NBC Daytime

[Contessa Donatella]

With no access to the AW topic, I'm posting this here today. Feb. 3, 2019 was the day that Carmen Duncan died. How can 5 years have gone by?! 

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[Jdee43]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/08/03/the-soaps/168439d7-c212-4a7f-8151-d2408ff455fc/

The Soaps -- 'Texas': A New Soap Opera That Wants To Be The 'Dallas' of Daytime

By Joel Swerdlow

August 2, 1980 

 

THE WORLD will have to wait for the fall to discover who shot J.R. Ewing. But starting this week, viewers have another way to get deep in the turbulent heart of Texas.

Tomorrow afternoon at 3, "Texas," a new soap opera set in Houston, premieres on NBC. "It'll be the 'Dallas' of daytime," brags NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff.

"If it sounds like a daytime version of 'Dallas'," says Daytime TV magazine, "Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

And there's more to come: NBC's afternoon round-up is only the beginning of what looks like a network trail drive into the Lone Star State: Big-spending Texas couple Bo and Asa Buchanan were created for ABC's "One Life to Live" last January; more and more Texan characters appear on prime-time programs; and ABC is preparing the series called "Oil!" as a likely mid-season replacement for the fall.

Although "Texas" Executive Producer Paul Rauch denies the "Dallas" connection, his heart is deep in Dixie. "Back in 1978 I worked with two writers, one from Houston and the other from Shreveport on developing a daytime show called 'Reunion' about a girl who spent the Civil War in England and then returned home. It didn't get on the air, but last summer NBC asked if we would develop a contemporary show."

Many of the "Texas" characters are still undefined, but Rauch emphasizes that there will be "no archetypical villain" modeled after J.R. However, there will be "lust, sentiment and men and women bigger than life thrust into each other's lives," says Jason Bonderoff, editor of Daylight TV.

The new soap was created in one of the most elaborate spin-off plans in TV history.

Last May, fans of NBC's "Another World" (for which Rauch is also executive director) began to see new characters. Disillusioned by love, young Dennis Carrington moved from midwestern Bay City to Houston. His nasty mother, Iris, accompanied by her cranky maid Vivian, followed him. Iris loves to manipulate Dennis, her only son. And besides, she had become friendly with Reena Cooke, a former Texas belle married to Dr. Kevin Cooke. Reena got Kevin to move to Houston, and, of course, invited Iris. Last June, they jumped into a private jet, and since then half of "Another World" has transpired in Houston.

The best is yet to come: In her youth, Iris had a love affair with Alex Wheeler, now head of Houston-based World Oil (and more powerful than the entire Ewing family put together). Alex never married because for a quarter century he's nursed a love for Iris. The two meet again in Houston and flames flicker, but then Iris finds out about Vicki, with whom Alex has been having an affair for 15 years. In the last episode of "Another World," broadcast last Friday, Iris boarded a plan and flew away from Houston and Alex forever.

But Alex, like J.R. before him, likes to call the shots. Tomorrow, in the first "Texas" episode, he has Iris' plane called back, hustles her into a chauffeured limousine, and holds her captive on his luxurious yacht.

Viewers fearing for the safety and virtue of Iris must stay tuned.

Despite its close clone-like similarity to super-hit "Dallas," the new soap faces a tough challenge. "Another World" has attempted two previous spinoffs -- "Somerset" and "Lovers & Friends" -- both of which failed. "Lovers and Friends" eventually became "For Richer, For Poorer," which disappeared several years ago, and was NBC's last attempt at innovation in the field.

Nonetheless, conditions may be favorable for a new daytime drama. Nielsen figures show a slight increase in the audience for soaps, even though the percentage of women in the work force is also increasing. Experts believe the explanation lies in the new youth-oriented plots and sexuality injected into the shows, especially by ABC. "They've been the hottest network for over 10 years," says a broadcast executive. "They do the most and they set the trends."

