Paul Raven

I noticed Kale Browne played Paul Fairgate in S2. Was he Sid's brother/nephew? We also had Mrs Cunningham (Abby's mother in law) and Sid' ex wife. All had potential to return at some point but seemed to be forgotten. And Ginger had 2 sisters?

Knots highest rated episode of S2 was episode #13 'The Loudest Word' ranking 13th with a 22.3/ 37. 'Moment of Truth' the home invasion episode aired the following week and also did well ranking 14th 21.5/35. Lowest rated episode that season was episode #2 'Hitch-hike Pt 2' ranking #47 16.5/30. That was Thanksgiving night so numbers were down.

I know La Dano had some unique decor ideas but no way is that anything but a restaurant.

Also re E/R as I stated it never moved timeslots. NBC were never tempted to use it to boost another night and place a new show Thurs @ 10. A rare moment of restraint.

AMC falling from #1 to #6. Wonder what was behind that? Meanwhile OLTL looking shakey at the bottom of the pack. The competition was too strong. The second half of AW and Tattletales on CBS. Up until July OLTL was up against Match Game and I suspect Tattletales wasn't as strong, thus giving OLTL some room to improve.

Gary surely would have had some relationships during that time. A woman from his past claiming he was the father of her child, which could turn out to be false, even if the woman truly believed it (or not) Or a quickie marriage when he was drunk. Or some incident from the past that Gary has forgotten or has kept hidden. A lot of possibilities.

E/R was quite a phenomenon. Debuting at # 2 and staying Top 10 for years. The only comparable series might be Bonanza but it took 3 seasons and a timeslot change to hit the Top 10. E/R was one of a select few shows that never changed timeslots.

Have any of these petitions ever worked? Seems like a waste of time and energy.

There was a lot of earlier stuff they could have used later on, but chose not to, for whatever reason. Abby's ex for a start. Sid's daughter/Abby's niece could have been recast and taken in a lot of directions. What happened to Laura's son Jason? Was he seen occasionally or shipped off?

Was Claire Labine's start a little rocky upon her arrival or was the transition a smooth one? I'm thinking in terms of her being the last writer who was into a more character based show-something PM seemed to be attempting.

Search for Tomorrow Ernest... Philip Polito Astor 1980's

Interesting that Bill Bell get's talked about for gambling on revamping Y&R but Agnes did her own restructuring much more seamlessly. The core characters from the 70's were pretty much dropped. Phil Tara, Anne, Linc, Kelly, Jeff, etc But they still had enough around that the balance was good. I recall reading that the week of 1 hour shows was a nightmare to tape. Understandable when you think of what was involved. I think it took 9 days for 5 shows.

Stafford on 6 episodes. What is there left for Phyllis? They don't seem interested in revisiting her relationships with Jack, Nick or Billy. Thank goodness. There's no one else available and no interest in bringing someone on for her. What does she even do now for work? At least owning the Green Phallus gave her some presence. So now she just seems to slither around giving bad advice to her kids.

It all came down to canny scheduling and lots of luck. If you had a winning night, inevitably the shows would get tired and the opposition would jump in. Look at ABC Tuesday. At the beginning of the decade they were unstoppable. Happy Days, Laverne& Shirley, 3's Company, Taxi, Hart to Hart. But apart from successfully inserting 2 Close for Comfort they left things as they were. NBC pounced with the A Team and took over 8pm. ABC were still OK 9-11 but those shows were weakening. Then NBC took over with Riptide and Remington Steele. The new sitcoms ABC introduced like 9to 5 and Joanie Loves Chachi were moved to prop up other nights and ABC was on the defensive. But they rebuilt thanks to Who's the Boss and Moonlighting and regained the lead on that night. But NBC wisely counterprogrammed with Matlock and In the Heat of the Night and stayed competitive. CBS lost Friday by complacency and ABc allowed Saturday to slip away due to over reliance on Love Boat.

NBC 3 soaps at the top and 2 at the bottom.

