Paul Raven

I wonder if Beacon Hill might have had more of a chance in the Monday @ 10 timeslot following All in the Family and Maude as those shows probably scored well in demographics that might be more attuned to something like BH. Tuesday @10 it followed Switch which was a pretty lightweight offering. But CBS didn't want to move Medical Center which was well established in that timeslot.

Yes it was odd to schedule FC Xmas Day. Just throw on a movie. Dallas was pre-empted so why not FC? FC had just started and needed that Dallas lead in to establish itself.

Creating an outdoor set in Wisconsin February? OK. At least have people rugged up and have outdoor heating going. Top temperature in Madison Wisconsin today is 42. At 7 pm assumining that's when characters were outside it is 35. Those GC residents are of hardy stock.

First of all what an amazing achievement to get a new soap, especially with a focus on Black characters, airing on network TV in 2025. Congrats to all involved in making that happen, especially away from LA where a lot of people were working on a soap for the first time. And for keeping the show on course and not making drastic cast/story changes in the face of initial low ratings. BTG is consistently entertaining and watchable, more so than the #1 rated Y&R. To my mind there have been some missteps in storytelling and casting eg not having Martin be Anita and Vernon's son, not having enough sets to depict workplaces, maybe keeping some family members off air initially. The main stories -Martin's secret, Leslie's schemes and now Hayley's murderous intent really haven't built to anything and lost momentum. Leslie is just being a nuisance and Hayley is world's worst would be poisoner/conwoman. And Martin's secret exposed should have lead to major repercussions. Chelsea's stories, the revelation of June's identity, everything Hayley/Derek haven't had enough impact. But there are enough strong actors and scenes to keep me watching. PS anything Vanessa and Joey is a turn off for me. But of course we all have differing opinions. It's nice that we can debate them respectfully (mostly!).

Episode #4 ranked 33rd but it aired at 9pm on Xmas night 1981. Then on Oct 15th 1982 it tanked 37th for the episode S2 ep Troubled Waters. That was up against world Series Baseball. Dec 31st 1982 FC 'Divided We Fall' was #31 -low ratings for all shows on NYE. Feb 11 1983 'Separate Hearts' #30 By the 85/86 season FC was ranking in the teens and twenties. The next new ep that failed to make the Top #30 was the following season Oct 10 1986 ep #2 'Living Nightmare' was 39th.

And Jed Allan??

Exactly. If they wanted to reference history/origins there were better ways to do it.

Mona explicitly stated in the first episode she was childless.

Have you watched the show? Kim was deaf.

I'd definitely be hanging out out a cafe that hasn't changed decor in nearly 30 years. With a juke box that's never used, those weird googly eyes, the creepy puppet, and a barren looking 'courtyard'. No wonder it's always empty.

That CL set. So badly needs a makeover. Still don't understand why this set always misses on having any extras and why directors go for shots that emphasize the fact.

Flo and Ladies Man were moved from Monday at 8 where they hadn't performed (replaced by White Shadow) in a lame attempt to get a comedy block happening -WKRP/Tim Conway/Flo/Ladies Man. But up against Love Boat there was no interest. Within weeks Flo was moved to 8.30, ConcreteCowboys was moved up to 9pm and Josh Taylor's shortlived Ryker played at 10. Maybe Flo/Ladies Man/WKRP/Tim Conway would have been a better mix as Flo would have faced lesser competition and WKRP might have been stronger against Love Boat. Dynasty was S1 E5 It ranked 50th Flamingo Road 'The Jealous Wife' was 56th 14.8/23

Nothing too noteworthy here. Angel Dusted was NBC's Monday movie up against Dynasty/Foul Play 67th on ABC and MASH 5th/House Calls/Lou Grant on CBS Norma Rae was ABC Sunday Movie up against Prom Night on NBC and Jeffersons 11th/Alice 16th and Trapper John on CBS Brady Girls Get Married 8th was a TV movie cut down for 3 consecutive episodes airing Fri 8.30 following Harper Valley. NBC quickly decided to go ahead with Brady Brides but it didn't work. In the bottom we see perennial loser NBC Magazine, Fri up against Dallas. Goldie & The Boxer 68th NBC was a follow up to a previous successful TV Movie but no interest in this one airing as a Thursday movie against Magnum 12th /Knots Landing 13th CBS and Barney Miller/Taxi/20/20 ABC Ladies Man Sat 9.30 and Concrete Cowboys Sat 10pm faced Love Boat/Fantasy Island ABC and Gangster Chronicles/Hill St Blues NBC.

Looks like Liza was ahead of the game with the No Contact trend-take thar Brooklyn Beckham!

Now if he had shown ass BITD on SFT that might be a different story.

