Chris B

I know I'll get tomatoes for this but if they needed to recast Ashley, I wouldn't be upset if Kristen Alderson played the role. Especially when you look at the actress playing Ashley's mom. But to be fair, there is such a wide variety of soap alums if they decided to recast any of the white characters. That's part of the benefit of all the soaps being primarily white for so long. I just finished today's episode and I enjoyed it. I understood Jacob's side of things more than I did on Friday's episode. I can see how he felt he was softening the blow by doing it himself but he still could've coordinated with his wife to make sure it went smoothly. She's a lawyer so you'd think he'd be able to trust her. Loved the scenes with Nicole/Sherry and Ted/Leslie. Although we now know he knows abut the affair, I don't think he knows about Eva and I do think she's his daughter. I'm curious what lengths he'll go to keep the affair a secret. This is exploding much faster than I expected. Another thought I had with the pacing is that maybe these are just our intro storylines. Most soaps start slow and let you get to know the characters before things start happening. Maybe the reason these stories are moving faster than we anticipated because this is our intro, just as a streaming/2025 pace. I wouldn't be surprised if come May they've already revealed most of these secrets and broken out into new stories.

It's a soap, that is child play compared to some things people do. I'm going to let it play out. Now you could be right in the end but I'm going off what I know so far.

I don't think that's terrible. He made a mistake and he wants to avoid his wife finding out about it. He didn't make the right choices but I still don't think it automatically means he's a bad buy. Now if we find out he's been cheating for all these years like Bill then that's another story.

Call me crazy but Ted having an affair doesn't make me hate him. For all we know this was a one off affair and Eva is at least early 20s so it's possible he made a mistake when he was young and it's now coming back to bite him in the ass. I don't think that makes him like Bill at all. We've had non-villainous characters have affairs many times on soaps. My mind immediately goes to Tom and Margo on ATWT. I think Nicole and Ted could make it through this.

This is still not bad. It allows a new audience to sample it and then if they like it they can still carry on to CBS or Paramount+ to keep watching. BET has had success in their primetime lineup with soaps so it'll be good for that audience to know there's a new soap. I know The Oval and Sistas are still very popular for them so they're likely trying to grab those viewers.

They're doing everything they can to get this show samples. I really give props to CBS, NAACP and P&G. Seeing how high their Black audience was, this is a very smart move. They're bringing soaps to an entirely new generation.

It did beat GH in delayed viewing which I do think is important since they use those Live+3/7 ratings to determine if a show is a success. I also am super pleased with the streaming numbers. I just hope we don't see it drop in upcoming weeks.

This is how I feel. Week 2 felt like the show had been on for a while and I felt it was paced in a way that I was able to easily follow it compared to week 1. I also get what they're doing with the pace. When people joke about soaps it's always about how slow they are and how you can skip months and come back to the same thing happening. If they came out with Passions pacing I don't think they'd get sampled. Plus with streaming, there is an ongoing chance for people to jump into the show. I know my younger sister is excited to watch it but she won't watch it yet because there aren't enough episodes. She's used to binging a series so she wants 20-40 episodes before she will even consider starting the show. As the show develops and has these moments, they will hopefully continue to catch new peoples eyes. When they see there's a backlog of episodes that is going to be a positive thing IMO. People get so upset binging a show and being done after 8 episodes. Another thing I think would be smart is for them to license the show to Netflix at some point. I'm not saying to remove it from Paramount Plus, but once season one is done they could license it to Netflix and I'm sure it would quickly be a top ten show there.

I just finished binging GH and I thought this week was damn good. From Portia/Ava to Isaiah/Jordan and all the Quartermaine drama, I was very impressed. I also loved the scenes with Sidwell and Alexis. The highlights of the week for me were the scenes between Tracy and Sonny about Gio. Maurice Benard doesn't always give it his all but you could tell Jane Elliot pulled it out of him. Then the scenes with Lulu telling Carly, I found Laura Wright's performance to be so layered in a way I didn't expect from those scenes. I truly bought everything she said about Brook Lyn reminding her of Bobbie. The final highlight for me was Lulu confronting Brook Lynn. I don't think I realized that Brook Lynn didn't even now she had a son. I find her to be the most boring character on the show most of the time but I was completely invested in a way I haven't been about this missing baby saga.

