Paul Raven

The Doctors Dr Frank Field himself WNBC meteorologist and health reporter, as part of the stop smoking storyline Dec 10 1982 As The World Turns Dr Joyce Brothers also appeared in October 19 1982

I can see Stella Stevens staying on as she did daytime a few years later. maybe Barbara Rush but really no one else. I think they would have gone with a mixture of available daytime names and primetime people who were no longer A list and would give daytime a try. How about Robin Eisenman as Constance? She had already played Jennifer on SFT before Morgan. I'll have to do some more thinking. Betsy von Furstenburg as Eudora?

If this is true, hopefully Y&R will have the good sense to bring him back as Fen and give him a decent story.

Beau Kayzer's NBC pilot 'Hardcase' which he filmed in early 1980 finally made it to air in August 1982

What to do with Sharon? She was only on 4 eps last month. The dead end marriage to Rey has left her romantic options at a standstill. Never bought her being a therapist, especially when she only 'counsels' friends and family from CL or their homes. The breast cancer story was awful. Perhaps a search for her father could lead to her discover a half sibling? Reviving Doris? Any suggestions for Josh?

I fail to see the motivation behind killing off Penny. If they wanted to keep Althea free of family ties, just have Penny living in Japan or wherever. If Jerry had to return (a good enough idea on paper) then Penny and Jerry could have divorced. Or simply bring back Penny, a legacy character in the desired demographic, who could have given Althea additional story as well as being a young leading lady. A lot of bone headed decisions were made at The Doctors.

May 1999 Can the once highly popular `All My Children' rebound from its sagging ratings? ABC TV thinks so. But to make sure, it's brought back Agnes Nixon as the show's head writer; Nixon had been a consultant. Considered by many to be the first lady of serial dramas, ABC is hoping she'll help revive the show, which has been a network staple for 29 years. "We brought Agnes back to deliver the escape, the fantasy, romance and mystery," that soap opera fans want, says Angela Shapiro, president of ABC Daytime Television. `Agnes makes the characters come alive in a way that no one else can. It's remarkable what she brings; we're really lucky." 'All My Children' was a leading soap throughout the 1980s and during the earlier part of this decade. She created All My Children as well as ABC's `One Life to Live' and `Loving' (which later became 'The City') and 'Search for Tomorrow' She was co- creator of 'As the World Turns,' which airs on CBS, was the head writer for `Guiding Light' also on CBS, and for NBC's `Another World.' Here, Nixon talks about soap operas, where the audience has gone, what viewers want from daytime dramas and how to fix 'All My Children. What's happened to the daytime drama audience? There has been some attrition with all the cable channels. I think that's the way of the world. But I think good stories, well told and acted by very good actors, will always be popular. I just think we have to get back to some of the basics of storytelling...the things that have always influenced and interested people. Why are soap operas appealing? Basically it's because it's the form of entertainment nearest to real life. Every day is a new episode, there's that appeal, as well as the fact that it's never repeated. I think there's something about a continued story. Charles Dickens was a serial writer; people use to wait in Boston for the boat to come from England with the next installment to see what was going to happen to Little Nell. Also, you have to have believable characters. Sometimes, soaps have gotten into characters that were not believable. The characters have to be three dimensional, someone with whom the audience can identify. Stories have to be believable, suspenseful, interesting and involving. What do you think about proposals for 24-hour soap channels on cable? I am very excited by it. I also think we'll get a truer measurement of viewership. The Nielsen ratings don't list VCRs and we know there's a vast audience that tapes and watches soaps later. I frankly think we don't have a true picture now of measurement of audience viewership. Plus there's something nice about the fact that what I do will be seen again. I am thinking particularly about the actors now. I think it brings us a little more satisfaction. Do you think daytime serials will always have a home on broadcast television? Yes, I do, I truly do. I am not saying they all will. Again, because it is a story. A good story well presented is just as movies are, it's entertainment. It's human stories and people are interested in people. What do you like most about writing daytime dramas? I am a storyteller and I like the dramatic form. To me it's just the thing I love to do. You take something in life that generates an idea and then it grows and one embellishes it. Seeing it come to life on the air by actors is just a great thrill for me. What is the hardest part of writing serials? The discipline you have to have because of the time pressure. It takes five days a week, 52 weeks a year, and that's pretty grueling. One can do a movie of the week or even a nighttime episode. A writer might stay up two nights getting it finished and then go collapse on the beach at Malibu. But a writer of daytime serials doesn't have that luxury. It's like getting in shape. You have to learn to pace yourself and to get refreshed and renewed in a much shorter time -like a weekend or a Saturday. Without giving away anything, what are you planning to do with All My Children? We're going back to what used to be one of the hallmarks of All My Children, which was young romance. I think that young romance is particularly good because we all identify with being young. We remember it so well. Through young romance we are able to see the world with what the true meaning of naïve is, which is 'fresh wonder.' I do feel that is what's needed on the show and we're getting to it very quickly.

