Paul Raven

Well they only made a handful of episodes so he has possibly seen them hundreds of times if he likes to revisit. Tenspeed had to fill Sunday @8 after ABC made the foolish decision to move Mork & Mindy to Sunday in it's second season. And give it crappy sitcoms as a lead in and team it with an incompatible new sitcom The Associates. After an initial strong start, Mork started to be beaten by Archie Bunker and even NBC's Big Event so ABC admitted defeat and returned it to Thursday where it did better but never reached the kind of numbers it scored in S1.

TV Guide June 3 1995 Michael Logan Will the Light go out? Start writing your letters of protest now-despite the recent, rather promising exec switch at Guiding Light (see last week's issue), rumors are rampant that CBS would much rather cancel the trouble-plagued serial, аnd expand The Bold and the Beautiful to an hour, and give the remaining half hour to B&B creator Bill Bell, who has another sudser up his sleeve. We don't blame CBS for being disgusted with the state of GL—but why | didn't these Big Eye execs do some s strong-arming when Jill Farren Phelps, the recently dethroned GL chief, allowed writer after writer after writer to alienate the audience? To be continued...

TV Guide Feb 4 1995 It’s the smooch that shook Soapland: A few days ago on CBS's The Young and the Restless, John Abbott —played by Jerry Douglas, a Caucasian—laid a sudden, surprise lip-lock on Mamie Johnson, played by Veronica Redd Forrest, an African-American. But the fuss over the kiss (taped under hush-hush conditions per the orders of exec producer Bill Bell) has little to do with race. Here's the real scandal: John is one of Genoa City’s wealthiest businessmen, and Mamie has been in his steady employ for the last 30 years—as his MAID!!! Says Douglas: “The racial issue has certainly been dealt with on soaps before —although probably not with characters in our [fiftysomething] age range. What sets this 2 relationship apart is | the clashing of class values and life experience.” This week, both sire and servant will testify against John’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Jill, in a vicious custody battle over the couple's baby son. After that, Y&R plans to pursue the John/Mamie relationship big-time. And Douglas could use a little romance: “The courtroom scenes have been extraordinarily realistic and very painful,” says the actor, who successfully sued for custody of his own son 15 years ago. The judge's decision on Y&R won't be reached for several weeks—but Douglas, drawing from his own experience, already knows one thing: “Nobody wins. My ex-wife and I agree that if we had it to do all over, we would have fought much harder not to go to court. These cases leave terrible scars."

TV Guide August 13 1994 TAWDRY TREATS OF THE GUILTY-PLEASURE ELITE Bill Moyers, PBS fixture I've been watching As the World Turns off and on for over 30 years. One of my mentors once said to me, "Never go anywhere without a cheap book or magazine to read." As the World Turns offers that same kind of escapism. 20

No Dallas that week -Knots aired Fri at 10. Peoples Choice aired Thurs 9-11 pre-empting Barnaby Jones & Knots. Tenspeed & Brown shoe was heavily promoted and the 2 hr premiere did well Sun 8-10 but the ratings immediately dropped as Archie Bunker/One Day at a Time dominated.

TV Guide July 14-20 1984 Sometimes a fan's dreams of daytime can come true. They have for New York hair stylist Jim Nelson, an avid viewer of All My Children for more than 12 years, Last winter, Nelson had a friend get him in to see a rehearsal of the show. By day's end, he had been hired as the soap's new hairdresser. "I couldn't believe it," he says. "I had just wanted to meet Susan Lucci." Ah, but there's more. Nelson is also something of a songwriter. And backstage one day recently, he was playing a tape of one of his compositions. The show's musical director heard it, liked it—and picked the song as the love ballad for Tad and Hillary. “This whole thing has been a dream come true,’ says Nelson. “It is possible for a fan to get in there. I feel like one of the family. It's not even like going to work.”

TV Guide July 14-20 1984 Guess the Plot Line Although details of NBC's Santa Barbara are still under wraps, its co-creator Bridget Dobson did drop this hint about the new sudser's central issue: ‘The plot involves a social and personal contemporary issue that is not a disease and has not been part of a soap plot before." While you ponder that one, it should be noted that Santa Barbara will include a daytime first: one of its core families will be Mexican-American and, according to Dobson, “strong, solid and tightknit."

The following week ending Jan 29th Airwolf from #11 to #37 in its first regular timeslot outing opposite Love Boat #8 Webster had another good week remaining at #14 with Benson jumping to #13 Dukes of Hazzard was #36 Fall Guy from #10 to #19 Dallas up to #2 from #4 A Team up from #6 to #5 No Dynasty, Knots Landing or Falcon Crest that week. TV Bloopers NBC Mon 8-9 up #11 Riptide NBC Tues 9-10 prempted Seduction of Gina CBS Tuesday Movie 9-11 Foul Ups, Bleeps and Blunders ABC Tues 8-8.30 down #21 Cheers NBC Thurs 9-9.30 same Benson ABC Fri 8-8.30 up #13 Silver Spoons NBC Sat 8.30-9 down #27 Matt Houston ABC Fri 10-11 down #25 Scarecrow & Mrs King CBS Mon 8-9 pre-empted Hill St Blues NBC Thurs 10-11 down #32 Dukes of Hazzard CBS Fri 8-9 down #36 AfterMASH CBS Mon 9-9.30 up #16 Fantasy Island ABC Sat 10-11 down #34 Diamonds Are Forever ABC Sunday Movie 9-11 Newhart CBS Mon 9.30-10 up #18

