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This is kind of random but it's this sort of useless info that I often find interesting. I've seen in various threads, people talk about when the different soaps were screened in their home country - what was popular, what wasn't popular and what was dumped unceremoniously. In an age where we watch most of our TV online, it's interesting (to me at least) to see how each of these huge shows were scheduled back in the day. Even in the US, from what I can gather, the local stations were able to move shows around the schedules (I've seen a Dynasty promo for a New York station that didn't air it until 11pm).
Anyway, here's the info for Ireland. We were kind of spoiled with our access to TV because as well as our own terrestrial stations, we also had the Sky satellite service and for those of us that lived on the east coast or the border area, we had access to all of the UK channels too. So at any given point, you could have two or even three channels showing your favourite show, at differing points in the storyline.
DALLAS
The most popular of all of the US primetime soaps among Irish audiences. For the bulk of (if not the entirety) of it's run, Dallas aired in a Saturday night 9pm/9.30pm slot on the country's main channel (RTE One) as the lead in for one of the country's flagship chat shows at the time (Kenny Live). It's airings more or less followed the same timeline as US airings, a few weeks/months after their US premiere.
KNOTS LANDING
Knots didn't show up on Irish screens until 1989, ten years after it's US debut. It originally aired in the afternoons on RTE One, five days a week, in the style of a daytime soap. It proved popular, so it was moved to a primetime slot in the early 90's (usually 9pm) on sister channel RTE Two. They aired all remaining episodes continuously with no break between seasons.
DYNASTY & FALCON CREST
Both started in primetime slots on the main channel RTE One before being transferred to sister channel RTE Two as their popularity waned. Their airings were slightly behind the US as they were both still premiering new episodes in Ireland into the early 90's.
All of the above plus The Colbys had back to back repeat runs on RTE One in the late 90's in a 10.30am daytime slot. It's here that I watched most of them for the first time. I'm unsure of the details of The Colbys original run but presumably it aired in primetime like the rest of them.
BEVERLY HILLS 90210
Started in primetime on the now rebranded Network Two, airing in a 7pm/8pm slot during the week. It was soon dumped into the doldrums of Sunday afternoons, being moved or postponed often, depending on which Grand Prix or football match was on. I'm not even sure if it made it to the end of it's run on Irish terrestrial TV or if they just dumped it.
MELROSE PLACE
A late addition to Irish TV, Melrose showed up in a late night slot on Tuesday nights on Network Two in the late 90's. It never aired any earlier than 11pm and was often pushed further into late night by football coverage or films or anything else. Nevertheless, it often cracked the Top 20 ratings for that channel despite it's moveable timeslot. They adopted the same approach to airing MP as they did with Knots - back to back without breaks between seasons and the whole show was aired in it's entirety.
SAVANNAH
Savannah was something of a big deal when it initially aired in Ireland (and the UK). It was heavily promoted and aired in a primetime 9.30pm, post news slot, on RTE One. I think there were "younger Dynasty for the 90's" vibes being given off from it but it didn't really catch on and season two was dumped in a later slot.
PACIFIC PALISADES
This showed up as late night filler sometime in 1999 / 2000 on Ireland's newest channel at the time, TV3. I recall it airing around midnight / 1am and being excited to see it as I'd heard Joan Collins talk about it in a radio interview, even though she described it as being "really awful, even though it was Aaron Spelling". She wasn't wrong.
DALLAS TNT
RTE One was the home of the original but they were either outbid for it or more likely, weren't bothered with the revival. It aired on the country's third place channel TV3 instead where it was shown at 10pm for the first two seasons. I'd stopped watching by this point but I'm pretty sure it was dumped in a late night slot for season three (midnight or later). Had season four happened, who knows where it would've ended up.
If you didn't have access to Sky Television in the 90's/00's, Irish audiences missed out on (or were spared) Models Inc, Central Park West and Titans.
Anyway, here's the info for Ireland. We were kind of spoiled with our access to TV because as well as our own terrestrial stations, we also had the Sky satellite service and for those of us that lived on the east coast or the border area, we had access to all of the UK channels too. So at any given point, you could have two or even three channels showing your favourite show, at differing points in the storyline.
DALLAS
The most popular of all of the US primetime soaps among Irish audiences. For the bulk of (if not the entirety) of it's run, Dallas aired in a Saturday night 9pm/9.30pm slot on the country's main channel (RTE One) as the lead in for one of the country's flagship chat shows at the time (Kenny Live). It's airings more or less followed the same timeline as US airings, a few weeks/months after their US premiere.
KNOTS LANDING
Knots didn't show up on Irish screens until 1989, ten years after it's US debut. It originally aired in the afternoons on RTE One, five days a week, in the style of a daytime soap. It proved popular, so it was moved to a primetime slot in the early 90's (usually 9pm) on sister channel RTE Two. They aired all remaining episodes continuously with no break between seasons.
DYNASTY & FALCON CREST
Both started in primetime slots on the main channel RTE One before being transferred to sister channel RTE Two as their popularity waned. Their airings were slightly behind the US as they were both still premiering new episodes in Ireland into the early 90's.
All of the above plus The Colbys had back to back repeat runs on RTE One in the late 90's in a 10.30am daytime slot. It's here that I watched most of them for the first time. I'm unsure of the details of The Colbys original run but presumably it aired in primetime like the rest of them.
BEVERLY HILLS 90210
Started in primetime on the now rebranded Network Two, airing in a 7pm/8pm slot during the week. It was soon dumped into the doldrums of Sunday afternoons, being moved or postponed often, depending on which Grand Prix or football match was on. I'm not even sure if it made it to the end of it's run on Irish terrestrial TV or if they just dumped it.
MELROSE PLACE
A late addition to Irish TV, Melrose showed up in a late night slot on Tuesday nights on Network Two in the late 90's. It never aired any earlier than 11pm and was often pushed further into late night by football coverage or films or anything else. Nevertheless, it often cracked the Top 20 ratings for that channel despite it's moveable timeslot. They adopted the same approach to airing MP as they did with Knots - back to back without breaks between seasons and the whole show was aired in it's entirety.
SAVANNAH
Savannah was something of a big deal when it initially aired in Ireland (and the UK). It was heavily promoted and aired in a primetime 9.30pm, post news slot, on RTE One. I think there were "younger Dynasty for the 90's" vibes being given off from it but it didn't really catch on and season two was dumped in a later slot.
PACIFIC PALISADES
This showed up as late night filler sometime in 1999 / 2000 on Ireland's newest channel at the time, TV3. I recall it airing around midnight / 1am and being excited to see it as I'd heard Joan Collins talk about it in a radio interview, even though she described it as being "really awful, even though it was Aaron Spelling". She wasn't wrong.
DALLAS TNT
RTE One was the home of the original but they were either outbid for it or more likely, weren't bothered with the revival. It aired on the country's third place channel TV3 instead where it was shown at 10pm for the first two seasons. I'd stopped watching by this point but I'm pretty sure it was dumped in a late night slot for season three (midnight or later). Had season four happened, who knows where it would've ended up.
If you didn't have access to Sky Television in the 90's/00's, Irish audiences missed out on (or were spared) Models Inc, Central Park West and Titans.
and I watched the video the next day before I went to school (otherwise I wouldn't be able to discuss the latest developments with the other kids).
