Paul Raven

Bill Bell: Miserable grand dame resents younger beautiful woman for taking her son. Vanessa/Lorie

CBS must have been surprised/disappointed that Crazy Like A Fox was a shortlived success. Despite the strong MSW lead-in the opposing movies proved too strong the following season. Although CBS could boast of all its Thursday lineup in the Top 20, it was not to last. No other night had all shows in the Top 20 although CBS Sunday came close with only Trapper John missing out. ABC turned down Cosby because there was no pilot or script and I think they wanted a full season commitment. How different things would have been had ABC picked it up. But where would it be scheduled? Against A Team? Or to boost Wed @8?

A gender reveal party with pink spray. People can be so annoying.

Agnes liked her young love storyline where the protaganists were the innocent girl and the well meaning good guy who were manipulated by outside forces.But she really really only used it repeatedly on AMC. I guess Meredith and Larry on early OLTL would qualify. On AW , Steve wasn't the type. Loving had Stacey and Jack? On AMC,first there was Phil and Tara. Then Cliff and Nina, followed quickly by Jenny and Greg. But there really wasn't a next couple to follow that template. At one point when she took over the writing I think Scott and Becca were given that role.

There was a strike going on in primetime so Nicolas Coster was available . How and why he was approached/agreed is unclear. AW at that point seemed intent on erasing pretty much anything that occurred even a few years earlier.

1984-85 Cosby an instant hit that brings all 4 Thurs sitcoms to Top 20. Highway to Heaven, another hit for NBC. Crazy Like A Fox-looks like restoring CBS Sunday dominance. Out of the Top 20 AfterMash After a strong start it did struggle a little as the season wore on and Kate & Allie did far better, but CBS seemed to give up by putting it up against The A Team this season, where it was canned. Love Boat-the only Saturday show in that was Top 20. Fall Guy- Highway to Heaven took over the timeslot. The Jeffersons after a long run Scarecrow and Mrs King-already dropping in its second season-not a good sign. ABC Sunday and Monday Movie-NBC took over with their Monday movie. TV Bloopers- failed to maintain its appeal. 1 Dynasty 2 Dallas 3 The Cosby Show 4 60 Minutes 5 Family Ties 6 The A-Team 7 Simon & Simon 8 Murder, She Wrote 9 Knots Landing 10 (Tie) Falcon Crest 10 (Tie) Crazy Like a Fox 10 (Tie) Hotel 10 (Tie) Cheers 11 Riptide 12 Magnum, P.I. 13 Newhart 14 Kate & Allie 15 NBC Monday Night Movie 16 Highway to Heaven 17 Night Court

The circumstances were different-Mickey had amnesia, Victor was carjacked but overall it was the same template. And Bill used the plot of the novel written by one character- Lorie/Eric 'In My Sister's/Brother's Shadow' that detailed a private matter concerning another -Leslie's breakdown/Susan's rape. And the unlucky in love French restaurateur Robert/Pierre who marries the younger pregnant woman - Rebecca/Sally to give the baby a name. Producer Jacquie Babbin loved a murder mystery and introduced one eaach at AMC and Loving.

RONALD SYLVERS THE EDGE OF NIGHT Doctor Unknown Year 1968

Bill Bell used the man - Victor/Mickey - retreating from turmoil landing at a farm run by sweet/disabled woman - Hope/Maggie - and finds peace and love despite presence of distrustful, jealous rival - Cliff/Jay on Days and Y&R. Both times it was a success. Surprised Ridge Forrester didn't end up at a farm owned by a deaf woman... That story first appeared on radio in the 40's on Young Dr Malone, I think. Bill Bell said he used to listen to radio soaps.

Bill Bell liked to throw in a little quasi incest to spice things up -see Tommy/Marie on Days, Lorie/Mark, Cole/Victoria and Scott/Christine on Y&R. Was there anything like this on B&B? can't recall offhand.

So many tidbits are uncovered from synopses and articles from the actual time that show mistakes were made in later publications. Again thanks to depboy for sharing. Now we just have to find synopses from other soaps....

Esther should be living at the Chancellor estate as should Jill when she visits. Billy and Chance also.

One of Doug Marland's trademarks would be the large working class family with various siblings not on the canvas at the one time headed by a down to earth matriach. He may have been influenced by the Frame family when he worked under Harding Lemay on AW. When he branched out on his own he extended the Dancy family an incorporated those elements. On GH Luke,Bobbie and Ruby spencer represented that thrust and I believe he planned to introduce Pat but departed. On GL it was the Reardons, ATWT the Snyders. Was the Rescott family on Loving a Marland creation? And of course Agnes was known for the scheming daughter/put upon mother trope represented by Rachel/Ada, Erica/Mona and Ava/Kate. However, I don't believe she used that at GL or OLTL in her stints there.

Another problem for CBS that plagued them for years was trying to find successful 8pm shows Tues, Wed and Sat. They tried and tried again with youth oriented shows that repeatedly fizzled. Younger viewers and CBS were poles apart. Remember these shows? TV 101, Dolphin Cove, Houston Knights, High Mountain Rangers, The Wizard, Downtown, Outlaws, Stir Crazy, Hometown, Otherworld, Whiz Kids, Wizards and Warriors... just a few of the shows tried in those slots.

