Paul Raven

And now that Bill has been brought into this, we should have seen Ted interact with Bill previously, not only about Leslie but what sort of relationship they had as outsiders to the Dupree clan. And also looking at how they negotiate that relationship when divorce comes into play.

Where to for Dana? She's pissed off the Duprees (most of the cast), alienated her daughter and will she be welcomed by the Have Nots at the diner? Maybe she can befriend Ashley and Derek and liven up their story.

That's interesting. I wonder if we will ever know. Maybe Maurice just didn't take to the taping schedule of a soap. Or it could have been a personal/family thing. And perhaps DD and TMG aren't going to dish any juicy stuff due to professionalism and plain good manners.

I appreciate that you are using AI with the knowledge of it's limitations. Some posters take everything it produces as fact.

And of course Mama Ru herself appeared on All My Children.

The Saturday 8pm slot usually had the lowest rating of the NBC 4 sitcom lineup for some reason. NBC let Saturday night fizzle, They used 9.30 pm to launch 227 and Amen, both of which moved to earlier in the evening but they kept Empty Nest following GG for several seasons. Empty Nest should have moved to 8pm with their strongest new sitcom at 9.30, anticipating that GG would eventually falter. Instead they left them there and stretching the sitcom pool too thinly on other nights. When Grand talk over at 9.30 Thurs maybe Night Court and Wings could have been used on Saturday.

Dallas, Dynasty, Knots and Falcon Crest all had good runs but by 85 they had seen better days. I think they were a victim of the format. After several seasons seeing the same characters front and center viewers were bored. What was once fascinating grew predictable. JR, Alexis etc had to be front and center and after a while their schemes and shtick grew repetitive. JR remarrying Sue Ellen, Alexis constantly trying to get he better of Blake etc Unlike daytime, there wasn't the flexibility to bring in other stories and characters and maybe let the likes JR go backburner. That same mentality also invaded daytime with characters like Sonny and Victor still peddling the same stuff after decades. I guess the same could be said for MSW eg every week Jessica encounters a crime and solves it,but I think viewers come to that format with a different mindset.

Have to agree re MM. The goody two shoes character and writing doesn't help but maybe a more dynamic actor would help Brandon lift his game also. I found the song sequence a little OTT. First of all it should have been shorter and maybe the song fades out and just some music to accompany the montage. I think it would have worked better if Anita had have been alone after everyone left and started tinkling leading into the song, with Vernon coming in observing and then joining her for a close moment. Everyone standing around felt a little too much. And that closing effect with the two blackscreens meeting was unnecessary. Just a fade out would have been enough.

Ann Williams was the first Maggie Powers on The Doctors but left to have a baby. Maggie was successfully recast so Ann picked up the role of Eunice (Jo's sister on Search for Tomorrow) and played that role for 10 years before being killed of in 1976. That led to her role of Margo on EON.

Looking at those totals it seems most contract actors are on a 1 or 2 week average guarantee. I assume contracts are still operating on 13 week cycles so you would have to know the particular actors contract starting date to work out their guarantee. The question remains as to what actors listed as contract are actually recurring? Bryton ?

This is a common theme with long running actors and preposterous storylines. Firstly they may relish the chance to play something different after years as that character-Ok I have an evil twin, possessed by the devil etc-at least it's something new to play. Secondly, no matter how dumb the plot it keeps them frontburner and valued to the show and the audience. Better than being a talk to. Thirdly, as VW stated in the end they don't have the power to dictate story and too much complaining can backfire and set them up in a negative light. Not a good position to be in with your employers. So they just buckle up and give it their all or act out the script till it's over.

I think Hotel would have the similar demos as Dynasty W 19-49 would have been strong. St Elsewhere survived b/c it attracted wealthier/urban viewers and The Equalizer was probably stronger with men and younger viewers. So each had their own niche-good counter-programming. As for Aaron Spelling's influence over ABC in terms of scheduling, I don't know if he would have been happy with Charlie's Angels moving to Sunday, The Colbys scheduled on Thursdays or Matt Houston moved to Fridays. I think he just had to roll with the punches.

I did some research and the story wrapped up with Eric,a caretaker responsible for Georgina's death who then tried to do away with Laurie but a vision of Georgina spooked him and he smashed into a mirror, dying of glass wounds. So there was a supernatural element. I wonder if the Brody character in the credits was Eric Brody?

