Chris B

The biggest problem I have with Tomas is that they have such an easy out for him: kill him off. We've suffered long enough and we know he won't grow as an actor. Plus the Haley story has been dragging it's feet like everything else. It would make sense to off him to continue to prolong that story.

2 hours ago, Broderick said:

Vanessa really seemed whorish and desperate today when she sat there like a blonde gargoyle watching her "date" disparage Beautiful Nicole (who's supposedly her best friend) at the dinner table, then followed him back to the Golden Corral Casino and basically told him, "I love my children and my friends, but I love you even more even though I know you're a criminal."

She is such a disappointment. Not only is she a bad mother but she's clearly a terrible friend. I wish they'd truly commit to bringing Deanna and Donnell on full-time. Not only have I really enjoyed them but I need them actively giving her hell and investigating Vanessa and Joey.

I'm a big fan of the Scream franchise and was surprised to see Nora Zuckerman and her sister and writing partner Lillia were hired to write the next installment. This was surprising because neither of them has an horror experience. I decided to do some research on their past credits and turns out Nora got her start as a writer/producer on Desire!

Of course she's gone on to much greater things like being the showrunner of Pokerface but I was pretty stunned to find out she accomplished as much as she had and this is how she entered the industry.

6 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Thank you.

Martin was only in 4 times, the lowest for any contract player. I wonder if Brandon had some other project going or they just didn't have much for the character to do this month.

I won't lie and act like I missed him. I feel like you could easily write off Martin, Smitty and their kids and the show wouldn't skip a beat. It's a shame because I do like the invidividual actors but the characters are just boring, all of them.

6 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

I like Mona but one appearance kinda makes you wonder the point of the character. She's supposed to be Nicole's assistant but we never see her in that capacity.

I agree here. I like those little supporting characters that come in an out but they need a little more than that for consistency. I feel the same way about Caroline who didn't fare much better.

2 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

I don't see the play buttons for those movies.

Ugh you're right! I guess I really will have to buy that movie collection lol.

2 hours ago, Khan said:

Trust me, you ain't missing much, lol.

2 hours ago, Khan said:

I thought both reunion movies (and the KL reunion movie) stank, lol.

I did see JR Returns and War once ages ago but I don't remember much beyond them not being very good. Just from the lack of cast members that returned, they seemed like lazy, thrown together projects.

The Knots mini series wasn't great but at least we got to see a good amount of characters return. You mean to tell me even Charlene Tilton wasn't available for either Dallas movie? For a show as big as Dallas they definitely deserved better.

As I reach the end of the Dream Season, I realized that AppleTV includes The Early Years between season 9&10. I'm excited to get a chance to finally see it! Out of curiosity I decided to see if any other extras are included and at the end of season 14 they have the Return to Southfork reunion an War of the Ewings. Unfortunately, JR Returns is omitted. I wish it were there for completion sake but it's available in physical media so I'll buy that box set to watch that.

Now if only the Knots Landing mini-series was available in any format.

5 minutes ago, te. said:

Yup. But a messy website and also a soap that had been off the air for 40+ years it was always doubtful it was ever going to have much impact. It seems like they've gone back to just putting it on It's Real Good TV and RetroTv: https://www.getafteritmedia.com/the-doctors

With that said, something like The Doctors would just benefit a lot from a FAST channel and trying to get it on so many platforms as possible first. B&B has already been building their online profile via YouTube, streaming on Shout! etc.

I agree. They should've tried to license The Doctors out because they didn't have the infrastructure to build their own streaming platform. To be fair to them, I know they did mention trying to get more soaps to create a soap channel, but they didn't find anybody willing to license them their soaps.

1 hour ago, dragonflies said:

The issues with the ABC soaps doing this is music rights. They'd have to cut a lot of stuff and people will b*tch if they do, cause they'd be paying for episodes

I do wonder how B&B got around that because they didn't cut music when they streamed the show on YouTube. For ABC, some of that work might've already been done for the post-2000 episodes at least. I seem to recall when the soaps would re-air on SOAPnet that they already replaced the popular music.

Dark Shadows and The Doctors led the charge and it's nice to see B&B continuing it! I hope this is successful and encourages others to do something with their soap library. I feel like the no brainer would be ABC which has a full library that could easily build out it's own platform. My dream though is Days or Y&R. I'd love to see the first 10+ years of those soaps.

2 hours ago, kalbir said:

@Chris B Going by the ratings, March 1985 there's a decline. There's also another decline March 1986.

This season squandered their ratings and as we know, it's not easy to fix that on primetime soaps. THe fact that the dream season came next sealed their fate. They just went too far away from what the show was supposed to be about.

I'm finally in that second half of the series quality-wise, the Donna Reed season. I'm not going to sit here a bash her either. She was put in a difficult position and did the best she could. I do appreciate she had her own take on Miss Ellie and don't let it bother me since I know it's just one season.

