Chris B

Still catching up on the week and haven't seen Joey's new place yet but I do agree it's odd to give him of all people a set. If anything, I'd give Vanessa a home and have him move in with her. I guess they can accomplish the same thing if they plan on keeping them together but still an odd choice. Hopefully this is one step towards retiring the casino set. There has to be something that serves the same purpose but is more pleasant to look at and more reasonable for people to visit. Maybe a discreet restaurant or bar setting?

We saw Dani spraying Anita's hair with water after cutting it which I took as an indication she was reverting it back to it's curly state. I know the hairstylist on the show posted a video of how she's been using her products to grow Tamara Tunie's natural hair and she posted a video of it straightened. I was surprised to see how long it is compared to how it looks when it's curly. Black hair is unique and complicated to understand. Shrinkage is a thing and it's very versatile. I appreciate that they are at least attempting to show this change. It's not easy and the execution isn't perfect but I thought it a creative way to do it instead of puting her in a bald cap.

Have and Have Nots is entertaining but there came a point where I stopped watching and never picked back up. I found the pacing to be very difficult to handle. I wanna say the entire series took place over a few weeks. It's just ridiculous when you consider all of the things that happened.

She's probably worried because if he doesn't want to have sex with her, then she's losing her hold on him. If he leaves her before she can get his money then she wasted her time for nothing.

I do agree with this. Would be a smart summer storyline for the younger set. Tyrell, Deanna and Donnell with a couple of friends/love interests and Vernon and Izaiah as the elders. I feel like soaps have gotten away from younger stories, especially in the summer but they have the perfect setup for it. BTW, not sure what the news is but The Gatekeepers podcast is teasing a huge BTG announcement. @Errol do you have any idea and if the announcement is imminent?

I don't think he would've worked at JR at that time.

Cassandra Creech from ATWT and B&B is also in it!

One thing I do hate is that they gave Jan a little off screen love because I'd LOVE for Derek and Jan to get together. That would drive Ashley crazy and be such a wild way to stay in her life.

If Derek were played by a better actor I'd make Grayson evil just for the shock of it but with what we have it would probably be better to let Derek go to the dark side since we can afford to lose him.

Call me crazy but dare I say the Jacob/Naomi/Smitty and Grayson/Ashley/Derek stories are two of the most intriguing for me right now. Opinions are mixed on Jacob and Naomi but they remind me of Tom and Margo, a couple I loved on ATWT (all the actor combos btw). I love that they're inherently good and moral people who want to do the right thing. Naomi hiding her diagnosis is 100% on brand and also makes sense when you consider Jacob is going undercover. The only time I enjoy Smitty is with Jacob so throwing him into this story is another win. I'm also happy to have our first real mystery brewing. Now with Grayson/Ashley/Derek, Jen Jacob needed a strong acting partner and she got it. Jordi feels natural in the role and the chemistry is there. I didn't know what would happen to Derek but he's the most interesting he's ever been. I like the sly manipulation and am very curious to see where it's going to go. I'm glad MVJ finally found something for her muse that is interesting to watch. Also: In a fantasy world, Smitty/Jacob and Ashley/Naomi would be gold as romantic pairings.

There were so many recasts in the first couple seasons that I don't know why they didn't recast her. A great example of how a recast can save a role would be with Kristen. The original made no impact and she was instantly viable with the recast. They should've replaced her after the mini-series, but at a minimum after the first full season.

I've been rewatching the show since I bought it on AppleTV and I didn't realize how early it was that it was apparent they didn't know what to do with Lucy. Right now they're playing this thing with her and Alan Beam but it's such an after thought. She exists mainly to give a quip here and there. The only interesting aspects of her story are the rare occasions we get to see Gary and Val. I know many weren't fond of Jennilee Harrison but she was a much more interesting take on a young female Ewing. Another thing I'm noticing during this rewatch is just how amazing Linda Gray is in these early years. Sue Ellen is so complex and not what you'd typically expect considering JR is her husband. She can be just as evil as he is in her interactions with the family. Also, seeing pregnant Sue Ellen constantly drunk with that huge baby belly was absolutely hysterical. There was a scene of her in bed laid up drunk that I was just screaming at. The chemistry between Gray and Larry Hagman is just off the charts.

