Chris B

23 hours ago, Jdee43 said:

It's too bad we can't see those episodes with Ann Williams and the rest of that cast, from 1963-1967. I take it those episodes, like the ones from 1980-1982, are either lost, or are owned by NBC and are not covered in Retro's licensing agreement, which is only for the episodes owned by Colgate-Palmolive, 1967-1980. 

The Retro website won't load on my Samsung smart TV anymore. I'm stuck with trying to watch the episodes on my computer. 

They for sure don’t have the NBC episodes but they do have several of the earlier years. Pre Covid they had plans to stream those but it got delayed and now I don’t think they have any incentive to post those since they seem to have given up. 
 

On 5/30/2024 at 8:18 AM, All My Shadows said:

I think I've asked this before, so please forgive me - is there absolutely NO way at all for the It's Real Good TV app to just pick up where you left off? I'm in the middle of 1968 with hopes to finish the year and be into 1969 by the end of summer, but my god, is it annoying to have to scroll so deep into the middle of a year. It's definitely an incentive to binge many episodes in a row.

Ever since they changed it to free streaming you can’t save your place. I still don’t get why they cancelled the subscriptions. Surely some money is better than none. But now they don’t have to answer to anybody about quality since it’s a free service 

4 hours ago, fivethej said:

Any idea on the air date?

September 18, 1992 according to SOW. 

6 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

I haven't heard any news but if true I'll be purchasing the entire series on Apple. Just like I did with the Dallas release.

I personally want a physical release just so I can own it forever, but I know I won’t be able to resist and will end up buying it on streaming as soon as it’s out. 

On the message board that provided the updates on Dallas’ HD transfer, someone said they got confirmation from a WB rep that Knots and Flamingo Road are ready and got music cleared already. At least Knots should be streaming before the year is up. 

18 hours ago, SteelCity said:

Why do you want Atlanta so much? I just hope it's not SET in Atlanta. I'm rather tired of it. Black people live other places! Hopefully it's a fictional city like classic soaps

Because LA is too expensive. GH is the only soap that manages to still have a substantial amount of sets that also are big. The Bell soaps keep shrinking what sets they do have down and have a very small rotation.
 

For this show to be successful and draw in new viewers it needs to look more modern than what we have. Filming in Atlanta gives them an opportunity to expand what they can do in terms of sets and location shooting. 

2 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

I've read where CBS is bringing back Hollywood Squares.

Where are they going to put it in the daytime schedule?

Unless it's going to be in Primetime.

It’s primetime. 
 

On 5/12/2024 at 10:24 AM, vanguard said:

I feel like we should be getting more information very soon. January will be here before you know it so details about casting and other things should be released soon. Also, taping would have to begin around October or November in order to make the January debut. So there's that.

I wonder if anything will be said at the upfronts. I imagine we’ll know the cast in the fall, but I’m curious about when we’ll learn of filming locations and BTS staffing which would need to be completed sooner. I’m very curious to see what the writing team, directors, etc look like. And I’m still hoping for Atlanta over LA for a filming location. 

On 5/10/2024 at 11:22 AM, NothinButAttitude said:

I need the matriarch, Veronique Gates (played by Vicki Rowell), to be stone cold.

She disapproves of her son's wife, who tries to keep up with society despite coming from nothing; she constantly scolds her son for not getting his wife in check, who wears the pants in that marriage. However, her Achilles heel is her grandchildren, who tries to prevent them from coming valid little sh*ts like their mother. 

I do have to say, theres so many wonderful Black actors to pull from, but Victoria Rowell being cast would truly be the ultimate “get” and full circle moment. After literal decades of advocating for Black people in front of and behind the scenes, it would be the best gift she could receive. 
 

So many people have benefitted from her work and id love to see it come full circle in that way. 

23 minutes ago, Chris 2 said:

The problem with the Ryan cousins, Barry and EJ, is that they were cousins. Not siblings. Cousins are boring, dramatically.

Speaking of Ryan’s, I never understood why they never brought on the oldest daughter as a regular. I know at one point they brought her daughter on but I don’t think the mom ever came on. 
 

With all the recasts and a desire to expand the show, it seems that would’ve been a no brainer. They could’ve properly cast her and given her a husband and a couple of kids. 

6 hours ago, Liberty City said:

I am so happy for Neighbours nabbing TWO nominations. What an amazing accomplishment for them. The acting categories leave a lot to be desired. I thought 2023 was disappointing, but 2024 proved me wrong. See y'all in 2025.

It’s a start. Despite some naysayers, I’m happy to see how much attention the show got on Twitter. I hope more people sample it as a result. If the show is smart, they’ll send a few people over to attend the Emmys and also do a press tour here to raise awareness. If they go in prepared, I could see them getting more nominations next year. They need someone to help them focus in on who to submit and what to submit. 

Joan clearly has body dysmorphia. She was getting unnecessary work during Knots Landing. I think what makes her look so strange now is she has all that filler in her face but didn’t get her lips done. That combined with the nude lip just make her look strange. 

1 minute ago, j swift said:

Given the multitude of paternity reveals in recent years, I'm left a bit confused.  So, can anyone tell me how/if TJ and Trina are related?

I think they’re cousins. TJ’s dad is Curtis’ brother but don’t quote me on it. 
 

Overall I’ve found GH to be so exciting to watch. I know many haven’t been pleased but I love these early stages when a new writer is trying new things, cleaning up old messes and making their mark. I feel like the most immediate change is how character driven the scripts have become and the longer scenes. I can actually sit and focus and I feel like the actors performances have gotten stronger due to the improved scripts. There is also a much stronger focus on family and relationships which is great. 
 

It’s a bit unique to be given the task of creating a return for Jason as their first story but I think they’ve done a good job with it. I can’t wait until they settle in with the Jason stuff and can start introducing their own stuff. There’s rumors of some exits coming in the summer. Once they start writing people out and introducing new people, we should get a better idea of what they want to do. I’m excited because the show is overdue for a shakeup. 

4 hours ago, Liberty City said:

I resent that, especially where Sally Sussman is concerned. She went in with a "revenge agenda" and that's all she wanted to do. Kay Alden should've been the head writer; it would have fared better.

What do you mean about revenge agenda? I thought she came in wanting to reset the characters who were being written wildly out of character. She fixed Sharon, the wrote of dull characters like Chelsea, Chloe and Kevin who were overdue for exits, she gave Cane his best story ever and I liked how she wrote Hillary, Devon, Mariah and Nikki. I think she did a lot in her short time and nothing she did hurt the show. You can’t say that about any other HW on Y&R in recent years.
 

She deserved at least a year which I hope PM/EK get on GH. It seems like today people expect changes immediately but in a soap that is more difficult. I appreciate both teams taking a more old school approach and trying to fix the characters before jumping into major stories. 

5 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

There is some chatter on TwiX (X, formerly Twitter) that there was racism involved in the firing of some writers. Several of us, who have sources, were told the exact same story about what happened. After Dan & Chris were told they were being let go, the whole team was reevaluated & each writer was given specific notes. Then they had a chance to react to them. Some writers saved their jobs by how they reacted. Others did not. And, that's it. Rings true, sounds like what should happen. Not even controversial. However, I fear this will not calm the cries of racism. 

It’s crazy Sprina fans who call everything racist. I, a Black man, was called a racist co*n because I said Tabyana could work on her dramatic scenes. Keep in mind I didn’t tag her, the show or Sprina. They seek people out and attack if you’re even remotely critical of that couple. 
 

Shannon Peace, the Black breakdown writer who was fired knows how they are and has been fanning the flames since she left. It’s obvious she’s mad she got fired. After posting a bit making fun of Laura Wright, she tried to say the new writers aren’t committed to Black stories because of their episode counts in March. They’ve been here a month and were given instructions on what story to lead with which is Jason’s return. Even with that, they’ve written more meaningful scenes for the Black characters than we’ve had in a year.

Any claims racism was involved is laughable to me. The way she’s acted since she left speaks a lot about how she is and I can only imagine how she was behind the scenes.

On 4/2/2024 at 3:17 PM, j swift said:

I think the news issue is why CBS is really the only network that is in the position to be able to develop a new soap opera.

When DAYS was still on the network, it was the only daytime drama surrounded by a sea of news.  So there was nothing else for soap fans to watch, unless DAYS was appointment viewing. 

If, NBC or ABC wanted to start a new soap today, they would have to attract a totally new audience.  Whereas, CBS can coast off of those who already watch Y&R and B&B.

Another area where I think this benefits CBS is that if they're trying to attract a Black audience, they have multiple avenues to promote and support this show. First, they have to cast it right with actors Black viewers will want to tune in to see and also they have BET and BET+ which could provide other windows to air the show. 

I don’t envy anybody taking over this show but they’ve done a good job so far. We went from 20+ stories, quick scenes with no depth to a show refocused with longer scenes, a family element at the forefront and real character development and clear motivations. I can’t wait to see where the show can go in the coming months. 
 