The show is still very watchable but it's not elevated anymore. JR and Cliff are becoming more comical, Sue Ellen has turned into a boring stepford wife and we're in our second season of them not knowing what to do with Lucy. The biggest problem this season is Jenna Wade. I always found Priscilla Presley's version to be one of the most boring characters in the history of the show. The story with Charlie's dad was boring and he was miscast. This is a show about wild Texans...why do you throw an Italian man in the mix? The story of his murder drags this season to the pits of hell.

Then you have Pamela who has been isolated from the entire cast on a wild goose chase searching for Mark Graison, who wasn't around long enough to merit this type of attention. A highlight for me has always been Jamie Ewing. I thought she was an interesting character, moreso than her brother Jack and I feel like she should've stayed long term. I wish they'd kept her main focus on her love of oil and the business instead of turning her into a doormat for Cliff. I do think they had good chemistry but like with many of the women, they don't understand how to let women be strong long term.

I am looking forward to wrapping this up and getting to the dream season. I know that has endless issues but I do find it to be a fun fantasy to watch. One thing I will say I'm not looking forward to is the destruction of Donna and Ray. He ended up with Jenna's boring ass and I found them to be such a grounding element to the show. I'm very curious how I will feel about Donna's exit season this go around. It's always upsetted me in the past.

I wouldn't have been mad had Ben stayed long term and been Val's main love interest. Val and Gary have chemistry but I never thought it was believable they'd be successful long term. One of the few things nuDallas did right was breaking them up.

It's not that Gary is an inherently bad guy but his demons were so heavy plus he was a Ewing. I didn't even buy them in Back to the Cul-de-Sac. No way Gary went that many years without acting up.

I will say, they won me back over with Morgan Fairchild. Still talked over her but it was an interesting convo. I will say, for all of my complaints about The Locher Room, we get so many more BTS stories there than we do here. Morgan has been on so many soaps and we got very little about that beyond a story about her early days at SFT and her work on The City. Dallas, Falcon Crest, Flamingo Road and the others were largely overlooked. I also feel like they could've left out any talk of B&B considering how minor her role is.

1 hour ago, Liberty City said:

Hulu has passed on New Sunnydale.

ViewerAnon, an insider on Twitter, said that Buffy only appeared in the pilot for 30 seconds and it was written where her story arc would just cover season one. I imagine that had something to do with their hesitation. I'd also seen a few weeks ago that they were pushing for a longer episode order (18 episodes) and Hulu only wanted to do the standard 8-10.

I'd love to see Buffy return but only if it's right. Some things are better left in the past. Especially the way tv works these days. I do think if you're going to do a Buffy reboot she has to be a central character and also, you do need a longer episode run to have those monster-of-the-week episodes.

Hopefully they give it another pass and come up with something good.

Ron has had his ups and downs but I do think he makes sense as a guest and I'm interested in hearing what he has to say. Now on the Ron subject, I will say I was disappointed in the Donna Mills episode. I feel like they brushed over so much of her career and seemed unprepared and I hated all the focus on GH. Instead of asking if she'd return to daytime in general, they kept pushing her to return to General Hospital and said how Ron loved her and created this character and blah blah blah. Finally she said the role was one-dimensional and not satisfying to play. I was so happy she said that and shut it down.

They could've gone into more depth about Knots or Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, her tv movies, her work with Jordan Peele, etc. but instead wanted to focus on a dreadful role she got on GH.

26 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

I think it is time they repurpose sets. Ashley's character does not need an apartment. Eva can do without as well and should probably move in with mama if Leslie ever gets a set. Caffeine fix needs a makeover. Maybe add a counter with fancy espresso machines and some menu boards. Also make it more cozy.

What I would do is have Jacob/Naomi and Ashley both live in the same building and use one set that can be redressed for both of them. Then the extra space can be used for something else, like a place for Vanessa. I also agree with you suggestion that Eva should move in with Leslie once her set is ready to go.

I did love having Kat move in with the Grans. I love how soaps tend to have a bunch of people under one household. If these are supposed to be big mansions it does make sense and is good for character interaction. They could've easily had Dani/Bill (now Andre) living there as well and that would open up even more space. That could literally be Vanessa's set.

I also wish they'd come up with something else for Joey instead of that ugly casino set. Couldn't they just make it a seedy looking bar or restaurant instead?

42 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

The truth is that she out acted Lauren Buglioli in those scenes. Her Vanessa is just not good at all when emotion and vulnerability is called for.

Yeah...she might be the weakest in the cast when it comes to those heavy emotional scenes. I was surprised at how Deanna ate her up on what was likely her first day.