My prediction is that he's the new AMC writer. He left to do something and it likely is a soap. If he were leaving to be HW somewhere we'd know the news by now. Susan Lucci mentioned on Kelly Ripa's podcast that she knows of the writer and has heard good things. Ron is a notable name she hasn't worked with so it would line up.

This is true but I feel like it's more bad luck than anything. Ringer and her show with Robin Williams both deserved much longer runs. Right now though, she seems to be having a bit of a career resurgence. She mentioned she's more focused on her acting now that her kids are older. She has a movie on the way, a limited series and Buffy lined up right now.

I don't think this looks great but I will of course be watching! Definitely understand why Bravo didn't want anything to do with Real Housewives of London though. The most interesting thing I can take is that one of the failed Real Housewives of Cheshire made the cast. They've had so many interesting wives over the years and Missi is the one who gets the Bravo crossover? Life isn't fair.

I feel like movies are much easier than trying to reboot the series and could help generate interest for a series. My hope is that the movies do well and it would lead to a primetime/cable revival.

Wow! Natalie Minardi Slater is a huge get! That is who Kay Aldenw as grooming as her successor had things not gone the way they did. Happy to see her at BTG!

The Susan/Liza thing is incredibly odd because as @Khan said, they did have a relationship. Two parts of the interview made me think of it: first was the chapter about being a working mother but only mentioning Andreas and then when she mentioned a friend who didn't go to Helmut's funeral, knowing Liza wasn't invited. It must be something huge to have caused such a huge rift.

I just started watching again and one of the few highlights are Carson and Raven! Wow!

Today's episode was excellent and you could really see the growth in the production overall. I don't want to hear any nonsense about who wrote the breakdown, this entire episode was a success and I give credit to everybody involved! We got a good variety of scenes starting with Dani/Nicole bonding which is always going to be a highlight. I also enjoyed Kat, Chelsea and Naomi. Naomi's unraveling did wonders to helping us understand why she sometimes reacts to things the way she does. I also am enjoying Kat taking accountability and trying to be there for her family. The Ted/Andre scenes were great and I loved seeing Andre encourage him to repair his relationship with Carlton. The Ashley/Naomi scenes were fantastic! These two have great chemistry and Ashley works so well outside of Derek. I hope they get it right with this new love interest they were teasing. I thought we were in for standard office scenes at Bill's office but I loved the shock of Tomas overhearing Hayley's scheming. I wonder where this is going to go: Is he going to investigate Hayley? Confront her? The highlight of the episode were the Bill/Dani/Andre scenes towards the end. Karla Mosley has insane chemistry with both actors and they seem to have fallen into a very nice triangle. I hope they play this for all it's worth this year! I still don't know which couple I want. The slight changes they made to the writing staff definitely have improved things. The pacing is great and the show feels so settled in. I'm getting excited to see what's to come! This was an excellent start to the week.

This is how I felt. I also hope they're misleading us when it comes to Max. I don't want another year of him being the same mess he was before. I hope that we get to see him actively trying to be a better person before getting drawn into whatever they were teasing. This is exactly how I feel. I stick around for those individual scenes and the relationships. I just need one story I can latch on to.

I don't know any spoilers or have insider knowledge but I don't think Derek is going to disappear. It's so hard to say since the show has so many heavily recurring actors. Based on that my assumption is that he'll probably linger in the background but I do think we'll still see him here and there. I noticed the show posted an interview with him on Instagram talking about his favorite moments of season one. That and the fact they seem so hesitant to write anybody off.

I wasn't impressed with the New Years fast-forward either. I'm not going to drop the show but definitely they need to win me back. I'm hoping the next couple month see some improvement.

It was so beneath her. It really disappointed me. They could've had anyone play that role and they gave it to her? Now that I think about it, I think she could've been a better Claudia. I feel like she could've provided the kind of balance that Donna Mills brought to Abby. I never bought Kathleen Noone when she tried to show the softer sides of Claudia. She felt very one-dimensional and evil.

I enjoyed Robin Strasser and Jane Elliot the most. I feel like the worst used daytime actors were Jamie Lyn Bauer and Rosemary Prinz just because I know how good both are and think it's a shame they got such throwaway roles.