Yes, I agree. I'm sure it'll come together in the end. I do like that from what we've learned, they took the extra time they had to re-shoot and re-tool things to try and get it right. If these were part of those changes then more power to them for quickly working to improve the show. One of the biggest problems we face with the other soaps is that they aren't willing to make changes when things aren't working. They'll burn it to the ground before making even the slightest pivot. I feel like here the goal is really to make the best show possible so I feel comfortable knowing they'll make the changes necessary to get the show where it needs to be. I feel the same about some of the cast choices that I'm not 100% sold on. I know it's a new format for many of these actors and that they'll do what they need to do when the time comes.

I feel like that is very typical of what type of bars are popular in the US now, especially in Black circles. The only thing missing is a hookah at each table and the bottle girls.

Cady's character seems like a re-write. We first met Dani with Vanessa and the later comments establishing her as Nicole's best friend seem bizarre. Not only can I not see them as friends but I don't think they've shared on scene together. When it came time to bring on Cady's character, she should've been brought in as Nicole's friend or even Smitty's mom. We're only two weeks in so I'll give her time, but so far I'm with you, she has made no impression on me. It literally seems like they inserted her scenes into the episodes.

I feel like it speaks to his character that he did it. We've seen people arrest family on soaps before but he did it with no empathy for Dani or care for how it would affect his family. Plus we saw his dad telling him to chill so I wouldn't be surprised if he jumped at the chance. I'm very interested in seeing how Naomi reacts to him next week.

I feel like they've already addressed this. From the beginning they let us know something is off about Martin, that he killed someone which is doesn't remember and the he has nightmares. Obviously the Martin we're seeing is a Martin with a lot of issues stemming from that incident. I think once he deals with that we will get a better idea of who Smitty fell in love with and who the family seems to adore. Kudos to Danielle Paige on a great friday script! I feel like this flowed much better than yesterdays episode and the show is developing a nice rhythm to it. At first I questioned why certain characters were included but I feel like each player makes sense within the world and they're doing a good job of slowly introducing them. I like that it took until Week 2 to really start diving into who Jacob was and of course today we just met Jon Lindstrom's character. We still have yet to really see the Tomas character and he's on contract. It's nice to know we still have people to meet. Kat vs Eva continues to be a delight and I enjoyed the rooftop scenes with Kat and Chelsea. That relationship is going a long way to humanize Kat and keep her from appearing too judgmental when it comes to Eva. Silk Press Sheila in her first disguise had me in stiches. You could never make me hate her. I'm sorry Nicole, but this is my girl! Next week looks even better. I also have to say the lighting has improved tremendously which is so nice to see. I was worried about that ultra-bright light from the promos and the pilot but I'm glad they worked through that. The actors and the sets look much better now.

Lesbians are going to be considered safer than male gay characters plus their execution of that was just as clunky as Martin and Smitty's kiss on the cheek. I'm happy they're attempting the story and will give them time. It's better than them not including these characters at all. If six months on things are the same I'll say something then but I give them grace right now considering the obvious constraints they're under.

I did some digging with primetime and cable ratings and I saw a report from January-April of last year and saw that Y&R made the list with 16 billion minutes viewed during that time frame. Shogun, a show that was budgeted at $250 million dollars and got endless promotion managed 4.93 billion minutes viewed during the same time frame. Y&R's budget is probably $30-40 million and they're getting so much more value out of it. I feel like it's kinda like the old days when daytime paid for primetime. Obviously not to the extent that they did in the past but I feel like each soap is more valuable to their networks than we think. It's just a matter of the people in charge being willing to accept that and value what they bring which I hope BTG will challenge them to do.

I was most worried about him based on The Bay and I can't say this episode did anything to satisfy my worries.

This felt more like filler but had some nice moments. As I pay attention to the script writer/breakdown writers it's interesting to see the differences. This felt like the weakest breakdown we got but I felt like we got some good scenes out of it. Something about the inclusion of Nicole and Ted felt incomplete for me. I could've used another scene with them to tie things up better. I loved the scenes with Haley and Dani and it's nice seeing Karla Mosley settle into the role. I think it was a big mistake not giving Bill or Haley any family so they have an outlet to their feelings. They run the risk of becoming too isolated without a solid talk-to. I know Haley has Caroline but she needs someone they're willing to give screentime to. Maybe if Ashley was friends with Haley instead of Naomi that would've worked better but then again I love Naomi with Ashley so maybe not. Another character that needs an outlet is Smitty. Might've been a good idea to make Cady's character his mother. I will say, I'm enjoying Martin and Smitty more and more each episode. I get the complaints about the lack of affection but we know this is a risky new soap launch and CBS Daytime is conservative. Hopefully in time they can be more affectionate as the show is successful they may be willing to take more chances. From a story standpoint it works for now so I'm not too bothered by it. I'm just happy the actors are getting more comfortable. Martin is building himself up so much that I see his downfall being delicious once we get to it.

Nicole is one of the bittersweet pinch me moments in these early days as I adjust to us having this new Black led soap. Seeing how natural and strong Daphne's performances are make me think of the amount of time that has been wasted that she could've been leading a soap. It's sad to think of how much Black talent has been neglected in the soap community. I feel the same way when I think of MVJ headwriting this show. Sure it's not perfect and has room to grow (what soap didn't at the beginning?) but she's made so many strong choices in building a solid foundation for the show that I can only imagine what she could've given *any* of the other soaps as they rotate the same few white HWs back-to-back. And not just Michele, but all the other talented Black soap writers or people who wanted to get into soaps but couldn't because of the color of their skin. Whenever I get these feelings I just remind myself of what a powerful moment this is. Not just for the soap opera genre, but for representation in general. This is a huge step forward and I'm happy that soaps are finally starting to catch up with primetime, cable and streamers. I hope that the next time one of the other soaps looks for a new HW they look to BTG and consider everybody who is qualified regardless of the color of their skin and give their vision a chance.

Yes, he's just doing breakdowns on BTG.

But this is so common on American soaps. This isn't like UK or Australian soaps where people are allowed to age normally. Every US soap on the air has the exact same thing, in some cases much worse. I go based off what I see on screen and I find it to be working, for me at least. I was worried about Dani having kids in their 20s but on screen I find the chemistry believable. Nicole feels natural with Martin and Smitty. Plus Black people tend to look younger than their natural ages so without it being brought up I really don't think I would've given it much thought.

I feel like a lot of the hate Jamey gets is from his past on Daytime Confidential. From the moment Ambitions was announced there were people rooting for him to fail. He assembled a great team, including giving Michele Val Jean and Susan Dansby a chance at a primetime show with Producer titles which both said was a career highlight. Together this team created a great soap that lived on in streaming. Many of the writing staff has gone on to get jobs on the other soaps. Black voices we did not have prior to Jamey platforming them on Ambitions. He's currently in his second season headwriting Sistas which continues to raise in the ratings and is always trending on Twitter and this is a show that's been on for years. Jamey breaking through as a fan and a Black writer is impressive and he's done a lot for Black writers on soaps and I'll always be greatful for that. I'll also mention that today's script writer was Jazmen Darnell Brown, the fourth writer from Ambitions to be added to the staff. If that doesn't speak to the experience MVJ had on that show, I don't know what will. And people have been raving about his script today.

I think the lessons from the strike are what helped push BTG over the line and also made it an easy decision to renew Days on Peacock. One of the main struggles Peacock said they were having is that when they'd have a hit show, people would cancel when it was over. Sure they may get higher views than a show like Days but does it really even out when they unsubscribe after three months and you've spent $100+ million on 8 episodes? I think the days of these ridiculously priced limited series are over. I noticed when Max launched The Pitt they went with a network model with a much lower budget and when casting the series they created payment tiers and didn't allow negotiations to stay within budget. This allowed them to stretch the season to 15 episodes and still spend less money than they would on a normal series. And of course it ended up being a big success because all people want is a good story.

But he's older than that in real life? Both Brandon and Mike are over 35 so I wouldn't imagine their characters would be any different. I normally don't love political storylines on soaps but I do think it fits here with the show being set in the DMV. Plus with what we already know about his background, there is no way he'd ever make it to the presidency so I'm willing to go along for the ride. I agree with you 100% here. This episode was a big step forward for both actors IMO. I felt like both felt more comfortable in their characters skin. We really needed a break from Dani and Bill so the rest of the cast can start to breathe and develop as well. I have to give a shout out to Jazmen Darnell Brown on an excellent script! He's one of the younger writers on the team and I'd also like to note, his first regular gig was with Jamey Giddeons, Michele Val Jean and Susan Dansby on Ambitions where IMO, they all did great work. This is another reason I'm not worried about Jamey on this show. I know the complaints about Jamey on Days, but Sistas has been doing well since he became the HW and he's already proven he can work well with MVJ. Also on Days he was under a headwriter generating awful storylines so I wouldn't expect greatness from anybody working under Ron, especially as stubborn as he is.

I agree with you about the 30 minute format and I always see people mention Edge of Night and I think that would be such a smart format to go with. They could craft a season long mystery for a set amount of episodes so if it doesn't work they can drop it, but still have resolution. I feel like that would be the best way for a streamer to go about it if they were to do a soap. The other one I'd consider is Dark Shadows just based on how strong it's legacy is.