kalbir

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?

Nikki was lacking in both book smarts and street smarts. Of all of Nikki's rivals, I think she was most threatened by Ashley and Christine. Ashley and Christine were both intelligent, educated, and had successful careers (Ashley in business, Christine in law) whereas Nikki hadn't really accomplished much in her life except for being Mrs. Victor Newman. There was also the element of class differences with Ashley (Nikki from a working class background, Ashley from a wealthy business-owning family) and age and attitude differences with Christine (Nikki older snooty lady of the manor, Christine younger and kind-hearted).

I thought I was the only person that liked Falcon Crest more than Dynasty. When I watched Falcon Crest, I was drawn to it right away and when I had the two reactions I described earlier that cemented everything for me.

P&G was old and busted. ABC was the new hotness. CBS/P&G were really shaken by 1978-1982 ABC big three huge rise and domination, thus all the changes to the shows.

Two of daytime's finest Michael Zaslow and Beverlee McKinsey. Also Maureen Garrett who was so underappreciated. I'm so glad I was able to experience that early 1990s golden era in both real time and online.

I might be wrong here, but I always thought the New York soaps were originally created to be day jobs for theater actors. I once read that the difference between New York soaps and Los Angeles soaps was that the New York soaps were all about the theater and the Los Angeles soaps were all about the looks. I don't know if I agree with that, considering what we saw on screen on a good number of soaps in the 1980s.

When Julia came back in 1982, it was shown that in her time away from Genoa City she grew confidence and built a career in fashion. Julia even told Douglas "Victor won't believe how I've changed". Also in 1983 it looked like Victor and Julia were getting close again and Nikki got so insecure. Julia even called Nikki out and said "you're acting like a jealous wife". Of all the rivals Nikki had for Victor, Julia is the only one she made peace with.

Dallas got another five seasons out of "it was all a dream", but then again CBS was a mess in primetime during the final four seasons of Dallas. When Dallas ended in May 1991, it was CBS's third longest-running primetime drama series, after Gunsmoke and Lassie. As of today, Dallas is CBS's 6th longest-running primetime drama series, after NCIS, Gunsmoke, Lassie, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds.

Victor was the wealthy businessman introduced as the new villain. Lorie was the vixen daughter of the main upper class family. Victor was drawn to Lorie but she also had business property he wanted (Prentiss Industries shares, so he could take over the company). I think Victor had some affection for Lorie, but I don't feel that it was a genuine love and they wouldn't have been a romantic super couple, they felt more like a high society/business power couple. I'm pretty sure that in Lorie's 2002 return, she mentioned that she and Victor were never involved. We know Victor met Lorie while he was married to Julia so there was no Victor/Lorie affair then (not that I need to see EB/JLB in a love scene or anything like that).

Look at the big 1980s family sitcoms in 1989/90. The Cosby Show was losing its grip on #1 to Roseanne. Who's the Boss? and Growing Pains were starting to fade. It was a sign that times were changing, that Reagan-era ideals were out.

You're welcome @Maxim and happy watching. Looking forward to your thoughts.

Episode 12 has an epic scene where my reaction was "hell yes I am here for it". Episode 20 has a pivotal scene which for me sets everything in motion for the rest of the series and my reaction was "I am totally down for this".

We all know Fall 1987-Spring 1991 was CBS primetime third place mess era. I don't know what was going on in the business end at CBS but in the programming end there was Nielsen people meters, 1988 writer's strike, and the primetime line up fell into either aging/fading shows or new shows that weren't showing much growth. Dallas goes off the rails in the aftermath of Pamela disappearance and was effectively over with Sue Ellen departure.

Thanks for the link @NothinButAttitude . The "you're a disrespectful young woman" scene. Yes, Nikki and Dru are of different generations, but in real life MTS and VR are only three years apart in age. I've pointed out before that early Nikki and early Dru were not that much different from each other, but that's something that was never mentioned on screen. I'd think that Katherine or Victor would have recognized those elements.