Emerald Point N.A.S. (1983-84)

[WeldonBallou]

I've only seen 4 episodes of this one season prime-time soap from Richard and Esther Shapiro that aired opposite NBC's Monday Night at The Movies which ultimately cancelled Emerald. Any thoughts on this series?

 

[tommie]

In all honesty, I've tried to start this about two times but I end up getting bored with it.

They seemingly brought in Rita Lakin in the seven last episodes of the series - while she wrote for Peyton Place in its second season and was a showrunner on Flamingo Road, she also did the disasterous season 7B of Dynasty, so who knows if it got better or worse with her revamp.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

In all honesty, I've tried to start this about two times but I end up getting bored with it.

They seemingly brought in Rita Lakin in the seven last episodes of the series - while she wrote for Peyton Place in its second season and was a showrunner on Flamingo Road, she also did the disasterous season 7B of Dynasty, so who knows if it got better or worse with her revamp.

It was all online at some point and I also tried to get into it a few times but just found it to be a snoozefest. What's left online now is on my watchlist so I might give it another go at some point. I didn't realise Rita Lakin was involved in it. It isn't discussed in her Television Academy interview but she does briefly talk about Dynasty where she says "I wasn't right for Dynasty and Dynasty wasn't right for me" and when asked to elaborate she says "Pass".

 

[Willie Oleson]

I'd definitely re-watch it if all episodes were available.

From the makers of Dinnesty, as the voice-over from Sky Channel used to say.

 

[Seaviewer]

I remember it. The military background made it different from the other soaps and it introduced the wonderful Sela Ward.

 

[GillesDenver]

so who knows if it got better or worse with her revamp.

It did not change anything, I can't call that a "revamp".

The show was a bit boring but its main problem is that, aside of the military background, it is completely trite and unspecial. With Dynasty's camp, it would have been fun at least.

 

[WeldonBallou]

I got a Sue Ellen vibe right away from Sela Ward's character. I thought "really now?"

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I saw Dennis Weaver being interviewed where they discuss the show. He said that the network were so convinced that the show would be a hit based on the premise and the writing team, that they didn't even ask for a pilot to be shot. They just wanted some scenes to be shot and ordered the show off the back of those. They were shot in May and they wanted the show on air in the Fall instead of mid season, so it was just a rush job after that. As a result of the short turnaround time, a lot of the writers they'd wanted weren't available. He also said that there wasn't even a full script when he agreed to do it. The Shapiros described it to him and it sounded good, so he agreed.

 

[Chris2]

It had a great theme song! And that’s about it. Did love Sela Ward, tho. After the theme, she was the best thing about the show.

 

[Willie Oleson]

As @James from London has pointed out in one of his reviews, there wasn't much they could do with the design of the show.
It's OK to write shocking storylines for companies, but American institutions like the navy and the army are untouchable. They can never be wrong, and therefore can't be soaped.
And then it feels more like a soap that just happens to happen at a Naval Air Station instead of a soap about the N.A.S. (kinda like the daytime soap CAPITOL).
(not that Dynasty and The Colbys did a whole lot with their companies, but in essence there were no limitations).

Things have changed a lot, of course, and I'm sure that a modern N.A.S. story wouldn't be as conventional as the '83 version (which makes it perfect for a remake).

 

[James from London]

As @James from London has pointed out in one of his reviews, there wasn't much they could do with the design of the show.
It's OK to write shocking storylines for companies, but American institutions like the navy and the army are untouchable. They can never be wrong, and therefore can't be soaped.
And then it feels more like a soap that just happens to happen at a Naval Air Station instead of a soap about the N.A.S. (kinda like the daytime soap CAPITOL).
(not that Dynasty and The Colbys did a whole lot with their companies, but in essence there were no limitations).

Things have changed a lot, of course, and I'm sure that a modern N.A.S. story wouldn't be as conventional as the '83 version (which makes it perfect for a remake).

Yeah, these are the words what I wrote about Emerald Point about four years ago (which means my five-year opinion licence on it hasn't quite expired):

I think the problem was that the focus of the show was the American Navy -- a real-life, specific, patriotic thing, which you can't critique or parody the way you can the oil or wine or any other kind of big business because then you'd be criticising or parodying America itself which is blasphemy. So you've got this immovable monolith at the centre of the programme, which means all the drama and conflict and juicy stuff is confined the outskirts. It's a bit like Paper Dolls or Models Inc, only in reverse. Whereas the American military is too rigid, the world of fashion is too vague and ephemeral to build a drama around, so again there is nothing at the centre. All the action happens on the periphery and there's nothing in the middle.*

The US navy is an institution so revered on EMERALD POINT that the only characters allowed to criticise it are neurotically unhappy women, unscrupulous businessmen or mercenaries for hire.

*Perhaps the same thing also applies to Footballers Wives. (I once said as much to the actress who played Chardonnay who seemed to think it was probably true, but then she's an exceptionally nice girl so she would.)

 

[Willie Oleson]

Perhaps the same thing also applies to Footballers Wives

Too rigid or too vague?

