Primetime Soaps

[quartermainefan]

Hi. (new to this board but want to chime in)

I have sort of an opposite impression of KL. To me the most memorable episode ever was when Sid died. In the later years they didn't even live in the cul de sac and there were all these characters who I didn't really care about. I preferred the original crew.

[JamesF]

I'm inclined to agree to a point. I think seasons 1-3 are really fascinating television. They're not particularly great for throwaway entertainment but if you're in the mood for it, there is some great character work. Episodes such as The Lie in Season 1 with Laura's rape or Let Me Count the Ways when Karen comes to terms with approaching midlife. Season 2 has some good themes of infindelity and then of course you get onto the fallout of Sid's death and Laura gaining independence. Obviously there are duds like Kenny and Ginger or some of the self contained epis but I wouldn't skip over the first few seasons.

The middle years before the Lechowicks arrive are much more hit and miss. Some iconic stories like Val's babies mixed with stuff that doesn't really hit the mark like Empire Valley.

[heatherwebber]

with stuff that doesn't really hit the mark like Empire Valley.>>

I enjoyed the Empire Valley stuff.

I think the first season or 2 of Knots had a much slower style. Then it started amping up the pace and soaping things up more. The early episodes weren't so much serial as each episode a different storyline.

[JamesF]

I'm watching Empire Valley at the moment. The fallout with the arsenic poisoning and Peter Hollister arriving are good but the preamble didn't sit well with me. It seemed to go round in circles with Greg demanding his land back and Abby scheming until Gary just blew the damned thing up. Apparently David Jacobs thought the story was a mistake because it just got out of control and they didn't know where to go with it.

You're right about the slower style and episodic storytelling. As soon as Abby got Gary away from Val, it got a whole lot soapier.

[heatherwebber]

Was the Empire Valley stuff when Diana Gould was writing?

[Paul Raven]

NBC tried again to hit the primetime jackpot with Bare Essence.

It ran from Feb-Apr 83 first at Tuesday @9 up against Three's Company before being moved to Friday @10 against Falcon Crest.

It starred Genie Francis,Jennifer O'Neill,Jessica Walter,Michael Woods(TX,GL)Jonathan Frakes (DRS) and Jamie Lyn Bauer (Y&R,DOOL).

The perfume business was the setting for this show.I assume Genie met her husband Jonathon on this show.

It was based on the popular CBS mini-series which starred Linda Evans and Donna Mills ,who obviously couldn't commit to the series.

The Fox series Pasadena was mentioned earlier.It plated Friday @9 late 2001 and starrred Dana Delaney,Martin Donovan and Mark Valley(DOOL)

Re:Falcon Crest.When the series was announced it was titled The VIntage Years and included Clu Gulager and Samantha Eggar in the roles that evolved into those played by Robert Foxworth and Susan Sullivan.CBS stated in May 81 that the show would be heavily "re-tooled"before its fall premiere.

[JamesF]

I don't think she was any longer on the writing staff for Empire Valley. The majority of it took place when David Paulsen came on as producer for a season and Lechowick/Latham were story editors. Diana Gould was involved with the Wolfbridge story but left after that was wrapped up.

[All My Shadows]

I fricken loved the "Bare Essence" mini-series. WE used to show those great 80s mini-series on Monday nights a few years back, but they stopped showing them in favor of dumbass reality shows about cheerleaders and puppies and [!@#$%^&*] like that.

But yeah, that was a great mini-series. It's been a while since I've seen it (the last time I saw it, it was on Oxygen), but I remember all of my favorite characters...Donna Mills played (I think) Bruce Boxleitner's mistress. He was married with children. And Lee Grant was so delicious in the role of wife of the man who owns the perfume company. Joel Higgins was in there too somewhere. And Linda Evans played Genie Francis's mother. It was really great.

Speaking of mini-series with soapy tendencies, anybody ever see the great "Hollywood Wives" from 1985? Based on a Jackie Collins novel, so you know it was dirty. Let's see...Candice Bergen is married to Steve Forrest, but he's screwing around with Mary Crosby. Anthony Hopkins was married to Joanna Cassidy but he left her for Stefanie Powers, and now he's screwing around with Suzanne Somers. Andrew Stevens used to be a male prostitute and Roddy MacDowell was his pimp, but now he's married to Catherine Mary Stewart and is looking for his birth mother (who turns out to be Angie Dickinson). Really campy, really dramatic, really fun.

