"For a series to work," Lee Rich explained, "you have to know what you're going to say in the 10th and 20th show." The series 'Flamingo Road' which went on air between January 1981 and May 1982 "didn't have that fault, but they didn't catch on."
It all started in 1980. Michael Filerman was trying to further develop the series 'Dallas'. At the time Lorimar Productions had just bought the rights to films from United Artists. Michael, by chance, saw the title of the 1949 movie, 'Flamingo Road'. He was said "had a hunch the story could become a very interesting melodrama in the 'Dallas' genre." Lee pointed out, "These things (soap operas) go in cycles…I'm a heavy believer in anything that sells and this format (soap operas) seems to sell right now (1980s). People like to look at that stuff and that's what's hot for the time being, I would gather."
The script would need to be more contemporary (1980s) though, "It would be a woman's vehicle, once we updated it to make it less a 'wronged woman' to a woman making good on her own. There's something appealing – something with a real hook – about a woman in love, hopelessly, with the wrong man."
On average, 'Flamingo Road' attracted a weekly rating of 24% share (24 out every 100 viewers watching TV on Tuesday nights at 10:00p.m.(EST) were watching 'Flamingo Road'). However by 1981, the passing grade for television was reportedly a weekly rating of 27% share. "We had only 16 hours (between January and April 1981) – not really a full season – and it's kind of hard to develop a character in that short a time," Morgan Fairchild recalled. But she recognized, "Each episode...it’s not like a guest role where you go from A to B. You have a lot of range."
"I understand ratings," Lee insisted. "I try to keep my finger on the pulse of the public. I’m not always successful, but I’ve had my share of hits...I try to discover trends, then try to convince the networks to do them...We know up front certain things are not going to make it, not going to be on the air. You can smell it if you’ve been around. I could have told you in advance what pilots of ours had a chance and what pilots did not – but if the networks are paying for them, we’ll do as they ask."
Of 'Dallas', Lee made the observation, "We're carried in 85 countries and whenever 'Dallas' is on, there is a 30% to 70% loss of audience on other programs...The series has worked everywhere except in Japan. I believe it hasn’t worked there because the Japanese do not understand a family of this type. That country's value system is different from our own, I believe. That might be good or it might be bad. But 'Dallas' has worked in England, Germany and France. I think their value systems are about the same as our own, although I know that Germany's used to be different in the way a father was treated."
Of programming, Lee maintained, "'The Waltons' were right for the time (1972-81 for the TV series). I believe 'Waltons' came along when the American public wanted it...'Dallas' was a respite for the American public, a fantasyland."
'Dallas', Bud Grant told Morley Safer, "It's the highest rated television series in the history of television…It has provided so much entertainment for so many people." Lee added, "I knew it would be a hit, but I didn’t think it would be this big...We’re the biggest hit in the history of television."
