kalbir

Hahaha.

The Val/Gary/Abby triangle ushered in Knots Landing peak era and drove so many storylines for years. The triangle worked not because of the triangle itself (let's keep it real here, Gary was no prize) but because of the character arcs it lead to. Val moved on with her life after losing her first love, Gary manned up, and Abby got the come up that she was all about.

Saw that. Thank you. Yeah, there was way too much garbage time.

NBC had four attempts at a primetime soap (Flamingo Road, Bare Essence, The Yellow Rose, Berrenger's) but none worked. CBS struggle with sitcoms began with the end of the M*A*S*H and the Top 10 fallouts of The Jeffersons, Alice, One Day at a Time. Newhart and Kate & Allie were bright spots but they got overshadowed by the big NBC/ABC sitcoms. Designing Women and Murphy Brown started showing growth at the end of the 1980s and became hits in the early 1990s. Major Dad had brief success in the early 1990s. Also with ABC dramas, MacGyver ran 7 seasons and China Beach ran 4 seasons but neither showed growth. Of note is that MacGyver was ABC's longest-running drama that premiered in the 1980s which was not produced by Aaron Spelling.

@soapfan770 Yeah, that seems right. Sticking to 1980s primetime for the big three. CBS began the decade riding high, got complacent in the middle of the decade, and was an absolute mess by the end of the decade. ABC began the decade still good, then had a mess era in the middle of the decade, but rebounded by the end of the decade. NBC began the decade an absolute mess, had a comeback then rode high in the middle of the decade, and ended the decade still going strong but getting a little complacent.

@JAS0N47 Thank you for the info.

@Paul Raven ABC really seemed to struggle with dramas with the weakening of the Aaron Spelling hit factory. Moonlighting was a brief hit, but backstage drama lead to network sabotage. Once the Spelling shows and Moonlighting were gone from ABC, I don't think they had a big hit drama until NYPD Blue.

@JAS0N47 When factoring in the 1980s and 1990s threads, am I correct in that 1977-1995 are complete?

We think alike re CBS 1989/90. That season was CBS 1980s primetime nadir, yet I thought that season CBS was killing it in daytime. NBC was still a mess in 1983/84. The A-Team was really the only hit they had. ABC 1984/85 Aaron Spelling hit factory was showing signs of weakening despite Dynasty reaching #1 plus ABC had a good number of one season and done shows. ABC 1985/86 the only highlight was Tuesday rebound with Who's the Boss? taking off, new comedy Growing Pains having a good start, and Moonlighting showing growth. We know 1985 ABC was sold to Capital Cities, Brandon Stoddard became in charge, and Brandon Stoddard was not a fan of Aaron Spelling and wanted the Spelling shows gone from ABC.

CBS 1989/90 wasn't any better as far as scripted shows go. Returning dramas: Dallas (aging and fading), Knots Landing (aging and fading), Falcon Crest (aging and fading); Murder, She Wrote (still a hit); Beauty and the Beast (not a hit), Jake and the Fatman (not a hit), Tour of Duty (not a hit), Wiseguy (not a hit), Paradise (not a hit). Returning comedies: Newhart (aging and fading), Designing Women (not yet a hit), Murphy Brown (not yet a hit), Doctor Doctor (not a hit). Another season of way too many one season and done shows to list. No new fall dramas returned in 1990/91. The only new fall comedy to return for 1990/91 was Major Dad.

Seasons 1-3 build the foundation but yes, there are some episodes that are a chore to get through.

Remember that Dynasty is a product of the Reagan era (it's run began just before Reagan took office and ended shortly after Reagan left office and to me it was the epitome of Reagan era excess and greed) so what we see on screen reflects the mindset of society at that time. You have to watch Aaron Spelling shows and 1980s primetime soaps with the mindset that they are products of their time and alot of things have not held up well through a 2024 lens.

Peak for me were seasons 4-6, and I rank them 6, 5, 4. In terms of episodes, the peak of the series culminates for me during the final 10 episodes of season 6.