[kade]

Was that "Which one of you bitches is my mother" show a mini-series or a prime-time soap (and if nobody knows what I'm talking about boy do I look kinda random and stupid! LOL!

Kade

[JamesF]

LOL mini-series. Never seen it but have read that line somewhere before. I think it was called Lace?

[All My Shadows]

LMAO. Yes, that would be legendary "Lace" from 1984, starring Phoebe Cates as Lili, a French actress who is searching for her birth mother. She narrowed it down to three women (Brooke Adams and Bess Armstrong played two of them, I forgot the other one) and she gathered them in a room and entered. "Which one of you bitches is my mother?" she asked lol

There was a sequel, "Lace II," where she searched for her father. Of course, it was advertised as "Which one of you bastards is my father?"

[heatherwebber]

Maybe I'm confusing the 2 stories. It might have been the Wolfbridge I enjoyed.

[JamesF]

Wolfbridge was the big umbrella story in season 5 when Diana Gould was on the writing staff. Abby was funnelling Gary's money into a bogus corporation she set up to con Karen out of the Lotus Point development. She and Greg Sumner then got involved with the Wolfbridge group who turned out to be into organised crime leading to Karen getting shot, Gary faking his death and Abby being kidnapped.

Empire Valley began in season 6 when Dallas's David Paulsen came on as producer and wanted to make the show a little more macho. Paul Galveston partnered up with Gary to develop a model community on the land. Galveston died, Greg got involved and it turned out to be a cover for a secret underground communications spy centre. All very silly IMO. Gary blew it up to get everyone off his back but accidentally ended up causing arsenic pollution at Lotus Point. It was still being talked about in season 8 as Greg got the land back to clean up the spill (which he was only pretending to do but that's another story).

Edited July 17, 2007 by JamesF

[Paul Raven]

The 80's saw many 'soapy' mini-series and I'd like to see some more contributions to that list.Soapnet should so be showing

these mini-series and soaps in weekend timeslots.

Some more for the list.

Executive Suite CBS 76-77 Mondays@10 Fridays @10 up against Monday Night Football and NBC Monday Movie

The lives and loves of those working for and affected bythe huge Cardway Corporation.

Cast included Mitchell Ryan (AMC) Leigh McCloskey (GH,SB) Madlyn Rhue (DOOL)

Mentioned earlier The Secrets of Midland Heights 80-81 CBS Sat @10

Set in a sleepy mid western college town,the emphasis was on the younger characters.

Starring Lorenzo Lamas (B& Robert Hogan (AW) Bibi Besch (LIAMST)Apart from Linda Hamilton who went on to Terminator movies none of the young performers were ever heard of again.

I'm going to start a mini series list as well to add to what has been mentioned

Scruples Feb 1980 CBS 6hrs

Based on the novel by Judith Krantz and following the lives of 3 young ambitious people.

Cast - Lindsay Wagner,Barry Bostwick,Efrem Zimbalist,Connie Stevens,Robert Reed and 40's star Gene Tierney in her first role for almost 20 years.

In 81 ABC showed a TV movie follow up which was a pilot for a proposed series spin off.

Lots of soap people in the cast,

Kale Browne(AW,OLTL) Brett Halsey(GH,Y&R) JimMcMullan(Y&R) Sandy McPeak (DOOL) Roy Thinnes (GH OLTL)

NBC also got very close to putting a daytime version on the air Pat Falken Smith was the writer and I think Susan Flannery had tentatively agreed to star.There was a shake up at NBC daytime and new management pulled out.Falken Smith instigated alaw suit but what came of that is unknown

[All My Shadows]

I liked "Scruples." It's been a very long time since I've seen it, though, and I don't really remember the plots and stuff. All I remember is that Lindsay Wagner is involved in, I think, a publishing company, and it's one of those mini-series that is heavy on the flashbacks (like "Lace" and "Sins").

Didn't know they were planning to make a daytime show. Had no clue about that. Would have been interesting, that's for sure. At the same time, NBC was also planning to bring "Flamingo Road" from primetime to daytime too, with some new cast members, and some of the same people. That didn't work out either.