1 hour ago, soapfan770 said:

-Knots Landing two hour finale ending at #10 against repeat Cheers and LA Law. I wonder if Dallas’ finale the week before had given it a boost

I don't think so - ratingswise Knots was pretty stable during season 12. It was really season 13 that killed it. I think it ending up at #10 had more to do with major shows having reruns that week.

It just shows you how little room these soaps had to have a bad season.

1 hour ago, soapfan770 said:

-Knots Landing two hour finale ending at #10 against repeat Cheers and LA Law. I wonder if Dallas’ finale the week before had given it a boost?

Good question!

33 minutes ago, te. said:

I don't think so - ratingswise Knots was pretty stable during season 12. It was really season 13 that killed it. I think it ending up at #10 had more to do with major shows having reruns that week.

It just shows you how little room these soaps had to have a bad season.

@te. My bad my post didn’t upload my reply LOL but S12 was definitely stablized for the most part and had consistently still dipped into the Top #30. There’s two overall season rankings I have seen—Wiki and Primetime Encyclopedia mentions Knots came in at #35 while the TV Ratings Guide has Knots tied at #30th. Not sure which was correct.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by soapfan770

53 minutes ago, Khan said:

Good question!

 

That KL 2-hour finale on 5/9/91 built over the night from 11.6 to 12.6 to 13.0 to 13,9 to 15.3 to 15.7 to 16.0, although it did drop off a little in its last 15 minutes to 15.6.

 Dallas on 5/3/91 has these 15-minute ratings: 20.2, 21.4, 21,9, 22,5, 22.5, 22,1, 22,7, 22.5.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by JAS0N47

@Soapsuds @soapfan770

Week of May 12, 1991 was Murder, She Wrote season 7 finale, The Skinny According to Nick Culhane. This episode was the season low.

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

@Soapsuds @soapfan770

Week of May 12, 1991 was Murder, She Wrote season 7 finale, The Skinny According to Nick Culhane. This episode was the season low.

"Skinny" was also the last episode produced by series co-creator Peter S. Fischer, and featured the final appearance of Jerry Orbach as private eye Harry McGraw, too. In the next season, David Moessinger ("Quincy," "In the Heat of the Night") would take over as EP/Showrunner, Jessica Fletcher would relocate to NYC "part time" (initially, to teach criminology at Manhattan University, although that career appears to be phased out by the end of S8) and the show itself would rebound in the ratings, rising to #8 after a couple of seasons outside the Top 10, thanks in large part to the end of the "bookend episodes," and Universal revamping the show's production schedule to allow Angela Lansbury adequate time off while still appearing in every episode.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Khan

2 hours ago, JAS0N47 said:

 

That KL 2-hour finale on 5/9/91 built over the night from 11.6 to 12.6 to 13.0 to 13,9 to 15.3 to 15.7 to 16.0, although it did drop off a little in its last 15 minutes to 15.6.

That's...bizarre to me. True, Knots S12 was stable in the ratings, but the Lechowicks made some serious blunders that year (Val's "brain virus," a heavy-handed storyline about child abuse, Lance Guest's entire storyline) and the latter half of the season was very sloppy from a storytelling standpoint. And the season finale was so out of control - what, with Brian Johnston's sudden disappearance over some sex tape he'd made with Linda Fairgate (?) and the out-of-nowhere paint gun attack perpetrated on Karen just to give Michele Lee something to do (namely, a car chase) and a dramatic (and violent) cliffhanger to close the season out with.

Thanks, @JAS0N47 , for the stats!!

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Khan