I do agree we need cast cuts and I expect them to come as contracts come up. I hope Cody and Sasha are first. 
 

Steve Burton was dreadful during his last run (after delivering solid work on Y&R) but he seems motivated again. I never expected to enjoy a Jason storyline.
 

Im also not someone who likes kids on soaps and while the acting could use some work, it’s so nice to regularly see the characters with their kids and how the impact of Jason’s return effects them. I find it very odd how teens have been largely eliminated from soaps in recent years so it’s nice to see them starting to develop a new teen scene. 
 

We know Jason’s return was a requirement so I feel we still haven’t seen an idea of what these new writers want to do. I can’t wait to see them start to launch their own stories so I can see how that goes. 

5 hours ago, Planet Soap said:

The problem with that is, how will a 1 hour soap fit into CBS's line up? One of their shows will have to get canceled, trimmed, or take more time away from affiliates. Some CBS stations such as WANF Atlanta even have a 3pm newscast (AD REVENUE)  so they might send the new show to a graveyard slot like 1 AM. 

It’s an easy choice for them and that’s to cancel The Talk hence why it’s being developed for an hour. They’ve tried everything they could to revamp that show and expand its audience. It’s time for it to go. 
 

I also do think B&B could be in trouble if this is successful. CBS has no ownership in it and I’m sure they have comments on the quality (which don’t matter for the same reason). I could see them dumping it if they feel they have tow successful shows in Y&R and The Gates. 

I bought the Hotel box set because it was so cheap but it gets boring to me because it’s not serialized. I’ve watched the first season and now I will pop an episode on if I’m bored. Some of the episodes are good and it’s fun to see the guest stars but it’s nothing special. 

5 hours ago, Aback said:

It's funny how some people here are somehow pretending they predicted this lmao

 

I’ve been saying for years that soaps are more viable than people think. I don’t think this news is that shocking if you really think about it. The biggest issue was that nobody seemed to be willing to look at soaps and care to do anything with them, but with minimal promo these soaps are getting similar ratings to what airs in prime time and they’re all higher rated than all of these celebrated cable shows. 
 

The biggest thing that was held against soaps was their budgets but that simply isn’t true anymore. I recall an article around 10 years ago putting Days budget around 30 million if I’m remembering correctly. Look at all of Peacock’s shows and they’re paying that much or much more just to get an 8-10 episode season. Some of these streaming shows have budgets in the hundreds of millions. With them bleeding money, they need things that can drive year round subscriptions and that’s soaps. We don’t have an indication of how the Bell soaps do on streaming but Days and GH are both top ten on their apps (and for what it’s worth, so we’re AMC/OLTL back in the day). 
 

Then you have things like CBS picking the Daytime Emmys back up, prime time specials for GH and Y&R, a four year renewal for Y&R and two years for Days. Clearly these shows are doing better than were giving them credit for. 
 

I also think a new soap has a better chance of success since they will have a second platform for viewers to sample it with streaming. Just imagine how much better something like Passions would’ve done if it was in the streaming age and had that second window. 
 

The key is going to be that they have to modernize it. It can’t have the old soap look. I’d consider filming somewhere like Atlanta where their budget can go further. Maybe they can get a studio that can support regular exterior filming. A large Black cast is another plus and if the stories are modern and in line with what we get in prime time, it could reel in viewers. 
 

Now if it’s the same dated and tired stories we’re getting from the other soaps then of course it won’t work, but I imagine they have better sense than that. 

ABC has enough soap properties that they don’t need to pick up B&B but GH is regularly in Hulu’s top ten so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see that AMC reboot revisited either on Hulu or ABC. Post strike I feel like everybody is looking at affordable alternatives and now that’s soaps. 
 

I am not surprised by any of this and I’ve been anticipating something big for soaps since Days went to Peacock. There is not other explanation for the surge in subscribers they got last year. A year of Days costs less than any of their other scripted programming and is driving year round subscriptions to them. Of course they won’t publicly say that but there is no other reasonable explanation. 
 

Now with The Gates, I can’t say I feel bad if something does happen to B&B. Brad hasn’t been trying and hasn’t allowed that show to evolve. You cannot convince me that anybody is putting in any effort this year. You know CBS must be fuming looking at the show and not having any input in it. My question is: does Brad even care? I just can’t get a handle on him. He seems to have no ambition outside of B&B and he has no passion in the show either but for whatever reason wants to be the HW. 

