Chris B

Derek, Ashley, even Martin (although I love him), but sexy Turtleneck Ted?! I would've never guessed this. He was my favorite on the show and by far the best looking in a cast of stunners. I do find it interesting the new actor will be premiering in May. They were filming the beginning of May when the show was on the promo tour. That means Maurice has known he was let go likely very the time the show premiered. Still, he has been nonstop tweeting and promoting the show in a positive way. That is very classy of him and I hope he lands on his feet soon. I'll give the new Ted a chance, the new actor is fine as hell as well. Just completely shocked that *this* is the role they recast.

I agree with this. Nicole can have things that have happened in her past but I don't want it to be anything to taint who she has been presented as. I see her as a Viki type of heroine. I don't know what's gonna happen here but I could see Derek turning bad which could cause a breakup and prevent her from cheating on him. I am with you here. I know that no soap gets everything right from the beginning so I'm hoping this is the first storyline they adjust now that they've gotten feedback.

If she's willing she'd be great for a short arc.

Yes! I love that you can look at them and totally see where they are shopping at. But would Leslie be shopping at Target? I see her more picking up what she can at Wal-Mart or Big Lots or even thrifting.

This might sound strange considering how nice some of home sets are but by far Leslie's apartment is my favorite. They did such a good job of showing a contrast between a regular apartment and the wealth we see from the other characters. Even the decor is perfection (not to mention the wardrobe for Leslie and Eva. You can tell a lot of thought went into giving them a proper set to show their place in life which helps the story and showing what Leslie feels she missed out on and deserves. They did it in a way that looks natural and not a cheesy, trashy view of what someone working class lives like. Small touches like that and the specific costume design for each character are part of why BTG is must see tv for me.

If it was another soap I may not be as hopeful but MVJ has shown good instincts as a HW so far and they have a good working relationship. Plus with Gregori Martin already out (and we saw how bad his first outline was), that gives me hope she'll make adjustments as needed when it comes to her writing staff. I feel like because they're remote, they'll be more likely to make changes there than they will with the cast since many had to re-locate for the show.

Days, particularly under Ron was a campy mess. I didn't see that same type of work from Jamey on Ambitions or Sistas so I'm going to assume that is just doing what fit into that specific show. I'm hopeful Jamey works as well with MVJ here as he did on Ambitions.

That's what I want! I want them to take her all the way down to the gutter but then build her up. Not just make it a joke of her constantly lashing out at Bill and Haley.

I hope they play this right. I feel like Dani is the type of person that it's hard to empathize with because she's a larger than life diva (and insanely impulsive) but the situation she is in is so devastating at it's core that I understand why she's acting like this but I don't want them to only play the campy side of it. She needs to hit rock bottom and get help at some point. And I'd like her family to acknowledge how deep her pain is. It's not just Bill leaving her for Haley but they're also tormenting her by constantly shoving it in her face.

I do think it's pretty clear that the biggest mistake the show has made thus far is having Martin be Nicole and Ted's son instead of Anita and Vernon. Especially when you consider how strong his chemistry is with Vernon. The fact that the teens work so well with Martin and Smitty only goes to further highlight why this would've made more sense. I feel like Nicole and Ted would've made more sense having Kat as an only child which would've only made the potential of Eva being his daughter more juicy.

I think they're setting him up for a big fall. I'm interested in seeing who he is once his secrets are revealed. I don't believe the Martin we're seeing is the Martin that Nicole and Vernon adore or that Smitty fell in love with. I feel like as much as Smitty is putting up with him now there had to have been a major spark to make him put up with this. I'm curious how he will handle it once the secret is revealed and how supportive he'll be.

I know March Madness has been a thing for years but I am *so* irritated we will only have 3 episodes this week. It's crazy to think I actually care because normally I appreciate the break from Y&R and B&B. Still adjusting to having a soap I'm excited about.

You know, as we talk about what we want from the Ashley/Derek storyline, I just thought of something else I want to see. We've heard through the dialogue that Nicole and Vanessa are close friends but I don't think we've had even one scene of them together. I do think Nicole could benefit from a friend so I'd like to see them start to develop that relationship.

Call me Dani because the more evil he gets, the sexier!

Since everybody was naming the sexiest men, here is my list: 1. Ted 2. Andre 3. Martin 4. Bill 5. Jacob

To be honest, I don't expect anybody to be fired. It seems like the cast and crew is very tight and they've talked about things improving and working to give us a better product so I see them giving every actor the biggest chance possible to work in their roles. The earliest I could see them giving up on an actor or character would be towards the end of the year. I find it more likely they'll add more people if anything.

Of all the storylines that are getting heavy screentime, it does seem to be under-developed compared to the others from a writing standpoint. Ashley has been in almost every episode and we've seen her with her mom once or twice even though her mom has been in several episodes. Derek also has no connections to anybody so his character hasn't been developed at all. This definitely stands out compared to the other storylines. It would be an easy fix from a writing standpoint so fingers crossed they get there soon.

When it comes to the criticism around characters like Ashley and Derek, I think part of the reason we're struggling is because usually those roles would be played by the token Black characters on soaps. Like in all things, Black people have to come ten times more prepared so we often have over-qualified Black actors in these roles. I think people are expecting the same in reverse except those same standards aren't placed on white actors.

I just started this Megan McTavish book and I am stunned that she begins by defending how awful the show was around the time of the unabortion and Josh Madden story. Blaming "fanatic" soap fans for the unabortion not working is insane. She had multiple periods of time on AMC that were good so it's insane that she would start vehemently defending such an awful time for the show. It definitely will cause me to side-eye what she has to say later on.

I will say, I do think that 3 weeks in most of the cast has settled into their roles nicely. The only people I can truly see being in danger of the 13-week chop are Derek and Ashley at this point.

In my experience this is actually realistic. I live in San Antonio which has a heavy latino population and this is how all of my spanish speaking friends talk. I think it's called spanglish. Even myself I use certain spanish words just because it's so common. They've done certain things to establish Ashley but haven't utilized them. Why didn't Naomi go to her friend Ashley to vent when she had issues with Jacob? Why hasn't Ashley talked to her girlfriend about the flirtation between her and Andre? Why did they give her a mom but never have them interact together? I still don't think the idea of a triangle is a bad idea but this storyline feels severely under-developed compared to the others on the show. I've always felt this about them. I believe she is in love but I don't see an ounce of love from Bill. I feel like she was one of many affairs and he got stuck marrying her. I get JR/Cally vibes from them. I do think she's going to fight for a real marriage but you can't win when the man doesn't want you. I hope and pray this doesn't happen. I don't want *any* rape stories. I feel like US soaps cannot do them correctly and I find it so offensive. If I could ban one type of story it would be this. I do not want anymore redeemed rapists which is a trope that US soaps cannot resist.

I like Andre and Dani as a fling but I really don't see them as a couple. I don't think he'd satisfy her. On paper I do understand the idea of Derek/Ashley/Andre and I do think it could work but they'd have to recast at least Derek to gain any momentum. What I want for Dani is Robert Christopher Riley's character to be developed as a love interest for her. I refuse to believe they'd cast him as just a guest star so I'm hoping there are further plan. I'd love to see Dani start to fall for him which would drive Bill crazy and cause further strain to his marriage.

I've been watching Sunset Beach for the first time and it had a similar start. Very strong first month or two and then it felt like nothing happened, especially during the summer when you'd think they'd be trying to court new viewers. The show premiered in January and I'm currently in October and I'm just bored out of my mind. I've heard it gets better the second year so I'm trying to stick with it. With BTG I'm still not bored. The only characters I just can't get behind are Derek and Ashley as a couple but other than that I'm good. Sheila Ducksworth mentioned that the end of April some big stuff starts to happen so I'm hoping they avoid the Santa Barbara/Sunset Beach curse of a hot start followed by a period of boredom. One plus for BTG is that we know they launched with a well thought out bible that MVJ worked on for years. Ducksworth said about 90% of her bible is what we will see on air. That gives me hope they at least have the first year planned out.

GMA3 wasn't outrating GH but was doing much better when TJ and Amy were hosting. The affair gave them a boost but the show was overall better when they were hosting it. To my knowledge it was their first affair but ABC got cold feet due to the negative press.

I don't think GH needs to worry because of BTG. GH's issues are bigger than that. The biggest problem being the poor lead in of GMA3. They should've kept TJ and Amy who were actually able to bring in ratings despite the controversy of their relationship.