AI has it wrong. David was working as an aide at PV Hospital due to failing to save his brother's life and refusing to continue as a doctor. His true profession was revealed later. Edna had divorced him while he was in Vietnam and he had no reason to be in contact with her. He had no idea that he had a daughter. Ruth was Ruth Martin, she was still married to Joe, not Jeff. He was not deceiving Ruth as he believed that Edna was his ex. The poisoning story happened late in his run and probably introduced when they knew Gleason was leaving. AI's interpretation of him as conniving seems to based on that short lived poisoning story and other misinformation. For most of 76 he was involved in the Ruth/Joe triangle to the point where Ruth was ready to divorce Joe and leave town. Joe had to have surgery, David operated and Ruth suddenly realized she wanted to stay with Joe despite all the problems they'd been happening. David then got involved with Christina with Jeff and then Edna as complications. And he arrived late 75 not 76.

I'm pretty sure this ep is from Dec 73 From the Daytime Serial Newsletter Ian and Valerie Northcote are deeply concerned over Laurie's life being increasingly dominated by hallucinations and fantasies about Georgina, the former owner of the house the Reddins recently bought and are now living in. Doreen Post (Linda Purl) was involved in that story .Perhaps she was going to be revealed as Georgina's daughter? Wonder how that story evolved and whether it was wrapped up before cancellation? and thanks to @skylark

LOL. You're right and I know it. Wonder what Y&R actors think about BTG having all those sets and extras etc. When they're the #1 show and some upstart gets all the goodies.

There is no dispute that Jill Farren Phelps had a successful career in daytime based on longevity, but that does not preclude discussion and dislike of her decisions at various shows. Sure there may have been some misogyny involved BITD(we don't know as I don't recall JFP ever mentioning that) but the head of CBS Daytime at that point was a woman and there were other women involved BTS. I think that so long as an EP could deliver, or at least talk a good game they would be respected.

Of course they do. Why not just rename the show 'The Young in the Restaurants' or 'The Young and the Homeless' WTH is Damian wearing-one of Bill Bell's old shirts?

And maybe Hotel could have been placed at 9pm Tues instead of Paper Dolls. Not that I thing it was a surefire thing but at least viewers were familiar with the show and it might have done better than PD. ABC's line up was pretty threadbare at that point. And with a big guest star to launch the season - Elizabeth Taylor- the numbers would have been there initially.

Through 78 and 79 under Marland and Pat Falken smith GH was still heavily hospital based with a mix of storylines. The Doctors would have been fine had they followed that template. Once GH went with Ice Princess all bets were off.Who knows how much TD would have copied that direction? And OLTL, DOOL went in that direction quite heavily while other shows dabbled in far out stories. The thing is that TD was well set up for an expansion.

@jmgaw did not refer to Luke and Laura. Throughout 78 GH's ratings continued to rise as AW's fell. That turnaround was getting a lot of attention in the soap press with Scotty/Laura, Rick/Leslie/Monica etc . So the 90 min decision was a reaction to that. I guess the thinking was that 60 min expansion had worked so starting AW a half hour before might keep viewers from switching to GH at 3pm. I don't think anybody really thought it would work. The most sensible solution would have been to expand The Doctors and hope for a GH like turnaround, but for reasons unknown TD never went to an hour.

Hotel no doubt benefited from the Dynasty lead in and didn't move until it was jettisoned to Sat night wasteland to play out a final season. Maybe it should have been moved earlier to perhaps bolster another night and allow ABC to nurture another show in the post Dynasty timeslot when the former was still a ratings winner.

Sounds like a must miss. Victor and Nikki's love story is about control, addiction and manipulation. As for their children, with over a dozen marriages b/w them I think the ship has sailed on success with love. The only thing more important than Lauren/Micheal's relationship is getting some airtime. Hopefully Jack's special gift to Diane is hiring a decorator to redo the manse.

Yes, and by the time the 2000's rolled around Katherine was a saint and a dynamic business women. Hard to connect with the drunken lush isolated in her mansion of the 70's.

I think the Ralph story was a one of those Kay redemption stories that came up every so often where she would vow to make better choices. I guess Ralph appeared at the mansion for work and was friendly towards Kay and Liz encouraged it. There would have been a bit of comedy with haughty Kay attempting to relate to down to Earth Ralph. How it was resolved I don't know. Maybe as simple as Kay announcing she wasn't interested? Did Liz and Kay ever interact until Jill got pregnant/Phillip's death? I don't think so and at that point they would not have been friendly. Liz very much knew her place in dealing with the likes of Kay Chancellor.