One reason for ABC's lead is that Procter & Gamble -- virtually the only soap company still in the soap-opera business -- owns only one of four ABC shows. "P&G ownership makes a big difference," says Bonderoff. "They keep a close watch on their shows, and they're very conservative." A P&G "memorandum on broadcast policies," quoted by media historian Erik Barnouw, in "The Sponsors" says: "There will be no material that may give offense to any commercial organization of any sort."

But NBC daytime programming chief Linda Line says Texas would be a breakthrough program for P&G. "They are sensitive to trends in public taste." Line claims to feel under little constraint. "I would do anything that would work as a good story," she says.

The stakes are high because soaps generate extraordinary profits. Internal NBC documents obtained by Variety recently reveal that for 11 months spanning 1979 and 1980, the 90-minute "Another World" (which finished third in its time-slot) took in $230,000 per broadcast in net revenues, cost $71,000 per episode, and consequently earned a profit of $159,000 per broadcast. By comparison, "The Tonight Show" earned net revenues of $190,000 and a $131,000 profit per broadcast.

With such figures, it's not surprising that NBC President Fred Silverman showed up at a cowboy-style barbecue at Rockefeller Center last week to celebrate the start of "Texas."

Silverman served as the CBS daytime programmer from 1962 to 1970. "He had a poor record," says Bonderoff. "He decided that soaps weren't viable and replaced them with game shows" But "Fred is very close to this area and feels very excited about "Texas'," says NBC's Line. "He and I decided together to put it on the air." NBC's flashy, provocative promo ads for the new show have been running throughout the prime-time and daytime schedules. "It's the most ambitious campaign ever launched for the debut of a daytime program," says Line.

Ultimately, NBC need not worry about losing money. A recent Federal Communications Commission staff report -- based on examination of available network records spanning several decades -- concludes that " a daytime program series usually returns a profit from initial network exhibition, even if it is canceled after a brief run."

But NBC is after more than a profit. "We hope to set the standard for quality programming," says Line. "We want to say that characters can no longer sit around the coffee table and discuss their neighbors. We'll have more sophisticated plot devices and an upgraded production that will look like prime time."

Executive producer Rauch claims "Texas" "will revolutionize daytime television." He cites the extensive exterior shooting (soaps have been going outdoors more often since about 1978), the use of cinematic filters to achieve a softer look and brighter colors, and the full development of an identifiable city.

The other networks are sitting back in the saddle and waiting to see what happens before they, too, ride into Texas. "It's an interesting experiment. I'm glad to see it," says Jeanne Renick, CBS' east coast director for daytime programs. CBS, according to Renick, has no present plans for Texas-style spin-offs.

ABC's Jacqueline Smith says her network is working on "General Hospital," it will remain in the East. She is reserving judgement on "Texas": "All the scenery in the world won't help a show that doesn't have the necessary plot interest. Scenery is still scenery," she says.

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul Raven]

Texas didn't live up to the hype.

The comparisons with Dallas were a handicap. No 5 day a week serial could compete with a once a week primetime show, especially one that was a cultural phenomenon.

I don't recall location filming extending beyond the initial weeks. Despite what Rauch was claiming the lighting was harsh and unflattering.

Seriously, claiming to revolutionize daytime TV is setting you up for ridicule and failure.

I don't know why NBC took on another P&G show.

Better off developing something they could have greater control over.

And expecting Paul Rauch to oversee 2 shows, when one of them was already in the doldrums.

It would have been better all round to expand The Doctors, following the template ABC had used for GH.

[Contessa Donatella]

There is a topic dedicated to TEXAS. Are you planning to post this there, also? 

[GLATWT88]

On paper, Texas sounded perfect for the era. Why wouldn't you capitalize on the Dallas hysteria and bring that same energy into daytime. However, I'm not sure Texas was ever really all that much like Dallas (I didn't watch so I have no idea). What is true is that NBC fumbled the bag. I wonder what promotion was done to launch Texas and whether the soft launch through the AW expansion did more harm than good. It clearly left AW on life support for two decades.  

[TVFAN1144]

Wonder what would have happened if they expanded The Doctors and put it at 3 against GH and GL.  
 

