Capitol (TV series)

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Capitol was the name of a soap opera which aired on CBS from March 29, 1982 to March 20, 1987. As its name suggests, the storyline usually revolved around the political intrigues of people in Washington D.C., whose lives intertwined.

The soap opera revolved around the Denning, Clegg, and McCandless families. With the success of such "glamorous" soap operas like Dallas and Dynasty, CBS ordered producer John Conboy to put the serial into production. The more traditional serial Search for Tomorrow was canceled for the new addition. It was the first soap opera to commence production in Los Angeles since The Young and the Restless began in 1973.

The show's opening sequence during its early years was somewhat reminiscent of Dallas as well, except that, of course, it showed aerial scenes of Washington, which had been shot during the exceptionally cold and snowy winter of 1980-1981. The white monumental and governmental buildings against the snow and the leafless trees projected a stark image of power, which was presumably what all of the major characters were constantly struggling to either obtain or increase. The opening sequence for Capitol would continue to primarily showcase the sights of Washington until the final year, when a computerized sequence was instituted, illustrating glamour and sex in addition to the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial.

Some of the cast members included Carol Alt, Rory Calhoun, Carolyn Jones, Richard Egan, Ginger Alden, Leslie Graves and Teri Hatcher. Although the show was a modest success, CBS canceled the series in December 1986, telling Conboy that the last two months of shows would have to be taped in the span of a month; the Capitol sets were to be torn down and new soap sets put in their places. Conboy complied, albeit begrudgingly, as he and Head Writer James Lipton (Future Host of Inside the Actors Studio) wrote a cliffhanger ending for the serial: journalist Sloane Denning was placed in front of a firing squad in South America, and the audience never knew if she lived or died.

The following Monday, Capitol was replaced with the even more glamourous The Bold and the Beautiful, which is still in production.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Ratings and Timeslot

When Capitol debuted in 1982, it captured 8th place in the ratings (taking the place of the show it had replaced in CBS' daytime lineup, Search for Tomorrow). It remained in 8th place throughout its life, with its best ratings points of 6.4 achieved in the 1983-84 season. Although it was consistently CBS' lowest rated soap, its numbers reflected the strength of CBS daytime lineup.

In 1981, CBS moved longtime 12:30 p.m. soap Search For Tomorrow to 2:30 p.m. EST between As the World Turns and Guiding Light. Procter and Gamble who owned the show was not happy and wanted the show back at 12:30, so they moved the show to NBC in March 1982. CBS replaced SFT with Capitol. Capitol did reasonably well in the ratings but in 1985 the ratings fell slightly from a 5.8 to a 5.1 with some CBS affiliates dropping the show. CBS panicked and decided to cancel the show in 1986. Capitol was replaced with The Bold and the Beautiful on March 23, 1987. However CBS put B&B at 1:30pm EST behind The Young and the Restless, bumping As the World Turns to 2:00/1:00 CT/PT. It should be noted that "The Bold and the Beautiful", the show that replaced "Capitol", never surpassed "Capitol's" ratings.

Ironically Search For Tomorrow's run on NBC lasted almost as long as Capitol's on CBS with NBC cancelling the show on December 26, 1986.

Cities like Seattle, WA never aired Capitol, the local CBS affiliate, KIRO TV, aired local news in its time slot.

[edit] External links

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