Would Santa Barbara be the leader of the pack in terms of cast changes, dropped stories etc? Seeing William Johnstone on ATWT until 79 and given no farewell or return appearances. I assume he retired and perhaps didn't want any fuss? But he was only 70. Which means he was playing much older on ATWT. Les Damon who played his son was just one year younger!

I loved the opening with the disclaimer/ exclamation point then fictional series represented and the exploding TV. And of course the playful title of the show.

That Kathy was a fast worker - 2 marriages in a matter of months. I think Kathy's non stop drama kept viewers hooked and then her daughter Robin followed in her footsteps. Is the Alice mentioned here Alice Holden? Must have been quite an adjustment for those actors to move to TV. Probably their first TV roles. Were there any cast changes as a result? Were there any actors who couldn't cope with the demands of TV or just didn't work out onscreen?

RE Joe. Ed Zimmerman's untimely death meant a recast with Anthony Call. Was he a successful recast? Did they kill him off because Call's Joe wasn't as popular or simply ran out of ideas for Joe/Sara? Or did Call want to leave,so their hand was forced? Was TYJ killed off? I don't think so. There was just a poor recast and he faded away,which was a pity as it gave Sara less to do.

Sheila: I pitched a sprawling family in the DMV (Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) area, that lives in a gated community with a country club on a golf course. [The show] would be a view from inside the gates, as well as a view from outside the gates So is Sheila talking about MVJ's concept or did Michelle have to modify her bible to incorporate Sheila's ideas?

With Days taping so far in advance, I wonder if they are doing any type of audience research? A-because it costs money and B seems pointless to bother finding out what the audience is interested in when there is no opportunity to respond until a year down the line. Now I 've never been in favor of shows writing to the dictates of fans, but I'm sure in the case of something like Body and Soul, there would have been a lot of negative feedback from research, online etc that the whole thing would have been wrapped up way earlier if the show was only a few months ahead. Now they are flying blind, without the likes of Bill Bell or Agnes Nixon at the helm.

The competition was Dukes of Hazzard 26th and NBC's new show Master which was an instant flop in it's debut 50th. CBS seemed happy to let Dukes wither away. They were lucky the competition was pretty soft. Webster regularly outrated lead in Benson but ABC held onto that combo until midseason of 84/85 when webster became the lead in and Benson got moved to 9pm. Airwolf debuted in a 2hr episode Sunday taking advantage of the Superbowl/60 Min lead in. 16-30 for that week TV Bloopers NBC Mon 8-9 Riptide NBC Tues 9-10 Seduction of Gina CBS Tuesday Movie 9-11 Foul Ups, Bleeps and Blunders ABC Tues 8-8.30 Cheers NBC Thurs 9-9.30 Benson ABC Fri 8-8.30 Silver Spoons NBC Sat 8.30-9 Matt Houston ABC Fri 10-11 Scarecrow & Mrs King CBS Mon 8-9 Hill St Blues NBC Thurs 10-11 Dukes of Hazzard CBS Fri 8-9 AfterMASH CBS Mon 9-9.30 Fantasy Island ABC Sat 10-11 Diamonds Are Forever ABC Sunday Movie 9-11 Newhart CBS Mon 9.30-10

Sharon has had more work done on herself than her business...

Looking at that week Father Murphy was #27 beating Happy Days and Laverne& Shirley. Those sitcoms were weakening finishing 18th and 20 th for the season. But Father Murphy was the first show that provided any sort of competition. In Wk10 of the 81/82 season FM took the time period ranking #20 while HD was #30 and L&S #23 which I think was the first time ABC had lost that time period with regular programming since 1976. So no small achievement for NBC and Father Murphy. FM again won its timeslot in Wk 18. But NBC decided to move the show to Sundays @7 to fill that difficult timeslot. The momentum was lost as FM performed poorly up against 60 Minutes and Bret Maverick didn't do as well against ABC on Tues. NBC returned Father Murphy to Tues @8 for 82/83 but it performed poorly and was replaced by The A Team which became a hit and finally beat Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley on a weekly basis. Had NBC not moved Father Murphy it might have grown further and provided NBC with another much needed hit show.

Wasn't Eric's 40th anni set at TOTT? So 2020. That dumb story where some insignificant stalker mistook Victoria for Amanda and stabbed her among Noah's photo tribute to TGVN.

Maybe The Embers?

