Classic Primetime Miniseries - Trashy or Classy?

[Liberty City]

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[j swift]

I liked Poor Little Rich Girl (although not as much as Little Gloria.. Happy at Last). Even though zero attempts appear to have been made to help Farrah Fawcett look like Barbara Hutton.  Looking back, it is one of those stories that might have needed even more time than a mini series.  It was as if she marries and divorces Cary Grant between commercials.  But, if we're going for the trifecta, Susan Sarandon as Doris Duke in Bernard and Doris had the correct tone for this type of story.  A tortured heiress is not inherently sympathetic, so a little camp helps to humanize the main character. 

[DemetriKane]

One of best miniseries I definitely need to revisit this one.

Yes! Yes! What a moment in time, bring it back. 

Still one of her greatest performances. 

[j swift]

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I recall this miniseries, because the lead character played by Harry Hamlin was a vague representation of Dan Quayle, and it aired right before the election.  Hamlin plays a politician who ascends to power because of his good looks and provocative speeches (maybe only the first part was meant to invoke Quayle), but underneath he's a fascist.  In the promo above, they mention “the show some don't want you to see”, because the GOP objected to a prior ad that implied a direct connection between Hamln's character and Dan Quayle. 

I was just reading a Daily Mail story about Paul Hogan, and it made me question what ever happened to his ex-wife Linda Kozlowski.  She was tapped for stardom because she had a film noir quality about her, like a poor man's Sharon Stone.  But then quit the industry when the parts dried up.

Any way, today I learned it was written by Steve Sohmer, best known around here as the ex-husband of Deidre Hall (and rumored lover of Suzanne Rogers).  His wiki is a great read.  Including that, he was in charge of marketing and promotion for CBS during the Dallas period, so he was responsible for a lot of the promos that have been posted on that thread.  The New York Times also credits him with coming up with the line 'Who Shot JR?' for commercials and print ads. 

Edited March 23, 2024 by j swift

[BetterForgotten]

35 years ago this week ABC aired the Oprah Winfrey produced and starring miniseries ‘The Women of Brewster Place’ based on the novel of the same name by Gloria Naylor. It was a massive ratings success for ABC that year and arguably happened when Oprah was at the peak of her cultural popularity. 
 

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[j swift]

@BetterForgotten The soundtrack had such a hold on me.  I played it nonstop in my car for a year (maybe because the lyrics were so easy to memorize

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In hindsight, I realized that Jackee is a much better actress than Oprah in the series.  Perhaps because of her icon status, I feel like you always see Oprah acting and using a fake accent.  She's always playing a version of Sophia from Color Purple.  While Jackee is much more organic and believable. 

Edited March 24, 2024 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

The success of 'Women of Brester Place' lead ABC to order a follow up series which aired May 1990.

It was short lived, maybe due to the show itself or poor scheduling(following Doogie Howser) Perhaps the half hour format was limiting?

[Wendy]

Loved that one. My 11-year-old self was sucked in by the larger than life forbidden romance and beautiful score (by the late great Henry Mancini!).

I even have the DVD.

Ditto North & South with Patrick Swayze and James Read.

[Soaplovers]

It was a crime that Jackee kind of got shoehorned into the Sandra Clarke role.

Her role in this mini series showed she could play the dramatic beats as well as the comedic ones.  She did end up doing a tv movie where she played dual roles...and was believable.

 

The 1990s had mini series, but they seemed to be either two or three parts. 

Anyone remember The Ten Kingdoms from the early 2000s?

[Paul Raven]

1986-87 Season Mini Series Ratings

1. The Last Frontier CBS (Linda Evans)

2. The Two Mrs Grenvilles NBC (Ann-Margaret, Claudette Colbert)

3. At Mother's Request CBS

4. I'll Take Manhattan CBS

5. Anastasia : The Mystery of Anna NBC

6. Murder Ordained CBS

7. Amerika ABC

8, Roses Are For The Rich CBS (Lisa Hartman)

9. A Year in the Life NBC

10. Deceptions (R)

11. Hands of a Stranger NBC

12. Rage of Angels : The Story Continues NBC (Jaclyn Smith)

13. Fresno CBS (carol Burnett)

14. Jesus of Nazareth (R) NBC

15. Out on A Limb ABC (Shirley McLaine)

16. The Long Hot Summer (R) NBC

17. Monte Carlo CBS (Joan Collins)

18. Queenie ABC

19. Doubletake (R)

20. Nutcracker :Money, Madness, Murder NBC

21. A Year in the Life (R)NBC

22. George Washington CBS

23. Lace (R) ABC

24. Winds of War (R) ABC

25. Deadly Intentions (R)ABC

26. Master of the Game (R) CBS

27. Space (R) CBS

Some of those successes like Murder Ordained and At Mother's request did not make much of an impression. They were more like extended TV Movies,

ABC had the fewest mini series and they did not fare well, Amerika was a flop considering the cost and the hype.

CBS missed out with George Washington, Fresno and Monte Carlo.

The trend was towards 4 hr 2 part shows. They cost less and wouldn't affect ratings too much if they bombed unlike 6 or more hours that could really damage the ratings.

They were also easier to repeat.

Longies like Space, Winds of War etc were repeated over Summer and did poorly.

[Paul Raven]

Top rated miniseries (6 hours or more)

1. Roots ABC 44.9/66

2. The Thorn Birds ABC 41.9/59

3. Winds of War ABC 38.6/53

4. Shogun NBC 32.6/51

5. How the West was Won ABC 32.5/50

6. Holocaust NBC 31.1/49

7. Roots The Next Generation ABC 30.2/45

8. Pearl ABC 28.6/45

9. Rich Man, Poor Man ABC 27.0/43

10. 79 Park Avenue NBC 26.7/40

11. Master of the Game CBS 26.7/40

12. Masada ABC 26.5/41

13. Scruples CBS 26.3/40

14. Lonesome Dove CBS 26.1/39

15. North & South ABC 26.0/38

This list is as of 1988 but I don't think anything came along after  to change those rankings.

