Chris B

I chuckled at their conversation about plastic surgery in episode 4 of the podcast. Donna admitted to a facelift in her 40s, Michele mentioned an eye lift during Knots and Joan said she can't speak on the subject because she doesn't know about plastic surgery lol.

It was lovely seeing Anita perform with her girls! I actually loved the new Jack Swing track and that they actually referenced a specific genre that was recognizable to Black viewers. That was clever and another unique element this show can bring. Looking at her age, it 100% makes sense that this is the type of music Anita would've sung in the 90s. I thought it was more interesting than just jumping to the obvious Supremes reference and doing a 60s number.

Since the show has attracted a younger audience, I wouldn't be surprised if their ratings are higher with Live+3/7 factored in and streaming.

I can't wait to inject Miami into my veins! It feels like it's been so long since we've had a really solid season. Maybe since SLC.

I thought for sure he'd be a Derek recast when I saw the picture lol. I'm glad they're about to start amping up the Martin story. I love the way they keep rotating the main stories so there is always something big to look forward to. I also think it was smart to hold off on the Martin story and give us a chance to get to know him and Smitty. I feel like I'll be more receptive to this in May that I would have while they figured out their chemistry and how to make their characters work.

I still am hoping they make Martin the son of Vernon and Anita so I don't necessarily want a newly created son but they could always say they have a son who is estranged from the family. Today's episode was great. Danielle Paige is one of my favorite script writers. Her scripts remind me of a P&G soap at it's best which might be due to her background on Guiding Light. She seems to really handle family dynamics well. Everything felt warm and unique to each relationship. I've been saying since early on that I felt like Eva was Nicole's daughter and as they continue to drop hints I'm feeling like that could be a real possibility. The birthday thing I feel can't just be a coincidence. Eva's birthday being a few weeks apart from Kat could've just been Dana trying to hide the fact that she was a stolen baby. If Nicole found out her baby was alive she'd most likely look for a baby born that day, not a few weeks later. Love, love, loved the scenes with Vernon and Dani. I felt like this was one of Karla Mosley's strongest episodes. Clifton Davis brings the best out of anybody who has the luxury of a one-on-one scene with him. Hayley potentially being pregnant is a smart development. Bill and Hayley need something to keep them in the mix and that would be a good way to do it. I do think long term they need to build out something more for them. A sibling or friend for Hayley is going to be needed to deepen her character and make her motivations more clear. Bill at least has his daughters but since they don't like him, a friend wouldn't hurt.

This is amazing when you think of the impact all three writers had on the show. Bill Bell's time on the show was pretty universally loved and JER while controversial, was an important part of turning the show around in the 90s. It's amazing to think Ron had roughly the same amount of time and didn't have nearly the impact either of those writers had.

That is so stupid. Ivy is one thing but I don't understand the continued erasure of Maggie and Jessica when it comes to that side of the family.

Wait, I assumed Jessica was Electra's mom, I had no idea they retconned a new brother to be her father. That is even more insane than what I initially thought.

I'm excited about this only because it's something new. It's also nice to see B&B revisiting a past character. I don't understand why they don't rotate past characters in for story arcs. Right now you have Electra but no Jessica. They could easily recast Jessica if they don't want to deal with Maitland Ward. Laura Leighton or Gina Tognoni would work in a pinch. Amber is another good example of someone who could come back for an arc. Of course we know Brad won't do anything earth shattering with Nick but I look forward to seeing him and at least getting a summer break from the Taylor/Ridge/Brooke story.

This was the last straw but he did the same thing to the actress who played Juliet. I don't know what his obsession was with the Lane pairing, but that Juliet story was the first true lead story he'd had in years and he had a higher episode count than he'd ever had that year so I struggled to understand why he was so upset. Of course, after he put an end to that story, he did the same thing to the pairing of Cane and Traci which was even more shocking because it repaired the character from the complaints he had of Cane turning dark and he still had great screentime. I don't think he's a bad actor but any soap that hires him needs to make sure to keep him in his place. If he starts pulling these stunts at GH they need to get rid of him before he develops a strong enough following to pull that same Lane nonsense.

For a recurring character and a non-name actor I think this is normal for a soap. Except for the bigger names I feel like this is more of an upper middle class type of gig.

I think it'll start with Maurice and transition into Keith since it's said Keith debuts in May. Maybe the actual event will have old Ted and then Keith will take over the week of May 5th and handle the fallout. Interesting time to make the switch since this is one of the most difficult circumstances for a recast, jumping into a major story. I know many have stated they feel Samantha is too old but before I learned her age, I didn't feel this way at all. I think she feels like a contemporary of Tyrell and I do believe she's younger than Kat and Chelsea. This could just be a me problem though. I've grown to love that family and a big part of it was introducing the kids so I might just be blinded by enjoying their chemistry. I've only watched Monday-Wednesday but one thing I loved about this week is finally getting to see different characters interacting. We got Kat and Chelsea with Samantha, Martin FINALLY with his alleged father and I know it was last week but we got Vernon/Anita with their great grandkids and Derek with Haley. One thing that is irritating me is that Chelsea is wanting to manage Samantha's modelling career when she knows how devastated her mother was when she said she was quitting modelling. I feel like although the family makes excuses for Dani, nobody is realizing just how lonely and isolated she is. This is a recipe for disaster for Dani.

