Author Topic: Start Of A Disturbing Trend (Read 6800 times)

Don Howard · « **on:** November 26, 2005, 06:51:56 PM »

The great glut of games of 1975 began its very gradual but eventually very telling wane at 4:28pm on this date thirty years ago (11/26/1975).
Up to now, usually when a game show was cancelled, there was some mollification as that meant a new game would quite likely premiere in its time period or at least in some vacant spot on the daytime schedule created by this cancellation.
But when You Don't Say was pulled its replacement was The Edge Of Night having just moved over from CBS.
The expansion of As The World Turns to a full hour of compelling drama was not so terrible as the thirty minutes it inherited was courtesy of the move of The Edge Of Night.
However, Give-N-Take was dumped to make way for reruns of All In The Family.
Mercifully, 3 For The Money was discontinued two days later to allow for the temporary 1-hour format granted to Wheel Of Fortune so at least a game took its spot on the NBC grid.
Soon further soap opera length extensions and sitcom reruns would displace our beloved games. Sanford And Son, Chico and the Man, The Jeffersons, Alice, Diff'rent Strokes and others.
I kept the local pin store in business when Break The Bank was sacrificed for One Life To Live and General Hospital to become 45-minute shows as I continually stuck those pins in Fred Silverman voodoo dolls.
How did we get to that lowly state? Programmers who detested games? Petitions by misguided soap opera fans? How? I ask.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #1 on:** November 26, 2005, 08:03:50 PM »

Ratings and relationships probably were the culprit. ABC more than likely wanted the P&G business, thus EON. As far as BTB, though it was highly rated in total viewers for the season, it was not as highly rated as the NBC or CBS soaps in the 2:30 slot. ABC probably thought it could wound "The Doctors" with the in-house production OLTL and keep the audience all the way till 4 by starting GH at 3:15. If you've already missed a quarter hour of the competing show, there is less of a desire to switch channels. CBS blinked by moving MG. Then came Luke and Laura and the rest is history. I don't think there was an animus towards game shows per se, but there was a desire for younger demos.

calliaume · « **Reply #2 on:** November 26, 2005, 09:29:08 PM »

There were a bunch of really, really awful games out there at the time. Does anyone seriously want to see Give 'n' Take, the 1975 version of You Don't Say, or Blank Check again, save for us hardcores?

I'll note again here that the ratings for Break the Bank in the 1976 are based on the first three weeks the show aired. I suspect they dropped after that -- otherwise someone would have found a slot for the show.

zachhoran · « **Reply #3 on:** November 27, 2005, 07:29:09 AM »

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Nov 26 2005, 09:29 PM\']There were a bunch of really, really awful games out there at the time. Does anyone seriously want to see Give 'n' Take, the 1975 version of You Don't Say, or Blank Check again, save for us hardcores?

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Surely a few more than wanted to see the great Diamond Head Game in 1997-98 when GSN pulled it out of mothballs.

FOXSportsFan · « **Reply #4 on:** November 27, 2005, 09:46:40 AM »

Right, Zach...and don't call me Shirley.

Steve Gavazzi · « **Reply #5 on:** November 27, 2005, 01:10:49 PM »

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Nov 26 2005, 09:29 PM\']There were a bunch of really, really awful games out there at the time. Does anyone seriously want to see Give 'n' Take, the 1975 version of You Don't Say, or Blank Check again, save for us hardcores?

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Oh, come now, Curt. Being rational takes all the fun out of it. ;-)

Winkfan · « **Reply #6 on:** November 27, 2005, 06:28:50 PM »

If you ask me, ABC started the decline back in June of 1975 when they replaced Blankety Blanks with Brady Bunch reruns.

Here's how the scenario should have played out: ABC keeps its Brady repeats until September of '75, and then replaces them with Blankety Blanks. Then, that show gets the ax in late December, ABC moves Showoffs to the former Blanks time period, and The Neighbors is slotted into the latter's time period.

This lasts until April of 1976; when Showoffs is replaced by Happy Days repeats, and The Neighbors is replaced (as it would actually be) by Break the Bank '76.

