Paul Raven

As we saw from the ratings,those first 5 eps did quite well. Maybe CBS saw potential early. Perhaps part of the reasoning behind scheduling Dallas was that mini series had been picking up steam and CBS was looking at bringing some of that flavor to a regular series. So having a book tie in worked in with that.

Seven weeks into the 79/80 season.All shows had premiered by that point. Baseball was out of the way . NBC had started strong by showing big movies, miniseries and 2 hr eps of Chips, Buck Rogers. Real People was doing well as was BJ &The Bear.A few new series had debuted to good numbers Kate Loves A Mystery, Man Called Sloane. CBS had a poor start as its new sitcoms and Sat night schedule bombed. ABC was weakened by moving Fantasy Island, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. All had lesser ratings than before. Lazarus Syndrome drama was a dud. 1. 60 Minutes (CBS) 28.5 44 2. Three's Company (ABC) 25.8 40 3. M *A *S *H (CBS) 25.5 38 4. Alice (CBS) 24.8 37 5. One Day at a Time (CBS) 24.3 36 6. Eight Is Enough (ABC) 24.2 40 7. Little House on the Prairie (NBC) 24.2 38 8. Charlie's Angels (ABC) 23.9 37 9. The Jeffersons (CBS) 23.8 36 10. Dallas (CBS) 22.7 39 11. WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS) 22.7 34 12. CHiPs (NBC) 22.4 42 13. Barney Miller (ABC) 21.7 35 14. Mork & Mindy (ABC) 21.7 34 15. Trapper John, M.D.* (CBS) 21.8 38 16. Archie Bunker's Place (CBS) 21.8 33 17. ABC Sunday Night Movie (ABC) 21.3 34 18. Dukes of Hazzard (CBS) 21.1 36 19. NBC Monday Night Movie (NBC) 21.1 34 20. Happy Days (ABC) 21.0 35 21. Angie (ABC) 21.0 33 22. Benson* (ABC) 20.9 34 23. Taxi (ABC) 20.9 33 24. Soap (ABC) 20.8 33 25. Vega$ (ABC) 20.4 35 26. Diffr'ent Strokes (NBC) 20.0 35 27. Love Boat (ABC) 19.8 35 28. Laverne & Shirley (ABC) 19.8 33 29. Quincy, M.E. (NBC) 19.8 32 30. Hart to Hart* (ABC) 19.0 35 31. Big Event (NBC) 19.0 29 32. Real People (NBC) 18.8 30 33. Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo* (NBC) 18.8 30 34. BJ & the Bear (NBC) 18.4 33 35. NFL Monday Night Football (ABC) 18.4 31 36. CBS Tuesday Night Movie (CBS) 18.3 30 37. Lou Grant (CBS) 18.1 30 38. Barnaby Jones (CBS) 18.0 31 39. Fantasy Island (ABC) 17.8 32 40. The Waltons (CBS) 17.7 29 41. Rockford Files (NBC) 17.8 30 42. NBC Tuesday Night Movie (NBC) 17.8 29 43. Best of Saturday Night Live* (NBC) 17.4 30 44. 20/20 (ABC) 17.4 30 45. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century* (NBC) 17.4 28 46. Hello, Larry (NBC) 18.9 28 47. Incredible Hulk (CBS) 18.8 30 48. Disney's Wonderful World (NBC) 18.8 27 49. Hawaii Five -O (CBS) 18.5 27 50. NBC Wednesday Night Movie (NBC) 18.5 27 51. A Man Called Sloane* (NBC) 18.4 31 52. The Associates (ABC) 18.4 25 53. White Shadow (CBS) 18.2 25 54. Kate Loves a Mystery* (NBC) 18.0 28 55. CBS Wednesday Night Movie (CBS) 15.8 25 56. ABC Friday Night Movie (ABC) 15.8 27 57. Shirley* (NBC) 15.3 27 58. 240 Robert* (ABC) 15.2 24 59. California Fever* (CBS) 14.5 23 60: The Ropers (ABC) 14.2 27 61. Eischied (NBC) 14.1 24 62. Lazarus Syndrome* (ABC) 13.7 23 63. Salvage -1 (ABC) 13.1 21 64. Prime Time Sunday* (NBC) 12.5 22 65. Last Resort* (CBS) 12.4 20 66. Detective School* (ABC) 12.2 23 67. Paris* (CBS) 11.2 22 68. Struck by Lightning* (CBS) 10.7 17 69. Out of the Blue* (ABC) 10.3 18 70. Bad News Bears (CBS) 9.9 18 71. New Kind of Family* (ABC) 9.8 17 72. Working Stiffs* (CBS) 8.3 16 73. Big Shamus, Little Shamus* (CBS) 8.2 15 CBS dropped its Sat 8-10 lineup Bad News Bears/Struck by Lightning/Big Shamus for movies and Wed 8pm comedies Last Resort/Working Stiffs for specials and movies ABC moved Fantasy Island back to Sat @10, displacing Hart to Hart which moved to Tues @10 replacing Lazarus Syndrome. The Sunday 7pm comedies Out of the Blue/New Kind of Family were dropped for specials and a short run of Salvage 1. Fantasy Island Fri@8 slot replaced by specials NBC held tight at that point.