Looking at CBS in the 80's one of their problems was the reliance on 70's sitcoms and the failure to come up with new sitcom hits. In the early mid 70's there was a slew of long running sitcoms introduced and very few misses. AITF, Maude, MTM, Mash, Bob Newhart, Jeffersons, Good Times, Rhoda, One Day at a Time, Alice. The problems started when MTM, Bob Newhart and Rhoda departed. Saturday night fell apart as Tony Randall and We've Got Each Other failed to take off. Betty White was a flop. But going into the 80's CBS still had a strong sitcom lineup But after 76 the only bright spots were WKRP and House Calls, but neither were super hits. So when the 70's shows finally departed in the mid 80's the cupboard was pretty much bare.

Judith Barcroft had originated the role of Lenore and may have returned if asked, but I guess as she hadn't played Lenore when Robert was on, they felt there was no need. All the return characters, I think, were from the Lemay era, which makes sense as he was writer for a significant amount of time and when the show was most popular. With Robert back, they could have brought back Clarice and used it as an opportunity to bring his son Cory on, now a teen. But there never seemed to be much interest in looking to the past, except when Lemay returned and set some things up that Donna Swajeski followed through. Did Beverly Penberthy return in 89?

Was there an Irna show that didn't deal with illegitimate children/adoption? This goes back to TGL's radio days when Rose Kransky gave up her child and it was adopted by the biological father and his new wife. Then you had Meta Bauer giving up her son and the drama that followed. ATWT had Ellen Lowell and later Sara Fuller/Amanda Holmes along with the Peter Burton story in the early 70's and Amy Hughes also. AW had Missy as the illegitimate child. Bill Bell stole the formula with Julie on Days.

Program compatility and audience flow seems to be an inexact science, although I'm sure the networks invested zillions of dollars in research. The conventional wisdom at the time seems to be that light action/adventure leading into soap was the way to go, probably based on nothing more than it worked for Dukes/Dallas. CBS tried again with Freebie and the Bean/Secrets of Midland Heights and NBC had BJ and the Bear/Flamingo Road. I guess if the action shows had cute guys the woman would be interested and the soaps had plenty of pretty girls so the reverse was true. That kind of sexist stereotype holds true today. There have been plenty of odd scheduling moves over the years. Remember CBS launched All in the Family following Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Hee Haw!

John Conboy's trademark as a producer were lush visuals with detailed sets, specific lighting, fancy gatherings etc but not such a good grip on story. It worked with Bill Bell as writer on Y&R but his stints on Cap, SB and GL showed he needed to be paired with a strong writer.

Knots was moved twice out of the 10pm slot and both times failed as a 9pm show. CBS moved it back to 10pm both times. 1st time was in 81/82 up against Barney Miller on ABC and Diff'rent Strokes on NBC. It looked like good counter programming against an ageing sitcom (Barney) and a kid oriented sitcom (Strokes) and following a hit (Magnum). But the 10 pm show Jessica Novak was up against 20/20 and Hill St Blues and flopped. CBS stuck with it all season but it was back at 10 the next year. Then again in 86/87 with Kay O'Brien as the 10 pm show. CBS were quicker to move it back this time -mid season.

CBS first mistake was not replacing Dukes of Hazzard with a stronger show. I know hindsight is 20/20 but they owned that timeslot with Dukes and even with flop replacements, nothing on ABC/NBC took off so the opportunity was there. They launched The Mississippi with Ralph Waite in the Falcon Crest timeslot and it finished in the Top 10. So maybe instead of moving it to Tuesday at 8 where they hadn't had a hit in years and it flopped, Mississippi should have been moved up to 8pm for the 83/84 season and Dukes used as a Saturday at 8pm lead in. The other issue was holding on to Falcon Crest for too long. It should have been moved to another 10pm slot-say Monday, instead of Emerald Point and something new be launched at 10 to benefit from the Dallas lead in and refresh the night. At some point Dallas could be moved back to 10pm with a strong new show placed at 9pm. All wishful thinking as coming up with hit shows isn't easy. And CBS had many other timeslots to worry about, so left Dallas and Falcon Crest where they were.

It's so sad that CBS #1 soap is treated this way. Few sets and the ones shown are either dated, or tiny and cheaply decorated. No extras or day players, poorly told stories of so called big business, unflattering and cheap looking clothing. Awful music etc Even Bill Bell might struggle under those restrictions.

Secret Storm Pauline Tyrell Harris Fuller Rysdale...Haila Stoddard...54-61 62-70

Wasn't the Kevin/Nikki drunken sex a quick rewrite because Melody got pregnant IRL?

Agree, especially in contrast to Victoria/Heather Tom. Victoria was an entitled daddy's girl, who could be manipulative but at the same time vulnerable. a complicated character who could be unpredictable - a writer's dream. Maybe they wanted a contrast with Nick's character but neither the writing or JM's portrayal ever presented any hidden depths. Bill Bell often had a problem with the 'nice guys' eg Greg,Scott,Cole etc-they always came off as bland.