Jump to content

Ratings From the 90's


Recommended Posts

  • Members

Only NBC ever tried to debut a 60 min soap and each of the 4 attempts failed.

However, launching a 30 min show was no guarantee of success either see Loving, Pt Charles, The City , Generations etc

Only B&B survived.

The whole premise of Texas was flawed. The setting gave it a poor man's Dallas feel and anyone tempted to watch would be major dissapointed if they were expecting any of the flavor of Dallas.

Taking away Iris from an already flailing AW and then changing the character was also a bad move for both shows.

Seeing how the Corringtons were New Orleans based and had already incorporated that flavor into SFT, why not launch a new 30 min soap 'Orleans' based there?

 

Edited by Paul Raven
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 887
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

I think it gives us insight into how these execs minds worked at that time, in that place. We now know from the Beverlee McKinsey Canadian "City Lights" interview that TPTB decided that they wanted to spin-off the character of Iris to a new soap. They did not even discuss this with McKinsey until they were very very very far along in development. That seems hard to believe but that was the way it happened. They inadvertently gave her much more negotiating power than she would have had in usual negotiations. By the time they brought her into the loop they HAD to have her do this thing. And, in the meantime they had also conceived of trying to take advantage of the popularity of DALLAS. And that in a nutshell is how TEXAS came to be. 

AW would have been better off with Iris at home there. Vivien, too. 

McKinsey would have been better off with Iris still on AW

The brand new writers for TEXAS were hired & had nothing to do so they put them to work writing for AW for awhile. However, it does not seem that very much was learned about who Iris was & what she was like. 

Please register in order to view this content

 

Edited by Donna L. Bridges
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I agree.  Even a brand-new, thirty-minute soap can be a crap shoot.  I'd argue, however, that many of the later ones failed for very specific reasons.

LOVING failed, for instance, because it never had a strong enough identity or theme.

TC failed, because, even though it had MORE of an identity than LOVING, it still was a spin-off of a failed soap opera, and it didn't have a strong story to help launch it either.  (Morgan Fairchild and her boots arriving by helicopter is a great scene, but it's not a story.)

Both CAPITOL and GENERATIONS were well-structured, but their executions were all wrong.  Neither had good writing when they started.  (CAPITOL, however, did get better as time went on.  GENERATIONS, on the other hand, never got the chance.)

And PC, IMO, never got out from under GH's shadow, which is ironic, because it probably was more hospital-centric than GH had been in years.  Even when it became DARK SHADOWS: THE NEW BREED, it still felt to me like GH2.

B&B, on the other hand, survived, not just because of Bill Bell's skills as a storyteller, but also because it had a real, discernible theme: a family drama set against the backdrop of the fashion industry in L.A.*  B&B experienced some growing pains, of course, but I think you could see the potential from the start.  (Potential that, I'm sad to say, Bradley has squandered.)

You can blame NBC Daytime for TEXAS being an inferior version of DALLAS.  The Corringtons and Paul Rauch's original concept was for a soap set in the antebellum South, but NBCD wanted something that was more in line with DALLAS, which had become a massive hit.  Personally, I think the Corrington's original idea sounds intriguing, but I don't know how sustainable it'd have been as an ongoing, daily serial.

 

(*I think it would've made more sense to set it in NYC, the home of "Fashion Week," but whatever.)

Edited by Khan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

FWIW, I have it in notes that she began as HW in 1990 & cont'd through 1994. Of course it could be a discrepancy over nothing more than script dates & air dates. If the holiday show's credits show Pam Long, that was written in November, likely. Just a thought. 

Wendy Riche's concept was literally to begin & end the day with the hospital. She was having breakfast with Pat Fili Krushel & suggested either bookending or bracketing (I forget which word) with the hospital's West Wing full of interns. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Y&R December 12, 1990 Heather Tom debut.

Other big events on Y&R: Nikki begins mixing painkillers and alcohol. Lauren prepares to divorce Scott. Cassandra tricks Brad into marriage.

Y&R December 24, 1990 was rebroadcast on December 25, 2000.

What to watch for in 1991

Generations ends.

Big changes at Guiding Light: HW change from Pamela Long to Nancy Curlee, a slight cast purge, EP change from Robert Calhoun to JFP, the first Friend of Jill incident.

Deidre Hall returns to Days.

Gloria Monty returns to General Hospital.

Edited by kalbir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Ha! People have scoffed at me for saying she wastes no time, hits the ground running & does something to put her mark on the place on whatever she considers her first workday! The lady knows what she's doing putting the fear of god in folks upfront. Later on, she can, and does, show a human side. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

She was actually already back. Until I saw the Classic Soap Opera Digest News Tumblr, I didn't know this, but Gloria's first day was Monday, Dec. 3, 1990.

That being said, we can think of February 1991 as the launch of the "new" era, with the introduction of the Eckerts and some of the largest activity of the first wave of cast departures.

Edited by Franko
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 1/7/91-1/11/91 & 1/14/91-1/18/91:

Please register in order to view this content

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 1/21/91-1/25/91 & 1/28/91-2/1/91:

 

Due to the war, only 71 affiliates aired the full final episode of Generations.

Edited by JAS0N47
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