It probably didn't help that Lemay was doing practically all the writing himself in the hour format. I recall repetitious dialogue among characters, certain words that seemed distinctive on one character (e.g., a job being called a "situation"), and long talky scenes that were like fodder, not advancing the plot or enhancing character. In the '70s, AW was better written in the half hour format, and the main draw from '75-79 were some darn good leading actors whose characters the audience had come to love. (Robert & Lenore, John & Pat, Rachel & Mac, Russ, Ada, Iris, Liz, etc.)
