Attempting to build upon its two soap line-up of "General Hospital" and "The Young Marrieds", ABC premiered this rather traditional series about class conflict in the small town of Haviland. Oddly, ABC chose not to air "A Flame in the Wind" immediately before "General Hospital" as would have been expected. Instead, the series was followed by the long-running courtroom anthology series "Day in Court" which then led into "General Hospital". At the time of its debut in December 1964, "A Flame in the Wind" aired opposite the hugely popular game show "Password" on CBS, and "The Loretta Young Theatre" on NBC. The ratings for "A Flame in the Wind" were not impressive.