I know novelizations of TV series were once a thing (maybe still are?) but was it usual to have a book out on a spring short flight series that may not be picked up? Seems like a lot of trouble and expense that may not be recouped. Did Knots get the same treatment or were the novelizations produced once the show was established?

It says something about the state of the show at that point that Dr Sedgwick is the longest running character in that episode. If you'd stopped watching a few years before and tuned back in there would not have seen one familiar character. And a few years later most of those characters were gone also. Not the way to build viewer loyalty.

Penelope Windust Guiding Light ...Camilla Crawford 1972 Daughter of Bretaigne Windust-theater,movie and TV director

The specials 1978/79 Season Rank Rating/Share 1. Ali - Spinks fight (ABC) 37.2 61 2. Rocky (CBS) 36.9 52 3. World Series Game Six (NBC) 35.9 54 4. Academy Awards (ABC) 34.6 63 5. World Series Game Í (NBC) 33.1 51 6. World Series Game Ill (NBC) ' 32.9 54 7. Roots: Next Generations (ABC) 32.7 50 ¡ 8. World Series Game II (NBC) 32.2 50 C. 9. Roofs: Next Generations (ABC) 31.8 48 10. Super Bowl XIII Post (NBC) 31.7 47 11. Roots: Next Generations (ABC) 31.7 48 12. Threes Company (ABC) 30.9 49 13. Rescue from Gilligans Island (NBC) 30.2 52 14. Roots: Next Generations (ABC) 29.5 41 15. Pearl (ABC) 29.4 47 16. MacKenzies -Paradise Cove (ABC) 29.4 47 17. Bob Hope -Salute/World Series (NBC) 29.1 42 18. Roots: Next Generations (ABC) 28.9 47 19. Gone With the Wind Part II (CBS) 28.8 40 20. Roots: Next Generations (ABC) 28.6 40 21. Delta House (ABC) 28.3 41 22. Threes Company Special (ABC) 28.2 40 23. Circus of the Stars (CBS) 28.0 42 24. Cheryl Ladd Special (ABC) 28.0 43 25. Tribute to Jimmy Stewart (CBS) 27.9 45 26. Mork 5, Mindy Hour Special (ABC) 27.8 38 27. Roots: Next Generations (ABC) 27.8 41 28. Happy Days (ABC) 27.2 47 29. Barbara Walters Special (ABC) 27.0 47 30. Makin' It Special (ABC) 26.9 39 31. John Denver (ABC) 26.4 40 32. Taxi (ABC) 26.1 42 33. Like Morn. Like Me (CBS) 26.1 39 34. The Word, Part I (CBS) 26.0 38 35. Charlie Brown Special (CBS) 25.4 39 36. Country Music Awards (CBS) 25.3 39 37. First Kiss. Charlie Brown (CBS) 25.3 35 38. Delta House (ABC) 252 41 39. Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (CBS) 25.1 37 40. AL Championship, Game IV (NBC) 25.0 43 41. Pink Panther's Christmas (ABC) 24.8 37 42. Puff the Magic Dragon (CBS) 24.6 36 43. Charlie Brown's Christmas (CBS) 24.4 38 44. Night Belore Christmas (CBS) 24.4 45. Rudolph -Red -Nosed Reindeer (CBS) 24.3 3' ..! 46. Nestor the Long Eared Donkey (ABC) 24.3 38 47. Gone With the Wind Part II (CBS) 24.3 36 48. NCAA Basketball Championship (NBC) 24.1 38 49. You're-Greatest. Charlie Brown (CBS) 24.0 36 50. Raggedy Ann and Andy (CBS) 23.8 37 51. Benjï s Christmas Story (ABC) 23.8 37 52. Frosty's Winter Wonderland (ABC) 23.8 39 53. Perry Corno's Christmas (ABC) 23.6 36 54. Grass -Greener Over -Septic Tank (CBS) 23.4 38 55. Battle of the Network Stars (ABC) 23.4 40 56. NBC Theater 23.3 36 57. Jesus of Nazareth Part I (NBC) 23.3 35 58. Les Miserables (CBS) 23.2 38 59 Country Christmas (CBS) 23.0 35 60. Celebrity Challenge -Sexes (CBS) 23.0 32 61. Bugs Bunny Howl -Oween (CBS) 22.8 37 62. Orange Bowl Game (NBC) 22.8 35 63. American Music Awards (ABC) 22.8 35 64. Chisholms, Part I (CBS) 22.8 36 65. NFL Football Special (ABC) 22.6 37 66. Taxi Special (ABC) 22.6 33 67. Word, Part I (CBS) 22.5 35 