4 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

 

On that 62nd ranking Flamingo Road deserved the chop, but it actually was doing better in the second half of the season when it moved to 9pm Tues and improved it's numbers. Again, no world beater but might have improved in Season 3.

It would have been worth a try as NBC's next attempt at  a soap was Bare Eseence, which bombed.

I’ve always been interested in how some of these primetime soaps were programmed in the 80’s.

The big four were strategically placed and other than The Colby’s and Knots airing against each other in the fall of ‘86 none of the soaps ever really compete against each other. 

Wednesdays were for a midweek escape from reality with Dynasty.

Thursdays were for some wonderful adult drama on Knots Landing.

Fridays were for a way to unwind from the week with some wine with the double bill of Dallas and Falcon Crest.

Yet the attempts to do a soap on either Monday, Tuesday, and Saturdays are failed. Some of these shows weren’t the best, and obviously Saturday nights weren’t the most ideal.

On the flip side the 90’s soaps were all over the place. Melrose found success with its 8PM Monday night slot and “Mondays are a bitch” campaign, 90210 and POF did well enough on Wednesdays, and Sisters managed alright with Saturdays. Later on Providence did will with an 8PM Friday night slot. 
 

Wasn’t until 2004 we finally got a Sunday night soap with Desperate Housewives. I wonder if anyone in the 80’s had ever thought of programming a soap on Sun nights.

As stated Wed, Thurs and Fri @10 slots were taken.

That left Tuesday where NBC scheduled  Flamingo Road for 2 seasons with middling success.. In 83 Hart to Hart was still prospering for ABC in that slot and CBS had a movie. As for NBC once The A Team and Riptide took off, Yellow Rose might have worked 10pm as Hart to Hart was dropping but they didn't take that opportunity.

Monday-CBS tried with Emerald Point but that didn't work. One strategy might have been to move Falcon Crest to Monday and place Emerald Point on Fri after Dallas but CBS were reluctant to tamper with a hit lineup and possibly weaken Friday. ABC had football and NBC a movie so no room there for a soap. Mid season ABC went with a movie. They did premiere Dynasty Mon @9 before the move to Wed.

Saturday-There was the opportunity for a soap to survive there but Midland Heights, Yellow Rose and Berrengers all failed. But both CBS and NBC didn't have strong lineups to support a 10pm soap.

Sunday. Early on Dallas had some success  Sunday @10. Both NBC and ABC ran movies and dropping the movie for series was too risky.

Of all those scenarios I think NBC had the best chance by placing Yellow Rose or later Berrengers Tues@10.

Going back to @kalbir mentioning about the upcoming 40th anniversary of the 85-86 season, what a difference between December 1984 and December 1985:

 

5 hours ago, soapfan770 said:

what a difference between December 1984 and December 1985

Primetime soaps tanked.

Sitcoms made a comeback.

Rookie breakout The Cosby Show became the sophomore slaughterer.

Rookie that shocked the world Murder, She Wrote became the sophomore surprise.

Simon & Simon, The A-Team, and Magnum, P.I. were old and busted. Miami Vice was the new hotness.

September 1984 Prime time schedule

 

37 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

September 1984 Prime time schedule

 

Always thought It’s Your Move only ever aired on Saturday nights, didn’t realize it originally started out on Wednesdays. 

The rest of the schedule is pretty much self explanatory.

Had I been in ABC programming Paper Dolls definitely should have definitely aired after Dynasty on Wednesday nights while Hotel could’ve been bumped to Tuesday nights or to Saturday nights with the Love Boat.

Obviously a crappy washed up show like Glitter was just destined to be cancelled in that Thursday night timeslot. 

 

1984/85 was probably the 1980s peak of Aaron Spelling hit factory in terms of number of shows on ABC, but it was showing signs of weakening.

Dynasty moved up from 3rd to #1. Hotel dropped from 9th to 12th. The Love Boat fell out of the Top 30. T.J. Hooker and Matt Houston were done at the end of the season. Finder of Lost Loves and Glitter were one season and done.

For the record Street Hawk never aired Mon @8. ABC decided to launch Call to Glory instead following the Olympics. It launched to big numbers after a lot of promotion but soon fizzled once the regular season got underway.

ABC was on shaky ground as witnessed by the timeslot changes that soon went into affect.

