Jump to content

Ratings from the 80's


Paul Raven

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.2k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

Even if CBS kept Search for Tomorrow in the 1980s, my feeling is it would've ended the moment Bill Bell had a second show ready for CBS's daytime lineup. Capitol to me was more of a placeholder/time filler until Bill Bell's second show was good to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Guiding Light was CBS #1 soap at this time and that was up against GH.

 

I don't recall that being acknowledged much at that time. If only CBS and P&G had found the formula to keep them strong. Maybe Doug Marland could have overseen the GL and ATWT as he seemed to be the only writer that could keep ratings up consistently. He was really the last writer that seemed to have the magic touch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

The GL-GH rivalry of that era is well documented and remembered, even to a point when an episode of "Roseanne" made reference to it. It was later successes of GL and ATWT in the '90s that went highly ignored by the soap press. I mean ATWT was the 5th most watched soap 1993-1995 and later the 3rd most watched for much of 2002-2003 while GL had success in the late's 90s.   Marland had the touch of versatility later writers lacked. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It will be interesting to see GL's ratings for later in Marland's run to see if it stayed strong or he was running out of steam.

The show was rocky after he left and the Gail Kobe/Pam Long came along and even got it to#1 for a few weeks in 84.

The trouble with that regime IMO is that they threw out too much of the old structure and focussed on new characters and then further writers did the same until there was a patchwork of families - a couple of Bauers, some Reardons, Lewis and Shaynes. It was all too fragmented...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

That was around '93-94 when Luke & Laura returned to GH.  That's when we learned Dan and Nancy preferred Guiding Light. 

Please register in order to view this content

 

Yeah, I look forward to seeing those numbers, if/when someone gets hold of them. 

 

@VanessaReardon Thank you for your continued postings! Interesting to see the numbers and rankings go up and down... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is such a misconception regarding GL’s ratings in 1984. GL did NOT hit #1 in the summer of ‘84. Yes, GL beat GH in the ratings for 3 weeks in June of ‘84, (which was a huge accomplishment, even Entertainment Tonight covered the story) but Y&R was the number one rated soap during the three weeks that GL beat GH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing that I can think of as to why Y&R didn’t get alot of attention is because it wasn’t in the same timeslot as GH, so it was bigger news when the timeslot competitor GL beat GH. I have an audiotape of the ET story where they interview Gail Kobe but I’ve lost track of it. Its somewhere in this house. 

A bonus Holiday edition of Daytime TV, between their December 1981 and January 1982 editions. 

Please register in order to view this content

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Interesting new nugget of info regarding GL's 3 weeks at "Number One."  No. 1 in the hot timeslot, okay we can drink to that.

Please register in order to view this content

 

Side note: Search for Tomorrow's ratings seem so strong in late '81-early '82 for a show dumped by CBS within months afterwards. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    •   Like I said I wasn’t talking about characterization. It makes sense that Dani is in denial. However literally no one in the real world would accuse someone of faking a pregnancy. Why? Because it’s just not feasible. What is Dani supposed to expect from Hayley—that she’ll be hiding a pillow under her shirt 24/7? Come on. The accusation has no legs, and that’s exactly why nobody would ever go there. A far more plausible accusation—one that actually has been made for centuries—is that someone might lie about who the father is. Dani only vaguely hinted at that, but at least that angle would make some narrative sense. I’d go for a coworking space that would be home to these small businesses like Kat and Chelsea’s bag startup (the whole police station trope feels like copaganda to me)
    • I guess RTPP looked worse because it followed Another World, but it's a shame they didn't give it more time especially considering how the shows that were put on following it fared.
    • Please register in order to view this content

