Paul Raven

Who's to blame for `Beacon Hill'? Bob Wood doesn't know what went wrong with the season's most ballyhooed new show; the creator blames the producer and vice -versa Robert D. Wood, the president of CBS - TV, is the man who had to make the decision to cancel Beacon Hill, and "I'm sick about it," he says. "With the departure of Beacon Hill, a little bit of me went with it." "I couldn't fault the intention of the series or the production, which was superbly mounted," Mr. Wood goes on. "There was some nit- picking about the writing on the part of some critics, but as far as I'm concerned it was the Tiffany of TV series. And in all my years in the business, I don't remember a series getting as much promotion or as much advance notice in the consumer press. "But the public simply rejected it. Watching the audience decline each week was like watching the rungs of a stepladder going down" Mr. Wood says he doesn't want to play Monday- morning quarterback on the reasons why Beacon Hill didn't attract a mass audience. "Maybe we were too ambitious," he says. But the creator of Beacon Hill, Sidney Carroll, says it could have survived if the producers had only followed his original plan. As Mr. Carroll explains it, he scripted the two -hour pilot and then wrote out plot outlines for the first 13 episodes of Beacon Hill. He got involved in the production of the pilot and says he was quite satisfied with how it turned out. He cites the episode's 23.1 rating and 42 share (on Monday, Aug. 25, 9 -11 p.m., NYT) as one of the indicators that "the general public liked the people in the pilot." But between the completion of the pilot and the start of production on the first episode, according to Mr. Carroll, the producer, Jacqueline Babbin, changed the plot outlines he had written. "When I saw how the first two finished scripts differed from the way I outlined them," he says, "I walked off the series." In Mr. Carroll's eyes, the likeable characters he had created in the pilot were turned into "a lot of stinkers. They became nasty and sad and stupid." Ms. Babbin sees things a little differently. "Sidney's plots were charming little stories that could've filled 20 minutes out of each hour," she says. "But CBS wanted stronger material, stories with more bite, more guts to them." Both Ms. Babbin and Alan Wagner, the CBS vice president closest to the series, disagree with Mr. Carroll about the quality of the two -hour pilot. "With 19 characters to be introduced, it was like a French -farce situation," she says. "The characters ended up being unsympathetic because the viewer wasn't given enough time to understand any of them. And CBS over - promoted and ballyhooed the pilot to the point of stupidity." "It was really an error on our part to open up with an episode populated with with so many characters," adds Mr. Wagner. "Everything became complicated, the public got confused and you couldn't follow the characters without a scorecard" Mr. Wagner points to a second "major error." "The series didn't find its direction early enough," he says. "The first batch of episodes were placed in too small a frame and were on too small a scale to interest an audience in 1975." Ms. Babbin adds that the public didn't know what to make of Beacon Hill's characters because "they were too real - they weren't like the cardboard cut -outs you usually see in TV series, who seem to spend all their time in fast cars."

Can you include John Heffernan Darlene Parks Julia Meade Lee Bergere Shari Shattuck Lorenzo Lamas

Barney Miller - The Life and Times of Capt Barney Miller Movin On - In Tandem Lou Grant -Ed Asner Show

CBS had picked it up from ABC along with Tony Randall Show.NBC got in on the act by picking up Bionic Woman. ABC had decided those shows were not needed. ABC had hit #1 for the first time ever and were dominating the schedule. CBS had aging and fading shows like The Waltons, Hawaii Five O, Barnaby Jones, Kojak . Mary Tyler Moore had ended and Bob Newhart was in it's last season. Mash was under threat from Three's Company etc. ABC introduced Love Boat which immediately hit the Top 10 and buried Carol Burnett. Puzzled by some of the scheduling. CBS puts Young Daniel Boone up against Little House? Surely competing for the same audience. They had a lot of faith in Betty White, scheduling it at Mon @9. Initial ratings were strong but it quickly faded. Maybe Sat @9 in Mary Tyler Moore's old slot would have been better? NBC put Richard Pryor at 8pm opposite Happy Days??

