Members Eric83 Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 I posted this thread a few months ago, at Daytime Royalty, DAYS' recent renewal made me think about it again. Even though CBS and ABC aren't exactly in the best shape right now they have managed to keep strong and consistent line-ups over the years with lots of successes, that hasn't really been the case with NBC. How did the network that started the hour-long soap trend in AW and DYS become such a colassal mess? In the early 70's, NBC had the "young" and "hip" soaps that were doing so much better than most of CBS' and all of ABC's lineup. Then something happened. The whole daytime lineup collapsed in the late 70's and early 80's, and never really recovered. DAYS is the only soap in NBC daytime history, that has managed to consistently be successful (even though it has had some rough periods) throughout its run, and actually remain a contender amongst the ABC and CBS soaps. What got them here? I have researched and chose a few moments or events. 1. AW's 90 Minute Expansion This shook up the lineup, an forced The Doctors into the 12:30 pm timeslot. Once SFT joined the lineup, The Doctors was pushed to 12:00, and dropped off many affiliates due to them wanting that time slot for local news. AW was already in ratings decline, but the 90 minute expansion definitely drove them down to the bottom of the pack, where it remained for the remaining 20 years of its run. 2. Texas The show Texas is also a factor IMO. It was a new soap being put up against powerhouse GH, and a still strongly-rated GL. The show was also criticized in turning Beverly McKinsey's character Iris Cory into a heroine. The network should have stuck with AW in the 3:00 pm timeslot. 3. Letting affiliates do whatever the hell they want! By the mid 90's, NBC had just cancelled SB, and was down to just AW and DAYS, both shows were in ratings trouble. JER came in and turned DAYS around completely and skyrocketed to #2 in the ratings. AW hardly benefitted from this, as some affiliates either aired AW in different slots or didn't air it at all. Had NBC demanded the affiliates to do so, or work out that problem, AW could have had a similar ratings reneissance. 4. Not taking newer soaps seriously I do applaud NBC for trying with SuBe and Passions, but these shows were farces and were never taken seriously. I understand they had their own identity and what not, but a little more traditional soap moments and less over the top stuff could have helped tremedously. 5. AW/SuBe cancelled in same year The final and ultimate blow to NBC daytime, was the cancellation of AW and SuBe in 1999. NBC Daytime pretty much bowed out of the soap game that year. Between all the cancellation rumors surrounding DAYS, and what happened to Passions showed that they really didn't care. SuBe should have gotten the axe before AW. NBC should have seriously tested a DAYS/AW/Passions lineup, and at least tried to get affiliates on board. NBC went out of their way to make sure Passions aired after DAYS in most markets, why couldn't they have done that with AW? To sum it up, those are the reasons IMO why NBC Daytime has never recoverd the large amount of viewers they lost in the late 70's. DAYS has pretty much carried NBC Daytime on its back for the past 30 years, and had NBC (and P&G) actually tried with AW they show could have lasted longer. (Hell, it could still be on today.) While I was/always will be a fan of Passions, it was a mistake to cancel AW for it. It was inevitable that NBC wanted JER to have his own soap, so at least SuBe could have bit the bullet. Maybe if NBC showed any effort, DAYS wouldn't have to be the lone soap on the network. This is what my random thought about DAYS this afternoon turned into Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members beebs Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 IMO they probably should've had SuBe as a lead-in to Days at 12:30 as a half-hour soap, not taking up the entire 12-1 or 3-4 block (i'm atch confused, what WAS SuBe's official timeslot?), then making it easy to push AW to 3 for Passions to air at 2. Being wedged between the two shows likely would've helped enormously, and with GH starting to lose its magic by the end of the 90s, those viewers alienated by GH's overreliance on mob action could've easily tuned into AW looking for a reprieve. There are plenty of combinations that could've worked there. I will also say that The Doctor's first mistake was not expanding to an hour when they had the chance in 1975. If they had, this likely would've prevented AW's expansion to 90 minutes, thus preventing Texas, and also preventing The Doctors' move to 12:30 and eventually to 12. The ratings decline The Doctors' experienced in the late 70s and early 80s was equal parts writing/timeslot changes, and with a stable 3-hour block, that may have been preventable. Another note, I think locking the Dobsons out of their show and hiring JFP on SB prettymuch sealed that show's fate. You can't have a successful show with so much turmoil and infighting, and on top of it, JFP. The incessant recasting didn't help matters one iota. I think with all the problems the network has had, plus all the demands that every NBC soap "DAYS-ize" in the late 90s, hurt the whole lineup, and we now have the result we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 NBCD had it right... Days, AW, SB. It axed SB, let AW go to hell, Days got JR and if thats good or bad is up for debate. then they brought on a soap that should of aired after school got out, SuBe, and put it on too early and it was a disaster most of the time iteself. Then it went and did a crap show like Passions. They have done a lot wrong, and very little right. NBCDaytime is also now ONLY Days, because instead of even bringing in game shows/talk shows they just lost the time. NBC is a disaster, top to bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric83 Posted March 20, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 JER is the reason DAYS is still here today IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 Without a doubt. I agree. But if he did harm than good is very much up for debate. I personally LOVE his first run. His second run tho? Was damn awful. I thought it would be the worst the show ever was, then Hogan came along and took that cake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members beebs Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 I'll agree with that. Pre-JER DAYS of the early 90s was getting its lowest ratings in its history (this included NBC's all-around disastrous 1982 season), but I will also say that JER's influence on that show and daytime in general has been incredibly negative. The sensationalism it influenced in other shows and the ridiculousness that resulted in all post-JER DAYS writers (including JER's second run) has cost that show a lot, as well as the other shows that tried to copy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric83 Posted March 20, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 Oh yeah that second run almost killed DAYS. I blame most of it on Corday forcing him to re-write things, but some of the blame also falls on JER. He drug out all that mess with the not-so dead victims, Iraq, Chloe faking her death, etc. That's what made me tune out in 2005. beebs brought that point up in an earlier post, but what WAS SuBe's official timeslot. They aired it at 12 on my affiliate for the most part, and shifted it to 3am in those final months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cityfan01 Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 I'm in Minnesota and I had AW at noon, DAYS at 1 and SuBe at 2 (central time) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members beebs Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 Yikes. NBC's laissez-faire attitude with the soaps' timeslot obviously didn't help matters then. Here we got WDIV Detroit, and we had Days at 1, AW at 2, and no SuBe whatsoever. The noon-1 and 3-4 timeslots went to syndie shows after SB ended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 How long was Frons at NBC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 Don't forget that this is by no means a new thing either... It goes back to the 50s! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 Did NBC "get it right" more in the 70s with DAYS/DOC/AW/SOM/random-short-lived-soap or in the 80s with DAYS/AW/SB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 70s IMHO. For the first half of the 70s AW and DOOLs and Doctors were insanely well rated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeeeDee Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 The 70's was bad for all three networks in terms of Daytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted March 20, 2010 Members Share Posted March 20, 2010 Umm no. The 70s were the first time networks really took daytime seriously as ratings soared to unheard of heights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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