Chris B

This is such a shame. It didn't feel real for so long because the second season on Amazon has been *so* good that I just refused to accept that it was going away. It's bittersweet. I guess it's a good thing the show is going out on such a high note but it leaves me wanting more. They finally figured out the new cast and how to weave in guest spots from past cast members in a meaningful way. They added more drama and intrigue, hell they even had a successful US crossover with Chrishell Strause doing some of her best work.

I hadn't thought of this but I love that idea. I want June to be connected in a different way from what we expect which is Haley or Dumb and Dumber. Would be a nice surprise and also tie into Naomi's reconciliation with Bill to reunite him with a sister she may not have known about.

I felt the exact opposite about the past two weeks. I feel like the show has built a lot of momentum and I've been enjoying seeing the Martin story develop. I love that it's bringing the male characters to the forefront for the first time and exploring new dynamics between them. Seeing Vernon in a new light has been a revelation and Clifton Davis is eating up the material. Bill has become more interesting and I'm glad they're developing Elon and Marcel more. The biggest winner next to Vernon is probably Smitty. They've finally found something that works with him developing his reporting career and his chemistry with Jacob is excellent. They've already done quit a bit of bed hopping in 4 months, I don't think you necessarily need that since Jacob and Naomi are such a stable couple. I love the chemistry of Jacob/Kat and Jacob/Smitty but I don't want them to be romantic. Plus, they introduced two new triangles: Ashley/Andre/Dani and Ashley/Derek/Shanice, so we do have more bed hopping going on. On a side note, I noticed a video the actress playing Shanice posted about the triangle went viral on Instagram. It has over 5,000 likes and over a million views. I hope the show is taking note and keeps that story going. People have been asking for more Shanice and are responding well. What I like about the dialogue is that it is more modern and weaves in current slang. I feel like it depends on the actor to sell it but overall I do enjoy it. I do agree with you here. I hate to say it but one of the weakest links for me has been Susan Dansby. I say that because she's the Script Editor but there have been so many continuity issues with them not syncing the time of day for the various scenes and carry over from episode-to-episode. When it comes to hair, the one I feel they can't get right is Naomi. I see they're debuting a new wig for her next week. Her best look was week one and I feel they should stick to natural hairstyles for her. The only other person whose hair bothered me was Kat but I love her new wig. It's more natural and finally doesn't look like a hat sitting on her head. This actually worked for me. Martin knows that Kenny is targeting his kids and since he can't tell them, it makes sense he followed her. She did tell him she was going to the park after all. I do agree that I don't think Joey is as big of a threat as they make him out to be. I don't mind that because I don't want him written into a corner but I wish they'd do something to soften him a little bit. Introducing Ashley as his daughter would be a good way to do that. I feel like they're at the point where they need to decide what they want from Joey and go all in. I like the multiple villains and the fact that we have multiple stories going. I feel like Kenny and Alison are more short-term villains whereas Leslie is long term. I do agree with you that it's time to go forward with something new for Leslie. I'm ready for them to start the next phase of this story and show us how she's going to manage to stick around. 100% agree! Ever since Turtleneck Ted left, Randy is the #1 guy on the show for me.

From what I've read, the new studio is one of the oldest ones in Hollywood but isn't nearly as successful as it used to be. As a result, my guess is that they are paying less in rent and just based on how the studio is set up, they'll end up with a larger studio. The money they're saving on rent, plus the added space could give them an opportunity to expand and enlarge their sets. Part of the struggle with changing out the sets is the cost for a crew to take down and put up the different sets. The one soap (not including BTG) that has avoided the set crisis is GH due to the unique model that Frank Valentini uses where they exhaust all the scenes for each set which allows them to have more variety (and bigger sets) than the other soaps. I don't know why the others don't use the same model.

See I actually am on Anita's side here. Some of the bands from this era are doing the tour circuit and some of them (Mary Jane Girls/Expose) look ridiculous trying to recreate what they did in the 80s as women in their 60s. It would be one thing if The Articulettes came from the Motown era with minimal choreography but I don't think anybody would expect them to be doing that in their 60s. Where Anita went wrong is that she already had someone lined up and you could tell her mind was made up. All of this should've been discussed up front and they could've decided together. I definitely see why the women thought she was taking control. I get it's her money but she should be including them in these decisions so they feel like a real part of the process.

If it means getting location shooting, I don't care about stuff like that. I didn't even think of that when watching it, I was just so excited to see them get outside of the studio. That scene was so much more impactful than if Martin walked in on them sitting at a table at Orphey Gene's.

I love Cady but Pamala just doesn't fit which is the biggest issue I have with her. She randomly pops up which doesn't leave much time to develop the character and then you have the weird accent and lack of chemistry with Karla Mosley and I'm out. In addition to that, we already have a character on canvas who fits the role better and that I'd like to see more of, Vanessa. If you told me she'd known Nicole and Dani her whole life I'd believe you. It suck is because Cady is a great actress but I can't see how I could ever get invested the way she randomly pops up. I wish they'd connected her to somebody to get her more of a reason to exist. Pamela as Smitty's mom would've gone a long way to develop his character who was isolated for so long until they started putting him in scenes with Jacob.

Season two had one big season long arc and some smaller arcs. I loved the changes they made this season instead of just having self-contained episodes. When you get to season 3 they did go back to a largely self-contained episodes but it made sense due to the changes you will see early on. There were a couple clunkers but overall that was an important season for character growth and set the stage for season 4 which is my favorite. The final episodes of season 3 are among the best.

