Jump to content

1980s Trends


kalbir

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Ironically, I was going to write that I missed the huge wedding episodes of the 1980s. A trend that was clearly influenced by the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana.  Then, I read an interview with Judy Evans where she detailed the torment that actresses went through to film those episodes.  Unlike a real wedding which last 5–6 hours, soap brides had to wear their costumes for anywhere from 12 hours to three weeks.  So, they trudged around in heavy headpieces, corsets, and complex hairdos, unable to use the loo, eat, and sometimes sit!

I'll think about that the next I moan about characters getting married in their living rooms.

Edited by j swift
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 78
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

There has to be a happy medium between the living room and a mockup of Winchester Cathedral, though.

Thanks, @Soaplovers, for clueing me in about female serial killers.  I really had no idea.

Edited by Khan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Back from the Dead /Presumed Dead took hold in the 80's.

It had been used previously eg SFT Sam Reynolds, GL Bill Bauer but became more commomplace in the 80's and the 90's.

Days used it with Roman coming back as John Black, and Stefano ,AW with Steve Frame/Edward Black, GH with Luke ,ATWT with James Stenbeck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Members

Primetime episodes and anniversary celebrations.

Both Capitol and Loving debuted with primetime episodes.

Apart from a one off Return to Peyton Place episode in 1973, soaps had never made it to primetime before.

I wonder why ABC didn't show Luke and Laura's wedding in primetime? Maybe a BTS special dealing with Elizabeth Taylor's appearance , Luke and Laura's  romance , the wedding ceremony etc.

ABC were always at the forefront of promoting their soaps and this would have been a no brainer.

During the 80's we had ATWT 30 th, SFT's 35th, GL's primetime 40th, AW 25th. That was the first time anniversaries were recognized on air .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

A big trend in the 80's were lavish dinner parties. Anytime a character was planning a party, you knew something was going to go down. Like a huge confrontation, a shooting, a murder, falling down the stairs, getting thrown through a plate glass window etc...then again that often happened on Hart to Hart too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Comings and goings were way more frequent in the 80's.

The one hour format was part of that, but if you look at the 70's some shows might have 3/4 new characters in a year . By the 80's they were many more contract players and short term characters used for a particular story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I apologize if this has been mentioned already, but one trend you definitely see (or hear) occurring throughout the '80's was the switch to synthesized music.  Practically overnight, it seemed as if most soaps suddenly began sounding like "Miami Vice" and "The Equalizer."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Death was more common in the 80's-murder or otherwise. 

There were more murders with the greater emphasis on crime stories and deaths overall were more common, so a character dying wasn't such a big thing anymore.

Also in the 80's there was a more light hearted tone to most shows. The introduction of characters like Calliope (Days) Leanna (Y&R)  was part of it, but overall things seemed less somber.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • Members

a couple of others have come to mind

1. The movie being filmed in town. EON set the ball rolling with 'Mansion of the Damned' being filmed in Monticello in 79 and throughout the 80's we had 'The Moonlighter' filmed in Oakdale (ATWT) 'A View from The Bay' in Bay City (AW) and Blood Moon in Llanview (OLTL). Those stories never really went anywhere or changed much as well as not being very believable.

Were there any others?

2. Guest artists performing-an offshoot of the use of Top 40 music and guest appearances. GL used 'Wired for Sound' for several artists to appear eg B52's, Huey Lewis etc.

Roberta Flack/Crystal Gale on AW, Jermaine Jackson/Whitney Houston (ATWT) and so on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
  • Members

This was mentioned in another thread but I thought I'd add it here,

Main characters as police officers. 

Apart from EON, this was not athing till the 80's.

We had Roman/Abe (Days), Margo (ATWT) Brian (SFT) Rusty (GL) Larry/MJ (AW) etc

A reflection of the new focus on crime

And fashion/beauty/modelling

Barbara (ATWT) Erica (AMC) Anna/Calliope (Days) Nicole (AW) Jabot (Y&R)

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

    • Ooh even the 1972! Nice!