Agree or disagree?

Cordially,
Tammy Warner--the 'Suzanna Williams of the Big Board!'

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #7 on:** November 27, 2005, 07:55:04 PM »

If I had been ABC, I would have given "The Big Showdown" another 26 weeks at noon in place of "Showoffs," especially after Larry Blyden died. Reason? "Jeopardy" did well in that slot on NBC and I really liked that show. The YDS! revival would not have occurred and "Ryan's Hope" would have gotten the 4pm slot while "Split Second" would have gotten some more time at 12:30. I'll go with Tammy's idea regardng the BB's. I would have put "Edge of Night" on at 2:30 (assuming P&G would allow competition with ATWT) in December, moving Rhyme and Reason to 11:30am. "Showoffs" would probably go in for LMAD at 1:30, after adequate prep time for Bobby Van. "The Neighbors" probably wouldn't have happened had I programmed ABC.

ChuckNet · « **Reply #8 on:** November 27, 2005, 08:18:31 PM »

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I would have put "Edge of Night" on at 2:30 (assuming P&G would allow competition with ATWT)

No, they wouldn't...one rule was that P&G soaps on competing networks could not air opposite one another, which is why the original plan (following ATWT's hr expansion) to move EoN back to its former 3 PM slot was vetoed (Another World was airing there on NBC), thus leading to the eventual idea of moving EoN to ABC.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

davemackey · « **Reply #9 on:** November 27, 2005, 08:24:23 PM »

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Nov 26 2005, 10:29 PM\']There were a bunch of really, really awful games out there at the time. Does anyone seriously want to see Give 'n' Take, the 1975 version of You Don't Say, or Blank Check again, save for us hardcores?

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I gotta tell ya - "Blank Check" was a very intriguing battle of wits (it wasn't really ESP, truth to tell), especially when the checkwriter was trying to outguess the challenger on the fourth number (thousands digit) on the check. Do you go low, or high?

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #10 on:** November 27, 2005, 08:35:10 PM »

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Nov 27 2005, 08:18 PM\']

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I would have put "Edge of Night" on at 2:30 (assuming P&G would allow competition with ATWT)

No, they wouldn't...one rule was that P&G soaps on competing networks could not air opposite one another, which is why the original plan (following ATWT's hr expansion) to move EoN back to its former 3 PM slot was vetoed (Another World was airing there on NBC), thus leading to the eventual idea of moving EoN to ABC.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

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4 pm had P&G's EoN against P&G's "Somerset" on NBC, but maybe it wasn't as big of a deal than it would be with one of their major soaps.

SRIV94 · « **Reply #11 on:** November 27, 2005, 08:53:54 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Nov 27 2005, 07:35 PM\']4 pm had P&G's EoN against P&G's "Somerset" on NBC, but maybe it wasn't as big of a deal than it would be with one of their major soaps.

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Wasn't the officially sanctioned time for SOMERSET 1PM ET (I seem to recall that NBC routinely fed shows for a 1PM ET/12N Everywhere Else showing with a refeed at 4PM ET/3PM EE for affiliates who ran local news at 12N EE)?

Doug

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #12 on:** November 27, 2005, 09:00:22 PM »

The "official" time for "Somerset" was 4, but a lot of stations ran it at 1.

zachhoran · « **Reply #13 on:** November 27, 2005, 09:04:48 PM »

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Nov 27 2005, 08:18 PM\']
one rule was that P&G soaps on competing networks could not air opposite one another, which is why the original plan (following ATWT's hr expansion) to move EoN back to its former 3 PM slot was vetoed (Another World was airing there on NBC), thus leading to the eventual idea of moving EoN to ABC.

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Then how did Another World go up against all or part of ATWT for AW's last two decades on the air? P&G must have changed the rule at some point.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #14 on:** November 27, 2005, 09:44:23 PM »

Quote

I'll note again here that the ratings for Break the Bank in the 1976 are based on the first three weeks the show aired. I suspect they dropped after that -- otherwise someone would have found a slot for the show.

I'm sure Jimmy posted some ratings for later in "Break the Bank's" run and they were high all the way through.