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Thanks as well @Soapsuds for the posting those 1983 ratings as well!

Seeing so many of those Christmas specials airing this week I remember always in the 80’s and then throughout the 90’s always looking forward to these specials and almost were like big events to me. But alas as they became available on VHS and DVD the network TV versions became sloppy edited messes and not worth the time.

@Paul Raven Do you think CBS should have tried out Emerald Point behind Dallas for a while and tried to see if FC would have worked out in the Monday slot for a bit? Then again the Dallas-FC double bill just worked out so well I can see why CBS was hesitant to mess with the format especially since both shows ended up being #1 and #7 overall for the season. People wanted their Friday night soap fix, but I wonder if the new Emerald Point could’ve had a better chance of survival if pair with one of the other CBS soaps?

Edited by soapfan770

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@soapfan770 I'd forgotten that the Dobsons had worked on a couple of episodes of Emerald Point.

I agree that a Fri @10 slot could have worked but I guess the risk was too great in breaking up the Dallas/FC combo.

What they could have done was have a couple episodes play Fri @10 before moving it to Monday ,hopefully building an audience that way and then debuting FC for the season in it's regular Fri slot.

Edited by Paul Raven

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I asked Chat GPT to come up with an alternate Fall 1981 schedule for NBC based on the shows they had but possibly some in different timeslots.

On Saturday night it scheduled Here's Boomer, a kiddie show about a dog's adventures Saturday @10pm!

Still a ways to go...

Edited by Paul Raven

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Thanks @Soapsuds

It’s funny to me that 5 of my favorite would also be favorites of Women 50+ 🤣

I vaguely recall Spencer…something insane must have happened for all that all that BTS drama to occur with Chad Lowe abruptly quitting and getting recast. I remember It’s Your Move a lot more. Apparently other than a sole interview a few years ago Lowe has largely avoided ever talking about it.

Edited by soapfan770

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Great data @Soapsuds . It looks to be cumulative from September-December 1984.

The Cosby Show would blow up after the Super Bowl and by the end of the season Murder, She Wrote would shock the world.

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11 hours ago, kalbir said:

The Cosby Show would blow up after the Super Bowl and by the end of the season Murder, She Wrote would shock the world.

Hardly anyone would have considered either TCS or MSW to be revolutionary. Yet, in their own ways, they were. MSW presented "women of a certain age" in a positive light - paving the way, IMO, for "The Golden Girls" - and TCS showed an African-American family who was educated, well-to-do, and who respected one another. Looking at the shows from that point of view, it doesn't surprise me at all to know just how quickly they caught on with the audiences and really reset the industry for the rest of the decade.

Edited by Khan

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12 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

From January 3, 1987

FB_IMG_1767486785442.jpg

Wow at Our House showing up on this list I was under the impression it was a flop from the get go due the shaky timeslot (7PM/6PM on Sundays).

  • Member
On 1/1/2026 at 10:34 PM, Khan said:

Hardly anyone would have considered either TCS or MSW to be revolutionary. Yet, in their own ways, they were. MSW presented "women of a certain age" in a positive light - paving the way, IMO, for "The Golden Girls" - and TCS showed an African-American family who was educated, well-to-do, and who respected one another. Looking at the shows from that point of view, it doesn't surprise me at all to know just how quickly they caught on with the audiences and really reset the industry for the rest of the decade.

Murder, She Wrote was bookended by two very different eras in broadcast network primetime drama series, premiering in the Dallas/Dynasty era and ending in the ER/NYPD Blue era. Murder, She Wrote became popular because it gave its audience comfort and warmth at a time when the world around us was changing so much and watching the episodes today still give that same feeling. Even though its been over 40 years since Murder, She Wrote began it doesn't feel outdated at all.

The breakout success of The Cosby Show saved both sitcoms as a genre and NBC primetime line up. It also lead to NBC Thursday dominating primetime for the better part of the next 20 years (I consider NBC Thursday dominance from the start of The Cosby Show until the end of Friends). It was the breakout success of The Golden Girls the following season that lead to NBC having the sitcom game on lock for the rest of the decade.

19 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

From January 3, 1987

Another great data set. This must be cumulative from September-December 1986.

Dallas fell out of the Top 10 by the end of the season and that was the beginning of the CBS primetime mess era.

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3 hours ago, kalbir said:

Another great data set. This must be cumulative from September-December 1986.

Yes, it's the average rating from the first half of 1986-1987. Dallas was still in the top 10, leading to the second half of the season.

Edited by Soapsuds

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4 hours ago, kalbir said:

Murder, She Wrote became popular because it gave its audience comfort and warmth at a time when the world around us was changing so much and watching the episodes today still give that same feeling. Even though its been over 40 years since Murder, She Wrote began it doesn't feel outdated at all.

ICAM. To me, MSW never treated its' audience as morons, nor did it ever go chasing after trends. The show was a class act from beginning to end and a true antidote to those who abhorred excessive violence and gore in their entertainment.

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