Classic Primetime Miniseries - Trashy or Classy?

[Paul Raven]

Mini Series ratingd 80-81 season

1. Shogun 32.6/51

2. Masada 26.4/41

3. East of Eden 25.8/37

4. Murder in Texas 24.6/39

5. Beaulah Land 23.2/36

6. Evita Peron 20.5/31

7. Peter and Paul 18.8/29

8. Alcatraz 16.9/27

9. Pearl (R) 16.8/28

10. The Godfather Saga (R)

11. Star Maker 15.3/24

12. Rumor of War 15.2/26

13. Centennial (R) 15.0/26

14. The Sacketts (R) 15.0/23

15. Hanging by a Thread (R) 14.7/26

16. CBS Reports Defense of the United states 14.0/26

17. People v Jean Harris 11.7/19

18. Last Convertible (R) 11.7/22

19. Beggarman Thief (R) 7.4/16

20. Roots the Next Generation (R) 7.0/15

The 80/91 season was affected by a strike which delayed production, so some of these mini series were scheduled to provide new content early in the season, or like Centennial, repeated to fill in timeslots, maybe not originally intended for airing at that particular time.

Murder in Texas established Farrah Fawcett as a dramatic actress and lead to more challenging roles for her.

Edited July 2, 2024 by Paul Raven

[Paul Raven]

1981-82 Season Mini series Ratings

Nothing spectacular in content or ratings that season. I think only Marco, Manions and Valley of the Dolls were 6 hrs. The rest of the new content were 2 part 4 hr series.

1. World War 111 (NBC) 21.5/33

2. Marco Polo (NBC) 21.3/36

3. Valley of the Dolls (CBS) 20.7/32

4. Family Reunion (NBC) 20.0/30

5. Inside the Third Reich (ABC) 19.5/32

6. The Best Place to Be (R) (NBC) 18.9/31

7. Manions of America (ABC) 16.6/29

8. The Rules of Marriage (ABC) 14.6/24

9. From Here to Eternity (R) (NBC) 14.1/23

10. East of Eden (R) (ABC) 13.9/34

11. Moviola (R) (NBC) 11.9/20

12. Blind Ambition (R) (ABC) 11.2/21

13. Sophisticated Gents (R) (NBC) 11.1/19

14. Freedom Road (R) (NBC) 8.1/15

[DRW50]

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[Khan]

The only thing missing from that vaguely cable porn-ish promo is Jack Armstrong playing volleyball in a tight, white Speedo.

[DRW50]

That might have actually made me watch.

William Atherton (who I think was in that briefly) has such an odd history. 

[j swift]

https://deadline.com/2025/02/channel-4-a-woman-of-substance-remake-the-rachel-incident-undeclared-war-season-2-1236285460/

They're remaking a Woman of Substance.  I was never a Barbara Taylor Bradford fan, I preferred Judith Krantz when it came to trashy fiction.  But, is the original worth a watch?  How about the other two TV movies in the series?

[I Am A Swede]

Yes, the original is worth a watch, as is the first sequel "Hold the dream". But the third one should be avoided at all costs. It changes far too much from the novel, and Lindsay Wagner is a bad replacement for Jenny Seagrove as Paula. (Jenny played both Emma in the original and granddaughter Paula in the sequel)

[Paul Raven]

During the mini series heyday the networks announced various projects that never made it to air

NBC

79 Park Avenue Book 2 follow  up to the original. Fred Silverman dropped it when he arrived at NBC in 78. Deemed it too trashy for the higher tone he was looking at for the network.

The Glory and the Lightening 6 hrs based on a Taylor Caldwell novel

[Khan]

Fred Silverman arrived at NBC looking for higher tone, and then settled for this:

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Edited February 21 by Khan

[DRW50]

I still have no idea who most of those people are...

I wonder if Silverman was just saying that to get out of a project that wasn't his idea. 

[Khan]

Basically, they were people who weren't good enough to be on "The Love Boat" (...and the original Sky Masterson).

[Contessa Donatella]

President of Daytime Programming, Fred Silverman, 1978-1982.

He was the man behind the 90-minute “Another World” fiasco. Before NBC he was a huge success at ABC & CBS. His time at NBC was mostly a disappointment. Johnny Carson joked that NBC now stood for Nine Bombs Cancelled because things were so bad.

Many high profile & expensive failures. For example, SUPERTRAIN was the most expensive TV show ever produced up to that point & it was a high-profile failure. Other flops include HELLO, LARRY, THE BIG SHOW, and PINK LADY.

However, they did launch HILL STREET BLUES, SHOGUN, DAVID LETTERMAN, CHEERS, ST. ELSEWHERE & FACTS OF LIFE. He revitalized NBC’s news which yielded TODAY and NIGHTLY NEWS.

He put together a corporate team & those people stayed in place when Silverman left to start his own production company. One of them was Brandon Tartikoff who later took NBC to be #1. He restored the peacock to the NBC logo, and it remained in that configuration until 1986.

Just barely topical. 

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Edited February 22 by Contessa Donatella

[Paul Raven]

Jan 79

Universal announced some mini series in the works

CBS Mayer and Thalberg based on a 1975 book by Samuel Marx 6hrs did not go ahead

ABC The Antagonists based on a 1971 novel by Enest Mann- that was retitled  Masada.

NBC Ivanhoe 4 hrs did not go ahead

[DRW50]

 

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Do any of you who know more about these old miniseries than me know what the "production problems" on Deceptions were?

[Franko]

I could be wrong, @DRW50, but I think Barry just means the challenge of playing two roles.