      Please register in order to view this content

        I am fascinated how the ratings would see-saw each week... The soaps would gain and lose viewers so much, as opposed to the later years when they were much more stagnant and if they lost viewers, they would hardly get them back.
    • Y&R 1976 Pt 9 Learning that Kay is taking Ralph’s rejection very badly, Bill goes to visit her. Without regard to his condition (Bill has emphysema and only one, a damaged lung) she smokes in his presence, causing him to collapse. She administers oxygen and calls for help but now feels terribly guilty. Bill, knowing there isn’t much time left, asks Snapper not to hospitalize him until the very end and considers smoking a cigarette, which would solve the problem quickly and inexpensively for the family. Liz is furious to learn that he’s considered  this—it would be tampering” with God’s will. Kay is still feeling so guilty, she refuses to attend Bill’s birthday party but sends a two-hundred-dollar check, saying she’s cutting down on her cigarette and liquor consumption this month for him. Liz is reassured when Kay tells her that Snapper’s being on staff at the hospital will mean no hospital bills for Bill, But  Kay is unaware that this medical courtesy extends to Doctor's wives and children only. Chris feels Snapper is being overly pessimistic about his father’s condition until she notices that Bill is becoming confused about people and time. Greg insists Snapper’s wrong, as Bill is always better by evening. But when Snapper becomes firm about hospitalizing his father, Bill, objecting, collapses and has to be taken in now. Liz and Greg refuse to face the fact that Bill won’t be coming home this time. Learning from Brock that. Snapper’s hospital affiliation won’t cover Bill’s astronomically mounting bills, Kay responds to Brock’s suggestion that she cover the costs by insisting that Jill will have to come and ask. When she does, Kay informs Jill she may have the  money if she signs an affidavit stating that her child is not Phillip’s. Bitterly, knowing she has to do it for her family, Jill writes out the affidavit Kay dates and signs it, taking the check Kay has prepared. Brock praises his mother for her generosity until he  notices Jill’s signed declaration; then he tells his mother she will never know peace of mind through a lie. Snapper lets his father sign a right-to-die statement for his own peace of mind, but informs the family privately that it’s not legally binding. | Jack gives Peggy a ring, saying she saying she can put it on when she’s ready. Peggy starts to think about the things Brock has told her about still being the same person no matter what Ron did, and decides she loves Jack enough to want to marry him. When Joanne sees Peggy displaying Jack’s ring, she’s hurt that he couldn’t even wait one more day until their divorce becomes final and starts eating out of frustration. When Jack tries to make her see reason, she throws him out. But Peggy goes to her and comes down hard on her, finally getting through to her who she’s hurting by this, and Joanne throws all the junk food out.  Stuart, believing Leslie’s story that Brad’s mother is sick and they are with her, calls Mrs. Elliot and finds out they’ve never been there. Laurie tells Leslie this so she can put her parents’ minds at rest. She finally tells them she has been staying with Laurie, as Brad’s asked for a divorce, but she’s not sure she’s going to file for one. Stuart confronts Brad with the idea of talking some sense into him but comes away unaware of Brad’s blindness, due to a brilliant performance by Brad, and sure his daughter is well rid of him.  Vanessa takes delight in upsetting Laurie by telling her she’s second choice with Lance, that Leslie would be his first choice if she were available. When Laurie retaliates by informing Vanessa that she and Lance will be married within two weeks, Vanessa hires a private investigator to check Laurie out. Laurie now feels she must be married to Lance before he finds out Leslie’s marriage is breaking up, and begs Brad to hold off the divorce until she has accomplished this. But when Leslie herself tells Lance of her marital situation, Laurie finds herself suspiciously examining Lance’s reactions to Leslie at every turn.
    • GH 1976 Pt 6 Cam’s death has raised specters in Diana’s mind, fears that she will now lose Peter to the grieving young widow. Wisely, she confides her fears to Peter, who assures her he loves her. But Diana’s real peace of mind comes when Leslie calls her to her hospital room and explains that any romance between Peter and herself was an ugly creation of Cam’s evil mind, an attempt to destroy Peter’s career in Port Charles. Diana understands and can accept Peter’s assurances now. Rick suggests Steve call in Dr. Mark Dante as a consultant on his case, as Rick was very impressed with Mark’s neurological skill in Africa. Marriner is very upset at this, as he and Mark have been enemies since Mark’s internship. Mark arrives at General Hospital and soon reports that Steve’s bone fragment could be approached by using an antro-lateral incision. When Marriner runs into Mark in the hospital, he bitterly reminds him that he’s nothing but an ex-con who managed to get a parole-board member, Judge Lowell, to back him. Dante is married to Judge Lowell’s daughter Mary Ellen, who has been in a sanitarium for the past two years and refuses to speak to him. He assures Marriner that he’s paid the judge back. When Steve insists on the surgery, Marriner refuses to take the risk, so Mark will perform the operation. Rick will first-assist and Jeff will. second-assist. The procedure is long and involved, with many complications requiring additional time and attention, but the team work well, and Steve survives. The outlook is  good, Steve is soon on the road to recovery, and Audrey, as his physiotherapist taskmaster, presses him to rapid strides on his road back to mobility. Dr. Marriner, feeling that his position has been irreparably damaged by Mark’s overriding his medical decision in Steve’s case, resigns, and Steve offers the post to Mark. Mark tells Steve he has to know about his past