Really soaps should always give long term characters some sort of decent send off. I'm annoyed Y&R didn't do a tribute to Brock. Over the years he was involved with so many characters and with Beau Kayzer gone, Brock should have died also. Back on topic The Doctors saw a change in format in the the first year. Originally they planned to tell a story a day but I think low ratings and the difficulty involved in mounting basically a new producttion each day saw them move to 5 episode stories. Then just over a year after the debut TD became a full on continuing story in the traditional soap format.

Thanks @DRW50 Beacon Hill was always going to be a risky proposition. PBS made Upstairs, Downstairs a hit for them, but I'm sure the numbers were nowhere near what would be acceptable for a network Upstairs/Downstairs fans would probably be (rightly) cynical of a US version and regular CBS viewers wouldn't know how to deal with a videotaped period piece. But initial ratings showed some curiosity and interest but it didn't last once the full schedule was in place. And there were BTS dramas as well. BH debuted in a 2hr special Mon Aug 25 preseason and notched up a 23.1/42 share up against a rpt of Legend of Lizzie Borden ABC 18.2/33 and Baseball NBC 9.1/16 The following Tues it had its timeslot premiere, again up against repeats and earned a 31 share. Once the season was underway BH earned a 14,6/27 up against Marcus Welby and Joe Forrester 19.3/36 But BH's lead in Switch had a 22.9/39 so there was big fall off. By October there was no going back as BH was amongst the lowest rated shows. It was cancelled before Nov sweeps. I noticed Michael Nouri in the cast. Did he get time off from SFT ? I'm sure a lot of NY actors hoped the show would take off as there would have been jobs to be had.

Tenspeed and Brownshoe had premiered to big numbers in late January and performed well during sweeps but I think that figure was boosted by stronger ratings for earlier episodes. Into March it was being easily defeated by Bunker/One Day at A Time. Week ending March 9 CBS Archie Bunker 23.7/36 One Day 25.1/37 NBC Disney 2nd hour of The Kids Who Knew Too Much 17.5/27 ABC Tenspeed 16.1/24 So it was very much a short lived success. NBC's Big Event for February -/ The Towering Inferno Pt 1/ Harper Valley PTA movie which surprisingly hit #1 for the week, Bob Hope USO aired 2 consecutive weeks Sun @8 but were classed here as specials rather than part of Big Event NBC Monday Movie Towering Inferno Pt 2/Outlaw Josey Wales. Only 2 movies as a 2hr Little House/Ice Skating special aired 1 week and The American Movie Awards aired the other. ABC Sunday Movie Telefon/The Deep Pt 1. Winter Olympics aired the other 2 weeks The Exorcist aired Tues Feb 12 up against Threes Company/Taxi/Hart to Hart on ABC and the the final 2 hrs of The Swarm NBC The Boy Who Drank Too Much aired Wed Feb 6 against Charlies Angels/Vrgas ABC and Diff'rent Strokes/Hello LarryBest of SNL NBC Somehow CBS coded those movies as specials rather than just the regular Tues/Wed movies.

I do NOT want Leslie moving into that house. It shouldn't happen-she needs to start paying and having to scramble again.

I may be wrong but I recall Tom Eplin. who moved from AW to ATWT immediately upon AW's cancellation, had a contract outside of AW-with P&G itself. Am I correct or did ATWT just take on Jake (and others briefly) to try and attract AW viewers looking for a new show. In the case of the Texas actors moving to GL, I don't think there were any contracts involved. Rather it was Gail Kobe/Pam Long creating new characters and using actors they knew from the previous show. This happens when producers/writers move to a new show. Doug Marland used a number of GL performers when he went to ATWT eg Lisa Brown, Rita Lloyd, Greg Beecroft etc

Elizabeth Hubbard took over as Anne at some point. I wonder why the change was made? As stated several times, Billy Fletcher could have become a new teen at some point. His father just took off so a return of Johnny would have been an interesting plot point. And Paul's half sister Jane had baby Amy-another character that might have utilized. Bernard Grant (Paul) was still working in soaps till the mid 70's so probably would have been agreeable to some sort of return. But continuity went out the door. Instead of using what was there, the writers kept inventing new characters.

They're writing and playing Anastasia way too broad. She would be more effective if the actress and her dialogue was more subtle. We did see a new set in the BTS video from a few weeks back. Wonder who will claim it?

Probably right. And he might have seen playing a recast character as an advantage knowing Y&R hangs on to old characters even when past their use by date.

@Reverend Ruthledge I am enjoying these so much. On paper at least it looks like a tightly written series of plots. Unlike today, where things seem to chop and change. Agnes took over sometime in 58, right? I wonder how that cross country road trip played out onscreen? But things flowed smoothly on. And this was a 15 min show. I guess that's why Meta was backburnered as there was just so much room on the canvas. And as much as she was a core character, Agnes realized that in a sense her story had been told and she got her happy ending with Bruce, Again, unlike today where characters have been through everything and still stay frontburner in ridiculously contrived plots.

I wonder if at some point we are going to go back to Mariah and the mystery man she apparently killed. How and why they connected and what lead her to kill him(if that's what actually happened).