Why has NBC been such a screw-up in daytime?

[kentville]

I can't answer your questieron either, bur I'll never forgive NBC for canceling Another World. It was the best soap on the air at that time. I never liked Sunset Beach, but I did enjoy Santa Barbara. I can't believe NBC wouldn't support AW but does Passions.

[David V]

SteveFrame has it right. However I contend that the 90 minute expansion, if you look at seasonal ratings, did not adversely affect AW's ratings during the time as is often believed- because their ratings were in decline before the expansion took place. And the big collapse didn't take place until around the time it moved back to 60 mins with the launch of Texas. Lemay and Rauch did some great work at AW, but they were a double-edged sword because decisions made during AW's heyday ultimately hurt the show in the long run.

The wholesale cast changes in Days is what triggered the catastrophic collapse of NBCD in 1980, but the entire network was in a big hole at the time due to the Supertrain failure and the Olympics boycott.

Another World suffered over the last 20 years of its life from a constant turnover of EPs and HWs, but they seemingly kept a character-driven focus (with the social classes well represented- a traditional AW strength) until JFP arrived in 1995 and began to introduce those ridiculous plots et al which sealed its fate. The other thing was that during the 90s, AWs ratings would simply slip further and further and even with Days on the rise in the 90s it didn't have the knock-on effect on AW that Days' previous surge did in the mid-80s.

[Cat]

You know how Frons is so involved in all the ABC shows, much to their detriment? Well, I would say NBC Daytime has the opposite problem. They've hacked their shows to pieces and right now just cannot be bothered anymore to save them. Like they couldn't be bothered to save Santa Barbara or AW or SuBe. And in TV, indifference can sometimes signal the death-knell.

[SteveFrame]

That would be a terrible idea. It didn't work for AW which was a lot better show at the time and had better ratings.

Even though Days is better right now - going to 90 minutes would seal the shows fate

[Darn]

I'd like to know how the NBC execs even thought it conceivable that anyone would want to watch an hour and a half of anything every day.

And they must have flown through story so quickly during that time.

[SteveFrame]

No the stories was not the problem. That was the least of the problems.

The biggest problem for me and many that I have talked to was the diologue actually. At least 30 minutes of the show each day was filler and recap talk about the stories. It just sort of bogged down.

And like David V said the ratings were not really bad esp considering they were losing some viewers during a portion to General Hospital.

AW was still good at the time and still had a very talented cast. And during this time they added a lot more good ones to the cast: Janice Lynde as Tracy DeWitt, Christine Jones as Janice Frame, William Gray Espy as Mitch Blake, Lee Patterson as Kevin Cooke - all were great additions to the cast and added during the 90 minute term.

Cecile was introduced during this time. Beverly Penberthy as Pat Randolph had her big alcoholism storyline during this time. And it was during this time that Beverlee McKinsey's Iris found out she was not Mac's daughter.

No the stories were still good and even continued to be good up until 1981 at least. The Mac-Rachel-Janice-Mitch story finished playing out through 1981 and was one of AW's last great storylines.

I just think it was too much of a good thing. And both Days and The Doctors were losing some of their ground (esp. The Doctors in it's new time slot) by mid 1979 and that had an affect on AW's ratings as well. Days didn't fully falter like The Doctors until 1980.

[Bree]

Well, I see Max has come out to make his anti-NBC post of the month.

I don't think there's a huge anti-NBC sentiment on this board, unless you count the ones who don't want to see Passions canceled for another hour of Today (which I think is unecessary as well).

NBC just doesn't have their heart in soap operas anymore. If the network brass was smart, they could have benefited from this lineup:

SuBe 12-1

DAYS 1-2

Another World 2-3

Passions 3-4

With Passions being on at 3, they would get the high school kids and middle school kid demographic that the network craves so much.

Bad ratings or not, it's dumb to just cancel a show. It does have an audience, even if it's not the one they want so badly. Look at how many people were upset when SuBe was canceled, and now we have the Passions supporters coming out. Same thing when DAYS was rumored to be getting the shaft. NBC needs to realize soap fans are some of the most loyal TV viewers, and they need to be supportive of them.

When Ken Corday keeps wondering why DAYS and NBC daytime doesn't get respect from the industry or viewers in general, he needs to start looking at NBC and their apathetic approach towards soaps. They should promote the hell out DAYS and Passions, and at least be proud that DAYS has a big, vocal fanbase, and that Passions, with all the debates about its quality, does have a cult following.

[SteveFrame]

Bree I like your proposed lineup except take Sunset Beach off and put Santa Barbara in it's place. I hated Sunset Beach but loved Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara was just more critically a success and would balance out the lineup better than Sunset Beach IMO.

The current version of Days would fit better with Another World and Santa Barbara to me too.