WEDNESDAY WAYBACK
I was laying around watching Entertainment Tonite and they were talking about the reunion and remarriage of one of Televisions most beloved couples Luke and Laura from the daytime soap General Hospital. Back when I was in High School the world started and stopped on the streets of All My Children. Jessie and Angie, Greg and Jennie, Tad and Dixie - Lawd have mercy!! I do remember, however, playing hooky from school to watch the first Luke and Laura coupling. It also reminded me of another guilty pleasure that I thought would be perfect for this Wednesday's Wayback - in particular since the theme is realizing your celebrity....Nighttime Soaps! There was a period on televison before we became crime fighters, lawyers, and reality stars where we lived in the fantasy world of these folks.
So let's go back to the catfights, the clothes, the money, the back stabbing of NIGHT TIME TV DRAMAS....ENJOY!
DYNASTY
Dynasty was an American primetime television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 10, 1989. The series revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado. Dynasty epitomized the style and content of American primetime soap operas in the 1980s, programs in which the characters either had money and power and wanted more, or didn't have either but wanted both badly.
FALCON CREST
Falcon Crest was an American primetime television soap opera about the feud between the Channings and the Giobertis, two separate rich wine families in West Central California, around San Francisco in a fictional town, Tuscany Valley. It aired on the CBS network from December 4th, 1981 to May 17th, 1990, and 227 episodes were made in total. Reruns of the show aired on SOAPnet, a decade after its demise.
DALLAS
Dallas was a popular, long-running primetime television soap opera about the Ewings, a very wealthy Texas oil family. It aired on the CBS network for 13 seasons, from April 2nd, 1978 to May 3rd, 1991. It was broadcast around the world and is still considered to be the most successful drama series in TV history, in or out of the United States. The Dallas series is probably best-known for the central character of J.R. Ewing, the vain, greedy, scheming, crass oil baron played by Fort Worth native Larry Hagman for the show's entire run. Ironically, J.R. was only meant to be a supporting character when the show premiered (the show was originally to be based around JR's brother Bobby and Pam); however, the popularity of J.R. took off and he became the focus of the series.
KNOTS LANDING
Knots Landing was a primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27th, 1979 to May 13th, 1993 on CBS and was at that time the second longest-running primetime drama on U.S. TV, after Gunsmoke.[1] Set in a fictional small beach community on the California coast, the show initially centered around the lives of four married couples residing in a cul-de-sac called Seaview Circle, before the series shifted to corporate intrigue and criminal investigations.
FLAMINGO ROAD
Flamingo Road was NBC's first attempt to jump into the 1980s primetime soap opera craze. It was first seen as a TV movie on May 12, 1980, and as a series on January 6, 1981, after a rebroadcast of the pilot on December 29, 1980. The show was based on the 1949 movie starring Joan Crawford, which was, in turn, based on the novel by Robert Wilder. It was created to be NBC's idea of competition against CBS's Dallas and Knots Landing, nighttime dramas that were inspired by the daily soap operas that aired in the afternoon.
THE COLBYS
The Colbys (originally titled Dynasty II: The Colbys) was a primetime television soap opera which aired from November 1985 to March 1987. This Aaron Spelling-produced series was spun off from the more successful Dynasty. The series was set in Bel Air, California, and focused on the Colby family, introduced peripherally in Dynasty. Intended to surpass its predecessor in opulence, the series' producers were handed an immensely high budget, and cast a handful of film actors among its leads, including Charlton Heston, Katharine Ross, Barbara Stanwyck, Ken Howard and Maxwell Caulfield (3 years after Grease 2).
