Paul Raven

That week illustrated the problem CBS faced on Sunday. Up against a big mini series and premiere movie Crazy Like A Fox couldn't compete at 9pm. MSW was #3 but CLAF #26 and Trapper John #52. The following week MSW was #5 but CLAF was #26 and Trapper was #53. CBS was squandering the lead in on a top rating night. The next week CBS went with Pt 1 of Kane & Abel mini series 8-11 and it ranked #8. The following week MSW was back and ranked #4 with part 1 of Doubletake @9 ranked #14. The return of CLAF ranked #36 so CBS saw they would get much better numbers playing a movie @9 which is what they did with instant ratings improvement.

That week was before the official start of the season so most premieres were up against reruns, hence the good ratings for Paper Dolls, Jesse and Hawaiian Heat an AfterMash . Viewers were willing to give them a look see. Once the likes of A Team, Riptide and Dallas returned those shows took a dive.

One thing Knots and other soaps failed to do was look into the past and bring back characters. eg Jeff Cunningham, Abby's ex could have easily turned up to see his kids and reconnect with Abby in some way. Karen's brother Joe and a myriad of other characters could have returned for short stints to provide story for the long running characters, rather than always bringing in new people.

That's the first I've heard of this. When did that happen? I know FI aired on Friday @8 for a few weeks in 79 but flopped and was quickly moved back to Sat @10.

That was one of Donna's go to references-have we ever had verification of that rumor?

I agree that Jen Jacobs isn't a terrible actress. But she's stuck with a poorly written role, and a triangle storyline that doesn't work.

No shade to Marsha Clark (well, maybe a little) but Hilary wasn't the most glamorous cast member. She worked as a nurse/friend/loser in love but not a gal 2 'hunks' would be fighting over. Kind of got a Subaru driving, jeans/plaid shirt vibe from Hilary...

Hilary should not have been killed. Send her out of town , leaving room for a recast and return.

They should have the flexibility to set up a mini set for this type of thing-all they need is a wall and a booth to suggest a different meeting place. They seemed to use Ted's hotel room redecorated for the Kat/Tomas scenes-which worked b/c it was obviously the same hotel. As for June, if she had have got a job as a kitchen hand or something like that at Orphey's that would have made more sense. Something where she wouldn't be dealing with people and taking orders etc. She still could have messed up by dropping dishes or clearing tables of a diner who hadn't finished etc. I thougt today's episode was better. More natural dialogue. Even Tomas seemed better today. Is the Randy/Hayley connection going to be followed up?

I believe Nancy's character of Beverly worked at the Health Club that Brad Vernon operated. Those were the days when those type of characters were incorporated. I guess viewers would see Beverly on and off as a staff member and it gave a sense of realism. Nancy talks of 4 years at OLTL. The health club opened in June77 and Ganngter Chronichles went to air Feb 81 so maybe NLG's timeline was a little off. Nowadays if there was this type of business we would be lucky to see any patrons or staff.

Days - Wayne Northrup both as Roman then Alex North. OLTL- Lee Paterson as Tom Denison. How far did they go in pairing him with Viki? AMC - Robin Strasser as Christina. She was lured back to daytime by Agnes with the promise of playing a character totally unlike Rachel, but viewers wanted to see Robin as a bad girl. She jumped to OLTL as Dorian and made the role her own.

Could you elaborate? Not sure what 'critical cultural cues' and 'touchstones' are.

Grrrr... I actually bought Ted jumping into bed with Leslie-he was drunk and depressed and it fits in with the trajectory we've had since the recast. The follow up was good as TMG played Leslie's rejection well. And Ambyr was good with the fallout. And then we see the CC chairperson and I'm thinking this should be good... And then the ridiculous announcement about the sportscenter. FCOL how much money has Anita put in that trust fund?? Why go with this nonsense when they could have gone with something more believable. eg Leslie getting some dirt on the chairperson and using that info to get into the CC.

Just finished Smoke on Apple TV and who should turn up in the final episode as a kick ass senior police officer but Amy Carlson. It's like Josie continued her police career and ended up running the show.

Robin is great in The Girlfriend.

This is what I'm referring to. Odd story choices. And-too many characters who we never see working. Andre (unless it's story related). Never see him refer to an assignment, or at his studio in the middle of something, when say Dani arrives. Vanessa the real estate agent with no office and tons of free time. Nicole the psychiatrist who never has a patient. Martin the politician, Smitty the journalist, Naomi the lawyer, Ted the surgeon and so on. I understand it's not a documentary, but it might be nice to see them in some sort of work related scenes.eg Nicole finishing up with a patient, Andre showing Dani some shots he's been working on etc Choosing all these different occupations and not having sets for them is a negative.

@dc11786 thanks for sharing those. Do you have any other summaries of radio soaps in the 50's? Details of characters and stories are scant.

Interesting points. I have to say I am a bit dismayed with some of the story decisions. like Leslie the instant gazillionare. They seem to be ignoring some beats that would, to me, add interest and depth. Like I get that Leslie would start spending like there's no tomorrow but there should be a scene with the trustee or whoever to alert her that it's not a bottomless pit. And stories like June's journey, which was ill timed and seems to have has zilch dramatic consequences. The twins just accepted her. June's struggle to get her life back together would have provided months of story, with it's ups and downs. The lack of family connections eg June's arrival into the teen's life was all Naomi and Jacob. Vernita, Ted and Nicole should be all in on this. As for Samantha and the never seen before guy who she fell for on his first day on the show... and what happened to her brother's love interest? I hoped that once the show was airing episodes already shot, they would tweak some stuff, but they seem to be continuing on the same path of random story points and questionable plots. The potential is still there and I want BTG to improve.

The Golden Girls was 2nd for it's second episode , still out of season. In premiere week GG fell to 20th as new episodes of other hit shows debuted. But then it bounced back to 12th the following week.

Has any mention been made of Derek having a family and/or why he has had no one visit him in hospital? It would have been nice had a few firehouse buddies turned up and some flowers or a hamper arrive from everyone at the station. Maybe I missed any of this type of stuff?

I'll be in charge of sets!

On point!

OK

I don't mind Jen Jacob as an actress, but the character of Ashley as written would have Meryl Streep struggling to make it work. Ashley would work as a supporting character but not a lead. When she went through the plot points with her mother, you got the cliff notes of the story so far. On paper it looks interesting enough, but the way it has played onscreen just hasn't worked. As for AA, he has not improved one bit in all these months and that is bringing the story down. Obviously no one is having a word in his ear about his performances.

Thankfully they seem to have pulled back on her in the dress up box outfits but she was back in full force and looking ridic.