The introduction of Deanna was better than I could've ever imagined. They really struck gold with both Deanna and Donnell and I really hope the show takes notice and makes them a real family. Vanessa is overdue for a home set (which they should've build instead of giving Joey a home) so the family has a place to ground their scenes. I find them more interesting than Chelsea, Madison or Martin and Smitty's kids. Vanessa gets decent screentime but I do think the show would benefit from expanding her role more which Deanna and Donnell give her the opportunity to do.

I didn't love them having the ceremony at Uptown but with the budget constraints I'm not surprised. It kinda worked but it makes me wonder if a clinic was even a good idea if it isn't something we'll get to see. Plus, do we really need a hospital and a clinic set?

55 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

-- No Samantha at Uptown was a big miss. So was no Derek.

I aint gonna lie, I didn't really care that Samantha was missing but I did miss Derek. I can't believe it but he's really come around on me in recent months. Dare I say it but I feel like he has stronger chemistry with Leslie and Eva than any love interest either has had thus far. I feel like Ashley and Derek both have so much potential and likability now that they're apart.

Another thing I wanted to say is that I am starting to become sick of this cotillion story. Is it just me or have they been talking about this forever? For a teen centered event on a show where the teens are recurring, it's taking up too much screentime. This should've happened by now but they keep talking about it with no end in sight.

19 hours ago, J Brooks said:

What happen to GH Thursday and Friday???

BTG almost tied YR in 18-49 on Friday. Was there a big cliffhanger?

There was a big reveal with the impaler storyline. I wonder if that could be driving the ratings increases.

I've just reached some of my favorite episodes in my re-watch, when Sue Ellen crashes her car with Mickey Trotter with her. This is the big "Fight for Ewing Oil" season and might be the last truly great season. It's so well paced and every character is utilized in this constantly expanding umbrella storyline. Even Lucy had a good season!

The one thing that drove me to post was just how irritating I find Sue Ellen during this rewatch. When I think of her I often think of the strong woman of the later seasons but I don't feel like that was earned. We see her being nasty for so many years that it is hard to find empathy for her when it comes to JR. Even this season she is repeatedly telling Bobby and Pam how much she hopes JR beats Bobby in the Ewing Oil fight, despite them constantly being there for her and supporting her when he mistreats her. At the very least she could just stay out of it.

I was ready to stop watching based on how bad the show has been but I do love Lexie (and Abe and Paulina) so I'm going to try and stick it out a little while longer. I've heard the new EP has started so hopefully that leads to some positive changes. It's hard to expect too much with the same HWs though.

10 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

I would say this is very accurate assessment on BTG. It doesn't have many cliffhangers to make you want to tune in the following day or week.

This is my biggest problem with the show. I feel like the pacing has gotten so slow that they really can't do a cliffhanger because we know there isn't going to be much story movement. It seems like they're taking the GH approach of spinning all the stories in circles and picking one month for big reveals, then back to the same thing.

12 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

Jacob is so naive that it's going to get him hurt.

Deanna is going to come in blazing and that is what I was waiting for. Vanessa needs to come up against somebody who reads her and Deanna seems up to the task. The actress was giving a little of Victoria Rowell when Dru read her mother down to the ground.

I feel like they struck gold with Donnell and it looks like it's going to be the same with Deanna. I hope the writers really invest in these characters. I find them both stronger than Samantha and Tyrell.

Personally I feel this is where they need to start developing the second family. You mentioned Victoria Rowell and I could easily see her slotted in as the matriarch. It would be incredibly soapy to have her come on as Doug's mom to keep an eye on her grand kids and keep Vanessa in check. I also think there is a world where you can make her Dru, but that's another story.

I hope BTG can stay in the 1.7 million range for total viewers and only go up from there. It's nice to see some progress in the ratings. It takes soaps time to gain a loyal audience and I can see the show over 2 million one day. For all we know, they may not have introduced the right character or family to give them that final push. It's still early but promising!

I tuned in just to say I gave it a shot but was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I had a lot of negative thoughts due to how Bravo handled the show and Real Housewives of London, but I'm happy to say both shows are great and completely different. I'd also argue this ensemble has more chemistry than the original Ladies of London which never quite got it right.

I'll start with Misse, who I already knew from Real Housewives of Cheshire. She was kinda boring there but she fits with these women much better. She reminds me of a Crystal Minkoff in that she kinda drowned on housewives but grew over time and is now able to shine on a show that is a better fit. Mark and Martha were other highlights. I didn't know if a man could work but he made perfect sense within the cast. Martha is giving me Grey Gardens and I love every second of it.

The only people I'm not 100% sold on yet are the Americans but I don't think anybody seems like a dud. I hope this show ends up being successful so it sticks around!

I loved Lexie so I am at least interested but the show has been so awful. I tried and watched around two months and had to stop because it was so bad. I know the new EP has just started airing but with the same writers I can't say I have much hope. I will try and tune in again and see how this goes but it sucks knowing it's yet another short term return.