CBS must have known that those aging sitcoms on Sunday had a shelf life but it was difficult to tamper with. In 82/83 they made the first move by introducing Gloria with Sally Struthers which finished 18th but was cancelled. I guess the whole show never gelled and it felt old fashioned and too dependent on the Bunker connection w/o using it. There seemed to be BTS issues. Gloria displaced One Day At A Time which moved to 9.30 with The Jeffersons, rather than Alice the new 9pm lead in. That seemed to work OK with TJ finishing 12th down from 3rd and ODAAT finishing 16th down from 10th. Not bad considering they were another year older, but dropping nonetheless. The real loser was Alice displaced from Sunday and moved to Wednesday a night CBS had struggled with for years. Alice had to do all the heavy lifting, surrounded by new shows and up against 2 strong competitors The Fall Guy and Facts of Life. Within weeks Alice was dropped and taken off the schedule. There was no room elsewhere. Not a good position for last season's No 5 show to be in. Later in the season it was Monday night after MASH finished up but didn't work and CBS did better with MASH repeats. Then it went to Sunday @8 as CBS moved Bunker to Mondays. Again the ratings were soft. CBS moving Archie Bunker to Mondays where it flopped. So by the end of the season Bunker, Gloria were gone and Alice was weakened. Goodnight Beantown was introduced into the mix and didn't take off. CBS Sunday was going into freefall.

It was almost overkill in many cases. In hospital scenes, nurses etc were scurrying about, checking charts and having confabs. It was distracting. It was like now they had the money they were gonna spend it! The soaps had to compete but it was a vicious circle. The more they became popular, the budgets had to go up and so they needed those ratings points more than ever. Revamps were commonplace and soap actors became 'stars' who could demand more money and hold the shows to ransom in a sense. Soaps ended up costing more than ever to diminishing returns. And when advertisers began to pull back in the late 80's the whole system started to collapse.

I wonder at what point Irna changed the direction and structure of the show in anticipation of the move to television? Irna was enthusiastic about TV and talks about TGL becoming a TV show may have been in the works for quite awhile. Irna might have been thinking along those lines, knowing TV meant fewer characters and sets. So the decision to pretty much focus on the Bauers.

I'm glad the subject of sets came up w/o me initiating it. Joey's apartment was a total miss for me. It definitely looked like Andre's redressed which says to me we may not see it again. Basically a space with no proper entrance, just doors , a sofa, an oddly placed table with 2 chairs and some random light fixtures as well as ugly decor eg the urn and the pedestal . It looked cheap and thrown together. Overall the sets and set decor has been a mixed bag. There are not enough sets for starters. The country club and Orphey Gene's are fine. Same with Eva and Ashley's apartments as they are supposed to look basic. Martin/Smitty's place is fine. Uptown doesn't look upscale enough with the green walls and as for the airport terminal/mall coffee shop... The casino back room is awful. The Dupree house needs a study off the main room. Nicole got an office off her living room but the 'hero' set is confined to one room. And I'd love to know the purpose of that door to the right of the window-a closet? And the floor plans don't make sense. Nicole's and Bill's living rooms have the entrance in the center with no front door, just a corridor and the fireplace to the left. Too similar. Soap sets are usually by necessity quite cramped but clever designers have given the impression of more space by suggesting other rooms, creating specific areas etc Hopefully there will be improvements.

I believe the Jonas set was totally new in 1979 when Leslie went out of town, They then had Leslie 'transform ' the Allegro into a replica of Jonas' out of town restaurant when he moved to GC the next year. That then formed the basis for Gina's when she bought it from Leslie. They obviously preferred the newer set over The Allegro and twisted the script to make that happen. Maybe the same thing will happen today and somehow Sienna's LA bar will turn up in GC.

Superman Part 2 aired the following night and was #1 for the week. CBS would have to be pleased with its Sunday line up holding up so well and withstanding heavywight competition like Superman. Poor NBC suffered on that Sunday with a 3hr TV movie 'The Day The Bubble Burst'about the Wall St crash of 1929. It ranked 64 the for the week. Kings Crossing had an easy timeslot Sat @8. The competition was Disney on CBS and One of the Boys/Harper Valley on NBC. Disney that week was 'Cat from Outer Space' Pt 2 but as an anthology the ratings varied and if Kings Crossing was any good it should have done better. Maybe the timeslot was wrong for this type of show or it just didn't appeal. TJ Hooker replaced it and immediately began winning the timeslot, so viewers were looking for something to watch on ABC-just not Kings Crossing. CBS 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' aired Thurs 9-11 replacing Knots Landing/Nurse for that week. WW111 Pt 2 aired Monday night and was a rare success for NBC, with only Real People it's other Top 20 entry. 21-30 21 Little House NBC 8-9 Mon 22 House Calls CBS 9.30-10 Mon 23 That's Incredible ABC 8-9 Mon 24 Silver Streak CBS 9-11 Sat 25 Facts of Life NBC 9-9.30 Wed 26 Dynasty ABC 10-11 Wed 27 Father Murphy NBC 8-9 Tues 28 Laverne & Shirley ABC Tues 8.30-9 29 Diff'rent Strokes NBC Thurs 9-9.30 30 Gimme A Break NBC Thurs 9.30-10