6 hours ago, Aragorn said:

I think the decision to fire the writers was made during the writer's strike. They couldn't do it then because they weren't legally allowed to. Instead, when Chris and Dan came back they were told to finish their storylines and prepare a story for Jason's return. The producers never intended to use their Jason story, and when they presented it that was the point of their firing.

Considering how convoluted their stories are, is it any surprise their story for Jason’s return was turned down? I can only imagine how insane and over the top (not to mention, dragged out) it would’ve been. In general, i think Jason is a character they really struggled with. I don’t think the show wanted to waste such a big return on a bad story. 

15 hours ago, ClassicsSoapFan said:

Karen is a great villianess. She will quiverand whimper at first when she is told off by Althea ,Maggie or Steve but all of a sudden lash back like a devil when attacked.

I love Carolee Campbell's  ticks and quirks and wil miss her when Jada Rowland steps in. I loved Jada on the Secret Storm and am curious about her take on the role.

Jada Rowland was hard to take because her introduction was so slow an repetitive. Overtime I grew to enjoy her as an entirely new character, but she had nothing in commn with Carolee Campbell's Carolee. One frustrating thing was when they'd do re-created flashbacks with her, she *still* felt like a new character. The made no effort to make them similar besides both having short black hair.

I am surprised EW did an article on Generations of all things. I've always said I think soaps are more valuable to streamers than they admit and I'd love to see Generations make a return on Peacock. It could either be a good low cost primetime reboot or even a daytime companion to Days. The original had such a short run it would be easy to add for people to binge and if you get back Vivica, Jonelle, Debbi Morgan and Kelly Rutheford you'd have strong enough names for people to sample it. Would definitely be a smart move for Peacock, but it all depends on if Sussman can get in the room and pitch it.

12 hours ago, Khan said:

That's putting it mildly, lol.

For me, the number-one issue with the Pollocks' work (and not just on this show, but later on DYNASTY as well) is how they reduce characters to one-dimensional "saints" and "sinners."  If you are a "saint," you are saintly to the point of being a sap; and if you are a "sinner," there's no rhyme or reason to your villainy; you're evil, simply because that's what the plot demands.

Between the simplistic writing and needless repetition - I swear, there were episodes of TD during their time there that were nothing more than flashbacks to previous episodes! - I just couldn't take anymore, and I bailed until I knew their work had concluded on RetroTV.  Unfortunately, when I came back, I still found the show annoying to watch, but in different ways, lol.

It’s shocking to me that the show was so popular when they wrote because like you said, the repetition and flashbacks drove me crazy. At one point I took a year off just to catch my breathe. I’ll never forget Carolee’s year long pregnancy. 

4 hours ago, Althea Davis said:

I am so scared now... after everything I read.

 

Personally I’d say it was good through 1970 then when the Pollocks took over until 1975 they had their highs but it is very slow and one dimensional as Khan said. After that they started the revamp and I loved what Margaret DePriest did with the show. She only wrote 1976 and set the show up perfectly only for Douglas Marland to take over which was another mixed bag. It took him a long time to get a handle on the show and once he did he was fine. 

On 2/13/2024 at 4:15 PM, Gray Bunny said:

Oh ick. I block that from my memory. I guess I should clarify: Sunset Beach was the only soap to consistently shoot quality camera work with matching quality audio in outdoor locations. 

 I love the idea of GL's Peapack reboot, but they should've put an EP in place with experience with the format. The camera work and music was just dreadful. Also, there would be random scenes of people standing in the woods and on the side of the road. It was like they felt it was so special being outside but didn't understand how to make sense of it and tell a compelling story.

I also wonder why no US soap builds a standing outside set. That's why the UK soaps are able to seamlessly film outdoors because they have outdoor town square type sets they can regularly use. 

4 hours ago, Althea Davis said:

Karen is a disgusting home-wrecker. She is literally trying to destroy a happy marriage. She is lying and plotting. I hope she suffers A LOT in the show. She deserves it. Karma is a b-tch and people like that do NOT DESERVE happiness. 

Homewreckers on soaps are pretty common. I wouldn't say it's even close to the worst thing a character did on this show. In fact, what's to come for Karen is *much* worse, but I won't go into details because of spoilers.

8 hours ago, Althea Davis said:

Good to know! And is the quality good till 1980? Or does it really start to degrade at some point ? 

The quality dips when Rita Lakin leaves the show, but it's still watchable. The Pollocks wrote the show I think 71-75 and this was a very popular time for the show. They did some good work but the stories tended to go on for a long time with lots of repetition. Once they left and the show began looking into transitioning to an hour they expanded the cast, sets and storylines and while some didn't work, I do like the overall change to the show as they began to expand things.