Based on that pic, James Hyde might have made a better Tucker than TSJ

In Season 2 FL finished in 68th position. Hart to Hart was 16th and CBS Tuesday movie was 69th. For part of the season FL was moved to 9pm where it faced Three's Company 4th.

Glad jill is going to be seen in person. If Jess is commuting from Oregon, surely she would be happy to tape a few episodes at a time. Or is that what she is doing anyway-taping scenes to be placed in different episodes? Of course Chris meets Teriah at CL. This whole adoption story could be good but occasional scenes at CL is not enough. Is their apartment still being shown?

I think that's more than Leigh Ann Rose ever managed in a month!

Guiding Light David Powers Anthony Kane March 26,29,31 April 1 1982

Those 1981 ratings are from Variety and are household ratings, hence the separate reference to W18-49. Although that was the desirable cohort, at that time primetime and daytime ratings were all reported in terms of households.

And Edge's ratings were all the more remarkable in that it had way less affiliate clearance - either rescheduled or not shown at all. Days had clearances in the high 90 % range. Imagine if ABC and P&G had really gotten behind EON.

There have been discussions here and there about why The Doctors was never expanded to 1 hr. One reason presented was the lack of studio space available at the Rockefeller Center studios and in NY in general. In Jan 82, Variety reported that the NBC sitcom Love Sidney, taping in NY was going to have to relocate to LA as the Reeves Teletape facilities were once again being used by Sesame St, returning from hiatus, and no alternate studio space could be found to accommodate the Sidney sets. I think the same situation was an issue earlier for TD as Rockefeller center did not have the space and the issue of finding an alternate studio and costs involved may have been a major factor that kept TD at 30 min.

4th quarter 1981 9/28/81-12/13/81 1. GH 11.8/39 2. OLTL 9.8/35 3. AMC 9.6/35 4. GL 7.7/25 5. RH 7.0/28 6. Y&R 7.0/28 7. ATWT 6.8/25 8. SFT 6.3/23 9. EON 5.0/16 10. DOOL 5.0/18 11. AW 4.4/16 12. TX 3.4/11 13 TD 3.2/13 Total viewers ABC 9.73 million CBS 7.13 million NBC 4.31 million Women 18-49 ABC 4.65 million CBS 2.33 million NBC 1.6 million

As The World Turns appearing as themselves Oct 26/27 1981 Dina Merrill (already listed) Henny Youngman Celeste Holm (I believe her role as Lauren Roberts was at a different time) Dennis Cunningham WCBS Arts Critic

Week of Aug 3-7 1981. ABC 10.0/34 its highest ever daytime rating for the 11.00-4.30 time period CBS 6.8/24 NBC 4.0/14

Jonas/Leslie 'Pris' There would have been a lot of unhappy posters if the internet had been around then. That story went nowhere. One of Bill's misfires. Jonas/Leslie 'Pris' There would have been a lot of unhappy posters if the internet had been around then. That story went nowhere. One of Bill's misfires.

Flamingo Road ranked #55 in Season One. It's ABC opposition Hart to Hart was #31 and the CBS Tuesday Movie was #47.

8th annual Daytime Emmy Awards ABC May 21 1981 2 hr ceremony 12.8/44 1980 on NBC for 90 min 6.6/24

Yes Noah's club is a sight to behold. Has it been used much? on the subject of sets, has there been a continued culling? Have the following sets been used recently? Sharon's cottage Devon's penthouse Bill and Lily's apartment Victoria's House

Fair enough, but I think the whole whimsical theme is way past its use by date. IRL unless a business has somehow captured a particular market, they would have to update after more than 20 years. The basic floorplan is fine, although I puzzle about the door from the back area-people seem to come and go . i guess if you order and pay at the counter its Ok. Otherwise they need some new furniture and decor. Maybe if CL served some light meals there would be more of a reason for it to be so heavily used. This is CBS #1 daytime drama, surely they could pump some extra $$ into the production. I'm not sure how the budgets work but dumping Chelsea would free up some cash?

Couldn't agree more. Same as people constantly visiting the dated and empty Crimson Lights. Surely there is some creative way of getting around this. To me it is distracting and takes me even further out of the story.

Jimmy McCallion Young Widder Brown Jimmy Davis 1942