I nominate ABC Fall 84. Paper Dolls and Glitter as 9pm tentpole shows. Hawaiian Heat, Finder of Lost Loves, Jessie. Foul Ups and People Do the Craziest Things. Three's A Crowd was misguided. Luckily they salvaged Who's The Boss.

Don Murray leaving was a blessing. Has Sid remained they would have had trouble coming up with stories for the Fairgates as I imagine they were going to be the solid couple who never strayed. And the self contained episodes showed the difficulty in coming up with a weekly story for that type of show. Had that format continued there would have been the inevitable 'comedy' episode and one of those 'fantasy/ what if' episodes Eg under anaesthetic Val imagines everyone as a different character or writing her next novel Val casts her friends as characters.

Yes John appeared. Laurence Hugo played him at one point. John had been in prison but claimed to be innocent. Chris' preoccupation in finding John and helping him caused conflict with Nancy who felt her husband should be concerned with his own children. John returned for Grandpa's 70 th in 1963.

I'd have to agree. Newhart leading off Monday night, with Almost Grown as the 10pm show. TV 101 the umpteenth flop 8pm show trying to grab the youth. And on Wednesday going with Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. Dirty Dancing / Raising Miranda on SAT. It just seemed like hodgepodge of middling shows.

In the 60's I believe Bill worked in advertising. By the 70's Bert was working as a hospital volunteer - patient advocate etc

Yul Bynner took his most famous role to TV but 'Anna and the King' CBS 1972 failed to replicate the success of 'The King and I'. Robert Mitchum somehow found himself in the NBC sitcom 'A Family for Joe.' A sad swansong to his career.

Guess they thought that Roseanne had shown that conventional sitcom types were on the way out and it was time for the unpretties. Throughout the 80's what do you guys think was the worst fall schedule that each network presented? Not so much in hindsight when we know how the shows performed but more on how the schedule presented at the time. For NBC I'd say 81-82 SUN Matthew Star (never aired that season) Chips (fading) Movie (NBC had no big movie titles) MON Little House Movie (again few potential big titles) TUES Father Murphy Bret Maverick (did anyone want to watch a Western, even with James Gardner) Flamingo Road (struggling, needed a big lead in to succeed) WED Real People Facts of Life Love Sydney (mediocre) Quincy (fading) THURS Harper Valley ( a mild success in a different timeslot) Lewis & Clark ( flop written all over it) Different Strokes Gimme a Break ( middling sitcom at this point) Hill St Blues FRI NBC Magazine (unsuitable for this timeslot) McLains Law (formula cop show) Devlin Connection (Rock Hudson show that never aired that season) SAT Barbara Mandrell Nashville Palace (a second hour of country music and corny comedy,no thanks) Fitz & Bones (Smothers Brothers show left over from last season I think,a fill in when Cassie & Co was delayed by the strike) So there you have it- pretty threadbare line up featuring a bunch of old stars James Arness, James Garner, Tony Randall, Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson etc in hastily put together shows. When the schedule was announced there were no details or even titles ready for James Arness or Rock Hudson. In addition to the writers strike NBC had bad breaks - injuries on set of Matthew Star, Rock Hudson's heart attack, producer changes at Harper Valley, Gary Coleman absent from early episodes etc. It was a disaster season from go to whoa.

To give Stu and Jo more presence simply focus on Patti who should have been older, age up Chris and Tracey to teens. Bring back Bruce, Jo's ward. Gary, Liza Danny Walton Stu's grandkids. Or as I mentioned before the mysterious man who turns out to be Jo's son Duncan,switched at birth.

Isn't dealing with politics a little tricky? Go in too deep and you have to identify characters political leanings which is inevitably going to alienate viewers on either side. Keep it vague and it comes off as unbelievable and wishy-washy.

I would challenge that Agnes Nixon was responsible for the hiring of Gloria Monty. Fred Silverman had been head of daytime at CBS in the 60's when Gloria directed Secret Storm. I believe he worked in tandem with Jackie Smith whom her hired to head ABC daytime after working with her at CBS. The decision would have been theirs. Agnes may have been consulted along the way. As for Doug Marland the story I have always read is that Jackie Smith's daughter like the young characters on The Doctors so Jackie was lead to Marland.