68. Bob Hope Christmas Show (NBC) 22.5 39 69. Steve Martin: Wild & Crazy (NBC) 22.3 36 70. AL Championship Game I (ABC) 22.2 35 71. Fat Albert Halloween Special (CBS) 22.2 35 72. Barbara Walters Special (ABC) 22.1 34 73. Jesus of Nazareth, Part II (NBC) 22.1 34 74. NFL Football Post 2 (NBC) 21.9 37 75. Best of Saturday Nite Live Part I (NBC) 21.9 33 76. Grammy Awards (CBS) 21.9 34 77. Wizard of Oz (CBS) 21.9 36 78. ChristmesGrand Ole Opry (ABC) 21.8 36 79. All Star Family Feud (ABC) 21.8 36 80. Gift of Song- UNICEF (NBC) 21.7 31 81. Alice (CBS) 21.7 30 82. AFI Salutes Alfred Hitchcock (CBS) 21.7 35 83. Operation Petticoat (ABC) 21.6 34 84. Rescue From Gilligan's Island (NBC) 21.5 40 85. Corn is Green (CBS) 21.5 31 86. Ouincy (NBC) 21.5 37 87. World Series Game VI (NBC) 21.4 36 88. Bob Hope Special (NBC) 21.3 30 89. Fantasy Island Special (ABC) 21.3 31 90 Quincy (NBC) 21.2 37 91. Jesus of Nazareth Part Ill (NBC) 21.1 33 92. World Series Pregame Ill (ABC) 21.0 39 93. How Bugs Bunny Won the West (CBS) 21.0 32 94. Co -Ed Fever (CBS) 21.0 35 95. Rona Barrett Special (ABC) 20.9 29 96. Mr. Horn Part (CBS) 20.9 31 97. Kenny Rogers Special (CBS) 20.9 36 98. First You Cry (CBS) 20.8 33 99. Love Boat (ABC) 20.8 34 100. Bobby Vinton, Rock'N'Roller (CBS) 20.8 31 101. Brothers and Sisters (NBC) 20.8 31 102. M'A'S'H (CBS) 20.8 31 103. Captain America (CBS) 20.7 33 104. Johnny Cash Christmas (CBS) 20.6 34 105. Tim Conway Show (CBS) 20.6 28 106. All in the Family (CBS) 20.6 30 107. Bugs Bunny Easter Special (CBS) 20.6 36 - 108. G.E. All -Star Anniversary (ABC) 20.4 36 , 109. Frosty the Snowman (CBS) 20.4 32 110. ABC News Closeup 20.4 34 111. Carpenters -Christmas Portrait (ABC) 20.3 31 112. WBC Championship (ABC) 20.3 34 113. NL Championship Game Ill (ABC) 20.2 35 114. Bizarre (ABC) 20.2 38 115. Lucy Comes to Nashville (CBS) 20.0 28 116. Bing Crosby Christmas Years (CBS) 20.0 30 117. Rockette Tribute to Radio City (NBC) 20.0 33 118. Almost Heaven (ABC) 20.0 33 119. Entertainer of the Year Awards (CBS) 20.0 30 120. NL Championship Game I (ABC) 19.9 32 121. World Series Pregame I (NBC) 19.9 34 122. Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (CBS) 19.9 31 123. NFL Playoff Postgame (NBC) 19.9 48 124. Heroes of Rock' N' Roll (ABC) 19.9 34 125. All Slar Family Feud (ABC) 19.8 30 126. Honeymooners (ABC) 19.8 29 127. NBC Saturday Night Movies 19.8 33 128. All Star Family Feud (ABC) 19.8 28 129. 20/20 (ABC) 19.8 34 130. Lion, Witch -Wardrobe Part II (CBS) 19.7 30 131. Monte Carlo Circus Festival (CBS) 19.5 28 132. Welcome Back, Kotter (ABC) 19.4 34 133. NFL Football Special (ABC) 19.4 31 134. Flintstones Christmas (NBC) 19.4 30 135. Chisholms, Part II (CBS) 19.4 32 136. Perry Cornos Springtime (ABC) 19.4 32 137. Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (NBC) 19.3 32 138. George Burns' 100th Party (CBS) 19.3 28 139. People's Choice Awards (CBS) 19.3 31 140. Happy Days -Fri. (ABC) 19.2 34 141. NBC Saturday Night Movies 19.2 30 142. Lion, Witch -Wardrobe Part I (CBS) 19.2 29 143. Movie of the Week (NBC) 19.1 30 144. Spider -Man (CBS) 191 32 145. G.E. Theatre (CBS) 19:1 3e' 146. Salvage -ABC Movie Special 19.1 32 147. Rudloph's Shiny New Year (ABC) 18.9 31 148. Once Upon a Starry Nile (NBC) 18.9 29 149. Captain & Tennille Song Book (ABC) 18.7 29 150. Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown (CBS) 18.6 29 151. Dolly & Carol in Nashville (CBS) 18.6 30 152. Centennial (NBC) 18.5 32 153. Here Comes Peter Cottontail (CBS) 18.5 30

