kalbir

Y&R this week: Cassandra death. Nina shoots David. Lauren gives birth to Scott Jr. Sheila kidnaps Scott Jr. from the hospital, switches him with another baby boy, and passes off Scott Jr. as her own son. Maybe the drop is due to the cast purge from January and February. We're two months into Nancy Curlee run as HW and there's only four months left of Robert Calhoun as EP.

Y&R 1982-1986 action/adventure storylines. They were tame in comparison to General Hospital and Days in that same era but I found action/adventure never really suited Y&R. Summer 1986-end of 1989 Cricket eating the show. Fall 1994-Spring 1996 Nick and Sharon eating the show. Fall 1996- first half of 1997 lull in all the storylines. B&B The main criticism of Bill Bell B&B is that a lot of storylines were dust offs of 1970s and 1980s Y&R.

Texas oil millionaire in 1991. Bill Bell was a decade late to the party there.

1991 Guiding Light had big cast changes. Departures of Grant Aleksander, Beth Chamberlin, Kassie DePaiva, Robert Newman, Michael O'Leary. Debuts of Melissa Hayden, Melina Kanakaredes, Nia Long, Jeff Phillips, Jocelyn Seagrave. Return of Vincent Irizarry. I think that covers the main ones.

Y&R February 5 Sheila has a miscarriage. Y&R February 14 we saw during the classics. Kristoff St. John (RIP) debut. Guiding Light Phillip and Beth get married. Grant Aleksander and Beth Chamberlin departure.

The same could apply to Victoria. Born in 1982 so 41 in real time but came across as in the 30s for years.

EB wrote in his book that he did not have a very good relationship w/ John Conboy. In many articles/interviews EB has credited both Bill Bell and H. Wesley Kenney for his decision to stay on Y&R.

B&B January 8 Eric and Brooke get married. The wedding episode was rebroadcast as a holiday classic in the 2000s. The honeymoon episode was rebroadcast in 2020. Also on B&B Stephanie has a stroke while preparing for a trip and she ends up on the Los Angeles streets. Guiding Light HW change from Pamela Long to Nancy Curlee. Three cast departures: Kassie DePaiva, Robert Newman, Michael O'Leary.

So Josh Griffith dusted off the Sheila baby switch.

That excessiveness was because Aaron Spelling's entire goal was to be bigger and better than Dallas and that goal was reached at the expense of storytelling logic and acting ability.

Y&R December 12, 1990 Heather Tom debut. Other big events on Y&R: Nikki begins mixing painkillers and alcohol. Lauren prepares to divorce Scott. Cassandra tricks Brad into marriage. Y&R December 24, 1990 was rebroadcast on December 25, 2000. What to watch for in 1991 Generations ends. Big changes at Guiding Light: HW change from Pamela Long to Nancy Curlee, a slight cast purge, EP change from Robert Calhoun to JFP, the first Friend of Jill incident. Deidre Hall returns to Days. Gloria Monty returns to General Hospital.

Look what the breakout hit of 1988/89 was, Roseanne. That show was the anti-Reagan era ideal family sitcom and it was the first show that threatened The Cosby Show dominance. In the season that Reagan left office, it's quite telling that two shows that ended were Dynasty and Family Ties. Dynasty was the epitome of Reagan-era excess and greed. Of all the big family sitcoms of the 1980s, Family Ties embodied Reagan-era ideals the most IMO. 1988/89 season was a sign that times were changing.

Thanks Khan. So it was sometime in January 1991 that the HW credit changed from Pamela Long to Nancy Curlee.

Because of Bill Bell's success with Days, Y&R, and B&B, we hold him to a higher standard than we do with other writers, but even he was not immune to chasing 1980s trends, having missteps, and dusting off his previous work.

So true. I think we are stuck w/ AH until Y&R ends.

1988/89 ABC moved Dynasty to Thursday 9 pm, head-to-head w/ Cheers. That time slot had been a dead zone for ABC since Fall 1982. Forget tank job, that was straight up sabotage by Brandon Stoddard.

Y&R November 16, 1990 we saw during the classics. Danny and Cricket get married. Other big events on Y&R: Lauren finds out she is pregnant and when she prepares to tell Scott her news, Scott tells her that he got Sheila pregnant. Guiding Light December 1990 Pamela Long departure. I'm not sure the date of the last episode she was credited as HW.

1988/89 the CBS primetime soaps were in budget mode. I don't know if 1988/89 Dynasty went into budget mode to the same degree as the CBS primetime soaps. I'm sure Linda Evans departure halfway through the season and Joan Collins episodes being cut freed up a good amount of cash.

Y&R Hillary/Amanda may also apply here.

B&B Taylor pretty much replaced Caroline.

You're welcome Khan. Are you referring to the early years, as in first three seasons?

Correction, Emerald Point N.A.S. was on CBS. In the NBC list you are missing The Yellow Rose.

@BoldRestless Do not give Josh Griffith ideas :shudder

Generations clearance started dropping summer 1990, cancellation announced some three months later, and two months later the final episode. Pretty quick moves by NBC. AFAIK there were no new big syndicated talk show debuts in Fall 1990. At that point we were at four years of Oprah, three years of Geraldo, two years of Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Fall 1991 was the debuts of Jenny Jones, Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, and Montel Williams, and I think clearances for Loving and Santa Barbara dropped in that time frame but I could be wrong on that.

I guess you could think of the primetime soaps in relation to the daytime soaps on their respective networks. Dallas and Falcon Crest were family/business conflict-based shows, so structurally similar to the Bell shows. Knots Landing was a community-based show, so structurally similar to the P&G shows. Dynasty I don't think had much resemblance with any of the ABC big three structurally.