I feel like from a writing stand point that is a miss. In real life she likely would just call her Aunt Dani. Soaps tend to be very literal with the whole "step" sibling or "half" sibling but I've never seen people talk like that in real life.

I have to say, with Shanice back from PTO, I really hope they sit down and think through what's next to her. Fan reaction has been strong and the actress is one of their very best. I don't want them to just throw her into a story, I feel like they need to add her to contract and plan a full expansion for her character. I'd use it as an opportunity to bring in a family member or two for her and I'd get her out of the hospital and chemistry test her with every man on canvas.

Since the soaps are now on a primetime schedule, I wonder if we will hear anything about a BTG renewal within the next couple months. Technically their season would end in August but with the unique ownership I guess it's possible it could be like GH and not have official renewals. It's also possible when it was initially picked up that it was for more than one season. @Erroldo you have any insight on this?

I'm glad they highlighted the ratings. Everybody tends to focus too much on live ratings these days when that isn't the only thing they look at. I wish they'd report more on the Live+7 and the streaming numbers so we had a better idea of how these shows are really doing, especially BTG since it is new. Although the show is awful, I'm glad that they are sticking with 3 soaps for now. I won't fault a network that is trying to build a soap lineup in this day and age. And as awful as the show is, people do watch it for whatever reason.

They just uploaded episode two of the podcast and they fixed all of the problems with it. This one has a proper intro and organized topics to cover. It flowed much better than the first episode and now I feel confident i can continue listening to it. This had some Knots focus but mostly was about the beginnings of their careers. I really enjoyed it and hope they can keep this quality up.

This Joey/Vanessa/Doug story is quickly becoming my second favorite after Ted/Silk Press. I was curious how Nicole and Vanessa would work together but it felt very natural and I am loving each layer being peeled off. I am a little disappointed Joey's mom is dead (I wanted to meet her!) but it was nice to see Vanessa get a direct example of his deviousness to make it clear she knows what she's dealing with.

I bought the boxset that includes the BH90210 spin off and it's not perfect but much better than the missing episodes on streaming. They licensed the most important music so there are no missing episodes and a lot of the special moments are still there. Of course it's not perfect, there is still a lot missing but not enough to ruin the re-watch.

I just finished binging Monday-Wednesday, re-watching Tuesday and Wednesday a second time and I continue to enjoy the show. I don't find it slow at all. My only complaint this week so far is Derek. In the scene where he and Ashley set up for the dinner with Andre, I noticed he doesn't even stand or walk in a natural way. He seems so stiff and uncomfortable. Highlights so far were the Dani/Bill scenes and Dani and Andre who continue to have a nice and easy chemistry. I also was happy to see Dani interacting with Ashley. It was nice not only for the Andre of it all but to further establish Ashley as a family friend through her relationship with Naomi. It's also nice to see how Dani interacts with different people which in this case showed a much needed softer side.

Tim Gunn was great but I understand why they did it since Christian Siriano did such a great job in his role on the recent reboot. I would've just made Tim a co-host so we didn't completely lose him. He was the biggest highlight of Making the Cut, even more than Heidi. I do think it's crazy this went to Disney and that Bravo gave up on it. I loved their reboot but it lost some luster when Karlie Kloss left and they decided the show didn't need a host. I don't understand what they were thinking. There are countless models they could've hired and also people internally at Bravo who could've done it like Cynthia Bailey or Yolanda Hadid.

Probably announcing the next remote since he was just in Italy scouting locations.

I love the show and have been enjoying it, even in the slower weeks but I do see room for improvement and I know that no soap is complete in it's initial state. I'm excited for the journey and seeing what the show looks like 3, 6 and 9 months in. We're about to go into the era where they had time to review footage and make changes which should be around May. Now they've had time to see fan feedback and I'm sure we'll see changes from that which wouldn't air until late summer or fall. One thing that seems clear from all the interviews with the cast and crew is that they're committed to doing great things and I don't think they'll give up until they get it right.

I do wonder if March Madness threw off the episodes which could explain the lack of Friday cliffhangers. Overall though, I do agree the show has slowed down but I'm going to trust Sheila Ducksworth when she said the story picks up at the end of April. In addition to her words, we know Gregori Martin is no longer with the show and they recast Ted. I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed this is when we will start to see substantial changes based on what they saw in the early months of filming. I've said it before but I think making Martin Ted and Nicole's son was a huge mistake. I'd come up with a way to make him Anita and/or Vernon's child which would explain why they have basically acted like his parents the entire time. Just say one of them had an affair and due to Vernon's political career they gave Martin to Nicole who was struggling to have kids, to prevent a political scandal.