Another World

[denzo30]

 

 

I think the 90 min episode was the John Randolph dying in the fire.  I am almost positive, AW was already in the back of the pack of #8 before this episode even.  I could be wrong but if you look at the ratings a few months prior to March it was at the top but rapidly declined and even if the 90 mins was a downer, I dont understand how in such a short amount of time a top rated rated show would be one the least rated in just weeks.  

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

The episode in which John Randolph saved Alice and then died in the fire was actually the second 90-minute episode, March 6, 1979.  The first was March 5, and as I recall, it heavily featured Mac and Rachel.  

 

And regarding the ratings, it's been my understanding AW was #1 in the ratings during the Sven storyline, and then settled to #2 after that plot concluded.  Then stayed at #2 until March when the show expanded to 90-minutes and the ratings plunged to number 8.  It was said at the time that AW lost half of its audience because of the 90-minute expansion.  I supposed we'd need to see month by month ratings for late-78 to at least mid-79 to verify any of this.  

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Neil Johnson

[Xanthe]

 

My understanding was that Robyn Griggs was generally difficult and it wasn't just one innocent interaction with Bobbitt that got her fired. She was there for nearly 2 years. I liked her in the role though.

 

Jodi Lyn O'Keefe was on until November 1995. The first episode of Nash Bridges aired March 29, 1996. It seems more likely that O'Keefe quit AW to work on Nash Bridges than she was fired from AW and subsequently hired immediately on Nash Bridges which would have needed some time to film, edit etc. before airing.

 

 

[Khan]

 

If that's true, then P&G and/or NBC should have realized right away that the expansion was a mistake and cut AW back to sixty minutes as soon as possible.  The fact that they didn't proves just how grossly incompetent and indifferent TPTB were.

[Paul Raven]

Checking the Ratings from the 70's thread, there are some ratings from early 79 indicating that AW was already out of the top 5 when the 90 min expansion took place.

The Sven storyline wrapped up by Feb 78 and AW began to drift down during 78 as GH gained momentum and GL was strong on the back of its expansion in late 77.

Anyway, I suggest posters check out the ratings thread for more details.

[DRW50]

 

There's some shaky audio at Eddie Drueding's channel.

 

 

 

I have to admit I'm not that into falsely accused/trial stories most of the time, so that probably didn't help, but I think it was the leadup to the trial that may have soured me. It just felt very lifeless to me. 

[watson71]

 

This is around the time that Fred Silverman took over as president of NBC.  In primetime, NBC was a disaster ratings wise.   There were few primetime hits on NBC.  I guess they figured that AW was their highest rated daytime program and turning it into 90 minutes, regardless of the ratings, would still turn a profit.  Back when there were only 3 networks, the networks would use their advertising revenue from daytime to fund their nighttime pilots.

 

I agree that AW should have been reduced back to 60 minutes as soon as possible and returned to its 3 PM start time.

[SFK]

 

There's a clip on YouTube of Grant Aleksander relating this story/these words of wisdom Beverlee McKinsey shared with him during their GL days.

[AbcNbc247]

Lemay said in his book that even though he felt that taking the show to 90 minutes was a mistake, they had already invested too much money in the project and taking it back to 60 minutes would have resulted in great economic loss. But judging by the full 90 minute episodes that are available on YT, they did seem to get a little better over time. There was a lot less padding then there was in the March 6th episode lol

Granted, there's only 4 full 90 minute episodes on YT, but I liked them. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by AbcNbc247

[Soaplovers]

I would have done a 90 minute episode on special occasions.  Edge of night did one..and it was well regarded.

 

I think doing it daily would wear on the writers and actors...and viewers.

[SFK]

 

Totally. 90 minutes with no intermission is a popular runtime for plays, for both audiences and actors, and that's after at least a month of rehearsal. 90 minutes 5x/week sounds absolutely draining for the professionals, and tedious for the audience... like glorified background noise while one carries on household duties.

[Efulton]

Maybe there is where I remember it from!

[BetterForgotten]

Bev was no-nonsense, yet she seemed very nurturing of her scene partners, particularly those young and starting out.

[denzo30]

Hi Paul, Thank you for verifying that.  That was my understanding too.  AW was already declining prior to the 90 min episodes.  In fact, I think it went from like #2 to #8 in just a few weeks.  I guess my question is still, why?  Harding Lemay left pretty fast too once the 90 mins episodes started.  I am sure he was burned out but he had to have know in late 78 in early 79 that that show was decliing in ratings.  I think he is a very proud writer and kind of egotisical that he wanted to bail knowing the show was heading in a downward spiral but the irony is, the storylines, production, acting, etc was consistent with the previous successful months and years with high ratings.  NBC, P&G and Rauch response to fix this issue was to create a new show,  Rauch was so successful with AW I am sure the network thought it was a great idea at the time.  GH had become such a big success and a completely different kind of drama than AW was and honestly believe Lemay knew that and decided it was time to retire from the show.  As much as I loved his stories, I still think if he remained on the show for the early 80's, AW would have still remained low in the ratings.  Just my thoughts!   

 

[Khan]

 

Agree!  And God help us if the 90 minute shows had somehow been successful.  Because, before you'd know it, NBC would have expanded AW to 120 minutes, then 150, then who knows how long.  It could have been like watching TODAY, but with one long-ass, all-day soap opera.