I nominate CBS 1988/89, the writer's strike delayed season. Scripted shows only. Returning dramas: Dallas (aging and fading), Knots Landing (aging and fading), Simon & Simon (aging and fading), Falcon Crest (aging and fading); Murder, She Wrote (still a hit); The Equalizer (not a hit), Beauty and the Beast (not a hit), Jake and the Fatman (not a hit), Tour of Duty (not a hit), Wiseguy (not a hit). Returning comedies: Newhart (aging and fading), Kate & Allie (aging and fading), Designing Women (not yet a hit), The Cavanaughs (not a hit), Coming of Age (not a hit). There were way too many one season and done shows to list. The only new fall drama to return for 1989/90 was Paradise. The only new fall comedy to return for 1989/90 was Murphy Brown.

All good points. Thanks @P.J.

So much of 1996-1998 seems like Bradley's initial plans were derailed due to Hunter Tylo being so in-and-out (departure for Melrose Place that fell through and two pregnancy leaves) and also the pregnancy leaves of Tracey Bregman, KKL, and Kimberlin Brown.

This month is Sharon Case 30th anniversary. I haven't read anything about a special episode for it.

Apollonia arc was to get the Miami Vice demographic.

We think of Earl Hamner as more family drama, not soap opera in the vein of David Jacobs or Aaron Spelling or Bill Bell. They are still remembered fondly 35+ years later unlike their budget mode replacements. OMG yes, I noticed that too. I'm not going to deep dive comparison here so as not to derail this thread. I break down Falcon Crest as Season 1: Wealthy Waltons in modern day California wine country. Good start that builds the foundation. Seasons 2 and 3: Dallas with grapes/James Bond hybrid. Peak. Season 4: Dallas with grapes/James Bond hybrid. Still good but signs of tanking start showing after the abrupt ending of the war crimes storyline. Season 5: Dallas with grapes/Miami Vice hybrid (if you can't beat the new hotness, might as well join it). Tanking is cemented. The start-and-stop storylines don't really work. Season 6: High octane action-packed thrill ride but still tanking. Season 7: High octane action-packed thrill ride but signs of going off the rails are showing. Seasons 8 and 9: Off the rails plus budget mode. So much of the final two seasons I was like "make it make sense". All the ingredients were there for a great show but the execution squandered the potential, and I think network interference and backstage drama played a big part in it.

I break down Dynasty as Season 1: Slow start that builds the foundation for the character relationships. Season 2: Peak. Joan Collins arrives and Alexis is the breakout character that becomes a pop culture phenomenon. This season Dynasty becomes Dynasty as we know it and for me its the only season that works from a storytelling and acting standpoint. Seasons 3-5: Height of popularity but weaknesses are showing. To me it seemed Aaron Spelling's entire goal was to be bigger and better than Dallas and storytelling logic and acting ability went out the window. Season 6: Tanked in the aftermath of the Royal Wedding Shootout. Season 7-9: Off the rails. I thought I would like Dynasty as an adult since I loved the peak years of 90210 and Melrose as a teen but on the whole I didn't like Dynasty very much. Aaron Spelling shows you have to watch with the mindset that they are products of their time and you're not going to get high emotional stakes character driven storytelling.

@P.J. I think this was brought up before, but it seems as though Pamela Long diminished Vanessa in favor of Reva and Alexandra.

ABC replaced Chicken Soup with Coach. We pretty much proved Coach as a time slot hit.

So for 1992 Lead Actress? Beverlee was Iris for 9 years and Alexandra for 8 years, so pretty much equal runs for both characters. General Hospital was her last acting credit and she lived another 14 years after that.

The country club scenes were epic and they were the culmination of everything that was built in the Calhoun era. It will forever be the most egregious error of the Daytime Emmys that Beverlee McKinsey did not get any Lead Actress Emmy nominations (and possibly multiple wins) for her work on GL, especially in the early 1990s when the Lead Actress races were weak. It was so wrong to root for Roger and Holly to be together because of their past, yet it was so right to root for them to be together. There were always hints of something brewing between them. Roger and Holly were once described on this board as the anti-supercouple, and that description fits them perfectly. Maureen Garrett once said that she and Michael Zaslow connected right away as actors and clearly the writers and the audience saw that connection as well. Agree that Maureen Garrett should have gotten an Emmy, but the years she was nominated in Supporting Actress the races were tough.

@TEdgeofNight You think Wheeler was the worst of the seven evils? How would you compare the rest (Kobe, Willmore, JFP, Laibson, Rauch, Conboy) to Wheeler?