kalbir

1996 it looked like John Silva was going to be paired with Jill but Bill Bell dropped it.

1980s hangover, plus a good number of the big 1980s hit shows were winding down. 1993/94 I think was the season that the 1990s really began on primetime: peak Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place took off, peak Home Improvement, Seinfeld blew up, NYPD Blue premiered. Then of course the following season ER and Friends premiered and we know the rest. By Fall 1993, the only dramas premiering in the 1980s that were still on were Murder, She Wrote; L.A. Law, Matlock, In the Heat of the Night. L.A. Law and In the Heat of the Night ended Spring 1994, Matlock ended Spring 1995, and Murder, She Wrote ended Spring 1996. Murder, She Wrote was bookended by two very different eras in primetime dramas. It started in the Dallas/Dynasty era and ended in the ER/NYPD Blue era. Murder, She Wrote may not have been as cool and trendy as Miami Vice, Moonlighting, and L.A. Law but Murder, She Wrote out-rated and outlasted them.

Did you like pop star Mariah (Vision of Love to Hero) more than R&B/rent-a-rapper Mariah (Fantasy onward)?

Yeah, the charts have felt off for a while. Some big moves we might see soon. Male solo artists: Drake is one #1 away from moving past Michael Jackson. Female solo artists: Taylor Swift is one #1 away from tying Madonna. Beyoncé is one #1 away from tying Janet Jackson. Ariana Grande is one #1 away from tying Janet Jackson.

The Danny/Jack promo looks like its from Summer 1981.

Traci is the heart and conscience of the Abbott family.

I wonder if SOD would ever digitize its archive. There are interviews and features from the 1970s/1980s/1990s I'd love to read.

Not to me. The real hotness of mid-1990s Y&R was Shemar Moore.

Not long after JM arrival in June 1994, Y&R went off track (second half of 1994 through first half of 1997) and Nick/Sharon ate the show for a good portion of that time (Fall 1994 through Spring 1996). Bill Bell tried so hard to make JM happen.

That I don't know, but I am pretty sure it's been verified here that Robert Calhoun left by his own choice. AFAIK he didn't EP any other show after GL. GL being a more community-based show (at least in the early 1990s I thought it was) needed to have an anchor/tentpole character to keep things grounded, and JFP didn't realize that.

Angela Lansbury was 59 in 1984 and 71 in 1996. I would guess by the time of Murder, She Wrote, she must have cut down/quit smoking and was more vigilant about sun protection. Whatever work she had done during Murder, She Wrote was not blatantly obvious and in your face.

RIP Meg Bennett and thank you for contributions to daytime as both an actress and a writer.

Vincent Irizarry return overlapped w/ JFP becoming EP. I consider that the first Friend of Jill incident. There were four Friend of Jill incidents: Vincent Irizarry, Justin Deas, Marcy Walker, Marj Dusay. We also saw Mark Derwin become a Friend of Jill. JFP coasted off the groundwork that was laid during the Robert Calhoun era. I still cannot believe JFP run (July 1991 to May 1995) was nearly twice the length of Robert Calhoun (June 1989 to July 1991) and JFP got the ratings up during her first year (then again, the ratings increase was helped by ABC big three tanking at various times during that year and Days being in their post-supercouple/pre-Reilly mess era).

That's because Joshua Morrow has not evolved from being an overgrown frat boy. To think we are two months away from his 30th anniversary.

With three soaps left on the broadcast networks and four acting categories remaining, not surprised at the sad sack list.

Maureen being the anchor/tentpole of the community saw the good qualities in everyone and showed kindness to everyone, and yes that included Roger. While Roger didn't care about what the rest of Springfield thought of him, he cared about what Maureen thought of him, and that's evident when Roger and Maureen are trapped together during the blackout and when Roger visited Maureen's grave.

I take it you loved the 1986-1994 Control/Rhythm Nation/Janet era the most.

TV years to TV years for comparison. I'm aware of the radio history. The build up to this episode starts June 1989 when Robert Calhoun becomes EP and this episode was the culmination of his run.

The big difference though is that Y&R had been on less than 10 years when Bill Bell shifted focus whereas GL had 30 years of history (I'm counting from the first television episode).

Wow, I never thought I'd see another daytime soap premiere in my life. I'm hoping this is a success.

@Paul Raven 1987/88 Murder, She Wrote vs. Family Ties, both shows dropped. Family Ties went from 2nd to 17th, and Murder, She Wrote went from 4th to 9th. That was also the season Nielsen people meters began.

1983 was the transition year. February 1983 was EP change from Allen Potter to Gail Kobe, and HW change from L. Virginia Browne to Richard Culliton and Pamela Long. September 1983 Pamela Long became sole HW. If the dates are wrong, please correct. I recognize that from Spring 1983 to Summer 1984 Gail Kobe/Pamela Long set in motion characters and storylines that would carry GL through its final 25 years, but it was too much chasing 1980s trends which wasn't sustainable in the long term and the ratings from Fall 1984 onward reflected that.

Also includes a promo for the second episode of Murder, She Wrote. 1984/85 was the best television season of the 1980s.

@rsclassicfanforever Thank you for the answer. 6 1/2 year delay in Germany means January 1982 to December 1992 episodes were broadcast there July 1988 to June 1999.