Paul Raven

David Selby/Morgan Fairchild - Michael/Constance Flamingo Rd Richard/Jordan Falcon Crest Quinn Redeker/Patty Weaver - Alex/Trish DOOL Rex/Gina Y&R

North & South was a biggie for ABC in Nov 85 All episodes in the Top 10. ABC won the week. Part 1 Sun #4 25.6/37 Part 2 #8 Tues 23.6/34 Part 3 #4 Wed 28.0/42 Part 4 #7 Thurs 26.6/38 Part 5 #10 Sat 23.2/37 Part 6 #2 Sun 29.4/42 It won every time period except the final hour of Part 2 which lost to the Lucille Ball movie Stone Pillow on CBS. The Tues and Wed eps played in time periods ABC was already strong in but on Thurs it beat Cheers, Night Court and Hill St Blues and Sat Golden Girls,227 and Hunter Oddly they skipped Fri night giving Dallas and Falcon Crest a free run.

Lucy had success with her first TV movie 'Stone Pillow', in Nov 85 playing a bag lady. It ranked #9 for the week up against North & South Part 2 which was #8. So the public was interested in seeing Lucy in a different type of role. The Golden Girls made Lucy look even more out of date. Instead of doing the same thing again, she should have tried a different format. Imagine her as a snoopy older woman, maybe with a police officer son/daughter stumbling into crimes.There would be room for some Lucy shtick as she goes undercover/ gets herself in over her head but tailored for her age and showing off some of the dramatic chops she honed in the 30's and 40's.

Couldn't imagine Nancy Hughes having that conversation with Ellen Stewart 10 years earlier. But in the 80's it was decided everyone had to be rich or striving to be and big business offices replaced the kitchen, living room and hospital.

The Dobsons to take over AW in January 1983? Santa Barbara wasn't even on the air . Monty became GH exec producer in Jan 78 Jacquie Babbin became AMC producer in 82 4 years later Jean Arley joined OLTL in 1983 5 years later ABC and CBS were holding their own at this point. GH kept climbing and ABC eventually held the Top 3 positions but CBS were competitive. NBC was badly affected.

Thanks for sharing. Odd to see B&B's Saul as an action hero! I wonder if those sort of scenes were all staged in the studio?

Re Fresno After a solid start on Sunday #13 following MSW #5 , it was downhill for the rest of the week. Part 2 Mon #36 15.2/22 beaten by NBC Family Ties special # 8 24.5/36 and Alf #13 21.5/31 Part 3 Tues # 50 12.8/19 beaten by ABC Who's The Boss #12 21.7/33 and Growing Pains #11 22.2/33 Part 4 Wed # 52 12.5/24 beaten by NBC Highway to Heaven # 41 14.5/22 and ABC Head of the Class #47 13.5/21 Part 5 # 51 12.6/18 beaten by Cosby #1 34.7/50 and Family Ties #2 32.0/46 Not sure what CBS expectations were. Running an hour a night at 8pm was not the traditional format for a mini series but I guess as it was unique in content and scheduling.

Lisa Peluso/Larry Haines - Wendy/Stu SFT Ava/Neal LOV Ann Williams/John Cunningham - Eunice/Wade SFT June/Garth LOV

William Grey Espy/Janice Lynde - Snapper/Leslie Y&R Mitch/Tracy AW John Wesley Shipp/Lisa Brown - Kelly/Nola GL - Doug/Iva ATWT

Anna Stuart/Gerald Gordon - Toni/Nick TD Gina/Mark GH Kathy Glass/Doris Belack - Jenny/Anna OLTL MJ/Claudia TD

Lynne Rogers THE DOCTORS Millette ___ Lang December 1966- March 67 13 week stint

Jane Eliot/Michael Tylo - Tracy/Charlie GH Carrie/Quint GL

Susan Flannery/Robert Clary - Laura/Robert DOOL Stephanie/Pierre B&B Lane Davies/Jed Allen - Evan/Don DOOL Mason/CC SB

Victor Newman NEVER walks away from a fight! True- he shuffles...

Maybe if Tom King only had to write for a 60 min show, things might have been different. But the 90 min format was simply unworkable.

Susan Seaforth Hayes/Tracey Bregman - Julie/Donna DOOL Joanna /Lauren Y&R David O'Brien/Jada Rowland - Kip/Amy Secret Storm/Steve/Carolee TD

Armand Assante/Lauren White - Johnny/Martha How To Survive A Marriage, Mike/MJ The Doctors Peter Bergman/Debbie Morgan/Darnell Williams - Cliff/Angie/Jesse AMC Jack/Harmony/Sarge Y&R Peter Brown/Suzanne Zenor/Mark Tapscott/Patty Weaver Greg/Margo/Bob/Trish DOOL Robert/Claire/Earl/Gina Y&R Deidre Hall/Robert Clary Barbara/Pierre Y&R Marlena/Robert DOOL

Tom Eplin 3 marriages, 2 daughters from a 3rd marriage that lasts 5 years. He must think he's a soap character. Don't know her marriage history but wouldn't you think twice about marrying someone who's already wed twice? And as it turns out, they divorce after 5 years. And 2 children have to deal with that.

Rosemary Prinz/Ruth Warrick - Penny/Edith ATWT Amy/Pheobe AMC

The Best of Everything Josh Jordan Owned the building the characters lived in, married to Violet ...John Rust March - July . ..Peter Harris July- September

The title says it all. Can we list actors who have been part of the cast of different soaps at he same time. They may or may not have shared scenes. First ones that come to mind are Heather Tom/Don Diamont - Victoria/Brad Y&R Katie/Bill B&B Jane Eliot/Wally Kurth - Tracy/Ned GH Anjelica/Justin DOOL Looking forward to your contributions...

Two flop mini series in that list Fresno, the Carol Burnett sendup which dived after the first episode and Monte Carlo,Joan Collins' second and final mini series. The first Sins did well, but no such luck 2nd time around. Joan's moment was coming to an end. Poor Lucy, a sad ending to her career. She should have taken a leaf out of Angela's book and played a nosy amateur sleuth in a comedy mystery.

Wouldn't Days be shouting from the rooftops if it was Peacocks #1 show? Peacock might be keeping it quiet because it might not be good for their image to have a daytime soap as their most popular show...

Amerika managed a 19.0/29 for 14 and 1/2 hours.ABC was in 3rd place for the week. Pt 1 Sun 24.7/38 #7 Pt 2 Mon 20.9/31 #9 pt 3 Tues 17.7/26 #25 beaten by CBS Miss USA #7 Pt 4 Wed 17.8/28 #24 Pt 5 Thurs 15.6/23 #41 beaten by LA Law #10 Knots Landing # 32 Pt 6 Fri 15.4/24 #44 beaten by Dallas #16 Falcon Crest #28 Pt 7 Sun 19.6/30 #13 beaten by 90 min Murder She Wrote #4

I think those last 3 didn't score so well and that was the end of those epic mini series. The other networks did attempt some of more than the usual 3 parts/6 hours including Shogun NBC 12 hours/5 nights September 1980 Space CBS 13 hours/5 parts April 1985