Primetime Soaps

[allatwitter]

I loved Falcon Crest

[JamesF]

Never saw Dangerous Women but it was based on the Aussie soap, Prisoner.

I enjoyed CPW and it was even better when they retooled it because it was as if they knew they were dead in the water so just piled on the camp, to hell with anything else. Raquel Welch was Diana Brock and Lauren Hutton was Linda Fairchild. They had a great catfight in a water fountain.

Paper Dolls I could take or leave.

2000 Malibu Road was great. It was aired over here as two part mini-series instead of 6 individual episodes. I remember reading that it rated well for CBS but for some reason or other it just didn't get renewed. The mini-series tacked an ending on the end a la Models, Inc tying up the loose ends. Perry (Jennifer Beals) ended up in an institution after being raped by Roger Tebor (Michael T Weiss), Joy (Tuesday Knight) got struck by lightening and recovered and I'm not sure what happened to Jade (Lisa Hartman).

Edited July 15, 2007 by JamesF

[DaytimeFan]

My favorite prime time soaps were Dallas and Dynasty...Dallas was very straightforward and dramatic while Dynasty was overblown, campy, melodramatic fun...so each of them had their place. It helped that both shows had charismatic villains in Larry Hagman and Joan Collins...what treasures those two were and still are!

Knots Landing was hit or miss...I loved it when Donna Mills and Michelle Phillips were given good material. Melrose Place was always a good time right up until 1997 when half of the cast left...I still remained a faithful watcher though.

I have to say though that I LOVED Titans...those 13 episodes were shear guilty pleasure...it was as if every prime time soap in history had a massive orgy and produced Titans. Those fools at NBC never gave it a shot which I'm sure they're kicking themselves about that now as Titans consistently scored more than 10 million viewers and would have likely expanded its audience in the second stretch of its first season, but then again NBC has never managed to produce a successful prime time soap.

I really wish one of the networks (preferably CBS which seems to have its act together) would produce a trashy/fun/melodramatic prime time soap that we could all enjoy. B&S and DH are OK substitutes...but something like Titans is what I want to see again!

[ATWT72]

Another one of my favorites was North Shore it ran on FOX in 2004. It centererd around The Grand Waimea Hotel, an exclusive Hawaiian escape for the wealthy, powerful and beautiful. It starred Jay Kenneth Johnson (DOOL), Shannen Doherty (90210), Jason Mamao (Baywatch Hawaii), and Brooke Burns.

[Soapsuds]

My favorites were Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest. Dynasty 2: The Colbys was a cheap version of Dynasty. I also loved Melrose Place. Just finish watching some season 6 episodes of Dallas. One in which Sue Ellen catches JR in bed with Holly Harwood. And another one where Sue Ellen and Mickey are involved in a car accident.

I thought CBS was going to bring back Dallas in the form of Dallas: The Next Generation? I remember hearing rumors of this. I guess it never materialized.

[titan1978]

For me, the two that hold up the best in repeat viewing are Knots Landing and Melore Place. I still get totally invested in the story about Val's twins and Abby's first few years clawing her way to the top. I still get chills when Kimberly returned from the dead, and Sydney was up to her antics.

I watched and enjoyed many of the soaps talked about in this thread, but those two stand out. I wish TPTB would put out more Knots on DVD.

[Soapsuds]

I do too. Season 1 sales werent great. But neither was Dynasty and luckly we are getting Season 2 in Aug.

[titan1978]

I would be fine with skipping to season 4 of Knots. They can add the end of 3 when gary gets caught with Abby, and go from there. That is when the show takes off anyway, when Val leaves Gary, and he falls apart while with Abby. It rocks for years from that point on, almost every major storyline is a winner.

[All My Shadows]

I wish they'd release FR on DVD. I had a twinge of hope last fall. Harmon's doing his thing on "NCIS," Fairchild was doing hers on "Fashion House." I thought they'd try to capitalize on that with at least a season one release. And it wouldn't like they'd have to falsley promote the show as starring them either. They were *the* stars of the show.

[Port Oak Valley]

Knots Landing is my favorite primetime soap, I wish soapnet would bring it back. Dallas and Melrose are a close second and third. I also wish that the short-lived Savannah would have caught on, it could have been great.

[titan1978]

I forgot about Savannah. That one was great, and it was a hit with critics if I remember correctly, thanks to good acting and decent writing. I remember Entertainment Weekly was very fond of it.

[PhoenixRising05]

Loved Melrose Place. Dallas and Knots I enjoyed but MP is my all-time fave. It was classic soap but also over the top at times.

Models Inc was fun too.

[Vanguardian]

Yes, and thanks for clearing up the name of Lauren Hutton's character on CPW. It was in fact Linda Fairchild, while "Colette Ferrier" was the name of Hutton's character on "Paper Dolls". I got them mixed up.

[DevotedToAMC]

I liked Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, and Party of Five. Of the three, Melrose Place was my favorite

[Paul Raven]

The first true primetime soap was Peyton Place airing on ABC from 64-69.

It was 1/2 hr in length and ran 2 and 3 times a week.

The cast included Dorothy Malone,Mia Farrow,Ryan O'Neal,EdNelson(Cap)David Canary(AMC)Ruth Warrick(AMC)Barbara Rush(AMC)James Douglas(ATWT,AW,DRS)

A few cast members played in the daytime follow up Return to Peyton Place.NBC 72-74

CBS had a short lived competitor Our Private World which spun off the ATWT character of Lisa into her own series.It ran from May-Sep 65and also included Geraldine Fitzgerald and Nicholas Coster(veteran of many soaps)

Unlike the 80's, when all the networks scheduled their own soaps,there didn't seem to be any imitators in the 60's.

One pilot that was produced was Della.It starred Joan Crawford and Diane Baker .The projected series was to be called Royal Bay.