A Look Back at 'EMERALD POINT N.A.S.' 1983
I first learned about this series while adding my two cents worth to Marc Berman's "Today in TV History" form post, at TVMediaInsights.com. The series lasted just one season, but when you look at the cast, you have to scratch your head and wonder how/why did it fail?The Series premiered on Monday, September 26, 1983 with a two hour pilot, before settling into its 10pm time slot.
The series was created by Richard and Esther Shapiro, who had previously devised DYNASTY. The series was set at a Naval Air Station somewhere in the South and dealt with the lives of the personnel stationed there. Combining military and espionage-based story lines with plots revolving around family intrigue, romance and scheming for power, Emerald Point N.A.S was a conventional soap opera.
The series cast included such known names as Dennis Weaver (McCLOUD and GUNSMOKE), Maude Adams (Bond Films), Susan Dey (PARTRIDGE FAMILY), Sela Ward (BROTHERS and SISTERS), Jill St. John (Many films from the 60's - 80's), Richard Dean Anderson (McGYVER), Andrew Stevens (A 70's TV staple), Robert Loggia (Veteran Film and TV actor), Robert Vaughn (MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.) and as previously stated, it had the creators of DYNASTY involved.
As you see the video, it looks to have had a very nice production budget.
Having not ever seen the series, It could be thet there were just too many Primetime Soaps on the air. You had DYNASTY, DALLAS, FALCON CREST, and KNOTS LANDING.
The reason why it failed can be summed up in three words: "Cagney And Lacey". This was the show that replaced Cagney And Lacey in the Monday at 10 PM slot for which C&L had been axed, and it was during that season that there was a concerted letter campaign to get C&L back on the air, so as a consequence "Emerald Point" had a stigma attached to it as the show that drove a cult favorite off the air and which would eventually make its triumphal return to the network.
ReplyDeleteEmerald Point N.A.S. ranked 65th out of 101 shows that aired during the 1983-84 season, with a 13.7 rating and a 22 share.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2020/03/1983-84-ratings-history.html