1 hour ago, EONGLOLTL said:

They are books by Tom Lisanti.  You can find his books on Amazon.  Hope you enjoy!

Thanks so much!

Another report from the Jan 89 affiliate meeting where NBC  addresses it's daytime woes and plans to remedy the situation.

New daytime drama, talk and magazine shows on NBC's horizon

In a meeting with representatives of affiliated stations, NBC executives pushed the network's upcoming Generations serial drama and spoke extensively about other programming in 1989. Among the announcements were that the network plans a March test of a daytime talk show starring Rona Barrett, and that it is developing, for a summer debut, a magazine show to be supervised by the news division that would probably include "dramatic re-creations."

Additionally, NBC -TV Network President Pier Mapes reviewed the network's continued strong ratings performance, but he balanced his positive appraisal against inroads made by broadcast and cable competitors into the three major networks' share. Mapes also announced what he said would be a first step in improved communications between the network and its affiliates, the videocassette distribution of a speech made by NBC President Bob Wright.

Generations, the half hour daytime drama debuting March 27, was the major subject of programming at the meeting. Mapes, who started the meeting with a warning that competitors to the three major networks "are nibbling away at us," told the affiliates: "We have to have clearances on Generations."

Vice president, daytime programs, Brian Frons presented the show, which features black and white "core" families, as a way for the network to gain a bigger black audience in daytime, which he said represents a disproportionately large segment of that daypart's audience. If NBC had "parity" with the other networks in black audience, he said, NBC would win the daytime daypart. If Generations performs well, Frons said, it is possible the show will be expanded from its half hour length (double fed at noon and 12:30 pm) to one hour.

However, he said, NBC has no "foreseeable" plans to recapture the half hour in daytime that affiliates are scheduled to gain when the program premieres. To help launch the show, Frons said, NBC has budgeted $1 million for print promotion. To promote the show at NATPE, the show's creator, Sally Sussman, made an appearance, along with four of the show's stars.

Another daytime show appearing in March will be a test run of a half -hour strip featuring Rona Barrett chatting with three guests a day over a morning meal at her home. Scheduled to preempt Sale of the Century for the weeks of March 6 and March 13, the show will be brought back in the third quarter of 1989. if successful, Frons said.

In another move to improve NBC's daytime performance, Frons said the company is adding $1 million to the annual casting budget of Santa Barbara.

Re: Scruples.  I find it ironic that Susan Flannery almost played a very "Brooke Logan"-type character with Scruples.

Edited November 4, 2025Nov 4 by Spoon

It seems like Santa Barbara would have been more compatible with Days than AW. You'd think they'd try it at some point as both shows struggled.

But AW at 3pm might not have gone over well with the affiliates leading into local 4pm programming.

I think it's demos may have been worse than SB.

And AW ratings would have slid with no guarantees SB would do any better at 2pm.

Agree about the demos. AW seemed like a Dead man walking, its a wonder they didn't try to get a younger, "hipper" west coast-based replacement.

Plus I guess SB's high production costs for low-ish ratings are what did the show in. Poaching "ringers" from other shows. I read that Rauch said hd could slash the budget, if renewed but NBC was ready to move on. Wasn't there once a rumor that P&G was interested in acquiring Santa Barbara?

Too bad SB didn't stick with the four core family premise-- my favorite soap formula is core family heavy. I guess the early months were kinda boring. The 80s suffered when the shows focused in on new random characters over growing or introducing core family units.

Here's a promo for NBC's new daytime line-up of game shows starting in January 1975. This is Lin Bolen's vision. Gone is Jeopardy and long gone is Concentration. The only winners from the promo are Wheel of Fortune (making its debut!) and Hollywood Squares. Celebrity Sweepstakes and High Rollers did have their moments though.

Edited April 26Apr 26 by Jdee43

Lin Bolen wanted to make the shows more hip. Jeopardy was regarded as old fashioned-I guess b/c it required some intelligence/general knowledge and not just trivia questions and luck.

And the hosts were dressed more casually eg open necked shorts and more modern attire in general.

Desert Sun June 5 1981

NBC hunting for daytime viewers

By TOM JOHY Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP)

With ratings on the tumble and affiliates threatening to jump ship, NBC canceled that bold experiment in daytime TV, “The David Letterman Show,” last Oct. 20, and began a steady climb toward respectability. NBC’s share of the audience has increased since ‘Letterman’ left the air from 16 percent of the folks watching TV during the day to 20 percent. ABC, in the meantime, has lost three points, from 31 percent of the audience to 28, while CBS’ share has dipped from 28 to 26. No one blames Letterman himself for NBC's near-disaster. The talented comic recently won an Emmy as outstanding host of a daytime variety series “Obviously, there’s been some sort of mixup,” Letterman quipped as he accepted the award and remains under contract to the network. “The pressure the stations put the network under was enormous," said Irv Wilson, an NBC vice president responsible for daytime programming “If we hadn’t canceled the show, the stations might have canceled out on us.”

It was the kind of headache NBC’s president, Fred Silverman, didn’t need. Silverman has had his hands full since taking the job in the summer of ’7B, trying to lift the network from the prime-time cellar. But that’s another story. “I think it was a terrific idea to do that kind of show,” Wilson said in reflection “I just don’t think Letterman’s appeal was to the morning audience. But you don’t know until you try.” NBC tossed a couple of new game shows, “Las Vegas Gambit” and “Blockbusters,” into the Letterman’ void, and the two have been at least moderately successful. In the meantime, Wilson and the people who work for him were determined to upgrade the remainder of the daytime schedule. “We hit a low point when Letterman’ was canceled,” Wilson said. “The two games that we put in there are sound, interesting programs and seem to be doing well. "We felt that the best thing the network could do was let the schedule settle in, then try to make the shows better improve the writing, improve the production.”

Among other things, NBC dumped Bill and Joyce Corrington as head writers for “Texas,” the daytime serial introduced with fanfare last August opposite the ABC supersoap, “General Hospital.” “Texas” recently has shown some sign of vitality, though “General Hospital” remains tops in the afternoon field with 37 percent of the audience in the 3-4 p m. slot to 15 percent for the NBC soap “Days of Our Lives,” 1-2 p.m., is NBC’s highest-rated afternoon show, with nearly a quarter of the audience in its time period. “I think what we have is better today,” Wilson said, “and I think the ratings show that the tactic is beginning to pay some dividends.” Now, with momentum clearly a factor, NBC will test something new, a program called “Wedding Day,” in which couples will exchange marriage vows and share other events like the bridal shower, bachelor party and reception with the TV audience. “Wedding Day” will be broadcast in the “Password Plus" timeslot, 11:30 a.m.-noon EDT, June 8-12. “I think the show plays exactly to the audience we are looking for,” Wilson said, “and it’s going to be an interesting trial.”