Chris B

GH and Y&R still do trials here and there but the biggest problem is that the current soaps don't really have the story to back up the need for a trial. Can you imagine any of them writing a compelling enough mystery that we'd want to willingly sit through a trial?

Freevee was ad supported and prime is not so that could be part of the problem. As recent as yesterday the show was ranked #2 on Prime in the UK. I haven't checked recently but i know during the first season it was often top 10 in the US so it does seem like it had an audience. I'm disappointed by this news. I feel like the show keeps getting better and especially this year I've started to become really invested in the stories.

I know nothing but with them finally acknowledging that Carter never has family around, I wouldn't be surprised if the reason he's there is because B&B scooped him up. I'm sure especially in light of BTG they must be embarrassed to only have one Black cast member. It would be a typical last minute Brad Bell idea.

I loved the Paley center panel! Vlad was a great host and has really been championing this show since it was announced. It's nice that they went with a moderator who cared and respected the genre. I was really excited when Sheila talked about the end of April. As you all know, that's right before May sweeps. I'm happy to see they're going to play sweeps right out of the gate(s)! This is one of the many exciting things we have to look forward to with a new soap. I can't wait to see how a sweeps period looks to them.

My DVR didn't record today's episode and also pulled the first 3 episodes of the Neighborhood special which is disappointing! I was so excited to get out of my work meeting and watch but I'll have to wait for Paramount Plus.

As I get to the later years of my re-watch, I do think there is a world where Knots could be revived today but since they resisted change in the later years, it would be more difficult to pull off. I do have a fantasy idea for a one off mini-series, but the cast is too old to commit to a new series. My idea would be to have Mack die mysteriously and show Karen coping with another loss. I'd have Val, now a true crime podcaster investigate the murder alongside Paige and then you discover Greg is somehow involved (although no responsible). I'd use it as a reunion to bring back as many people as possible but it would just be to say goodbye. As for a full reboot, I just don't trust the quality of writing to do it justice in 2025. If I were to do it I'd probably leave the Fairgate/Mackenzie home still in the family. While I can see the Ewing's moving, I don't see Karen leaving that home or not leaving it to one of her kids. Perhaps you could even leave Brian/Kate in Abby's house if they could get Brian Austin Green back as Brian which would allow for Donna Mills to guest star.

I've noticed the show listed as one of Amazon's most popular so they probably saw dollar signs.

Yes! I remember there was an article that Colleen Bell fought to keep the show in LA but clearly ATL offered a better deal. I can't imagine how different the show would've been had she succeeded in keeping the show in LA.

Of course it may be higher initially due to the launch, but I wouldn't be surprised if the two had similar budgets. BTG has a cast full of newbies who would be paid much less than Y&R's vet heavy cast. It's also not filmed in LA (which is expensive). Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I recall hearing that Y&R had gotten rid of it's overnight crew during Covid which is part of why their sets were so limited, since they didn't have the staff to swap them out.

They did send some to DC to do some promo last week. I hope more of that continues. They could send some to LA to do the local shows and also Atlanta as well.

That's a really nice photo of the three soaps together. I'd love if they had some of the casts get together to film a legit photoshoot and shoot stuff they can use for promos for the entire lineup.

Debbi was great on Port Charles. She was the victim to them launching a show with no plan. I've been doing a watch (I've only seen the arc years) and the early months are painfully slow and the characters and storylines are so under-developed. You can tell they just picked it up because it was a cheaper concept than the alternatives. Unfortunately, they never got around to making her character worthwhile. BTG, on the other hand, is night and day to Port Charles or a Sunset Beach. It seems like they have a very clear concept and view of who they want these characters to be. I can't wait to see how things come together. Daphnee was great on Passions as well. On OLTL I wasn't expected her to be able to Rachel with all her nuances because I was so used to the insanity of Passions. She did a great job in the role and was the only Rachel I loved other than the original. I don't understand how she didn't become a mainstay until the show ended.

Her role on Good Sam was like a hail mary to save the show. She was great and the character was big and flashy. I thought the show was good but it wasn't a CBS show. It would've worked better on NBC or ABC. It felt too young and sexual for CBS.

She could be a sister of Anita or even a member of her girl group. I will say, the only real disappointment I have is that she isn't in the cast but never say never. This is just the beginning and they shouldn't be trying to do everything at once. They need to save some hidden gems for future roles.

Of course I know nothing but for McClain I'd say it seems like she's on contract if she's still filming as of last week. She could still be recurring or it could be a short term contract but we probably won't know until the show premieres and we see some sort of intro or credits.

I have YouTubeTV and just a note, you may have to set your DVR for Beyond the Gates: Welcome to the Neighborhood to get this weeks specials. Of course it'll be on Paramount Plus as well but I also set my YouTubeTV to record it so I don't have to wait for them to upload it.

Hopefully they don't pull it so soon. I would rather only pay for a physical release and I'm not done with my re-watch. Something similar happened to me re-watching My Three Sons. They finally added it to Prime and I got through like 4 seasons before they pulled it. That show has almost 400 episodes so you'd think they'd give people some time to work through it.

The biggest joy of the Jon/Cady news for me is that we have this to look forward to all year and beyond. It's just amazing to think that we now have a fifth soap to surprise us with these announcements. We also know they're really trying to do good work at BTG so we can actually get excited by news like this. Another thing that I love is that they've been filming for months and we had no idea. If this was any other soap I feel it would've leaked. I hope this continues once the show is on the air! It's nice to be surprised.

Errol posted an article about the ratings that give a better picture of what CBS is looking at:

To be fair, in terms of lead in's, the Bell soaps are both doing well. Not only in live viewers, but in Live+3. I know they're quality is lacking but we can't deny that people are tuning in. They remain towards the top when it comes to daytime offerings. I'm sure they're also doing well on Paramount Plus if CBS found it worthwhile to try and launch a new soap.

With holiday breaks they're probably between 2-3 months ahead which isn't too bad.

She complained about them not featuring her. I believe she said it was something like 9 episodes she didn't appear in so she asked them about it and then she got fired.

Those are excellent examples! I've seen the first few years of B&B and it wasn't bad, but boy did Sally give them a huge jolt of energy. With Y&R, I'd love to one day see their early years, but I find it pretty interesting that neither Katherine nor Lorie were there at the beginning and both ended up being such important characters during that era of the show. I'd love to be able to watch it to see how the show was prior to their arrivals.

With a soap it's a marathon not a sprint. As Vee said, it takes time for a soap to find it's footing and one of the good things about the soap format is that they'll have time to fix things as they go. It's not a Days situation where they're going to debut with 6-8 months in the can with little chance to fix it. They have time to address things that aren't working and fix them. Another thing, I'm sure they have other surprises in store for us to keep the conversation going overtime. Not only storylines, but pretty much every soap has brought on a key character after the show debuts. We have no idea what hidden weapons they have in store to maintain and build interest once the show is on the air.

I would imagine a success would be if it could exceed The Talk/match GH in live ratings. It also needs to do well on Paramount Plus. The ratings are the one thing that make me nervous because it's so hard to predict for any show. I'll have to wait and see how that cracks out before truly judging it.