21 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I saw a promo for Kate & Allie when Bob proposed to Allie and I was reminded this was the season where the show (and most other shows) wrapped up earlier due to the writers' strike.

That type of choice with marrying off a character often seems like a last gasp. Do you think K&A would have ended that season if not for the strike or was it already meant to get one more season?

Which shows do you think were helped the most and hurt the most by the strike?

Bob or no Bob,  K&A was definitely blown out of the water by it’s time slot competition Alf being a Top 10 hit for its sophomore season. Plus didn’t Kate’s daughter leave earlier in the season? Been a while since I watched whole series. 
 

Obviously the strike affected the most troubled shows the worst, which most notably included putting Moonlighting out its misery. Another issue was a number of shows saw a number  time slot changes that resulted in tank jobs. 
 

I would say on the flip side, Knots definitely benefited from LA Law’s abruptly shortened season as well KL holding its own that season. And of course Roseanne was a hit. 

Edited October 29Oct 29 by soapfan770

2 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Bob or no Bob,  K&A was definitely blown out of the water by it’s time slot competition Alf being a Top 10 hit for its sophomore season. Plus didn’t Kate’s daughter leave earlier in the season? Been a while since I watched whole series. 

Obviously the strike affected the most troubled shows the worst, which most notably included putting Moonlighting out its misery. Another issue was a number of shows saw a number  time slot changes that resulted in tank jobs. 

I would say on the flip side, Knots definitely benefited from LA Law’s abruptly shortened season as well KL holding its own that season. 

Thanks.

Yes. Emma (?) left for college and then I think the other daughter became part-time the next season. I don't think K&A ever became bad but there was nothing left, and having Allie marry, her and Bob move to a new home, and Kate also moving with them just puts a big red circle around that. All we were missing for end-of-series bingo was adopting a child. 

Moonlighting seemed to be death by a thousand cuts. I'm almost surprised they lasted as long as they did.

All these years later I'm still impressed Knots managed to last against peak LA Law. 

On 10/28/2025 at 5:55 PM, soapfan770 said:

a number of shows saw a number time slot changes that resulted in tank jobs. 

ABC sabotaged Moonlighting and Dynasty.

CBS moving Simon & Simon to Saturday 9 pm head-to-head w/ The Golden Girls looks like a tank job or sabotage but I think it was fill space in the schedule as CBS never really had much success on Saturday.

On 10/28/2025 at 5:55 PM, soapfan770 said:

Knots definitely benefited from LA Law’s abruptly shortened season as well KL holding its own that season. 

I pointed this out in the Knots Landing thread, but I think Donna Mills pending departure brought back lapsed viewers for Abby exit storyline.

On 10/28/2025 at 5:55 PM, soapfan770 said:

Roseanne was a hit. 

Roseanne was the first show that threatened The Cosby Show dominance and it also killed off all the Reagan-era ideal family sitcoms.

14 hours ago, kalbir said:

Roseanne was the first show that threatened The Cosby Show dominance and it also killed off all the Reagan-era ideal family sitcoms.

TBH, I related more to "Roseanne" than I did to TCS.  Not that I didn't love seeing the Huxtables on my TV screen every Thursday night, but I felt "Roseanne" better reflected the realities that families across America were experiencing at that time.

14 hours ago, kalbir said:

ABC sabotaged Moonlighting and Dynasty.

As far as the time slot changes, I would agree.  But I think what sabotaged those shows more were BTS issues (bad blood between the cast and EP for "Moonlighting;" just plain bad writing for DYNASTY).  ABC's decision to change their time slots, IMO, was just their way of admitting what every viewer watching those shows knew already.

14 hours ago, kalbir said:

CBS never really had much success on Saturday.

I still laugh when I think about how CBS dumped "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Touched by an Angel" and "Walker: Texas Ranger" on Saturdays.  It's like the network was saying, "Oh, well, might as well give the old fogies something to nod off to," lol.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

I still laugh when I think about how CBS dumped "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Touched by an Angel" and "Walker: Texas Ranger" on Saturdays.  It's like the network was saying, "Oh, well, might as well give the old fogies something to nod off to," lol.

All three were very expensive shows to produce.  They starred actors with prior track records, who were drawn from other networks. Each was one of the highest paid primetime actors by the time their shows ended. They filmed primarily on location.  And they were one-hour dramas, which are tougher to syndicate.  Not exactly the types of investments one tends to make without a strong plan in place for development and programming.

Edited October 30Oct 30 by j swift

1 hour ago, Khan said:

As far as the time slot changes, I would agree.  But I think what sabotaged those shows more were BTS issues (bad blood between the cast and EP for "Moonlighting;" just plain bad writing for DYNASTY).  ABC's decision to change their time slots, IMO, was just their way of admitting what every viewer watching those shows knew already.

