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Loving (TV series)
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Loving is an American television soap opera which aired on ABC's daytime lineup from June 27, 1983 to November 10, 1995 for 3,169 episodes. The serial was co-created by Agnes Nixon and former actor Douglas Marland. ABC took the unusual step of premiering the show with a 2-hour primetime movie on June 26, 1983, starring much of the cast as well as veteran film actors Lloyd Bridges and Geraldine Page.
in the fictional town of Corinth, the early years of the show revolved around the blue-collar Donovans and the blue-blood Aldens.
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Encyclopedia
Loving is an American television soap opera which aired on ABC's daytime lineup from June 27, 1983 to November 10, 1995 for 3,169 episodes. The serial was co-created by Agnes Nixon and former actor Douglas Marland. ABC took the unusual step of premiering the show with a 2-hour primetime movie on June 26, 1983, starring much of the cast as well as veteran film actors Lloyd Bridges and Geraldine Page.
Show history
Set in the fictional town of Corinth, the early years of the show revolved around the blue-collar Donovans and the blue-blood Aldens. Major social issues such as incest, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress syndrome of Vietnam vets were covered. But Marland and Nixon left the series after a few years and in spite of ABC bumping down Ryan's Hope to give Loving a choice timeslot, and cast additions of such popular All My Children stars as Debbi Morgan and Jean LeClerc, the ratings remained poor throughout the show's run. Loving suffered from a constant revolving door of writers and producers, leading to questionable story moments such as a heroine's addiction to cough syrup and one character selling his soul to the Devil. Loving celebrated its 10th Anniversary on ABC on June 26, 1993.
Long-running characters included Ava, a schemer whose adventures ranged from stuffing a pillow in her dress to simulate pregnancy to being kidnapped at Universal Studios to being menaced by her lover's identical twin, Gilbert. Another longtime favorite was Stacey Donovan (portrayed by Lauren-Marie Taylor, the only continuously running original cast member), who was killed off via a poisoned powder puff in summer 1995, and Gwyneth Alden, the long-suffering matriarch who never stopped loving her roguish ex Clay or her mentally disturbed children Trisha and Curtis.
In early 1995, ABC Daytime planned to cancel the show, and asked new Head Writers James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten to find a way to salvage a few components of the series. The writers embarked upon the show's last big storyline, and what many considered one of the show's best storylines, the Corinth serial killer. Stacey, Clay, Curtis, Cabot, Isabelle and Jeremy lost their lives, culminating in the revelation that an insane Gwyn had murdered most of her friends and family in a bid to "make their pain go away." Gwyn then injected herself with poison before the police could take her into custody. Loving characters Ally, Alex, Angie, Buck, Frankie, Jacob, Steffi, and Tess moved to Soho and began a new series, The City, which would run until March 1997.
Ratings history
Although Loving rated poorly throughout its history, its first few years were relatively encouraging. In its debut 1983-84 season it finished in 11th place and 3.9, above the now ailing soaps The Edge of Night and Search for Tomorrow. The following season it moved to a fairly comfortable 10th place and 4.1, holding that for the 1985-86 season with 4.2. A change in timeslot, with Loving occupying the slot previously held by Ryan's Hope, was a major factor in ratings improvement (albeit having the opposite effect on Ryan's Hope).
Unfortunately, the slow but steady ratings growth was not sustained- Loving would fall back to 11th place and down to last place by 1991, where it remained until its cancellation.
When it originally premiered, the show aired at 11:30/10:30. In the fall of 1984, the show was given the 12:30/11:30 timeslot bumping Ryan's Hope up to Noon/11. This caused Ryan's Hope's ratings to plummet because many East Coast ABC stations pre-empted network programming at Noon for local news. Although some affiliates such as WSB-TV in Atlanta chose to keep Ryan's Hope at 12:30pm. Despite airing in the 12:30pm timeslot, Loving never achieved the ratings Ryan's Hope had during its glory years. In the Central Time Zone, Loving was often pre-empted at 11:30am for local newscasts airing on a one day delay earlier in the morning or not at all.
In 1992 after ABC stopped airing programming at Noon EST/11am PST/CST, Loving was made available to affiliates at Noon/11 or 12:30/11:30am. Some ABC O&Os in the Pacific and Central time zones moved Loving to 11:00am to air local newscasts at 11:30. Despite the timeslot changes on some affiliates, the national ratings for the show never improved.
Although the national ratings were never strong enough to climb above tenth place, Loving did beat the #1 soap The Young and the Restless in strong ABC markets (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia) although Loving only competed with the first half hour of The Young and the Restless.
Opening sequences
Cast and crew
Cast
| Duration | Name |
|---|
| June 27, 1983 to April 1988 | Joseph Stuart | | April 1988 to November 30, 1989 | Joseph Hardy | | December 3, 1989 to April 1990 | Mary-Ellis Bunim | | April 1990 to July 1991 | Jacqueline Babbin | | July 1991 to May 25, 1992 | Fran Sears | | May 26, 1992 to October 1993 | Haidee Granger | | November 11, 1993 to December 1994 | Josie Emmerich | | December 1994 to November 10, 1995 | Jean Dadario Burke | |
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