    • Durkin was awful. The writing did her no favors, but she was all wrong for the part, lacking the mix of mystery, steeliness, sorrow and hesitancy that defined Victoria. I still have the awful memory of Adam lugging her around like a rag doll. She looked much more like one of the Blue Whale dancing extras than Victoria. And her voice... Maybe I am too harsh. With that said, Curtis didn't seem as bothered. I see from a fan review mentioning Barnabas & Company that Durkin was asked to return for Victoria's final episodes and declined as she had a Christmas trip to Europe with her husband planned and wasn't interested in just a few appearances.  I refuse to believe Victoria actually died during the Leviathan storyline. If Barnabas and Angelique could come back 8 times, she could come back a few.
    • It's a shame she only appeared in three episodes for the purpose of being written out - I thought she was quite good in the little we saw. I liked her vibe better than Durkin that never seemed to quite capture Victoria as a character.
    • He did a lot of romance novel covers, so that might've just been enough for them to get their panties in a twist.
    • Pre-TGIF, ABC most successful 1980s Friday 8 pm comedy I'd say was Webster. Full House wasn't a hit its first two seasons but it started showing growth in its third season which overlapped with the launch of TGIF. Funny thing is, Full House became a Top 10 show with the 1991/92 move to Tuesday.
    • Oakland Tribune, 14 July 1985   AW is another show with Schenkel at helm By Connie Passalacqua For the most part, dictators of South American banana republics enjoy better reputations than executive producers of daytime soap operas. Total authority is vested in these producers, who can kill off a character (thus firing an actor) with a stroke of a pen, or completely change life in his or her soap opera dominion (both in its fictional locale and backstage at the studio) on any kind of whim.  Most rule despotically, inspiring fear in their actors and writers. Which inevitably surfaces on the screen and subtracts from a show's quality. Then there's Stephen Schenkel who became executive producer of Another World last fall. He's been described by one of his actresses as "a teddy bear." He has noticeably improved the show, mostly because his natural warmth encourages backstage cohesiveness, and he believes in personally nurturing his staff and cast. 'I like to be supportive', he said.' I like to generate a certain amount of enthusiasm. I love actors and writers and technical people. And I like to laugh..  ' Schenkel said that most of the factors that have led to the shows improved ratings existed before he took over. There were well defined characters, outstanding writers and excellent production values, he explains. 'These things were in place but needed to be stimulated. There wasn't a lot of excitement. What really was missing was an adequate story. We added Gillian Spencer as a writer. (she also plays Daisy on All My Children), who's wonderful, and it just coalesced. The writers energy and commitment to the show began to give it an emotional intensity and some real passion within the characters." Schenkel, a former ABC programming executive who helped develop Ryan's Hope, is a strong believer in stressing romantic and comedy elements in soap operas. AW is also one of the only soaps with an established group of comic characters, including Wallingford (Brent Collins) and Lily Mason (Jackee , Harry). Schenkel raves about the talents of all his actors, and even has something good to say about the Brooklyn location of the shows studio, which most of his Manhattan-oriented staff loathe. I like the people here. I like to walk down the street and feel their energies, he said. He also violateda soap opera no-no, ' inviting actors and writers to the same party. "Everyone got to know one another, he said. And I didn't get any complaints about actors ' begging for story lines, he said. 
    • Since it's pride month.

      Please register in order to view this content

         
    • National City Star-News, 5 May 1977 TV topics by Peter Blazi Lear’s ‘All that Glitters’—doesn’t The best thing that can be said about Norman Lear’s newest soap opera“All That Glitters” is that it comes on so late at night most people will miss it. Role reversal is supposed to be the big draw, with women the breadwinners, mainly executives of a huge conglomerate. The men either fuss with the housework or fidget at the office as secretaries to their bawdy bosses. A female fantasyland? I doubt it. While the role reversal idea has some possibilities, the show pushes too hard for laughs and winds up with raucous females and effete males. A confident, independent woman is indeed a sight to behold and attract, but femininity need not be sacrificed. Unlike Lear’s “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” "Glitters” doesn’t, but you’ve got to give him credit for trying. Today’s experimental comedy is what tomorrow’s hits are made of. Better luck next time, Norman. (“All That Glitters” can be seen weekday evenings at 11 p.m. on Channel 6.) .
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy