Chris B

It's hard to guess on nominations now that they do these awards so much later. If they didn't change the voting process, not too confident in winners either. One thing I will say is that I expect BTG to get nominations but I hope people don't get their hopes up too high. We know politics are always a thing at the Emmys and with 5 soaps now, they probably won't get as many acting nods as people hope.

This was a strong week! I feel confident in feeling as if they've hit their stride and we will ride out the year successfully. Thinking back to things like Winterfest, I was worried the cotillion and tornado would be quickly forgotten but the've done a good job of making both events count. Focusing on the tornado, I thought this entire week was strong. I love how complicated the Kat and Eva relationship is and I enjoyed the stress about the donor. This reminds me of the type of soap relationships that were the norm in the past but we rarely see today. I thought the way the majority of the family treated Kat was insane. They didn't give her any opportunity to think through what happened before demanding she donate her liver. I even feel like they glossed over the fact that she went through something traumatic herself. The one thing that would've made this week better for me is if after all of this, Kat wasn't a match. That would've been such a strong friday cliffhanger! Looking forward to the next few months, I'm curious where they take Leslie and Eva from here. I feel like this would be the perfect opportunity to do a pivot with Leslie. Even the best villains can't always antagonize everyone. I'd like to see her slow down and show real appreciation for Kat. Even better would be if Kat ended up in some mess and Leslie bailed her out. They could also focus on a romance for her instead of just tormenting the Dupree nonstop. Now I'm not saying everybody forgives her and becomes her friend, but a ceasefire has been earned.

I found the show to be difficult to watch most of 1993. Kristen and Felicia had fizzled out and I haven't been a fan of Taylor in this initial run. Sheila has been a shot in the arm for the show but once Brad Bell took over I noticed a big shift in quality. I also hated James' introduction and interactions with Taylor. I find he works much better now that he is in Brooke, Stephanie and Sheila's orbit. Another thing I didn't love was breaking up Thorne and Macy.

I have struggled with the show for a long time but finally have become interested again. I'd say April 1994 was the turning point for me. THey wrapped up the awful James/Taylor story, she's finally dead for a little while and Sheila is back. The Spectra stories are weak but the return of Sheila, Stephanie and Eric at the forefront and Brooke/Ridge/James are all working for me. I'm happy I got past that rough patch and am excited for whats to come. I know we have some new characters coming like Jessica Forrester and Karen will thankfully be leaving soon. Excited to see what these changes bring!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0260bGAndOs As many of you know, Joan has been MIA from the podcast as she battles an illness. This weeks episode of the podcast is a birthday celebration for Joan and a request from the ladies to send all your positive energy her way. Joan is one of my absolute favorite actors and I've been worried about her since she's been gone from the podcast for so long. This was a nice treat for fans who are worried about her. You get to see several costars pop in to wish her a Happy Birthday, including Ted who we haven't seen in ages. The best part is that Joan also pops in and talks about what she's going through and thanks everybody for their support. They don't always get it right, but this was such a treat! I love the bond these ladiea have and I hope Joan is able to get well and re-join them.

I just completed episodes 8 & 9 of the reboot's second season. The first episode was JR's funeral which was as shallow as you'd expect from these writers. They brought people back but everything felt shallow. With Mandy back, it would've been a good opportunity to have a line of JR's women. You could have Mandy sitting with Sly, Serena and Marilee Stone and played that cad part of his history. Even if they couldn't get those actresses back, just having a bunch of women filling that role would've been a nice touch. It felt odd pairing her with Sue Ellen and Cally who were both married to him and had his kids. They also didn't mention that Cally had a son with him, another missed opportunity when you think of his legacy on the show. Then after the mediocre memorial, you have the return of Valene to wrap up Gary's return. the sad thing here is that on paper they did have a good story that could've lasted the entire season. Gary was also a welcome presence with JR gone. They hinted at so many things, but we barely saw anything. Gary relapsing, a potential romance with Sue Ellen, Valene returning to feud with Sue Ellen and get her man back--all interesting things that make sense from a character standpoint but they glossed over all of it. This show moves so fast that even when they stumble upon something interesting, it's over so fast they can't act on it. Now the absolute worst part of the series thus far is the destruction of Cliff Barnes. They had Cliff bomb an oil rig with his heavily pregnant daughter on the rig. You'd think they'd play it with him not knowing she was there but nope, we see him on camera telling the guy to blow it up with her on it. To make matters worse, he framed his nephew Christopher for the explosion! Cliff gave as good as he got when it comes to the Ewing/Barnes feud but I never found him to be an outright villain. I also can't see him potentially killing his daughter and ultimately killing her twin babies. Just a shocking out of character twist.

I find Twitter to be the the worst place to discuss the show. So much negativity and while I know the show isn't perfect, they complain for anything. Even a week like this that has been really strong, they've still found endless reasons to complain. Why is Leslie there? Why isn't every scene about the Duprees? Why are there white people? Why are there any villains/drama on the show? It's just nonstop and they talk so bad about MVJ in a veryy personal way. One of the big things is Madison, Kial and Carlton being away this week. Personally, I think it makes sense. This is a critical political event and Madison is in the middle of a lawsuit and it would look horrible for Nicole to have her ex husband and two boyfriends there. Joey is another example of someone who should't be there but they played it head on which added to the soapiness of the event. I didn't know what to think of this group of Y&R characters crossing over but I thought it worked perfectly. I loved the callbacks to the Y&R characters past. Diane and Leslie were a genius pairing and it was a good reminder of what she could be long term. I thought Abby and Devon were more interesting than they've been in years, especially in the dreary story they currently have. I actually feel like they could fit in better here long term than they do on Y&R. I'm excited to see where they leave things on Friday. Thursday had cliffhanger after cliffhanger and could've easily been theFriday show. I hope the week ends strong and that they play this for weeks to come. If they quickly wrap this up it will all be a waste. We need people seriously hurt, we need the Hayley/Bill story to finally start moving, we need Dani/Bill to really come into focus. Don't let people forget this event! Play it for all it's worth and use it as a true kick off point for some new stories.

I would 100% be here for this. Doug/Heather/Deanna on one side with Vanessa/Joey/Donell on the other side could be a strong story. I still am hoping against hope that he isn't dead.

This is what excited me about Ashley Jones in the role. I'm hoping it's one of those cases where they go against type and the actor surprises us. If they plan to keep her around long term I could definitely see Jones playing it in a way that we would find her likable despite her crimes which is key to a villain lasting. I am curious where she'd go from a romantic standpoint. I can't picture where she could go in that regard.

I found the impaler reveal to be underwhelming since it wasn't someone we knew but I don't hate it. This seems like a role that was tailor made for someone like Sarah Brown. I find it interesting they cast Ashley Jones against type in this role. They gave me enough to be curious about how she will fit into this world. Today was a nice setup for the week to come. I wonder if we'll get much more of this impaler story or if they will pivot to Martin's event completely.

I was wondering why Tori was MIA from the 90210 recaps but still was doing the other podcasts. Such a shame! I know Shannen wasn't perfect and took most of the blame but the one common denominator when it comes to the drama seems to be Jeannie Garth. You also have Vanessa Marcil who has spoken out about how she was treated, Tiffani of course and there was that actor she made the show fire who was accused of being anti-semitic to get him out of his contract. He was recently on their podcast and it was insanely awkward. He was very gracious but I feel she downplayed what she did.

I hope the speculation in this thread is wrong about who the impaler is. I feel like it would be a bit of a let down if it's somewhere we've never met before. Especially since there are so many interesting suspects on the canvas. It would also give the new character a short shelf life I feel. Of course we'll see how it plays out but this wouldn't be the choice I made.

Cady should've been playing Smitty's mother not a friend of Dani's. He is a very isolated core character and having a mother pop up here and there could help his character become more dynamic. It also would work perfectly with the type of screentime she's gotten. I feel like the reason people gravitate more towards Vanessa than Pamela is because we see Vanessa more and have gotten to know her. It would make much more sense if Pamela were Smitty's mom popping in and out to see her son.

The 1985 reboot wasn't bad. I did think it captured the look and feel of the original series. My biggest disappointment were the changes made to the continuity. The most glaring change was Connie and Elliot's son Matthew becoming a daughter. As a movie, I think they did the best that they could've done but I definitely would've preferred a tv series reboot. Out of all the primetime soap movies, this one is probably the strongest.

I agree 100%. I do like Joey but the facts are he is completely in the wrong when it comes to Doug. To have Deanna go crazy would be a slap in the face to Doug, Deanna and the viewers. I hope whether he's a ghost or alive that they use this as a tool for her to find out the truth. Plus the actress is too good to waste on a short term psycho storyline.

I haven't been able to post because I've been so busy with work but I had to jump in to give them props on a stellar week! I have complained about the pacing but they finally gave us some major story movement and they executed it very well. This felt elevated and like a soap that has been on the air for a long time. I hope they carry this momentum through the end of the year. I'll start with the cotillion. The set was lovely, the styling was great and it was packed full of extras! I love when soaps go all out and give us a big event. I feel like this is the first time BTG has fully pulled this off. It didn't feel rushed and we had lots of nice small moments between the big stuff. I particularly enjoyed Anita and June connecting. The kids can be annoying at times but they nailed it. I still feel like Deanna and Donnell are such good finds and I hope they continue to develop those two characters. I loved Tyrell sleeping with Jessica and the potential complications that come with that. Moving on to Derek...This is a man who 100% should've been replaced during his first 13 week contract. For whatever reason they kept him and to Ben Gavin's credit, he clearly took the feedback seriously and he completely turned Derek around. In season two I thought they finally cracked the code on Derek. His acting was more natural and the chemistry he had with Leslie and Eva was perfection. I think I've said it before but I could've seen Leslie and Derek being similar to Carjack on ATWT. It was sad to see him go but I do understand it. They needed to kill off someone we loved and it definitely landed. I've seen some talk about Ashley and although she is insufferable, I do think Jen Jacob did a decent job with the fallout. From a story perspective though, I am not a fan of Grayson. I hated that they just hand waved his actions and he won't have to pay for anything. I get that his mom is sick, but Lia had her reasons as well and she's being punished. I can't see how I can root for him with Ashley, knowing he caused Derek's death.

I'm five episodes into the second season of the reboot and it's worse than I remembered. I could've sworn it got better with time but these episodes are painful. Jesse Metcalfe simply cannot act, Julie Gonzalo is struggling with Pamela now becoming a villainess, Jordana Brewster doesn't register at all and Brenda Strong is absolutely horrendous. These are the people leading the season thus far and it's painful to watch. Larry Hagman has started popping up in very smell bits and pieces and he elevates every scene he's in. One thing I will give the show is that visually it does look nice. The office and condo sets with the floor to ceiling windows work really well and are a good use of green screen.

It's not well known but it's something that was talked about on the Ultimate Dallas message board which tends to be reliable. The person I saw speaking about it is very reliable so I do believe it's true. Apparently whatever happened is related to the 2004 Return to Southfork reunion. Prior to that Victoria Principal was fine with the cast and she agreed to do that reunion after Charlene Tilton convinced her to do it. Something happened during filming, allegedly between Linda Gray and VP and after that they wanted nothing to do with her. This is why they left her out of 30th anniversary celebrations and refused to work with her on the reboot. Tilton also did an interview calling her a "real bitch" post Return to Southfork. Here is a quote from there that sums it up: She wasn't asked back. Cynthia Cidre stated that. For two reasons. 1. She thought Pam was dead after reading the bio on the website. So didn't even contemplate asking her back at the start 2. She was told she could never ask her back. VP then weirdly stated she did get asked on the show. She 100% didn't get asked. It's all rather bizarre. It's quite ironic she played Pam the outsider, but in the real life version even Bobby pushed her out VP kind of became the Pam we all wanted to see on screen. Throwing a knife every so often at the Ewings. You can view the full discussion here: https://www.tellytalk.net/threads/ultimate-dallas-website.11058/page-4