If they followed the GH track The Doctors would not be any more medical than any other show and more action adventure 

[Contessa Donatella]

Yet it was NBC specifically who had them go toward DALLAS. Paul etc. were going to do a Southern thing before NBC said to do DALLAS. 

And you know Paul's ideas on lighting, colors, even wardrobe were always quite different. You could count on it, on AW, on Texas, on GL for sure, not sure about OLTL, we all hated what he bragged about! So odd for a Production oriented EP!!

And, of course, they did a test run of an hour show with THE DOCTORS, We will never know for sure why Lin Bolen did not pursue it. 

And, then, true to form, NBC only gave TEXAS 2 years & then typically they cut them off. 

[kalbir]

It bears repeating. NBC was a mess across the board in the early 1980s and NBC never really recovered in daytime despite supercouple Days, Santa Barbara Emmy/SOD awards run, and Reilly Days.

[Khan]

I agree.  At best, those eras were band-aids, camouflaging the fact that NBCD itself had been a mess since at least 1980, if not before.  If not for them and for the "Today" show, who knows where the network's daypart would be?

Edited February 11, 2024 by Khan

[Jdee43]

From the article, I thought it was silly for Rauch to make a point of saying that "there will be 'no archetypical villain' modeled after J.R." So they're doing Dallas, but taking out the most fun part? Were they aware of what made Dallas work?

The ABC network exec at the end of the article had Texas pegged right, all scenery but no interesting plot. And after a  few weeks, there wasn't even scenery. Texas ended up being shot mostly in a studio in Brooklyn.

Rauch's original idea of a soap set in the south, with a woman returning home after the Civil War, sounded much more interesting. I guess it would have been too controversial to modernize though. A woman returning to a southern city after all the upheavals of the 1960s I doubt would have gotten on the air. 

Interesting that NBC would allow Rauch to executive produce the new show, after failing badly with another AW spin-off a few years earlier, Lovers and Friends, which became For Richer, For Poorer. AW itself was not in very good creative shape either by 1980. But no doubt they were looking at the bottom line, $$$. I thought it was really interesting that AW was bringing in more profits per episode than the Tonight Show, $28,000 worth! Both were 90 minute shows in 1979-1980.

 

 

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

I found that more interesting myself, although I don't feel like I knew much about it. 

Circa 2013 Disney let Frank Valentini & Ron Carlivati take over GH soon after their last show, OLTL, was canned. I believe there is a long tradition in US Daytime in rehiring "failures". 

[robbwolff]

Texas did location shoots on occasion after the first few months. In 1981, there was an action sequence involving Ryan, Joe, Elena, and Peter Parnell at a zoo. In 1982, we saw Reena and Grant in Palm Springs and then the climax of the Hitopah adventure with Brette, Rikki, Joel, Gretchen, Mark, and Ruby.

[Paul Raven]

But that was pretty much what all soaps were doing by that stage. Otherwise Texas was strictly studio bound.

Back to The Doctors expanding, despite all the changes in writers the show still had a solid base of core characters. But the show always seemed to have a limited budget which I guess was down to colgate Palmolive as owners of the show. maybe they were resistant to going to 60 min because of the extra  cost?

And studio space seemed to be an issue as they would need double the space for extra sets etc .NY studios were limited and expensive so maybe they couldn't come to a resolution on a number of points.

Imagine a Ihr Doctors with an expanded cast, bigger hospital set a la GH and ablend of hospital drama and family/romance.

With a new young female doctor taking center stage(not dominating) Maybe Maggie's niece from her sister Nora?

So many possibilities.

 

[danfling]

If Procter and Gamble/NBC had not hired Paul Rauch to be the executive producer of Texas (a show which he was credited as having co-created), what producer would you have enjoyed as the executive producer of Texas?

[Contessa Donatella]

I don't see how NBC would have been involved in hiring any individuals for TEXAS. And since Paul Rauch & some others came up with the idea likely he was just naturally made the EP. But, if they'd wanted him to concentrate JUST on AW & have someone else EP the spin-off, was Gail Kobe producing yet or was she still an actress?