Syndicated ratings Wk 35 ending May 14 1989 1. Wheel of Fortune 13.6 230 stations 99% coverage 2. Jeopardy 12.2 208 stations 97% coverage 3. Cosby Show 10.0 198 stations 97% coverage 4. Star Trek 9.7 232 stations 97% coverage 5. Oprah 8.6 218 stations 99% coverage 6. Wheel of Fortune weekend 8.3 206 stations 93% coverage 7. Current Affair 7.1 149 stations 91% coverage 8. Entertainment Tonight 6.9 169 stations 93% coverage 9. Geraldo 6.1 200 stations 99% coverage 10. Donahue 6.0 226 stations 98% coverage 11. People's Court 6.0 186 stations 94% coverage 12. Friday the 13th 5.7 216 stations 96% coverage 13. Star Search 5.7 149 stations 96% coverage 14. War of the Worlds 5.6 221 stations 95% coverage 15. Mama's Family 5.4 196 stations 93% coverage

Two radio and TV's mos prolific performers - Lesley Woods and Staats Cotsworth, at the time working on The Guiding Light,

Re ATWT Add another actor for Tom Hughes. As a baby he was played by Matthew Potter, infant son of producer Allen Potter.

Thanks Jam for continuing to search out these nuggets. I will add character names to the appropriate episodes. Looking forward to what you uncover next!!

1977 Sept 15-21 First week of ratings, although several series had already premiered. Time slot winners in bold 1. Laverne and Shirley (ABC) 31.9 / 51 Tues @ 8.30 2. Charlie's Angels (ABC) 26.5 / 48 Wed @9 2hr special 3. Happy Days (ABC) 29.9 / 49 Tues @8 4. Welcome Back, Kotter (ABC) 25.0 / 42 Thurs @8 Ihr special 5. M *A *S *H (CBS) 24.3 / 37 Tues @9 1 hr special 6. Three's Company (ABC) 24.2 / 37 Tues @9 7. ABC Sunday Movie: "Young Joe" (ABC) 23.7 / 39 8. All in the Family (CBS) 23.2 / 38 Sun @8 1hr special 9. Little House on the Prairie (NBC) 23.0 / 37 Mon @8 10. Barney Miller (ABC) 22.4 / 36 Thurs @9 11. Carter country (ABC) 22.0 / 35 Thurs @ 9.30 12. Soap (ABC) 20.8 / 32 Tues @ 9.30 13. 60 Minutes (CBS) 20.6 / 38 Sun @7 14. Eight is Enough (ABC) 20.6 / 35 Wed @8 15. Saturday Night at the Movies"Rooster Cogburn" (NBC).... 20.3 / 39 16. Judge Roy Bean (CBS) 20.1 / 35 Movie special Sun @9 17. NFL Football (ABC) 20.0 / 35 Mon @9 18. Redd Foxx (ABC) 20.0 / 34 Thurs @10 20. Lou Grant (CBS) 19.9 / 34 Tues @10 21. Big Event: ""Gable Lombard" (NBC) 19.9 / 33 Mon @9 22. Barnaby Jones (CBS) 19.9 / 33 Thurs @10 23. Starsky and Hutch (ABC) 19.2 / 34 Sat @ 9 24. Rockford Files (NBC) 19.1 / 34 Fri @9 25. Quincy (NBC) 19.0 / 34 Fri @10 26. Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) 18.9 / 30 Thurs @ 9 27. Family (ABC) 18.7 / 31 Tues @10 28. The Making of 'Star Wars" 18.8 / 35 (ABC) Fri @ 8 29. Six Million Dollar Man (ABC) 18.6 / 30 Sun @8 30. Maude (CBS) 18.4 / 28 Mon @ 9.30 31. Bionic Woman (NBC) 18.1 / 38 Sat @8 32. Betty White (CBS) 18.1 /27 Mon @ 9 33. Rafferty (CBS) 17.9 / 30 Mon @ 10 34. San Pedro Beach Bums (ABC).17.6 / 28 Mon @8 35. A Killing Affair (CBS) 17.5 / 29 Tues @9 36. Good Times (CBS) 16.9 / 29 Ihr special 37. The Girl in the Empty Grave (NBC) 16.7 / 27 Tues @9 38. Walt Disney (NBC) 16.3 / 29 Sun @7 39. Logan's Run (CBS) 16.1 / 29 40. Chico and the Man (NBC) 15.7 /28 Fri @ 8.30 41. The Waltons (CBS) 15.6 / 26 Thurs @ 8 42. Rock Music Awards (NBC) 15.5 /26 Thurs 9-11 43. ABC Friday Night Movies: "Curse of the Black Widow" (ABC) 15.3 /27 44. Oregon Trail (NBC) 15.1 / 25 Wed @ 8 2hr premiere 45. Richard Pryor (NBC) 14.9 / 24 Tues @8 46. Sanford Arms (NBC) 14.7 12 Fri @8 47. Big Event: "Life Goes to War" (NBC) 14.6 /24 Sun @ 8 48.Hardy Boys /Nancy Drew (ABC) 14.5/27 Sun @ 7 49. Uncle Tim Wants You (CBS) 14.3/ 30 Sat @8 50. CHiPs (NBC) 14.3 / 24 Thurs @8 51. Wonder Woman (CBS) 13.7 / 25 Fri @ 8 52. Dan'l Boone (CBS) 13.6 12 Mon @ 8 53. Operation Petticoat (ABC) 11.7 / 24 Sat @ 8.30 54. Fish (ABC) 11.0 / 24 Sat @ 8 55. Big Hawaii (NBC) 10.8 / 18 Wed @ 10 56. May Day at 40,000 Feet (CBS)... 10.4 / 20 Sat @9 57. Fitzpatricks (CBS) 9.2 / 15 Tues @ 8 ABC won 3 nights Tues, Wed, Thurs, NBC won 3 Mon,Fri, Sat and CBS took Sunday. Several series had yet to premiere.

