All My Children was the first new network daytime drama to debut in the 1970s.

But just as soon as the rush comes, it's gone, and you're back in the thick of an ordinary, derivative network drama.

Name another network drama that can so wondrously turn a ?

The next big live network drama is also an adaptation of an older work, although its concerns are less specifically tied to a particular era.

An hour of prime-time network drama generally runs up costs of $1 million.

Two things that didn't happen recently may illuminate the fate of network drama.

Both are suspended for 22 weeks without pay, a reference to the then-standard length of a network drama's TV season.

Also 'The Good Wife' is quite consistent for a network drama.