 

[James from London]

Too rigid or too vague?

Vague, cos it'a all about the wives of the men playing football, which ordinarily would be the centre of the drama, but the show isn't interested in that. Instead, it's interested in the ephemeral, blingy stuff on the periphery, which is fine, but it means it's all periphery and no centre. It's like if Dallas was called Oil Barons' Wives.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Vague, cos it'a all about the wives of the men playing football, which ordinarily would be the centre of the drama

Eventhough it's called Footballer's Wives? Doesn't it deliver exactly what it promises? At a time that the wives of footballers became more visible in the media?
Johan Cruijff was a national hero in the 60s and 70s, but no one knew what his wife looked like because it didn't matter back then.

And, for that matter, isn't "Dallas" a bit misleading as a title? The fans certainly think that it should be all about the Ewings and Southfork, but Dallas makes me think of politics and city trouble and infrastructure and what not. Sort of The Wire meets Kelsey Grammer's Boss. And not a pit of broken marriages.
And that's why I feel there's more "Dallas" in new Dallas.

 

[James from London]

Eventhough it's called Footballer's Wives? Doesn't it deliver exactly what it promises? At a time that the wives of footballers became more visible in the media?

Absolutely. I guess I was talking about why it didn't really work for me dramatically - for the same-but-opposite reason Emerald Point and Paper Dolls didn't either.

Johan Cruijff was a national hero in the 60s and 70s, but no one knew what his wife looked like because it didn't matter back then.

I always thought a documentary series charting the evolution of footballers' wives, back from when footballers hardly got paid and had to do 'proper jobs' during the week and then catch the bus to matches, up to when they became celebrities in their own right, would have been really interesting.

isn't "Dallas" a bit misleading as a title? The fans certainly think that it should be all about the Ewings and Southfork, but Dallas makes me think of politics and city trouble and infrastructure and what not.

I know what you mean, Southfork wasn't even in Dallas! I guess it works because Dallas symbolised the Ewings' ambitions. They were never really interested in being the biggest oil tycoons in the world, just the biggest in Dallas (or maybe Texas).

And that's why I feel there's more "Dallas" in new Dallas.

Yeah, the canvas felt that much bigger somehow. I think the Mexican presence added a different perspective. (And this time, Southfork was in Dallas.)

 

[Willie Oleson]

I guess I was talking about why it didn't really work for me dramatically

The Whomever's Wife who's suffering "because of" is more interesting than the Whomever's Wife who's suffering "just because" (the story is about her).
It's always meatier with the bone still in it, and in Footballer's Wives, the footballers are Footballer's Wives' Husbands!
That said, sport itself is difficult to dramatize, and I think FW did what they could with the business storylines. Tanya Turner was great as the footballer's wife who was desperately holding on to her newfound luxury and status. She made sacrifices, and I like that.
But with much of the focus on the byproduct, it kinda suffers from overexposure.
I guess it's like the difference between a T-bone and a factory sausage. Ha!

I always thought a documentary series charting the evolution of footballers' wives, back from when footballers hardly got paid and had to work 'prper jobs' during the week and then catch the bus to matches, up to when they became celebrities in their own right

Absolutely. Jeffrey Archer's First Among Equals covers the subject of the struggling politician's wives, but the focus is on the men (like The Brothers).
I guess this is the "wives" version of Executive Suite.

They were never really interested in being the biggest oil tycoons in the world, just the biggest in Dallas (or maybe Texas).

You're right of course. Dallas was their "Peyton Place" or "Flamingo Road".
It's like when Bobby ordered Ed Haynes to leave what-Bobby-considered-to-be his Dallas. Incidentally, it's a very Dallas-y episode.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Regarding Footballers Wives, I think it did what it said on the tin. It was tapping into the Heat Magazine / FHM side of the footballer's private lives as opposed to any major changing room & business dramas. Although I did rewatch some of season one recently and initially there was a bit more of a focus on football but that was mostly gone by season two. Dream Team, which is the largely forgotten other football soap that actually predates FW, did a good job of balancing stories between the footballers and their wives, even if they were more sensational than sports oriented.

This has reminded me of another series that had similar struggles to what you discussed about Emerald Point and it not being able to be critical of an American institution like the Navy. There was a cable drama called Playmakers in the early 00's that followed the lives of an American football team. It was a ratings success but the network cancelled it after one season because of pressure from the NFL who didn't like the portrayal of the player's private lives.

 

[Canon]

Dream Team, which is the largely forgotten other football soap that actually predates FW, did a good job of balancing stories between the footballers and their wives, even if they were more sensational than sports oriented.

Dream Team was great, it did become increasingly bonkers as it went on but I don't think it was ever as silly and empty as Footballer's Wives. I think it helped that its early seasons had been grounded, instead of the rich players of the main team, the show focused more on the young players of the junior team and their aspirations to make it. They had no money and lived in digs, it was also still going out in a twice weekly teatime slot at that point which made it feel all the more ordinary.