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- Thread starter Carrie Fairchild
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Wasn't Peter a suspect in the (mysterious?) death of Alex (of all characters)? Or did she fake it....
And then that storyline just disappeared - did they send Peter abroad or something? I don't remember exactly but there was something strange and unsatisfactory about it.
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I think Peter fell foul of the post revamp reshuffle, which was odd considering he was one of the principal characters to begin with and part of the core family they were trying to maintain in the revamp.
Regarding Peter’s exit, from my recollection, a deranged Alex pulled a knife on him and during the ensuing struggle, she fell on the knife and died. With Peter now being accused of murder, Linda got Allen to help Peter skip bail and the country and that was the last that we saw of him.
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Yeah, he also apparently dumped Alex's body in the river, though that was more of a throw away line.
Poor Melissa Errico. Apparently the scene in Grosse Pointe where Marcy begs not to be killed off was based on an "actress on Central Park West" doing so... Alex was the only female character killed. At least she didn't miss out on any significant pay check.
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On the subject of Alex and Peter.
Despite what the ad suggests, there’s nothing particular “special” about this night, other than Central Park West aired on Sunday that week, having been bumped from its usual Wednesday timeslot by the Country Music Awards. It’s paired here with New York News at 10pm, which aired two episodes that week (Thursday 9pm being its usual home), presumably to drum up some interest in the flagging newcomer. Interestingly, three new CBS dramas suffered similar dramas that Fall regarding their leading ladies. We’ve discussed at length on here, the ins and outs of Mariel Hemingway being bumped from C.P.W as part of the revamp. On New York News, TV legend Mary Tyler Moore played a hardened editor who ruled the titular newspaper with an iron fist. Unhappy with playing such an unsympathetic character, Tyler Moore was reportedly trying to negotiate herself out of her contract but was saved the hassle when the show was axed. On Courthouse, the legal drama that aired after C.P.W on Wednesdays, Patricia Wettig was looking off that show too, reportedly because she thought it would be a star vehicle for herself as opposed to the ensemble piece that it became. Like Tyler Moore, she was saved the hassle when the show was cancelled. All three shows would be off the air by the end of November 1995, with only C.P.W returning briefly the following year.
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Courthouse was produced by Deborah Joy LeVine through her production company Kedzie, and clearly she didn't want the drama with Patricia Wettig after the behind the scenes issues Deborah had on Lois and Clark, where ABC had her replaced with Robert Singer when ratings weren't spectacular.
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That 1995-96 season was full of dramas, that on paper (or in the cases of those I’ve watched, in reality) I loved but that didn’t last too long onscreen. On CBS alone, there was Central Park West, New York News, Courthouse and American Gothic, in addition to dramas elsewhere like The Monroes, Murder One, Kindred: The Embraced, Profit and Savannah. It was such a varied and interesting slate of series that season.
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Bit of a rarity today, a print ad for an Australian soap in the US TV Guide magazine, in this case, Prisoner: Cell Block H.
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Here I was thinking 8pm seems quite early for Melrose considering some of its content (though I've since remembered in Britain it also aired on Sky One at 8pm)... then I scrolled down and saw gritty Prisoner aired at 7pm.
I never cease to be surprised by some of the air times. I remember being surprised when I found out that Dallas, Dynasty and Knots used to air at 9 or 10pm (which seems late) and now I see Americans were watching stuff I feel is a bit adult-orientated earlier in the evenings.
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I’m unsure if there were cuts but Sky One actually reran it in a daily lunchtime slot too (at 1pm I think) while Channel 5 aired it on Saturday morning / afternoon as part of its youth block of programming.
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It premiered in a Tuesday 10pm timeslot, where it finished 2nd out of three shows but once it settled into its regular 9pm Thursday timeslot, it consistently finished last behind Seinfeld and Caroline in the City on NBC, New York Undercover on FOX and New York News on CBS. Press wise, the only thing I’ve read about the coverage of the show was William Devane objecting to it being called a soap and the subsequent bad reviews.
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Wasn't THE MONROES an early version of DIRTY SEXY MONEY?
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On paper, there’s a few similarities - they’re both based around wealthy families, both have a politician son whose career is on the rise but whose marriage is a mess and both have a character who disapproves of the family’s shenanigans but still gets drawn into them. However, based on the one episode that I’ve seen of The Monroes, on screen, they’re two very different shows. Dirty Sexy Money was a much flashier and trashier series with better dialogue whileThe Monroes seems almost strait laced in comparison.
David Andrews from The Monroes had previously starred in another show, Dick Wolf's Mann and Machine, alongside Yancy Butler.
Unfortunately the futuristic drama was scheduled by NBC against CBS's Murder She Wrote and ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos (their version of You've Been Framed) and was unable to compete with either.
After Mann and Machine ended, Dick Wolf cast S Epatha Merkerson on Law and Order.
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Dallas and Knots Landing for the week of Jan. 3-9, 1981 (Jan. 3 being the day I entered this Earth), from a Louisiana Edition TV Guide for that week that I got at an antique store while with my sister in Daphne, AL; channels are WWL Channel 4 in New Orleans, KNOE Channel 8 in Monroe, WAFB Channel 9 in Baton Rouge, and KLFY Channel 10 in Lafayette (all still with CBS)...
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