Chris B

I am no fan of hers, but I do find this shocking when you consider where the story is. I wouldn't mind Emme Rylan returning. I thought her Abby had strong chemistry with Bryton and she had more presence.

I don't think that's unrealistic with the studio they chose. The potential for cliffhangers and event stories is also much bigger if they do utilize all that Assembly has to offer. @Liberty CityThank you for that post! I do agree, I don't get the sentiment that the overseas soaps are less soapy. Hell, I'd argue that Coronation Street looks exactly like a US soap just with some outdoor shooting. Eastenders is the gold standard, but I think Hollyoaks and Neighbours also do a really good job from a production stand point. My hopes for a more modern production model is just steeped in my desire for the show to be a proper success. The better the show does on streaming, the longer it'll be on the air. International sales are going to be important as well. Also, it's been 25 years since our last soap. Why not be ambitious?

The soap that I feel has the perfect hybrid model is Neighbours. They have two studios, one indoors and one outdoors. It enables them to have a seamless transition between scenes since everything is designed by the same people. They do go on location on occasion, but having those standing outside sets give it more of a community feel.

I feel like the American soap model can work if it was done in the way it was 20 or more years ago, but the only soap that pulls it off now is GH. Days it's not even worth mentioning it's production model and the Bell soaps have finally been hit with the shrunken sets and limited amount of sets which limit what they can do in terms of story. I don't think having location shooting and exterior sets is anti-soap, it just opens the movement up and prevents things from getting repetitive.

I'm hoping for a more modern look. In the streaming era and the effort to attract newer viewers, I think that would help. I also think launching a studio based soap would hurt efforts to syndicate in other countries. Now if they do go fully studio based then I hope it leans towards what GH offers which is big sets and sets for pretty much every character so all the scenes don't take place in the same 4-5 places.

I don't mind them filming ahead. That's fine as long as you have competent people running your show. I know the UK soaps and Neighbours are all months ahead and these shows are not only better than our soaps, but much more ambitious. We still need to take into account a holiday break which could be 1-2 weeks and also Michele mentioned interior and exterior filming. We know this studio has the capability for regular location shooting so it's possible that's whats happening. If that's the case, that could also impact how far ahead we think they are.

Happy to see that first look picture! I think they all look great. I don't mind the late Feb premiere either. It gives them more time to promote the show.

I wonder if they'll film any teasers specifically for promos. Similar to what Passions did. I'd like a combination of both, but of course will take what I can get.

Me too. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw her directing at some point.

You can tell they have Black hair and makeup people. I'm so excited to see how everybody looks on screen. Victoria Rowell spoiled us because she paid for her own hair and as a result was able to show us many styles. The typical daytime way is to slap a shake and go wig on an actor and their look can't really evolve. It'll be nice to see Black beauty celebrated and handled with care.

A reminder that if CBS follows the last two years, they will announce their midseason schedule next week. Of course with it being an election year I'm not sure if that changes anything although in 2020 they released it on November 11th so that probably won't have an impact. If this is the case, we should be learning when Beyond the Gates will premiere.

I've always said, until they give me a reason to be nervous, I'm staying positive. We can't control the election or what CBS decides to do. All I can focus on is the show being good and hopefully gaining an audience. If it has an audience I doubt they will dump it or do anything to try and whiten the show up. That's going to be the biggest test, the numbers.

Yes and better lighting. You can definitely use a green screen and make it work, but the way they do it is lazy. In the articles about it they mentioned it was build on another part of the ranch. I wonder if they'll have someone else move into the new ranch or if they'll just get rid of that set entirely.

I apologize! You have a right to your opinion as much as anybody. Lord knows we have all had suggestions that people haven't all agreed on. This was a problem on Knots Landing. They brought William Devane on as their new lead and his first season he was running for Senator which the character won. Once he won there was really nowhere for the story to go so they came up with a way to get him to quit. They revisited the story later on with his "brother" but ended up killing the character off. Like you said, it can make for an interesting story initially, but there isn't anywhere to go once they win unless the show is explicitly a political show.

See, this I do agree with. I hope they tell modern stories and bring back the social issues of the past, but writing in Kamala winning? They'd be doing reshoots right now lol. Plus I think that limits them if they have characters in politics who may run for president one day. What would you do then?

I remember a few pages back people saying they wanted real life politics involved and I always found that odd. I would never expect that due to how divisive politics are. Especially in light of what has happened here. The political element should be the same as any soap in the past: pure fantasy.

I know I'm in the minority, but I just loved Karen and Diana. I'm grateful we got a bookend on their story in season 14, but I do wish we had more of her. Claudia Lonow and Michele Lee had chemistry as strong as Julie Harris and Joan Van Ark, but it's often overlooked. They always pushed each other to deliver in scenes. Right now I'm I think 3-4 episodes into season 8, another controversial opinion being that I love this season. It gave us another re-fresh that I feel helped keep Knots Landing current and alive. We're starting to get out of the ultra-glam era and the show feels more grounded. The styling you can tell has also evolved to be more down to earth. Paige's introduction is one of the best they've done. I love how she just showed up at the end of season 7 and there is so much mystery surrounding her, but they don't play it in an over the top way. Then with Karen's kidnapping, I love how that tied into the history of Greg and Mack and also tied into Paige's introduction. The flashbacks were a nice touch and Doug Savant was an inspired choice as Mack, not to mention William's Devane's son as Greg. We're also seeing the beginnings of Jean Hackney's reign of terror which I've also strangely enjoyed. I'm also happy that Cathy is finally gone. She definitely outstayed her welcome for me.

I almost went, but I only wanted to meet Joan Van Ark so I decided against it. I am kinda regretting it seeing how fabulous she looks there. One of these days I do hope to meet her at one of these events.

I agree. I thought Jake was a wonderful character and it's rare that I prefer the replacement to the original character when they do these swaps. Stefan was ruined by bad story choices and I could never get invested once he came back as that character.

I'm so excited for them going into Friday's taping. I know there are a lot of nerves, but so much joy and a commitment to make this work. Launching a soap in 2025 is unheard of, but the fact that they took such a risk with a Black-led soap makes it so much more meaningful and they know that. The audience and the endless Black actors who have been wasted on soaps deserve this moment. I'm not complaining about anything or asking for anything else (they spoiled us this week), I'm just wishing them all the luck in the world.

That was never going to be something that applied to everybody. They aren't going to lose out on names like Tamara Tunie or Cliffton Davis because of a location mandate.

Generations was half hour and also, much like Passions, it had a Black family, but I'd argue it was more of a diverse soap than it was just a Black soap. Similar to Passions which launched with a Black family, but also a Latino (granted, mostly played by white actors) and a white family.

I'm not mad at the people they've announced. The writing staff has a lot of diversity which I think is most important and I don't mind that they all have experience. Their experience varies and we need people who can do the job. I'm sure there will be room for new blood, but I'm glad that it's a diverse staff. We know there will be more than 3 directors, so I'm sure we will see some new names pop up there especially with the show being set in Atlanta.

I didn't expect Clifton Davis! That is an excellent choice! I can't wait to see him with Tamara Tunie! Other than Davis and Mike Manning, I don't know any of the others, so I can't really say much about them. I'm excited for the overall ensemble though. I'm happy that they didn't go with as many soap names as I thought they would. This allows the ensemble to breathe and create their own characters and stars without people expecting them to be their previous roles. As I've said before, they continue to make the right moves and keep me invested for what's to come.

It would never happen, but it would be cool if between The Talk and BTS they did classic episodes of B&B and Y&R showcasing some of their best storylines with their Black characters. I wonder what they'll ultimately put in the timeslot during the gap.