Chris B

So much focus has been put on the first episode since a traditional pilot is one episode but with this being a soap, I've been really curious about how the week will play out. I'm sure it'll take us a week to meet most of the characters and get a feel for the pacing of the show. I'm happy to hear you were pleased with it!

I have a Starz/Max bundle and while I find Starz good for movies, I rarely use Max. On occasion I'll watch a movie there but the only thing I really enjoy is their food shows and true crime. If I wasn't getting a good deal on the bundle I wouldn't have it. I find I've been using Tubi a lot lately. I didn't realize just how vast and diverse their catalog was. I've never tried Pluto but I think I need to try that next in light of how much I've been enjoying Tubi.

Dallas was on FreeVee. I still don't understand why Amazon got rid of it. Originally they made it seem like they were going to keep it but get rid of the name but they completely got rid of it. Even if those shows had low viewership, it would seem like having a subset of shows with commercials would've been better than nothing.

To go back to the Ron Calivati of it all, I agree with not being excited to see his name but I am not worried about him. I really can't see him sticking around too long after working so many years as a HW. I see this as him building a relationship with CBS in case something opens at Y&R. Being on a well received show would put some distance between how bad his stint at Days has become. I really wouldn't be surprised if they hired him in the event Josh Griffith leaves. That will be Y&R's problem but I'm not worried about Beyond the Gates.

I still find the P&G connection to be odd. Seeing them celebrate their success in developing soaps is so odd when you consider they do nothing with their back catalog. Even when they tried to do a streaming service with Walmart, they never used their soaps. I'd love if the success of BTG inspired them to revisit what they tried to do with their AOL streaming channel and brought it back. Of course now they could also add ATWT and GL since they're cancelled. Previously I thought this was a fantasy but it could actually happen the way things are going.

Dani isn't on my list but then again I've always loved Karla Mosley, even as Christina on GL. Nurse Ashley is one of them though. I'm curious how her character will fit into the show overall. The other two I'm worried about are male characters but again, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and see how they fit in the show before making judgements.

I went to continue my binge and saw the show is already gone. It was asking me to sign up for a 7-day free trial with Discovery Plus to continue binging, or purchase. I guess if you want Discovery Plus that would be a good option but I already pay for Max which has most of their programming so that would be a waste of money for me. I'm open to buying it but I'm too irritated to do that right now.

I'm getting good vibes about Lauren Buglioli as well! I'm also interested in Ambyr Michelle and Trisha Mann-Grant who seem like two schemers that are going to give me such joy. I'm not gonna lie, I've also identified some people I'm concerned about but I'm not going to say anything until I see them on the show.

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.