazzard series finale was last in the time slot. CBS did promote the episode as a series finale (at 19:38).

Sheryl Underwood was a big Y&R fan and she always showed love to the current/former Y&R cast members that appeared on The Talk. She got all excited whenever Eric Braeden or Shemar Moore would show up. Y&R squandered Loren Lott talent. I was happy that she moved on to better things.

You're welcome @Khan It was the combination of EB acting and Bill Bell writing that made Victor character arc a success. We saw Victor go from short-term villain to anti-hero/romantic leading man plus the backstory of his painful childhood (abandoned by both parents and growing up in an orphanage) and becoming a self-made man. EB breaks down Victor as a character in this interview. Eric Braeden Celebrates His 40th Anniversary On The Young And The Restless | The man 👊 The icon 🌟 The only 🙌 Learn more about the man who made Victor Newman who he is today, and don’t miss a special tribute to Eric Braeden’s 40... | By The Young and the Restless | Facebook

1991 EB interview. Not sure if this was posted before. #TBT - Eric Braeden - Soap Opera Digest

OMG Clarence is a name I have not read in like decades. I loved his promos BITD. CBS had the best promos in the 1980s and 1990s. This is the GOAT CBS daytime promo and the yardstick to which all CBS daytime promos are measured. It's hard to believe that its been almost 40 years.

It's difficult to think of anything positive JFP did at any show. I recognize that she stepped up her Emmy block voting game at Santa Barbara and by the time she got to Guiding Light, JFP had the Emmy block voting game on lock. I also recognize that her first year at Guiding Light she got the ratings up but to me she was coasting off the groundwork laid during Robert Calhoun's run. It also helped that the ABC big three were tanking at various times during that year and Days was in their post-supercouple/pre-Reilly mess era.

The A-Team, Miami Vice, and L.A. Law I'd say were NBC's biggest hit dramas of the 1980s. The A-Team peaked 1983/84 at 4th. Miami Vice peaked 1985/86 at 9th. L.A. Law peaked 1987/88 at 12th. Hill St. Blues and St. Elsewhere I'd say were NBC's most critically acclaimed dramas of the 1980s. Hill St. Blues peaked 1982/83 at 21st. St. Elsewhere never got a Top 30 finish in its 6 season run. St. Elsewhere scheduling history 1982/83: Tuesday 10 pm. CBS Tuesday movie, ABC Hart to Hart. 1983/84 and 1984/85: Wednesday 10 pm. CBS Wednesday movie, ABC Hotel. 1985/86 and 1986/87: Wednesday 10 pm. CBS The Equalizer, ABC Hotel. 1987/88: Wednesday 10 pm. CBS The Equalizer, ABC Dynasty. Perhaps the lack of Top 30 finishes could be explained by being head-to-head with the Aaron Spelling hit factory.

The P&G shows were not in in a good place creatively June 1994: As the World Turns Douglas Marland material had run out, GL Nancy Curlee left the writing team three months earlier, Another World had been limping along for 15 years. We saw in the 1990s Ratings thread that by the end of 1995 the P&G shows were the bottom tier, thus I feel they were effectively over in the aftermath of OJ.

GL avoided cancel territory in the 1980s because Capitol showed no growth and B&B wasn't a hit right away. GL became CBS's lowest-rated daytime soap in 1989 but didn't enter cancel territory until 1995. We know GL was not in a good place creatively by June 1994 (the start of OJ) and I'd say GL was effectively over in the aftermath of OJ.

Maybe the data from that site could be found on archive.org I forgot about The Dukes of Hazzard 1982/83 ratings drop because of the cast switch. Even with the returns the ratings didn't rebound. Also Hotel, which was The Love Boat on land but a little soapier. Even though we disproved this, I still maintain that Hotel was a time slot hit and I don't believe that 1983/84 Hotel was a better show than Knots Landing. 1989/90 was probably the worst primetime season of the 1980s. As for CBS, it was the nadir of their third place primetime mess era yet that same season CBS was killing it in daytime with all four soaps hitting their stride plus the game show block. The launch of TGIF, which became a 1990s staple. Pre-TGIF ABC Friday sitcoms I remember watching were Webster, Mr. Belvedere, Perfect Strangers.

1991 was another big cast change year. Departures: Grant Aleksander, Beth Chamberlin, Kassie DePaiva (then Wesley), Robert Newman, Michael O'Leary Arrivals: Melissa Hayden, Melina Kanakaredes, Nia Long, Jeff Phillips, Jocelyn Seagrave Return: Vincent Irizarry

1995 had 10 contract cast departures, which was probably the biggest cast turnover. 1995 cast changes. Departures: Jean Carol, Barbara Crampton, Hilary Edson, Scott Hoxby, Melina Kanakaredes, Rachel Miner, Kelly Neal, Monti Sharp, Eugene Troobnick, Marcy Walker Arrivals: Frank Beaty, Rebecca Budig, Amy Cox, Russell Curry, Kevin Mambo, Wendy Moniz, Jennifer Roszell Returns: Lisa Brown, Michael O'Leary, Kim Zimmer

@soapfan770 CBS Friday 8 pm from 1985/86 to 1989/90. 1985/86: The Twilight Zone, Charlie & Co (8-8:30 pm). 1986/87: Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Together We Stand (8-8:30 pm), specials 1987/88 and 1988/89: Beauty and the Beast 1989/90: Snoops, Max Monroe: Loose Cannon, The Bradys, specials, Small Talk (8-8:30 pm) Nothing really worked except for Beauty and the Beast.

Starts with the Emmy speech, then the clips.

40 years ago tonight (February 8, 1985) CBS broadcast The Dukes of Hazzard series finale. For the rest of the season CBS filled Friday 8 pm with specials, movies, and a 6 episode series Detective in the House. Friday 8 pm became a CBS dead zone for the remainder of the decade.

For me it began with the summer 1992 departures of Kimberley Simms, Sherry Stringfield, Beverlee McKinsey within a few weeks of each other. While September-December 1992 wasn't bad, the departures left a void in the canvas. Then came Maureen death in January 1993 and that felt like the beginning of the end. That 14 or so months from aftermath of Maureen death until Nancy Curlee left the writing team was a chore to get through, mainly because of too much Buzz. The only bright spot in that era was Michael Zaslow finally getting his long-awaited for Lead Actor Emmy.

Nooo, do not put that out there in the universe

1984-1987 Victor/Ashley worked because Bill Bell saw that EB and ED acting styles matched. I didn't feel they had off the charts heat generating romantic chemistry though. To me Victor/Ashley were done with their goodbye at the Winter Ball in December 1987. I don't know what made Bill Bell revisit Victor/Ashley with Brenda Epperson in the role as I found there was no connection between EB and BE so their marriage/divorce storyline didn't work for me.

@DRW50 Thanks for the reply. I barely got through the 14 or so months from the aftermath of Maureen death until Nancy Curlee left the writing team, so I don't think I could get through the final 15 years.