@soapfan770 Liz had always stood by Jill and Jill adored her mother.Once Jill started scheming to win Stu by lying about a baby and forcing him into marriage ,she was the villian. Liz never resorted to any tactics to win Stu over. It damaged Jill's character. That story could have played better had Jill not known Liz carried a torch for Stu. Stu could have been a replacement for Phillip in Jill's mind and offer her the happy ending Phillip couldn't. She didn't need to be overtly scheming-there was enough conflict around for Jill and Stu. Maybe they never did marry-instead one or the other calls it off. In my fan fic.Liz remains Sty's devoted housekeeper. He becomes involved with Dina who heads up Jabot (not John) John and the girls are out of town and return later. Jack and Dina run Jabot with Dina having spoiled her son and the two have a tempestuous relationship. Stu and Dina eventually marry. Jill gets involved with Jack which makes things awkward for Stu. Dina and Jill are enemies and it could be established early on that Kay and Dina are old friends. Oh and I would have had Lance 'die' when John McCook left. That would have provided plenty of Prentiss drama and leave the door open for a Lance return.

I agree-would love to read your thoughts on this. Losing Lance so suddenly lead to the quick dissolution of that story .Les was now with Jonas and Lucas with Casey. That whole quadrangle that was building for years seemed to fizzle. With Lance gone, surely Lucas would have moved in on Lorie. Introducing the Leslie amnesia story and Jonas was a poor choice IMO. Victor/Julia were isolated to Brock.Maybe Victor could have been involved with Prentiss, immediately becoming involved with Lorie and Lucas. The Williams family were suddenly in the midst of things. I think the rollout needed to be slower. We should have met Mary through Liz-it seems natural that those two women would interact. Paul relating to his parents and get them established before Patty or Steve. It would be believable that Stuart might know Carl through the newspaper/police connection. Mary's pregnancy should have been held back till they were more established. Not a fan of the Lucas/Jonas/Sebastian /San Leandro story or the machinations at Chancellor. These were not traditional Y&R stories. I wouldn't have had Liz and Stu in love and married. It needed to be a Mamie/John or Paul/Lynne thing with the audience wondering if they'll ever get together.

Facts of Life....Growing Up California Fever...We're Crusin Eischied...The Force

In July 79 Dec, Dec 3 was set as the day Y&R would expand to an hour with SFT displaced at 12.30 and moved to 3.30 following Guiding Light.