The Thursday 8-10 lineup was dropped after a few weeks for movies. Jessie was dropped. Glitter moved to Tues @9, Paper Dolls to 10pm and so on.

Luckily for them Who's the Boss was rescued.

A possible schedule

Mon

Hawaiian Heat/Football

* HH compatible with football and good counterprogramming to Scarecrow/Mrs King and TV Bloopers

Tues

8-9 Foul Ups/People Do Craziest things

*Foul Ups had done OK against A Team and People Do was complimentary

9-10 Hotel

* Time to give Hotel a shot as a 9pm show. Good familiar alternative to Riptide and CBS Movie. And season 2 opened with Elizabeth Taylor as guest star so plenty of publicity there

10pm Jessie

* Best option for that slot.

Wed

8pm Fall Guy

9pm Dynasty

10pm Paper Dolls

* Use that timeslot to establish a new soap.

Thurs

8pm Street Hawk

*Good counterprogramming to Cosby and Magnum in a killer timeslot

9pm Call to Glory

* Tough timeslot opposite Cheers and Simon & Simon. An alternative with 'quality' overtones

10pm 20/20

Fri

8pm Webster/Who's The Boss

*Webster was ready for 8pm as had already begun to outrate Benson. Boss given good timeslot. 

9pm Benson/Three's A Crowd

*Go with comedy opposite Dallas.

10pm Matt Houston

Sat

8pm TJ Hooker

9pm Glitter

*Time to freshen Saturday as Love Boat was failing. A similar type of show and easy viewing on Sat night.

10pm Love Boat

What do you guys think? What do you like/dislike? Any alternatives?

 

•  

40 years ago today: September 14, 1985...The Golden Girls debuts on NBC. The debut/first episode ranked #1 in the weeklty ratings beating the Cosby Show!! Debut/1st Episode ranks #1!

6 minutes ago, JoeCool said:

•  

40 years ago today: September 14, 1985...The Golden Girls debuts on NBC. The debut/first episode ranked #1 in the weeklty ratings beating the Cosby Show!! Debut/1st Episode ranks #1!

Not to take anything away from The Golden Girls series premiere being #1, but The Cosby Show was a repeat on September 12, and there was no Dynasty, Dallas; and Murder, She Wrote that week.

Dynasty, Dallas, The Cosby Show; and Murder, She Wrote season premieres were two weeks later.

Edited September 14Sep 14 by kalbir

GG still no. 1 in its debut episode!

Hollywood did not expect GG to debut at No.1! It was a shocker !

Here’s an article regarding the Golden Girls debut and surrounding ratings:

 

NBC STARTS FAST IN RATINGS RACE

By LEE MARGULIES 

Sept. 18, 1985  

TIMES STAFF WRITER 

NBC’s bid to unseat CBS as the prime-time ratings champion got off to a zippy preseason start last week as three of its new series placed first, third and 13th in the audience popularity ratings, figures from the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed Tuesday.

The premiere of “The Golden Girls,” dubbed by many critics as the best new comedy of the season, was the most watched program of the week, attracting viewers in 21.5 million homes on Saturday night.

“The Golden Girls,” which stars Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty as single women living together in Miami, scored the highest premiere ratings for any NBC comedy since the 1974 debut of “Chico and the Man,” the network said.

The new comedy that followed it on NBC Saturday, “227,” finished third, with a rerun of “The Cosby Show” coming in second. “Hell Town,” the other NBC series that debuted last week, ranked 13th among the week’s 61 prime-time network programs.

In all, NBC captured the top four spots and 11 of the top 15 on Nielsen’s weekly ratings list. Its programs were seen in an average of 12.6 million homes, compared to 12 million for ABC and 10.7 million for CBS.

CBS’ presentation of “Death of a Salesman” on Sunday night, with Dustin Hoffman recreating his Broadway performance as Willy Loman, ranked 25th for the week, drawing an audience of about 12.1 million homes.

CBS has won the prime-time ratings race for six years running but this year expects a strong challenge from NBC, which moved up to second last season after nine years in third.

NBC has now captured 16 of the last 17 weeks, including one tie. CBS’ ratings typically dip during the summer, however, in part because its popular soap operas--”Dallas,” “Falcon Crest” and “Knots Landing”--do not perform well in repeats.