They were lucky to have him and his star power but even he can't save this. The more I watch the more I'm amazed at how bad this writing is. Everything is too on the nose and plot driven. In one episode John Ross was arrested for murder, severely beaten, the family rallied around him at the hospital, Sue Ellen blackmailed someone to get him released and then ultimately he was released. Oh and before the episode ended, Sue Ellen's blackmail attempt was discovered and then she was blackmailed as well. As I watched it, I felt so bad for the actors because the scenes were so short they couldn't do anything with any of the material. I know scenes have gotten shorter in recent years but this is so extreme. I actually don't think any of the storylines in season one are particularly bad, they're just poorly executed and the characters have absolutely no depth. Nothing is given the time to develop so it's hard to get invested. Another thing that doesn't work are the random pop up appearances from Ray and Lucy. I hate the way they tend to stand them next to each other like they're a couple. Considering one of the major storylines is about Southfork and the land, that's where Ray should've come in, as JR and Bobby's brother. Lucy comes off as a drunk aunt who just pops up. We have no insight on what her life is like today and there is no continuity from the original series. Is she still with Mitch? Is she still an art dealer? Does she have any children? It's obvious she's just popping up so they can say they brought back an original cast member.

I'm now almost done with the first season of the reboot in my re-watch. This is my first time watching the reboot since it originally aired. Before I jump into that, I must give them props on the final season of the OG series. It wasn't perfect but I thought JR had a very strong arc throughout the season and I loved that they acknowledged all of the loss and the impact that had on him. April's death was also interesting with Susan Lucci having the time of her life as a femme fatale. The only thing I didn't love is that Michelle and James didn't end up together. I don't think he needed an insta-family so late into the game. Now onto the new series...I'm glad we got it and I was lucky enough to appear as an extra in two episodes but it makes me sad that it wasn't a better show. The first thing I notice is just how weak the cast is. I really am not sure what they were thinking but they could've easily recast all of the new characters. The first really strong casting choice is when Mitch Pileggi showed up. Another thing I recently learned is that Victoria Principal was open to returning but the cast nixed the idea. One simple thing that could've improved the show is if they had gotten her back so Pam and Bobby could be the heads of the family. What really let them down the most is the writing. Cynthia Cidre was open about not watching much of the series and it was obvious watching the show. I do recall the show getting better with time but I felt like that was more desperation to keep the show on the air. In this first season the scenes are ridiculously short and it feels like they're constantly jumping to the next plot twist. There is no substance or depth to anything they do. The biggest positives are obviously the OGs. Sue Ellen in particular works really well after not feeling necessary in the later seasons and two tv movies. Seeing Cliff again was another delight and I do love that they didn't forget his connection to Christopher. I wish I could say the same about Christopher's connection to John Ross and Sue Ellen. Feels so odd when John Ross says he isn't family when we know that is Sue Ellen's nephew by blood. Despite the issues, this reboot is still watchable. With Taylor Sheridan filling their niche we probably will never see Dallas revived. I guess it could've been worse.

This week has been very tense and fun. It finally feels like things are starting to move. I'm also happy that we're at the end of Anita's cancer story. It dominated so much of the show and was so dark that I appreciate the break we're getting now.

Jamey mentioned on the Daytime Confidential podcast that when BTG had taken a break they let him go back and write for Days. Maybe that's one of the episodes he did?

A few months ago The Drew Barrymore Show did a series of behind the scenes features on Beyond the Gates. Just another way of cross-promoting the show. I agree. Especially with it being a short week, I wondered if this was an insert episode. There were good moments but I can't say it worked overall. I do love bottle episodes but I feel like the Andre/Dani stuff didn't work paired with the plasma story. Something like that could've been good for an entire episode with different couples having fantasies. Can't say I loved it being set at Orphey Gene's either.

Knots Landing and Dallas both could've easily rebooted themselves to last longer if they wanted to. Knots had a chance when they built up the Sumner Group which could've been a spin-off itself. For Dallas, there was endless potential but they only viewed JR and Bobby as important and I couldn't ever see them pivoting from that. I loved that pilot! Especially now looking at the success of The Pitt and the desire for lower cost programming, I wonder if something like that could work. Even if it only aired once a week but with a longer run, that could be a game changer.

This was a nice treat!