kalbir

@soapfan770 You posted the 1988/89 opening. The Cosby Show was still #1 but its dominance was threatened by the breakout success of Roseanne. 1989/90 The Cosby Show and Roseanne tied for #1. 1990/91 Cheers was #1 and The Cosby Show dropped to 5th. I loved the first four seasons of The Cosby Show. Something felt off during season 5 (then again 1988/89 alot of shows felt off due to after effects of the writers strike and changing times), season 6 I started losing interest (mainly due to Olivia being a replacement for Rudy. In 1989 Keshia Knight Pulliam was 10 years old so her cute kid days had met their natural end and Raven was 4 years old.), and the final two seasons I didn't watch at all in real time except for the series finale (I did see bits and pieces of the final two seasons in reruns. Cousin Pam was a replacement for both Denise (her role was reduced then eliminated) and Vanessa (her role was reduced) plus an attempt to attract the urban audience that was gravitating to the Fox shows.)

Great job on the video @Maxim

I love how the little girl is giving big bad Larry Hagman the stare down.

Yes, it did. If it wasn't for the breakout success of The Cosby Show, who knows if Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court would have found the audiences that they eventually did. NBC Thursday dominated primetime for the better part of 20 years, from the start of The Cosby Show until the end of Friends.

When factoring in real time (Spring 1989 to Summer 1992) and watching online (Fall 1992 to Spring 1994), I didn't watch GL for very long but I'm glad I was there for the Calhoun years and that I got to see the best work of two of daytime's finest Michael Zaslow and Beverlee McKinsey.

TV One Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of The Cosby Show Tomorrow (September 20) is the 40th anniversary of The Cosby Show premiere. It was such a big part of my childhood but its conflicting to celebrate the anniversary when considering what we know about it. Despite everything, the impact The Cosby Show had in both television history and popular culture is still being felt today.

Wow, 15 years already since the end. It doesn't feel like it's been that long.

@Khan There were three episodes that I think were homages (or could have been shade) to other CBS dramas: A Very Good Year for Murder (season 4), Northern Explosion (season 10), Crimson Harvest (season 11).

“I mean, who would have thought a group of twenty-something young people sitting around all day long discussing their sexuality would turn out to be a top TV show?” Oh, the shade by Jessica/Angela. I love it. I can't recall Murder, She Wrote shading the new hotness Miami Vice (although Angela herself shaded Miami Vice by referring to it as Miami Heat) or cool and trendy dramas like Moonlighting and L.A. Law.

The only role of Barbara Crampton that matters is Y&R Leanna. Her runs on GL (granted I didn't watch in real time, I only saw part of it online) and B&B were thankless and wasted her talent.

This seems so random. Do not give Josh Griffith ideas :shudder

Season 12 also shaded both Friends and CBS. I will always point out my love for the episode that shaded Friends. Yeah, it may seem angry to some, but after seeing Angela Lansbury cry on 60 Minutes I totally get why those episodes happened. It bears repeating that Murder, She Wrote deserved to have a proper final season farewell on Angela's terms after all she did for CBS primetime. Les Moonves will forever be on my s--- list for the way he sabotaged Murder, She Wrote and his notorious "when I got to CBS" comment. Les Moonves is the reason Angela cried on 60 Minutes. There is a special place in hell for him for that alone.

@Soapsuds Since you posted Islands in the Stream, what did you think of this sampling of it?

Sony knows that if Bill Bell Days, supercouple Days, and Reilly Days are available to watch online, nobody will watch the current episodes.

The P&G shows amongst each other yes, but I'm not sure how much actor/producer/writer swapping there was between P&G and ABC back in the day.

Exactly. The main cast members are all in their mid-50s to mid-60s now.