The 1985-86 TV season doesn’t begin officially until Monday, even though NBC unveiled three of its new series last week and another nine are debuting this week, including four tonight on CBS. So, much of the programming is still reruns, meaning that the preseason ratings for new shows are not necessarily indicative of how well they will do against regular competition.

TELEVISION RATINGS

Here are the ratings for national prime-time television last week (Sept. 9 through 15), as compiled by the A. C. Nielsen Co. Each rating point is said by Nielsen to represent 859,000 homes, or 1% of the 85.9 million U.S. households that have TV.

Network Rating Program 1. The Golden Girls NBC 25.0 2. The Cosby Show NBC 24.6 3. 227 NBC 23.8 4. “Miss America Pageant” NBC 23.7 5. Monday Night Football ABC 20.7 6. “Barbara Walters Special” ABC 20.3 7. 60 Minutes CBS 19.6 8. “Lady Blue” ABC 19.2 9. Cheers NBC 19.1 10. Family Ties NBC 18.8 11. Facts of Life NBC 18.7 12. “Back to Next Saturday” NBC 18.1 13. Hell Town NBC 17.5 14. Highway to Heaven NBC 16.8 15. Gimme a Break NBC 16.7 16. “Gambler--Adventure Continues,” Part II CBS 16.4 17. Who’s the Boss? ABC 15.3 18. “Love Child” NBC 15.1 19. Newhart CBS 15.0 20. Kate & Allie CBS 15.0 21. NFL Football (Thu.) ABC 14.8 22. Hill Street Blues NBC 14.7 23. Moonlighting ABC 14.7 24. NFL Football CBS 14.5 25. “Death of a Salesman” CBS 14.5 26. Three’s a Crowd ABC 14.1 27. Scarecrow & Mrs. King CBS 14.0 28. Remington Steele NBC 13.1 29. Simon & Simon CBS 13.0 30. “Life’s Embarrassing Moments” ABC 12.9 31. Hotel ABC 12.9 32. “Brass” CBS 12.9 33. Miami Vice NBC 12.8 34. OceanQuest NBC 12.8 35. “ABC All-Star Spectacular” ABC 12.7 36. Cagney & Lacey CBS 12.6 37. “The Cannonball Run” CBS 12.5 38. Webster ABC 12.3 39. Knight Rider NBC 12.2 40. A-Team NBC 12.2 41. “American Almanac” NBC 12.0 42. Mr. Belvedere ABC 11.8 43. “Secrets of a Married Man” NBC 11.6 44. TV Bloopers & Practical Jokes NBC 11.6 45. Hometown CBS 11.2 46. Silver Spoons NBC 11.2 47. West 57th CBS 11.1 48. Magnum, P.I. CBS 11.1 49. Riptide NBC 11.1 50. “J.O.E. & the Colonel” ABC 11.0 51. Hardcastle & McCormick ABC 10.6 52. Benson ABC 10.5 53. I Had Three Wives CBS 10.5 54. Airwolf CBS 8.6 55. Punky Brewster NBC 8.5 56. “In Like Flynn” ABC 8.4 57. Love Boat ABC 8.2 58. “Illusions” CBS 7.8 59. Ripley’s Believe It or Not ABC 7.7 60. Motown Revue NBC 7.1 61. “Saturday Morning Preview” CBS 5.1

The article's byline date - 9/18/85 - was my 13th birthday. LOL. God, I'm old.  

And yeah, The Golden Girls hit the ground running. If I recall, Coco the male housekeeper/cook in the pilot was supposed to recur or something, but that obviously didn't happen!

Edited September 14Sep 14 by Wendy

4 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Here’s an article regarding the Golden Girls debut and surrounding ratings:

 

NBC STARTS FAST IN RATINGS RACE

By LEE MARGULIES 

Sept. 18, 1985  

TIMES STAFF WRITER 

NBC’s bid to unseat CBS as the prime-time ratings champion got off to a zippy preseason start last week as three of its new series placed first, third and 13th in the audience popularity ratings, figures from the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed Tuesday.

The premiere of “The Golden Girls,” dubbed by many critics as the best new comedy of the season, was the most watched program of the week, attracting viewers in 21.5 million homes on Saturday night.

“The Golden Girls,” which stars Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty as single women living together in Miami, scored the highest premiere ratings for any NBC comedy since the 1974 debut of “Chico and the Man,” the network said.

