Bonanza

Set in Nevada, in the 1860s, Bonanza chronicled the adventures of the Cartwright family who owned a large ranch - The Ponderosa. Broadcast History September 1959 - September 1961 Saturday 7:30-8:30pm September 1961 - September 1972 Sunday 9:00-10:00pm May 1972 - August 1972 Tuesday 7:30-8:30pm September 1972 - January 1973 Tuesday 8:00-9:00pm

Knots Landing

Hoping to ride the crest of its success with Dallas , CBS spun off this series featuring the black sheep of the Ewing Family, Gary Ewing. Gary, a reformed alcoholic remarried his wife, Valene, and moved to the Southern California community of Knots Landing. Originally, the series focused on the four married couples who resided in the cul-de-sac of Seaview Circle in the quiet beach town of...

Peyton Place

Peyton Place was America's first truly successful primetime serial. The series was the brainchild of veteran producer Paul Monash. Impressed with the success of Britain's monster hit Coronation Street , Monash wanted to import that UK series; however, ABC executives felt that US audiences would not cotton to the thick British accents and kitchen-sink drama. Monash countered with a...

Dallas

In the ranks of prime-time dramas, this was one of the biggest. Dallas , the saga of the Ewing Family, began as a five part mini-series in 1978. Throughout its thirteen seasons, many actors passed through the gates of Southfork. In the late 1960's, Peyton Place was a nighttime serial drama success—a novelty at the time. But since then, no P.M. show had caught the soap opera crowd's...

Falcon Crest

Airing in the time slot following CBS' immensely popular Dallas, Falcon Crest sought to hold on to the soap opera addicts with yet another saga of the rich and greedy fighting for power and sex. The setting was the ficticious Tuscany Valley, located in the beautiful Napa Valley Region outside San Francisco, and the industry around which the action centered was wine-making. Angela Channing,...