Flamingo Road

[Paul Raven]

I decided this primetime soap deserved it's own thread as the Primetime soaps thread is very cluttered and why shouldn't NBC's Lorimar soap mot have a chance to shine?

In doing a deeper dive into the second season ratings I was surprised to see that FR actually had an uptick in the ratings when NBC moved it to 9pm Tuesdays beginning March 82.

I'd always assumed this move was a desperate one as NBC were running short of programming and had given up on the show,deciding to let the final episodes play out and be hammered by 3's Company  and CBS Movie.

But the numbers paint a different story.

In it's 10pm slot up against Hart to Hart, which regularly finished in the Top 20, FL premiered in 53rd place and placed in the 40's and 50's as the season continued. But come January 82 the numbers surged a little now moving into the 40's hitting #43 in Feb. Hart to Hart was #11

Then in March Bret Maverick was moved to 8pm with FR @9.

First week 16th March

FR #47 15.1/24

3's Company #3 Too Close for Comfort #5

CBS Movie #60

Not great but #2 in it's timeslot

March 23

FR #44 15.6/25

3's Company #4 Too Close for Comfort #5

CBS Movie #33

So even with a stronger movie on CBS FR's numbers went up.

March 30

FR #31 16.6/26

3's Company #9 Too Close for Comfort #5

CBS Movie #56

Best rating/position yet

Tues April 6 pre empted

Tues April 14

FR #36 16.0/26

3's Company #5 Too Close for Comfort #11

CBS Movie #59

Maintaining previous week's numbers

Tues April 21

FR #33 15.6/24

3's Company #3 Too Close for Comfort #5

CBS Movie #60

Numbers down a little (reflecting general spring downturn) but best ranking of the season so far

Tues April 28

FR #35 15.1/23

3's Company #9 Too Close for Comfort #6

CBS Movie #42

Tues May 4

FR #27 15.2/24

3's Company #5 Too Close for Comfort #4

CBS Movie #41

Season finale and highest position of the season.

Looking at those numbers I wonder why NBC cancelled the show?

They had very few hits and here was a show that was holding it's own and moving up in the rankings in a tougher timeslot.

And being a serial, the storylines could continue to build the following season. And I'm sure the desirable W18-49 demo was good.

Some might argue that CBS were shower weaker movies, but even so, soap viewers are pretty loyal.

I guess Grant Tinker arrived at NBC and wanted a classier look but there was room for FR on the schedule. I mean, the following season Knight Rider,Powers of Matthew Star and the A Team arrived so there was still room for more populist fare.

Flamingo could have stayed at 9pm-the replacement Gavilan bombed (surely FR would have done better} or moved back to 10pm.

The following Jan NBC had a hit with A Team Tues 8pm. Had Flamingo followed it, it might have really taken off. As it was they tried Bare Essence, which flopped.

Oh well,it was not to be...

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

In case it is of interest to anyone here, I have digital copies (computer files, mp4 etc.) of all of the episodes. And, besides having the files they are all up on my usual video hosting site, acct name: shallotpeel, channel it is in: Primetime Soaps and file names like 

Flamingo Road S1E15 Hurricane

Flamingo Road was a primetime soap on NBC by Lorimar Productions. 2 seasons. 1980-1982. Morgan Fairchild, Barbara Rush. Developed by Rita Lakin.