1980s Primetime Soap Operas (4 Viewers)

[Emcee]

For this thread, I'm talking specifically referring to the primetime soap operas that dominated the television landscape from the late-'70s practically into the early-'90s. The genre was initiated with Peyton Place in 1964, but didn't really take over until Dallas debuted in 1978. Over the next decade, Dallas, its own spin-off Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest as well as Dynasty ruled the television landscape and brought in big Nielsen ratings.

I understand that the soap opera genre might not be everyone's cup of tea, but these shows were popular for a very long time, intriguing audiences to come back week after week to find out what's going to happen. CBS had three of the shows (Dallas, Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest) and ABC had the only real threat to their powerhouse (Dynasty). Throughout the 1980s, several different shows were initiated as soaps, such as Flamingo Road, Paper Dolls, Bare Essence, The Yellow Rose, and the short-lived Dynasty spin-off, The Colbys. These soaps failed to find their audience, however, and were generally cancelled quite quickly because of poor ratings and poor reviews.

I originally got into the primetime soaps from the 1980s probably 10 years ago or so. I discovered British actress Joan Collins through my Old Hollywood digging, and she is perhaps best-known for playing the vindictive Alexis Colby on Dynasty.
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My infatuation with Joan Collins bled into an infatuation with Dynasty and eventually the soap opera genre itself. The next show I ventured into was Falcon Crest, starring the incomparable Jane Wyman as the villainous wine vineyard matriarch Angela Channing. It honestly took me sometime to "warm up" to the show, but once I did, I'd argue that it is one of my favorites of the genre. Then came Knots Landing, which is actually the longest-running serialized night-time drama in American television history. The saga of Seaview Circle, a southern California cul-de-sac, served up more relatable, middle-class stories and gave us one of the most beautiful villains in Abby Cunningham. I finally drifted into Dallas after years of refusing to do so. I figured the hype was too much and I'd be disappointed. I can honestly say that J.R. Ewing and his Southfork family haven't disappointed me yet (but I've yet to finish the show).

Any fans of these shows?
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[ScottRE]

I love Dallas. To this day it's my favorite serialized drama. I only watched it when it premiered because my sister was a huge Larry Hagman fan and we only had one color TV at the time, so we watched Dallas. I got hooked with her. It started as an episodic drama but by the end of the first full season, it had become a serial. It was actually a really high quality, well done drama when it began. That lasted well into the run but over time, it fed on its own success and had to try to top not only Dynasty (it's only real competition) but itself. While people frequently cite

Spoiler

"Bobby in the Shower"

as a "jump the shark" moment, what that really did was

Spoiler

erase a substandard season and

give us the return to greatness for one year.

After that, the cast defections began, and once

Spoiler

Victoria Principal left, the show lost its central love story. We had already lost Jim Davis as Ewing patriarch Jock

, but that only elevated JR to greater power and created some amazing storyline. The series was pretty epic. But once

Spoiler

Principal

left, that opened the floodgates. The show became a parody and wildly overdramatic. By the time

Spoiler

Linda Gray left, the series was on fumes. The last season or two were pretty bad and the series finale was awful.

However, in its prime Dallas was the ultimate in Must See TV. There's a brief moment in TV history that worked like magic - that three show Friday Night lineup on CBS:

8:00 The Incredible Hulk
9:00 The Dukes of Hazzard
10:00 Dallas

That was just an amazing time.

EDIT: Added spoiler blocks since you haven't finished the run yet - and made my post totally comical.

 

[Emcee]

8:00 The Incredible Hulk
9:00 The Dukes of Hazzard
10:00 Dallas

And once The Incredible Hulk got booted out in 1982,the schedule was adjusted to the following:

8:00 PM: The Dukes of Hazzard
9:00 PM: Dallas
10:00 PM: Falcon Crest

I've often heard my father say how he and his family were glued to the TV back in the 1980s on Friday nights. ​

 

[Desslar]

I was glued to the TV in those days too, but I would have gone with a different lineup on Friday nights in '82:

8 PM: The Powers of Matthew Star (could alternate with the Dukes, but Matthew Star was newer and had the advantage of being sci-fi.)
9 PM: Knight Rider (could alternate with The Greatest American Hero, but KITT was red hot in '82)
10 PM: Not normally up that late, but probably Tales of the Gold Monkey

 

[ScottRE]

And once The Incredible Hulk got booted out in 1982,the schedule was adjusted to the following:

8:00 PM: The Dukes of Hazzard
9:00 PM: Dallas
10:00 PM: Falcon Crest

I've often heard my father say how he and his family were glued to the TV back in the 1980s on Friday nights. ​

In 1984, it went like this in my house:

NBC: 8:00 PM: V
CBS: 9:00 PM: Dallas
CBS: 10:00 PM: Falcon Crest.

When NBC stupidly moved V against Dallas, I watched V but my sister watched (*and taped) Dallas, so my original VHS collection of V stopped at "The Betrayal" and only picked up in the finale, which aired after Dallas ended for the season.

Oh the difficulties of being a one VCR household back then!

 

[Desslar]

In 1984, it went like this in my house:

NBC: 8:00 PM: V
CBS: 9:00 PM: Dallas
CBS: 10:00 PM: Falcon Crest.

When NBC stupidly moved V against Dallas, I watched V but my sister watched (*and taped) Dallas, so my original VHS collection of V stopped at "The Betrayal" and only picked up in the finale, which aired after Dallas ended for the season.

Oh the difficulties of being a one VCR household back then!

Well, at least NBC gave us Code Name Foxfire in exchange for moving V.

 

[ScottRE]

I was so pissed at the cancellation of V, I stayed away from NBC for a bit. Then when Marc Singer showed up on Dallas during the "Dream Season," I couldn't accept it. I loved V. Totally obsessed with it at the time.

I had a lonely life in the mid-80's, so TV shows were my companions. Ugh man, it's a miracle I survived into adulthood.

 

[Desslar]

I was so pissed at the cancellation of V, I stayed away from NBC for a bit. Then when Marc Singer showed up on Dallas during the "Dream Season," I couldn't accept it. I loved V. Totally obsessed with it at the time.

I had a lonely life in the mid-80's, so TV shows were my companions. Ugh man, it's a miracle I survived into adulthood.

I was watching a lot of TV in those days also. But right around '85 action dramas started shrinking their budgets and becoming dialogue-focused, so my interest faded quickly. From '85 onward, the only new dramas I cared about were Spenser for Hire and Crime Story, and to a lesser degree 21 Jump Street and Mission Impossible.