Earlier in this thread you brought up Diagnosis: Murder tank job. 1996/97 move to Thursday 9 pm head-to-head w/ Seinfeld but it backfired 1997/98 when Diagnosis: Murder got its first Top 30 finish. Also backfired 1998/99 Thursday 9 pm head-to-head w/ Frasier and another Top 30 finish. A second tank job 1999/2000 move to Thursday 8 pm head-to-head w/ Friends and that was when Diagnosis: Murder fell out of the Top 30. Sabotage Fall 2000 move to Thursday 10 pm head-to-head w/ ER. January 2001 move to Thursday 9 pm. February 2001 move to Friday 8 pm where it remained until the final episode May 11, 2001.

A look back at Murder, She Wrote ratings in relation to other dramas on the broadcast networks and CBS scripted shows during its first 11 seasons. 1984/85: 8th. 5th among dramas, after Dynasty (#1), Dallas (2nd), The A-Team (6th), Simon & Simon (7th). 3rd among CBS scripted shows, after Dallas and Simon & Simon. 1985/86 to 1989/90: 3rd, 4th, 9th, 8th, 13th. Highest-rated drama and CBS's highest-rated scripted show. 1990/91 and 1991/92: 12th and 8th. Highest-rated drama. 3rd among CBS scripted shows, after Murphy Brown (6th and 3rd) and Designing Women (10th and 6th). 1992/93 and 1993/94: 5th and 11th. Highest-rated drama. 2nd among CBS scripted shows, after Murphy Brown (4th and 9th). 1994/95: 8th. 3rd among dramas, after ER first season (2nd) and NYPD Blue (7th). CBS's highest-rated scripted show.

Justin was recast with Christopher Pennock in May 1990 (I think, I remember it was in the spring) and he remained until the early months of 1991. Was he well-received as a recast? I know Christopher Pennock had a following from Dark Shadows, and a soap role between Dark Shadows and GL was a short arc on Y&R in 1986.

That means BM Alexandra and CB Alan interacted February-May 1984 then July 1986-May 1988. We know the real-life circumstances surrounding CB departure in May 1988, but what was reported as the reason for the May 1984 departure?

L.A. Law was NBC's cool and trendy drama once Miami Vice was no longer the new hotness, but Matlock was NBC's highest-rated drama in 1986/87, 1988/89, 1990/91. Matlock was ABC's highest-rated drama in 1992/93.

Due to unfortunate real-life circumstances, we didn't get MZ Roger vs. CB Alan in the late 1980s/early 1990s. If I have the time line correct, CB departure was May 1988, MZ return was January 1989, CB passed away June 1989. Those who were able to see MZ Roger vs. CB Alan from 1977-1980 were most fortunate. It's too bad so little of that era has surfaced.

1991/92 Tuesday 8 pm Matlock would have been head-to-head w/ Full House at 8 pm and Home Improvement first season at 8:30 pm. 1991/92 Full House got their first Top 10 finish (7th) and Home Improvement was the breakout hit of the season (4th, tied w/ Cheers). Matlock might have barely been a Top 30 show if it remained Tuesday 8 pm. Correction, it was 1993/94 that ABC moved Matlock to Thursday 9 pm, where it was head-to-head w/ Seinfeld at 9 pm and Frasier first season at 9:30 pm. 1993/94 Seinfeld blew up (going from 25th to 3rd) and Frasier was 7th. Matlock fell out of the Top 30.

Looking at the above Fall 1984 line up of new scripted shows. CBS had only one return: Murder, She Wrote. ABC had only one return: Who's the Boss. NBC had five returns: The Cosby Show, Highway to Heaven, Miami Vice, Hunter, Punky Brewster. Looking at the returning scripted shows on the above Fall 1984 line up that ended by Spring 1985. CBS ended five shows: AfterMASH, The Jeffersons, Alice, The Dukes of Hazzard, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. ABC ended two shows: T.J. Hooker and Matt Houston. NBC ended Diff'rent Strokes. CBS lack of fall success and spring house cleaning left a lot of space in the schedule to fill. ABC also had a lack of fall success which left them a good amount of space to fill. NBC had the most fall success, and little did we know that it was the start of their dominating primetime for the better part of the next 20 years.

OK Marcus, what are you implying? Marcus Jordan says he sent ex Larsa Pippen back to the ‘streets’ after their breakup (pagesix.com)