before he can be sure he wants an ex-con on the staff, and explains that he killed a man when he was seventeen, beating to death the man who had killed his father. Mark, a Golden Gloves boxing champion, was found guilty of using lethal weapons. Steve assures him that this makes no difference and presses Mark to accept. Dr. Rex Pearson decides that after five years of widowhood, Terri has been deprived of a man in her bed long enough, and takes it upon himself to correct that situation. He remains in the club after closing and surprises her with an attempt to force himself upon her. But Rick drops by to take his sister home and beats Pearson badly. Determined to settle the score, Pearson learns that Monica never reported a previous injury on her young patient who died. Since this old injury caused the embolism that killed him, Pearson suggests to the boy’s mother, Mrs. Galvin, that Dr.Rick Webber covered for her and she should consider a malpractice suit against both of them. Steve informs Rick and Monica that such a suit has been instituted, and Monica panics, telling Rick that their relationship will be revealed. He tells her their love will die, if she’ll only let it. But Jeff, eager to help his wife, learns that Mrs. Galvin herself prevented Joey from being treated for the original injury, and the suit is dropped. With his father-in-law’s approval, Mark accepts the Chief of Neurosurgery post and, at Terri’s suggestion, has Mary Ellen moved to a sanitarium in Port Charles. She begins to respond to the new therapy, directed at her artistic talent, and will now speak to him. While Mark and Mary Ellen were driving—he was behind the wheel—they had an argument over her wish that he enter private practice, and there was an auto accident, which resulted in Mary Ellen miscarrying. Terri is glad that Mary Ellen is responding, but realizes she is falling in love with Mark herself and tries to avoid him. But when she’s asked to be Mary Ellen’s contact with the outside world, Terri finds she can’t refuse. Since Diana’s hysterectomy after Martha’s birth prevents them from having children, Peter and Diana investigate the possibility of adoption. Learning that it could easily take years, they follow a fellow doctor’s suggestion of a Switzerland adoption, and an infant is found for them. They eagerly leave for Switzerland, but their hopes are crushed when the teenage mother, the daughter of a banker, decides after holding her baby that she wants to keep him. Upon their return, the Taylors find that Heather has been caring for Tommy during a family crisis of Audrey’s, and Martha likes having the attention of an older child. With this in mind, they return to the adoption agency to inquire about an older child. During the Taylors’ absence Heather’s ex-husband, Larry Joe, shows up and tells her he wants her back. Heather, whose sights are set on Jeff Webber, refuses, and nixes his consolation suggestion that she steal from the clinic’s drug supplies to finance a business for him. But Larry Joe steals Monica’s purse, and Heather finds it. Getting rid of him by promising not to turn him in, Heather finds the letter Rick sent Monica before he left for Africa, Heather returns Monica’s purse without the letter, which she slips into Jeff’s hospital mailbox.
    • Why did Ari call the Brady Pub one of her family’s favorite places when literally it’s her family’s establishment. Her great grandpa Roman literally runs it.    Also it’s a little creepy that D3 is only interested in high school chicks when I’m sure he’s in his 20’s at this point, at least legal age. Javi’s nipples could’ve cut glass when he got back to the Hernandez home. I liked all of John’s grand and great grands learning of the news in this episode as their stories were going on. Would’ve liked to actually see the scenes with them by John’s bedside.
    • Steve Burton     pg. 400 Marriages:     Michelle Lundstrum        5/17/2025 - Present David Purdham     pg. 134 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW  "The Informant"    October 1985   Jason Culp   pg. 53 GENERAL HOSPITAL    (The Real) Julian Jerrome    2/24/1988 - 3/16/1990 DAYS OF OUR LIVES           Jerry Pulaski                  1/9/1989 - 6/29/1989 ANOTHER WORLD                    Tony Carlino          3/29/1996 - 9/23/1996 Deke Anderson    pg. 74 GENERAL HOSPITAL    Bandaged Duke Lavery (actually Jonathon Paget)    December 1989 DAYS OF OUR LIVES         Eddie Reed        2/17/1989 - 4/18/1989 Christine Jones    pg. 17 GENERAL HOSPITAL    Tracy Anjelica Quartermaine Ashton Williams Hornsby Soleito Spencer Zacchara Spencer Spencer (temporary)   November - December 1989   Bernard Grant     pg. 230 ONE LIFE TO LIVE           Steve Burke          December 16, 1970 - 1975   Luke Reilly     pg. 353     ONE LIFE TO LIVE        Richard Abbott         ????  1977 - July 1977 TEXAS                      Roger Benton       2/9/1982 - 3/12/1982 ANOTHER WORLD        Ted Bancroft    9/19/1983 - 2/3/1984 Christine Ebersole       pg. 33 TEXAS      Unknown Role        1981  ONE LIFE TO LIVE      Unknown Role    1982 Tom Arnold     pg.  410 THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL     Captain Deuce  Stevens   July 2024; September 2024; 5/26/2025   Linda Cook        pg. 11 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW    Young Allison Kendall -- may have been Estelle  (FB)   1983 Scott Evans II   (Access Hollywood)   pg. 400 GENERAL HOSPITAL     Scott the Reporter on the Red Carpet   May 2025   Casey Moss    pg. 410 DAYS OF OUR LIVES       Officer Jack "J. J." Devereaux    5/6/2013 - 2/18/2020; 11/5/2020 - 11/27/2020; 6/29/2022 - 7/18/2022; 10/17/2024 -  Marriage --    True O'Brien    5/25/2025   Mary Ellen Stuart    pg. 61 GUIDING LIGHT    Lujack's Groupie    Summer 1985   Walt Willey   pg. 134 GUIDING LIGHT      I. N. S. Agent Brian Healey     Summer 1985   Maria Howell      pg. 444 BEYOND THE GATES      Tracy Tyler --   the Articulette   May 19, 2025 - Present   Anita Sharma    pg. 441 BEYOND THE GATES      Nurse Interviewed by Andre   4/4/2025; 4/9/2025;  5/22/2025 Joshua Jackson     pg. 444 Music Video PLACEBO: AN EYE FOR AN EYE        1999 Richard Rust     pg. 444  