Watch this space!

Re The Verdict Is Yours 3 more actresses that appeared in the first few weeks Ann Pearson Dorothy Reese Marian Russell

The Verdict is Yours was originally You Are The Jury

Re The Verdict Is Yours Add Lee Meriwether

Wonder why John Sylvester White didn't get credit in the first episode?

Ken Corday really puzzles me. His interviews are often contradictory- he has regularly stated that back from the dead, brainchips, supercouples are over but that isn't reflected onscreen. He feels a certain responsibilty to his parents legacy but at the same time is a big part of the problem.

Thanks so much for this.Funny to see Jimmy Bergman in light of the fact that 10 years later he would disappear forever. The rear projection/car scenes were good as they added some interest and movement. A bit dodgy in front of the Motor Haven but this was all live. Sure there are more episodes out there . Completely agree re the state of today's soaps, They need to look at the low budget days gone by and simplify the storytelling.

Some classic GL Mike and Leslie (late 60's?) Bert and Papa Bauer Ben, Hope (Robin Matson) and Mike Christina Pickles (Linell Conway) with ?? Is that Dan Hamilton ?

Jill Grant (Susan McDonald)with brother David (Ron Martin) and Greg Mercer (Gary Swanson)

That's a great idea but writers seldom seem interested in what went before. The only stumbling block would be that Morgan Fairchild would not have been available and a recast would have weakened the story. Having flashbacks of Morgan (we know they exist) would remind long term viewers and show newer viewers that this was not a retcon, satisfying everyone. Might be fun to list other past characters/stories that could have been used in the 80's.

I printed all the synopses from that website and nothing from after 1972 was ever posted

Mitch Litrofsky played Tom when the character returned followed by Robert Lupone. Then Tom was forgotten in favor of new characters with no links to the core. Lewis Arlt stayed until 81.

Meg

Yes I believe that Edge of Night was a weekly winner in October 1960 and after that ATWT was #1 every week .