CBS was late to the game, not showing any mini series till the 79/80 season I believe. Whereas 8 of the Top 10 were before that.

[j swift]

This list inspired three thoughts:

1. I wonder if CBS was reticent to get into the miniseries game because their Sunday lineup was so strong for years? Whereas ABC had openings in the spring schedule, once the football season was over, to be able to disrupt their weekly shows for a multi-episode series.
2. There is a remarkable number of miniseries that are really soap operas masquerading as prestige historical dramas.  Winds of War, Pearl, and North & South, were much more about romantic relationships with bits of historical facts mixed in the background.  But, I recall that they were marketed to families as an opportunity to discuss American history.  It feels like ABC was especially guilty of trying to recreate the cultural impact of Roots but using much lighter weight material.
3. Now that every streaming series is 6-8 hours, it often feels like a tighter story could've been told in one 2-hour movie.  And I wonder how many of these series suffer from the same over bloated story telling?  Certainly, many of the Krantz and Taylor-Bradford stories could've edited down to a one night event. 

Edited April 18, 2024 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

Mini Series Ratings 1978-79 Season

1. Roots Next Generation ABC 30.1/45

2. Pearl ABC 28.6/45

3. Roots (Repeat run ) ABC 25.4/42

4. Backstairs at the White House NBC 25.0/37

5. Ike ABC 24.7/40

6. Little Women NBC 22.6/34

7. The Word CBS 21.2/33

8. Jesus of Nazareth (Repeat) NBC 21.2/33

9. The Chisolms CBS 21.1/35

10. Blind Ambition ABC 20.5/34

11. The Best Place to Be NBC 20.2/34

12. A Woman Called Moses NBC 19.9/32

13. Centennial NBC 18.5/30

14. From Here to Eternity NBC 18.9/30

15.  Mr Horn CBS 18.5/29

16. The Sacketts NBC 17.5/30

17. Greatest Heroes of the Bible NBC 17.4/28

18. The Critical List NBC 17.0/27

19. The Pirate CBS 15.4/25

20. Moses the Lawgiver (repeat) NBC 15.4/30

21. Women in White NBC 14.0/23

22. Studs Lonigan NBC 14.0/23

23. A Man Called Intrepid NBC 12.5/21

24. Hanging by a Thread NBC 12.4/21

25. Innocent and the Damned NBC (repeat) 12.4/23

26. Dark Secret of Harvest Home (repeat) 10.3/18

27. Wheels NBC (repeat) 10.0/18

[Paul Raven]

Mini Series Ratings 77-78 season

1. Holocaust NBC 31.0/49

2. Mario Puzo's Godfather NBC 26.6/41

3. 79 Park Avenue NBC 26.6/41 

4. Dark Secret of Harvest Home NBC 26.2/39 

5. Wheels NBC 24.9/40 

6. Awakening Land NBC 22.7/34 

7. CBS On the Air CBS 21.3/37

8. Washington Behind Closed Doors ABC 20.8/34 

9. Aspen NBC 20.2/32 

10. Dain Curse CBS 19.6/32

11. Black Beauty NBC 18.6/29

12. Moneychangers NBC (rpt) 15.0/25

16. King NBC 14.2/22

17. Loose Change NBC 14.2/23

18. Once An Eagle (rpt) 12.6/27

19. Seventh Avenue (rpt) 12.3/23

20. Rhinemann Exchange (rpt) 8.4/10

NBC most committed to the format and pretty much succeeding apart from King and Loose Change, which bombed.

Godfather was the movie with extra footage so strictly not a mini series IMO, same with the CBS retrospective.

CBS flopped with Dain Curse which I think was their first mini. Interesting they chose a lesser known period piece, while ABC had nothing major to follow up from Roots in terms of attention grabbing.

[Paul Raven]

Mini Series Ratings 1979-80 TV Season

1. Guyana Tragedy The Story of Jim Jones CBS 30.3/48

2. Scruples CBS 26.0/40

3. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do ABC 21.0/37

4. Flesh & Blood CBS 19.9/31

5. The Martian Chronicles NBC 19.7/29

6. The Last Convertible NBC 19.5/32

7. Salem's Lot CBS  18.7/31

8. Power NBC 17.0/27

9. The Golden Moment An Olympic Love Story NBC 16.7/28

10. Freedom Road NBC 16.7/28

11. The Awakening Land (rpt) NBC 16.6/30

12. Holocaust NBC (rpt) 15.5/26

13. Little Women NBC (rpt) 15.5/26

14. Moviola NBC 15.5/26

15. Jesus of Nazareth NBC (rpt)14.9/24

16. Women in White NBC (rpt)14.6/25

17. Backstairs at the White House NBC 14.1/25

18. Beggarman, Thief NBC 13.5/22

19. The French Atlantic Affiair ABC 13.1/22

20. A Woman Called Moses NBC (rpt) 12.4/23

The big winner was CBS with all 4 titles scoring well. Salem's Lot was placed on consecutive Saturdays during Nov sweeps to replace cancelled series so did very well in terms of the numbers they had been scoring.

NBC as usual aired the most but got least benefit with duds like Moviola and Beggarman/Thief airing during sweeps and not delivering.

Biggest flop was ABC's ' French Atlantic Affair' which was supposed to be the icing on the cake for ABC in Nov sweeps but failed dismally. It was a rare flop for Aaron Spelling and he admitted that the project was handed to him by ABC and production was rushed to get it on air. Maybe they should have delayed it till later.