      Please register in order to view this content

        Nancy Pinkerton      pg. 11 GUIDING LIGHT   I. N. S.  Agent Helen Kennedy         Summer 1985       Photos thanks to Victoria Foxton   --    added to Pinkerton's profile.   Kenneth Johnson       pg.  246 SWAT     Dominique Luca       2017- 24 THE MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN    Charlie    2023 - 24 FBI INTERNATIONAL     Dean Bartlett     2025   Up tomorrow: New --                   Robert Westenberg                Rodrigo Varandas                Ashley Caple                Jeffery Thomas Johnson                Brent Spiner                Laura Pillman Updated Profiles --                 True O'Brien                 Fredericka Meek                 In Memorium: Taina Elg Research is set, just typing  to do in the a.m.
    • So I couldn’t resist and skipped ahead to Monday of this week. Just wow. One of the best most emotional episodes I’ve ever seen of Days. All of the actors truly brought it.    Marlena in the chapel is what almost broke me. Also loved the slow cinematography going around the candles. When the show tries, even with budget constraints it can still look interesting. I wish the show did have some sort of filter though to counterbalance the HD cameras used now. Xander being a villain again works perfectly for me. Loved those scenes with him vs Maggie who has always given Xander a million passes. Paul talking about the other kids and then the flashback to pride

      Please register in order to view this content

      .    Honestly I loved allll of the flashbacks used for Monday. Even the Devil storyline was referenced but actually seriously. Days proved on Monday what an absolutely underrated cast they have. John’s wishes were to fight
    • Frances Fisher said on The Locher Room interview that she really did not remember her time on GL since it was so short (she was talking more about Edge of Night)-but she did mention that she went out with Vincent (Lujack!).  I think he also dated Kristi Ferrell (Roxie) around this time as well
    • @chrisml Thanks for all these articles you share.Always pick up some interesting tidbits.
    • I’d watch the episode where Xander beats ups Philip and go from there. There’s probably been one or two dull episodes but the rest have been well written and put together, especially the Xander and Sarah showdown. 
    • The good thing about those ATWT openings is that they rotated the characters. The flaw in the Hold on to Love opening is that it was so stagnant, and rarely if ever changed. That ATWT version had at least three different versions, and sometimes you got the opening, sometimes you got the clean up spot, and sometimes you got the short dot-dot-dot spots.  Ugh..the hands opening was about 2007 and was the actors putting their hands in a circle (I was waiting for them to yell "go team!") as a poem was recited. It looks like fifth grade media students came up with it. See---no one wants you to forget Vanessa's a Chamberlain. It was so embedded in the character, it never quite sounded right to leave out her maiden name. And if she wasn't reminding people she was a Chamberlain and not to be trifled with, other characters would throw it out there. Once (and I think it's during the Slut of Springfield debacle) Alex says something like "poor Vanessa--she's still a Chamberlain at heart after all".  Although I can't recall her ever being credited as Vanessa Chamberlain Lewis. And thank God we never had to contemplate "Vanessa Reade". I swear half the time that marriage fell through was that someone shivered at the thought at having ten characters a day say "Vanessa Reade". I'd have to check on if they used C. Blake Thorpe a lot.  I  Anyone would've been better than Calla.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy