Chris B

I'm so shocked by this for many reasons. 1. Heather is a legacy character. Not only that, but her parents are off screen and we know the likelihood of getting Doug Davidson back is rare. Not to mention, this is now his second child killed. 2. Bringing back Heather and Daniel has been one of the few smart decisions and establishing her as Lucy's mom solved the Daisy problem. 3. They didn't even attempt to play on the history of Adam and Heather! He has been in limbo for over a year and they didn't even tease it. 4. How the hell can Sharon recover from this? Heather isn't a villain so you can't explain this away. This is truly one of the most shocking and boneheaded moves. A waste of a talented actress and a character with endless potential, if you had a decent writer around. Only to destroy another legacy character, Sharon.

During my re-watch, I've been going through the old interviews on KnotsLanding.net and there are so many interesting tidbits. Michael Filerman was the Co-EP with David Jacobs and they were much more involved than I realized. Filerman mentioned that David Jacobs wrote or re-wrote the entire first season. He said Jacobs wanted to create art and he wanted to create trash, so they were a match made in heaven. Filerman created the character of Chip, who was his favorite to write for. He mentioned how great Ann Marcus was and that she created the Ciji character and storyline which was a last minute addition to that season. Another interesting thing is that he is the one who pitched the Val stolen babies storyline which Jacobs was against. He was trying to boost the ratings and ultimately Jacobs allowed him to tell the story. One thing that was vetoed was Val only getting one of the babies back. Filerman also revealed that David Jacobs hired John Romano who destroyed the show in season 13. William Devane and Nicollette Sheridan complained which led to him being fired and Ann Marcus and David Jacobs taking over the writing. CBS didn't want the show to end in season 14 so they asked for them to remove two core characters to free the budget up. They hated losing Constance McCashin and Julie Harris and didn't want to go through that again which is why they wrapped the show up. John Pleshette's interview was also interesting because he had a perspective as a writer and actor on the show. He also mentioned that he created Knots Landing Motors. Originally David Jacobs wanted the show to be completely self contained like Family, but Pleshette thought they needed a business to connect the characters. He also had very interesting comments about Lynn Marie Latham and her husband Bernie Lechowick. Side note, Lynn Pleshette is John's wife who also happens to be David Jacobs ex-wife.

It seems like they ran out of ideas. David Jacobs said they purposely challenged her and then pull it back to show her vulnerable sides. Because Karen had the "good" family, it was his way of giving the family conflict.

I'm about 5 episodes into season 5 and I must say, I absolutely love Karen and Diana. I know the Diana character is controversial, but I think they have one of the most memorable mother-daughter relationships that I've ever seen on tv. I feel like if this show aired today people would appreciate Diana more. Diana was complicated but I also thought she showed a lot of growth throughout her time on the show. I loved the dynamic with Karen and later Mack and her relationship with Abby was great. It would've been interesting to see how she would've interacted with Paige. I also would've liked to see her go to work for Abby. I'm glad we got to see the character come full circle in season 14. That was probably my favorite thing about that final season. It was a nice callback to the early years and is something I wish they had also done with Lucy.

All names I would love to see as well. Also Obba Babatundé (perhaps as the Dupree patriarch?), Loren Lott and he's busy so I don't think it would happen, but I'd love to see Lamon Archey.

Toronto is a 2 hour flight from Atlanta so even if she didn't move, it would be an easy commute. I also think her exit from Y&R had more to do with them clearly not wanting her than anything else. They treated her like garbage the first time her contract was up (hence Hilary's death). I can't imagine it got any better the second time.

They just announced three actors who don't live in Atlanta. Atlanta is now a major hub for actors. I don't think anybody will be turning it down for that reason. If they'll relocate to more expensive LA or NY, why wouldn't they relocate to Atlanta? Especially as hard as it is to get a job right now. Also, for Black actors in particular, I just don't see them making the location an issue. They have less opportunities and the majority of what they do have is in Atlanta right now. If anything, Y&R fans need to be concerned about him being out of work. IMO, at least.

All three are excellent casting choices! Notice, none live in Atlanta either, so that concern was unfounded. Smart to announce three women first, with a big primetime (and daytime) name at the head of the announcements. Karla Mosley is also a smart choice when you consider just how popular she was on B&B. Brad Bell ruining that was typical of him, but this is big for BTG! Love the new title as well!

I do find it funny that Y&R and GH are trying to boost their Black presence as we lead up to The Gates premiere. I wish it was genuine, but you know it won't last, they're just trying to hold onto their audience.

I feel like in present day, Maggie has far more potential than Leanna Love. They haven't managed to do anything interesting with Leanna since the late 90s.

I've never understood why they keep ignoring Jessica and Maggie in all of this. Even if they have to recast Jessica, I'd still bring her back. Maggie would also make more sense introducing this character, but this is obviously another last minute thrown together mess from Brad.

This is completely random and as bad as the show is written now, I don't trust it to be anything special. Especially with a recast, I'm not sure the point in bringing her back. Definitely am curious how they'll do it though. As for people saying she should've been Olivia...I think that role needs to stay in the hands of a dark skinned Black woman. I'm already side-eying this if I'm being completely honest. If they decide to bring back Olivia I would look at Amelia Marshall or Vanessa Williams.

I do think it needed a better title, so I'm hopeful that's what Errol is hinting at. The Gates is too generic and might box them in story wise. I feel like that would work better on a primetime show. I hope the new title is more catchy.

