kalbir

1989 Cassandra was the #2 female after Cricket plus she was Bill Bell's new pet. I feel Cassandra got elevated due to MTS pregnancy leave and ED departure.

Caroline was one of B&B's best original characters as written by Bill Bell but I don't think she had much of an impact in the years following her death. Bill Bell essentially replaced Caroline with Taylor.

Jazz, Tyrone, Andy, Amy departures overlap w/ the EP change from H. Wesley Kenney to Ed Scott. Jazz and Tyrone were gone in 1986, Andy was gone in 1987, Amy was gone in 1988. Nathan pretty much replaced Andy and Lynne pretty much replaced Amy.

@soapfan770 AFAIK Keesha race was never stated but I'm pretty sure it was implied that she was African-American. I don't know how in the mid-1990s Y&R got away with casting actresses of Puerto Rican and Italian heritage as an African-American character.

1981 GL introduced the Lewis family from Oklahoma that owns an oil company and that was clearly Dallas influence. Douglas Marland created the Lewis family but Pamela Long expanded and elevated them to a core family.

Going by original actors, not recasts. 1980s: Marguerite Ray, Brock Peters, Stephanie Williams, Jon St. Elwood, Phil Morris, Nathan Purdee all monoracial African-American AFAIK. 1990s: Victoria Rowell, KSJ, Shemar Moore all biracial w/ African-American father and white mother. Tonya Lee Williams Jamaican. 2000s: Christel Khalil biracial w/ Pakistani father and African-American mother. Bryton James biracial w/ African-American father and white mother. 2010s: Mishael Morgan Trinidadian.

The final 10 episodes of season 6 were the peak of Knots Landing for me. Knots Landing starts tanking for me in the aftermath of Val's babies. Joshua descent into madness and eventual death was painful to watch, Empire Valley became a mess, and I didn't like Ben/Cathy storyline.

Well it was the late 1970s

1999 opening credits style! Jill really should be the matriarch/grande dame, it just makes sense. EB is the real MVP and he is carrying the show on his back.

I brought this up before, but I think the Williams family was added in an attempt to get the African-American audience away from NBC.

To me, Roger didn't care about what the rest of Springfield thought of him. The only person who's opinion of him mattered to Roger was Maureen.

Victor has no respect for Jack and Billy, but he respected their father John. Victor respected John because John was a good businessman and John was also a good father, which Victor didn't have and Victor tried to be.

That I don't know. We have Les Moonves, Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin, and Paul Rauch to blame for that.

Nielsen people meters and writer's strike messed up 1988. That year was a write off for most shows.

Hotel was The Love Boat on land but a little soapier.

Once again, I totally agree. It was so wrong to root for Roger/Holly because of their past, yet it was so right to root for them. Even when they were not together, there was always something brewing between them. MG herself said that she and MZ connected right away as actors and clearly the writers and the audience saw that connection as well. I still think the best description for Roger/Holly was the anti-supercouple.

100% this. Holly was a big part of the early 1990s golden era.

Abby has been a waste of space for like 14 years now.

If my math is correct, by the time of the final episode, GL's longest running cast members without a departure were Tina Sloan (26 years) and Frank Dicopolous (22 years).

MTS and Ed Scott were married in October 1985. 1986 Y&R moved past All My Children for #2 and that same year was the EP change from H. Wesley Kenney to Ed Scott. I'm not sure of the exact date though. To save digging in the ratings thread, here's Y&R's 1980s rating rise. 1983: CBS's highest-rated daytime drama, and #4 behind the ABC big three. 1984: Moved past One Life to Live for #3. 1986: Moved past All My Children for #2. 1988: Tied General Hospital for #1. 1989: Moved past General Hospital for #1.

Ed Scott becoming EP overlaps w/ Cricket eating the show. 1987 and 1988 MTS was the #2 female after LLB.

Ed Scott has always given me s--- disturber vibes and I don't find it a coincidence that all the backstage drama at Y&R began when he became EP. I also believe Ed Scott played a part in the departures of Brenda Dickson, Eileen Davidson, and Terry Lester. In Victoria Rowell's "novels", it's pretty clear that the soap opera producer is based on Ed Scott. Surprisingly, Eric Braeden wrote positively of Ed Scott in his book. When Ed Scott first became EP, he ended all the action/adventure elements and Y&R became more corporate. Yes, Y&R reached #1 during Ed Scott's original run, but he got credit for the groundwork that was laid by H. Wesley Kenney.

@Taoboi Hahaha, I love it. Thanks for the mention 🤗

@vetsoapfan Which did the most damage to GL? Douglas Marland departure. Gail Kobe/Pamela Long chasing all the 1980s trends. Writer turnover during Joe Willmore run. Killing off Maureen Bauer. Nancy Curlee departure. To me killing off Maureen Bauer felt like the beginning of the end and Nancy Curlee departure felt like the end. The P&G shows were not in a good place creatively in June 1994 (Nancy Curlee departure from GL was three months earlier, Douglas Marland material was done at As the World Turns, Another World had been limping along for 15 years) when OJ began and I feel they were effectively over in the aftermath of OJ. In the 1990s ratings thread we can see that by the end of 1995 the P&G shows are the bottom tier (Bell shows and Days were the top and ABC big three were the middle).

@titan1978 Seasons 5 and 6 were Knots Landing best seasons. The final 10 episodes of season 6 were the peak of the series for me.