The new comedy that followed it on NBC Saturday, “227,” finished third, with a rerun of “The Cosby Show” coming in second. “Hell Town,” the other NBC series that debuted last week, ranked 13th among the week’s 61 prime-time network programs.

In all, NBC captured the top four spots and 11 of the top 15 on Nielsen’s weekly ratings list. Its programs were seen in an average of 12.6 million homes, compared to 12 million for ABC and 10.7 million for CBS.

CBS’ presentation of “Death of a Salesman” on Sunday night, with Dustin Hoffman recreating his Broadway performance as Willy Loman, ranked 25th for the week, drawing an audience of about 12.1 million homes.

CBS has won the prime-time ratings race for six years running but this year expects a strong challenge from NBC, which moved up to second last season after nine years in third.

NBC has now captured 16 of the last 17 weeks, including one tie. CBS’ ratings typically dip during the summer, however, in part because its popular soap operas--”Dallas,” “Falcon Crest” and “Knots Landing”--do not perform well in repeats.

The 1985-86 TV season doesn’t begin officially until Monday, even though NBC unveiled three of its new series last week and another nine are debuting this week, including four tonight on CBS. So, much of the programming is still reruns, meaning that the preseason ratings for new shows are not necessarily indicative of how well they will do against regular competition.

TELEVISION RATINGS

Here are the ratings for national prime-time television last week (Sept. 9 through 15), as compiled by the A. C. Nielsen Co. Each rating point is said by Nielsen to represent 859,000 homes, or 1% of the 85.9 million U.S. households that have TV.

Network Rating Program 1. The Golden Girls NBC 25.0 2. The Cosby Show NBC 24.6 3. 227 NBC 23.8 4. “Miss America Pageant” NBC 23.7 5. Monday Night Football ABC 20.7 6. “Barbara Walters Special” ABC 20.3 7. 60 Minutes CBS 19.6 8. “Lady Blue” ABC 19.2 9. Cheers NBC 19.1 10. Family Ties NBC 18.8 11. Facts of Life NBC 18.7 12. “Back to Next Saturday” NBC 18.1 13. Hell Town NBC 17.5 14. Highway to Heaven NBC 16.8 15. Gimme a Break NBC 16.7 16. “Gambler--Adventure Continues,” Part II CBS 16.4 17. Who’s the Boss? ABC 15.3 18. “Love Child” NBC 15.1 19. Newhart CBS 15.0 20. Kate & Allie CBS 15.0 21. NFL Football (Thu.) ABC 14.8 22. Hill Street Blues NBC 14.7 23. Moonlighting ABC 14.7 24. NFL Football CBS 14.5 25. “Death of a Salesman” CBS 14.5 26. Three’s a Crowd ABC 14.1 27. Scarecrow & Mrs. King CBS 14.0 28. Remington Steele NBC 13.1 29. Simon & Simon CBS 13.0 30. “Life’s Embarrassing Moments” ABC 12.9 31. Hotel ABC 12.9 32. “Brass” CBS 12.9 33. Miami Vice NBC 12.8 34. OceanQuest NBC 12.8 35. “ABC All-Star Spectacular” ABC 12.7 36. Cagney & Lacey CBS 12.6 37. “The Cannonball Run” CBS 12.5 38. Webster ABC 12.3 39. Knight Rider NBC 12.2 40. A-Team NBC 12.2 41. “American Almanac” NBC 12.0 42. Mr. Belvedere ABC 11.8 43. “Secrets of a Married Man” NBC 11.6 44. TV Bloopers & Practical Jokes NBC 11.6 45. Hometown CBS 11.2 46. Silver Spoons NBC 11.2 47. West 57th CBS 11.1 48. Magnum, P.I. CBS 11.1 49. Riptide NBC 11.1 50. “J.O.E. & the Colonel” ABC 11.0 51. Hardcastle & McCormick ABC 10.6 52. Benson ABC 10.5 53. I Had Three Wives CBS 10.5 54. Airwolf CBS 8.6 55. Punky Brewster NBC 8.5 56. “In Like Flynn” ABC 8.4 57. Love Boat ABC 8.2 58. “Illusions” CBS 7.8 59. Ripley’s Believe It or Not ABC 7.7 60. Motown Revue NBC 7.1 61. “Saturday Morning Preview” CBS 5.1

Thank you!