That Football Wives pilot was cute, but I think had it made it to series, it would've been heavily watered down. If anything, they'd have to do that on streaming or cable to match the dark wit of the original series.

I hope this reboot happens. I didn't expect to like this podcast, but the women have a huge amount of chemistry and seem to actually be interested in doing this. The 90210 rewatch podcast with Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth can be difficult to listen to because they don't like the show. It took until around season 4 for them to barely start to enjoy it. The Melrose ladies are reviewing the show at it's absolute worst and still manage to find something to talk about and seem invested in seeing where the story goes. It feels more mature and it flows really nicely. My only complaint is that I wish like the 90210 podcast, when they do an interview they still release a recap episode for that week. All these stops for interviews mean we've only gotten through episode 6. I'm ready for at least Jo to show up in the recaps.

The head of CBS said the intention is to treat The Gates like one of their primetime launches. Everything we've seen so far suggests that'll be the case. Errol even posted about a PR firm being hired specifically to promote this show. I don't think they'll be hurting for promotion.

But most shows and movies announce casting far in advance. At this point, if they released the cast tomorrow I don't think that would be too soon. I will say, one concern I have with them filming in November is that it's going to be a tight turnaround in terms of promo. The show is premiering in January, so they have to hope everything goes right in November so they have stuff to promote with, hopefully starting in December.

I'm really eager to start hearing some casting news as well. If they start filming at the beginning of November, I'd hope we start getting some announcements throughout October at the latest. Would be nice if they could start announcing some of the big names to build excitement. They'll have a lot of people to announce so it would be a good way to get people buzzing about the series.

Actors move for gigs all the time. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the Atlanta aspect.

I think this idea would've fit GL or ATWT better, but I'm not mad at it. Any attempt to bring a soap back is a good thing. It could also lead to a series down the road if it's successful, or streaming for classic episodes. ABC's soap catalog is huge and wasting away. Any effort to do something with it is a good thing in my opinion. This also has a much better chance of happening than Pine Valley did. The networks are all cutting their scripted content and there is a lot of competition in primetime. I wish they'd moved it to streaming or even Lifetime, but I'm interested in seeing where this goes.

You aren't too far off on Kenny. From what David Jacobs suggested, they had bigger plans for the Ward's, but the network vetoed it.

They should've killed Ginger's mom and had Ginger adopt those two bad ass sisters of hers. They could've had a love triangle with Eric and have one of them get pregnant which could've created drama with Karen. Kenny just needed to go though. I find it sad that he is the reason the show decided to write her off. I'm not sure why they were so intent on them being a unit. She could've moved on with Joe or any number of the men on the show.

I just finished my season 3 re-watch. This is a season that I've always had an issue with. I previously blamed the amount of stand-alone episodes, but considering how much I enjoyed them in my season 1 & 2 re-watch, I decided to go in with a more open mind this time. The only one that I felt was truly bad an unnecessary was Silver Shadows. The biggest failure of this season was not finding anything interesting for Ginger and Kenny to do. They're lucky to have made it to season four considering they were so superfluous here. I enjoyed watching Karen try to move on and date. I also liked that they kept the kids involved and didn't let their grief be forgotten. Abby being Sid's sister was also critical to her being a character that worked long term. When Joe arrived I feel like the family finally came together in their post-Sid era. Of course everybody knows how masterful the Abby/Gary/Val triangle was so I won't go into detail about that, but this season was incredible for Laura and Richard. Richard is such a weasel that I can understand why some viewers might not have time for him. His friendship with Karen helped ground him and I felt like the most compelling story this season was his decent into disrepair. He was always a flawed man, but seeing him finally come to terms with Laura's ambitions and find a new job only for it to be the same ole mess he always falls into. Night was probably one of the Top Ten best hours this show ever had. At the end when Richard put the gun to his head was heartbreaking. Laura and Richard are both flawed, very tragic characters, but I loved watching them. I know Greg/Laura were popular, but I don't think they were nearly as interesting which is why Laura ended up sidelined and was so easy to write off. John Pleshette should've won an Emmy for season 3. I believe this is the season Michele Lee was nominated, but he should've been right there next to her.

This doesn't give CBS any incentive to keep the show though, which is the issue. I wish I had saved the article, but I do recall an article about The Gates mentioning that B&B wasn't owned by them and that they feel it's success is due to its timeslot and connection to Y&R. We also know they have no creative control over the show. That is why I speculate that if The Gates take off I could see them launching something they own instead.

I think this is kinda a ridiculous question to ask right now. If soaps were struggling Peacock wouldn't have picked up Days, Amazon wouldn't have picked up Neighbours and we sure wouldn't be getting a new soap. The days of calling soaps expensive is outdated and no longer accurate when they are spending $100+ million to shoot one season of an 8 episode streaming series. These soaps are now the affordable option that is helping drive streaming subscriptions year round. Peacock had it's best quarter after adding Days. Days, Neighbours and GH are constantly in the Top Ten on their platforms. We don't know how Y&R and B&B do on Paramount Plus, but it can't be that bad if they're launching another soap. Right now we're coming out of the era of overspending on shows people aren't watching. Soaps are valuable for these streaming services because they drive those year round subscriptions. The only soap I see being in danger is B&B, but that's more of a quality issue and lack of ownership on CBS part. If the see big success with The Gates, they'd have no reason to continue B&B when they can launch something new that they own, whether it be a third soap or another game or talk show.