Your Steady Date on Channel 8

Your Steady Date on Channel 8 is a serialised drama series produced by TotalAccess. It is a spinoff/continuation of the series 590 On Your Radio Dial, which was set at WMFS Radio in Minnesota, and ran from 2003 to 2005.

As '590' concluded, WMFS Radio's studio was demolished to make way for WMFS-TV, the region's first television station. 'Channel 8' begins at the retirement party of Bill Goodson, longtime anchorman for Channel 8 News. He has been with the station since it signed on in 1952, as a humble mailboy at the young age of ten. Now, at age 66, Bill is one of the nation's most respected newscasters, but has turned down jobs at network news operations time and time again, always because of the connection he feels with the station. While retired, he still maintains an office at WMFS as a part-time content advisor and on-air commentator.

The programme follows Goodson as he writes entries in his memoirs, reminiscing over memorable, often funny, sometimes tragic events that happened both at WMFS-TV and for the nation as a whole. It is unique in that, as with each episode, his story jumps across decades; for this reason, the series has six dedicated sets depicting the station at various times in history, as well as six separate casts.

The first series was written well in advance of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike, and was filmed between October 2007 and January 2008. There are fourteen episodes in series one, which are transmitted in widescreen and high definition. A second series aired in the US in December 2008 and January 2009. A third and final series has been commissioned, to screen by year end 2009.

Series One
1. Acknowledgements, Part One (2008) Bill Goodson is thrown a party at WMFS after his final newscast, and reflects on his decades at the station through stories he tells his colleagues.

2. Acknowledgements, Part Two (2008) While Bill tells his entrancing stories, the suggestion is made that he write his memoirs and share his stories with the public.

3. In Living Color (1952, 1970) Bill recounts his first week at the station as a ten-year old mailboy, and his mentoring of a rookie reporter eighteen years later.

4. Deadlines and Datelines (1960, 1983) Eighteen-year old Bill is unwittingly forced to become a reporter when he and a cameraman are trapped in a hostage situation. Later on in history, as news director, he's ordered to fire the same cameraman when he is diagnosed with AIDS.

5. Weather Alert (1970, 1998) A flood strikes Minneapolis in the 70s, and a tornado threatens the downtown area twenty-eight years to the day.

6. The New Hire (1990, 2006) Bill feels threatened over rumors of a replacement news anchor in the summer of 1990; in 2006, he announces his intent to retire.

7. In Memoriam (1963, 2001) When Bill learns of a former colleague's murder, he remembers the same mix of emotions and pressure to stay composed during the assassination of JFK and the horror of 9/11.

8. Live to Videotape (1985, 1991) Technological enthusiast (but admitted bumbler) Bill struggles to master first videotape, then digital recording in preparing his news reports.

9. Teething Troubles (1952, 2007) Ten-year old Bill saves a live broadcast from disaster; in 2007, Bill's amusement over High Definition transitions leads him to rethink his upcoming retirement.

10. Babes in Toyland (1969, 1997) Bill notes the tragic irony in his interviews with both Judy Garland and Princess Diana mere weeks before their respective deaths.

11. Blooper Reel (1977, 1999) A network blooper show's request for two classic moments featuring Bill causes him to recount a disaster newscast in 1977 and his annoyance over a compilation of his less-than professional moments for an "End of the millennium" montage.

12. City on Fire (1988) Bill sets out to write out the painful memories of having to cover a riot that overwhelmed the city.

13. Through the Fire and Flames, Part One (1988, 2008) Pressure builds on Bill while writing about the riots, and as he's asked to hand over the anchorship of his newscast to a young hotshot officially on-camera.

14. Through the Fire and Flames, Part Two (1988, 2008) In 1988, WMFS is beseiged by rioters. In 2008, moments before his on-air appearance, Bill suffers a massive heart attack.

Series Two
1. Resolution (1958, 2008) While Bill is rushed to the emergency room with a potentially fatal heart condition, he flashes back to an important New Year's resolution from his early days that he never fulfilled.

2. Resurgence (1968, 2008) Bedridden, Bill continues trying to write his book, but also continues to be haunted by some of the bad decisions he's made in his life and to the lives of others.

3. Repair (1978, 2008) Bill recovers a repressed memory while in his hospital room that threatens to mentally unseat him.

4. Recovery (1988, 2008) The fighting spirit that led Bill to help cover the riots twenty years ago and save the Channel 8 building comes back to him after flirting with suicide.

5. Good Tidings (1998, 2008) Bill is finally released from the hospital in time for Christmas, but all he wants for the holiday is to return to the people and places he's loved for over fifty years.

6. Amends (1960, 2009) Bill starts the new year trying to find Roberta, the young girl whose life Bill nearly destroyed some fifty years ago.

7. Towards the Light (1970, 2009) Bill continues the search for Roberta, and while looking, finds out the fate of a co-worker he deceptively got fired to advance his own career.

8. A Woman of No Importance (1980, 2009) Having finally located Roberta, Bill looks into her life and discovers that trying to make amends is a double-edged sword.

9. The Facts About Jimmy (1990, 2009) Bill returns to Minnesota with one more mission--find the gangbanger he talked out of suicide during the massive riots.

10. Eventide (2000, 2009) Back in his own office at WMFS-TV, Bill finally gets to give the TV audience the speech he was going to give some months earlier, but rewritten, publicly acknowledging his mistakes and apologizing to the people he harmed while becoming a success.