Brandon Stoddard knew exactly what he was doing when he moved Dynasty to an ABC dead zone. It's well-known that Brandon Stoddard goal was to get Aaron Spelling off of ABC. As for Dynasty, it should've ended Spring 1988 which to me feels like the natural end point for 1980s primetime soaps as a genre.

Re: Moonlighting, my feeling is Robert Iger had had enough of the BTS issues, thus the move to a killer time slot.

4 hours ago, kalbir said:

Brandon Stoddard knew exactly what he was doing when he moved Dynasty to an ABC dead zone. It's well-known that Brandon Stoddard goal was to get Aaron Spelling off of ABC. As for Dynasty, it should've ended Spring 1988 which to me feels like the natural end point for 1980s primetime soaps as a genre.

Re: Moonlighting, my feeling is Robert Iger had had enough of the BTS issues, thus the move to a killer time slot.

Wasn't Bruce Willis going to be leaving soon anyway?

Dynasty by all rights probably should have ended around 1987 - I'm glad they at least got to go out on a decent final year. 

7 hours ago, Khan said:

TBH, I related more to "Roseanne" than I did to TCS.  Not that I didn't love seeing the Huxtables on my TV screen every Thursday night, but I felt "Roseanne" better reflected the realities that families across America were experiencing at that time.

I watched both, and enjoyed both, but what I appreciated in the early seasons of Roseanne was that even when the kids were brats, you could believe Dan and Roseanne loved them. I rarely felt like Cliff and Claire weren't just vaguely irritated with their children.

12 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Dynasty by all rights probably should have ended around 1987 - I'm glad they at least got to go out on a decent final year. 

That was pretty much all thanks to Stephanie Beacham's Sable. She breathed new life into the show, and was a much better (and funnier) adversary for Alexis than Krystle ever was.

I don't think a Sable-Alexis rivalry could have driven the show as long as Krystle-Alexis did though. They were too much alike.

Edited October 31Oct 31 by I Am A Swede

10 hours ago, I Am A Swede said:

That was pretty much all thanks to Stephanie Beacham's Sable. She breathed new life into the show, and was a much better (and funnier) adversary for Alexis than Krystle ever was.

I don't think a Sable-Alexis rivalry could have driven the show as long as Krystle-Alexis did though. They were too much alike.

Krystle was such a shell by the end of the show, Sable did add more interesting sides to Alexis (and even to Blake).

That and Fallon finally getting a personality again helped.

23 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Wasn't Bruce Willis going to be leaving soon anyway?

That seems possible, considering Bruce Willis movie career was taking off thanks to Die Hard.

There had been so many BTS dramas with Moonlighting that lead to a lack of new episodes and consequently falling ratings that ABC jettisoned it to Sunday to wither away.

Oct 27-Nov 3

Due to the strike, new shows were debuting week by week. There were still repeats and specials scheduled to fill up timeslots.

Mon

NBC swept the night with Little House #8/Father Damian#18

CBS premiered Flo #28/Ladies Man#25/ MASH #13/WKRP were repeats but Lou Grant was new.

ABC That's Incredible #19/NFL Football #19

Tues

Presidential Debates aired on all 3 networks 9.30-11

ABC Stuntmen #15/ Three's Company#9

CBS TV Movie Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women

NBC Lucy special #19 This got better ratings than the first time it was shown the previous year

Wed

CBS Bugs Bunny/Raggedy Ann rpts/Jayne Mansfield #6

NBC Real People #15/The Omen #50

ABC Eight is Enough 90 min premiere#12/ Soap 90 min retrospective #25

Thurs 

CBS  White Shadow new episode/Rape &Marriage #11

ABC Halloween Specials/Barney Miller season premiere/It's A Living premiere/ 20/20

NBC Games People Play/Omen 2

Fri

CBS Dukes of Hazzaed rpt Dallas double episode rpt #9

ABC Benson season premiere/I'm A Big Girl premiere/Boxing

NBC Legend of Sleepy Hollow#48 /Hostages#52

Sat

ABC Love Boat 2hr #3/Fantasy Island #13

CBS WKRP season premiere/Tim Conway #49/The Return of Cannon 

NBC Bob Hope /Smothers Brothers #51

Sun

CBS 60 minutes #1/Archie Bunker 1hr premiere #7/Alice season premiere #4/Jeffersons season premiere #5/Body Human #17

NBC Disney 2hr Apple Dumpling Gang rpt/The Gauntlet #2

ABC Amazing Animals/A Star is Born

Edited November 7Nov 7 by Paul Raven