Well, in hindsight, not such a great choice as Andy didn't last long. Do you know what RH role he was up for?

@Broderick thanks for posting that. Wow heavy stuff. Can't imagine our Miss Ellie being a party to anything like that. I guess Julie Grey and the red file was patterned along those lines and Roberta was softened into Amanda. The Roberta/Bobby connection was wild. I think they missed the boat with Amanda -she could have had some secrets locked away like Roberta. Did she really have any story apart from being a minor roadblock to Jock/Ellie?

In May 79 Fred Silverman announced NBC's longterm plan for daytime 10-11.30 Game shows 11.30-12.30 The Doctors expanded to an hour 12.30 New 30 min soap 1.-2.30 90 min Days 2.30-4.00 90 min AW That crazy plan obviously didn't last long. Once the AW numbers came in and also probably the feedback from producers on how hard it was to maintain quality and staff morale,NBC had a shift in thinking.

CBS announced in May 79 that Y&R would expand to an hour sometime that Fall. That was delayed to Feb 80. So Bill Bell and John Conboy had around 8 months to prepare and get the show set up for the longer format. Yet from what we read it was a very chaotic transition. Surely in that time Bill could plan story with expansion in mind and Conboy could iron out all the bugs associated. By that time 7 other shows had been through that process. Would love to know what the deal was.

@depboy thank you .Louise Fitch started on radio soaps in the 40's.

i wonder if any of that even got proposed to CBS. Somewhere back in this thread (or maybe Primetime soaps thread) is a David Jacob's interview talking about censorship and how the Lucy character was handled. He wanted her to be sluttier and learn the hard way the consequences but CBS balked and insisted she be more of a tease, which in his opinion sent a more damaging message, I'll try and dig it out.

Wow! That Dallas novel stuff is fascinating. I don't think CBS was ready for Bond in 78 but some sort of shady right hand man for Jock may have been interesting. On the show Ellie's brother turned up and was revealed to be dying. That was over in one episode right? From what I can gather, at the end of the ep , he and Ellie were bravely facing what was to come but by the next ep he was dead and no mention was made? Having a child turn up (Miss Ellie's niece/nephew) would have been a good twist and worked in better than Jack/Jamie. As Garrison's they might have had a claim to Southfork.

Search for Tomorrow Gwen Miller Delon...Barbara Babcock...June - August 76...arrived from SF for a reconciliation with Chris as he had lead her to believe that he was having an affair (to protect her from his mob involvement) Fell ill and Chris discovered she was terminal. Gwen found out was angry that Chris had hidden this from her and planned to leave town alone, Jo convinced Gwen that Chris was genuine in wanting to help her. Left with Chris to live out her remaining years.

Search for Tomorrow Chris Delon.(Chris Miller)...Paul Dumont...March- August 76...+Jo, in witness protection after gathering info on a mobster,staying at Hartford House claiming to be a writer, arousing suspicions of Stu and Bruce. Guarded by david Sloan(Sutton)Jo shot and paralyzed when bullet meant for Chris hit her due to her involvement with him. Got a job at Henderson Herald to stand by Jo but left town with ex wife Gwen - who had a terminal illness -after Jo realized they had no future.

Pamela Sue Martin didn't seem a happy camper. She left Nancy Drew when they decided to combine the show with Hardy Boys and left Dynasty unhappy also. Did she break her contract with Dynasty and if so did they agree to release her? What were the circumstances? Same with Al Corley. To have 2 young castmembers wanting to quit seems to speak to some BTS goings on. Anyone have more details?

Thanks Broderick. Some interesting storylines were used in the early episodes, but had to be rushed to fit the format. Had the show been serialized. some of them could have continued for many weeks. Jimmy and Aunt Maggie were wasted.

Niki Flacks Dallas 'Little Boy Lost' Mary Anderson Oct 31 1981

ABC did an hour long Barney Miller that proposed a spinoff of the Wojo(Max Gail) character.

Variety March 21 1979 LA March 20 Pat Falken Smith and her ETC production company have filed a breach of contract suit against Columbia Pictures and others over services provided for Days of Our Lives. Among other defendants in LA Superior Court suit is Ann Matcus, who replaced Smith as headwriter in 1977, Also named are Elizabeth Corday, owner of the show and William J Bell. There have been references to this lawsuit over the years and PFS return to the show was shelved because of it. Are there any specific details or resolutions known?