Yesterday's episode was very dramatic and today's was hilarious! They're continuing to have an amazing week! I loved seeing Nicole attack sweet and innocent Leslie. The over the top reaction that Leslie had was hilarious and why Trisha Mann Grant is so delightful to watch. She doesn't waste a second she's on screen! The Kat/Eva stuff was also interesting and I love that they're deepening their feud. This should go on for years. They don't always have to be at odds but this is a dynamic you can play long term. Shanice/Derek/Ashley continues to be the story I didn't know I want but it was amazing again today. Ashley works so much better now that they aren't treating her like a Mary Sue. Let the grey continue to shine on that lady! The scenes with Ashley/Haley were also great. I am curious how this is going to develop over time. I expected Ashley to blurt out that she knows she didn't get an ultrasound but she's keeping that quiet for now. I wonder if when she finally does confront her, someone will overhear (perhaps Leslie?). The only weak links in this episode were Pamela, who just doesn't work and nuTed who is useless. I'm beyond ready for Carlton to come scoop Nicole up.

Thank you!

Can someone post a link to where they're seeing th e full nominations?

They were stupid to submit SSH in Lead when she is clearly a supporting actress. Not only that, but it would've been easier to get a nod that way. She didn't even appear in 40 episodes last year...I don't understand the shock to be honest.

This week is knocking it out of the park so far! Those Martin/Tyrell scenes were dynamite! I thought because Ron wrote yesterdays episode that the cliffhanger was a dream but I thought the fact that it was real only added to the stakes. I love the nuance in Tyrell's performance as well. You could tell as pissed as he was, he knew something was up with Pops and that he was in the wrong. The scenes at Uptown were fun. I didn't expect Shanice to be with Derek but it made me chuckle and they did have legit chemistry. Ashley and Andre I feel have something nice but I don't want them to get serious. She's starting to remind me of Alison on Melrose Place. I'd love of they highlight her flakiness and give her some of those Melrose attributes. Let her be a trainwreck!

With it being a Ron Carlivati episode I can only imagine that was a fantasy but definitely was a surprising cliffhanger. I love this June storyline. It feels very old school soap.

Last week was a wild week for BTG fans and despite all of this interesting discussion and speculation, I'm happy we're back to new episodes today! I'm hoping the show can re-gain it's momentum. I'm even going to watch the Bell soaps live to see if they promote the shows return.

Brad Bell and Frank Valentini have another level of job security. So does Josh Griffith at Y&R. BTG is a new soap that has to deliver to build an audience and stick around. If she doesn't take feedback seriously either she will be out or the show will be cancelled. The stakes are much higher for Michele.

To be fair, we haven't gotten to a point where they can implement any viewer feedback. That won't come until September at the earliest. The only tweaks they've made so far would be from network feedback or from what they're seeing on air.

If CBS was worried enough to pull it then this is likely when the meddling comes in. The good thing is they have so much in the can that if the ratings pick up CBS might back off but I wouldn't be surprised if we see changes in the new year. I can see the LGBT stories going first and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a name (white) soap actor in a big role.

I didn't see Essence so I can't really comment but I will say this whole thing has been so disappointing on CBS part. Doing it is one thing but leaving the show in the dark as well as the viewers is insane. I'm sure it made them all worry. The ratings are not as high as the Bell soaps of course but for a new soap it is doing well. Last week it was within 300,000 of GH, it continuously beats GH in the demos and it's doing much better than The Talk. Soaps are a marathon not a sprint. The fact that it's come out of the gate this stable is a good thing. They should be looking at ways to enhance viewer engagement and building the audience. Of course the biggest irony is that this break came on the heels of a 12-week ratings high, during a storyline viewers are heavily invested in. If it comes back lower than it left us, that is 100% on CBS. They finally had a chance to build from the 1.5 range and CBS killed the momentum.

Maybe they assumed with it being a holiday that the ratings would've continued dropping? Of course they didn't anticipate the ratings shooting up last week. The key takeaway for them needs to be that you need to plan and not make kneejerk reactions. They cost potential ratings highs this week riding the waves of the Bell soaps also being up. If they wanted to do this it should've been properly planned with clear result in mind. If it's to introduce the show to new viewers, they should've ran promos saying that with a note you can catch up on Paramount+. They also should've spent the week promoting the following week of new episodes. I also think their social media should've been ready posting key clips of highlights, behind the scenes, etc.

I agree 100%. Leslie has life in her as long as they don't make the modern mistake of taking her too far and still trying to keep her on the canvas. That's one thing I do worry about because MVJ comes from B&B and they love to do that. I mean, if you think he's cute, that really is all he gives. I feel like he's getting better though. I've enjoyed his scenes with Jacob and the chemistry is slowly growing with Martin. Hopefully when the secret is out it can breathe new life into his character. For one, they definitely need to keep up the friendship with Jacob. He needs to get out of that house and have friends.

I agree! It's a no-win situation. I'd love this to happen. Hopefully they come up with a good promo and blast it across their lineup so people know to tune in.

This is incredibly frustrating to read. You mean to tell me Beyond the Gates (which was AMAZING last week) had a 12-week high in total viewers and the show suddenly took a week off with no notice and no promotion? They could've had a chance to go even higher with how interesting the promo looked. Now a good week is going to be wasted coming back after a week off with no promotion.

I agree. I feel like the changes they need to make are more positive than anything. For example, audience has responded to Shanice so I think it would be smart to start fleshing her out and making her a more regular character. Same for Doug and Dr. Carlton. The only real negative I'd like them to address is to find a way to justify keeping Ashley and Derek around. We know the show loves them but the viewers do not so they really need to find something that makes those characters work if we're stuck with them.

Yes, I feel like September is the likely point we can see any revisions. I'm excited to see where they take the show in the fall. They keep things so quiet on set (which I love) so we really have no idea what they've done. I'm very curious if there will be any cast additions. One I'm hopeful for is Dr. Carlton in a regular capacity.