Chris B

I'm 7 episodes into season 7 and I feel like I was dreading the season because it's typically viewed negatively with the Dallas/Knots HW swap, but I actually think David Paulsen is doing a really good job. I'll admit the dream season on Dallas was a big shift, but the show still feels like Knots. Before I jump into season 7, I must give them props on The Long and Winding Road. It's incredibly impressive that the one time they went to #1 was a completely character driven episode with no big action set pieces. As the episode that introduced me to Knots, it'll always have a special place in my heart and it gets better each time. Season 7 didn't disappoint with the fallout. I didn't remember the Fisher's coming back but I love that they played their pain as well. Baby switches have been run into the ground these days, but this was truly unforgettable. Joan Van Ark said so much with such little words. One thing that I will say I don't like (and this goes for season 5 &6 as well) is how much Laura is diminished as a character. With Richard she was an equal lead. While she does have amazing chemistry with William Devane, they basically just use her as a talk to for him. It's odd because he's such a major character and she could easily be involved in his and Abby's schemes, but she's left out. In season 7 I'm now 7 episodes in and Laura has barely appeared. Val and Laura were so close in the early seasons and I don't even believe she knew anything was going on with Val's babies. Other than the ongoing Laura issue I find season 7 to be another strong run so far. I love how they've introduced Jill Bennett and Peter Hollister. So many twists are on the way, but you'd never know it. There is an air of mystery to both of them but they were smart to let us get to know them before jumping into their mystery. Joshua's mental decline is very well done and I love that the entire family is in on it. A personal bias, but I do think the story would've been stronger with Diana in Cathy's place. Like many look-a-likes, Cathy is a pale imitation and doesn't have the same chemistry or impact on the canvas. Even her singing doesn't work for me (outside of Jehovah). I'm definitely not looking forward to her exit story which I remember disliking in previous watches.

Not only that, but it’s a recast. The only way you could make this work is if Stephanie Williams returned so you could at least use flashbacks to establish that she existed. I also don’t like that they cast a light skinned actress who looks nothing like Williams. That’s something daytime has done many times which irritates me. Hell, Williams and Pettiford have already swapped roles once before, except Williams was the recast in that case. They didn’t even try to make sense of this recast.

If anything, I would've made Sasha a long lost daughter of Lucy. I feel like they look similar and they already have a mother/daughter relationship. Hell, I'd even be okay with writing Sasha off and bringing her back as Christina. Lucy was one of my favorites on Port Charles, but she is such a joke on modern day GH. Connecting Holly to Sasha is...a choice. I don't have an opinion either way. It just seems so random. It amazes me that Emma Samms is so talented, but they've never seemed to recreate her glory days of the 80s. Even her return in the early 90s was a waste of how talented she is. I'm always happy to see her, so I'm just going to take this as it comes and enjoy her while she's around.

I feel like his character could've made sense, but they didn't play the history. With Trina around and dating Spencer, it only seemed logical to bring back Gia who had a similar relationship with Nikolas. Plus, Lynne Moody looks fantastic and could've come back as Taggart and Gia's mom. Instead the focus seems to be more on Curtis and his family when I'd argue it would make more sense to focus on Portia or Trina's extended family. I wouldn't be mad at Real Andrews on Beyond the Gates. He's proven himself to be a strong leading man.

Pat was a wonderful character and she had chemistry with everyone. I feel like the writers didn't have much of a say because they seemed to love writing for her. I think she was a victim of the times. It was easier to keep Frank around as a best friend of Mack and give him dayplayer love interests than it would be to integrate Pat further into the show. They teased Gary and Pat, but clearly that wasn't going to be an option.

The biggest gain to Days I feel was Marnie Siatta going from Y&R to Days as Casting Director. She had cast some really good people at Y&R and does the same for Days. After she left I feel like casting became more about snatching the next available ABC star and it no longer felt like Y&R. I always loved her story of starting as a receptionist and working her way up. She was a true Bell hire.

When he went to Days, I remember being shocked that he could make the show look as good as he did considering the budget. I know that must've been an adjustment going from Y&R's budget to what Days has. On top of that, the show was a cartoon and nothing was working: the acting was bad, the music was awful and pretty much everything else. I know there were talks of him causing drama behind the scenes with the writing, but I can't say I'm surprised. He was used to a much higher standard at Y&R and he pushed them to do better. I will say, I do credit his influence for that show turning itself around from the joke it had become. Same with B&B, especially in those initial years he was there.

Age is really just a number these days. Ed Scott does not look 80 and is still very sharp. I wouldn't really let that be a big concern right now. Now hopefully they are working on developing a next generation of talent, something Bill Bell did. I'm not sure if B&B has still been doing that, but I know Y&R always had writers and producers in the wings if replacements were needed. Unfortunately, none were used, but they did have a plan in place before all the Bell people were fired.

I have watched up to the final week before the reboot, but I haven't gotten to the time jump episodes yet. I'm having a hard time with what they did with the cast cuts. I get that cuts needed to be made, but even if you decided to write off Cindy, did you have to also write off Tom? Couldn't we have continued to see him grow and keep that family alive? Then the other exit I found incredibly short-sighted was James. He was one of their strongest male leads and I liked the family unit he had with Ste. I didn't understand that at all. I do plan to at some point start binging the reboot, but I can't say I'm thrilled with what I've heard so far.

The Bell soaps have been known to swap people once they are fired. Plus there was actually a need for someone experienced in the role at Y&R since JG is not an in studio producer. With Steve Kent now directly working at Y&R, I could easily see him wanting to pick Ed Scott up once finding out he's available. Now I do hope this will lead to bigger changes, but we've seen JG dodge a million bullets so until it happens I won't hold my breath.

Easy: Budget cuts at B&B. Do we know who replaced him there?

This is how I feel unless we see an announcement of Josh Griffith leaving.

In terms of the opening, I would prefer something with a strong theme and no actors so you don't have to worry about updates. If they do include actors, I'd like something like Neighbours or Hollyoaks where it's set based and the actors appear in groups. I feel like that would be easy to update as people come in and out. The headshot openings always fall apart because they can never seen to schedule updates and they always look different as they add new shots.

B&B is unique because of Brad owning the show and the main issue being him. With that said, Kay Alden, Patrick Mulcahey (as Story Consultant) and Ed Scott gave B&B a second wind that lasted for years. If you look at where the show was when they joined, it was creatively dead and Ed Scott modernized the production model, added regular location shooting and outdoor sets, they added diversity with the Avant's (which I believe was a pitch from Mulcahey) and I also believe they're responsible for bringing on the next gen with Liam, Steffy and Hope. It's no surprise that now that all three gone B&B has gotten significantly worse.

He worked wonders at Days and B&B when he moved over and of course his Y&R was excellent until he left. If they let him, he can get the show back in order and fix the writing situation. IF they let him. That will involve letting Josh Griffith go though, so until I see that announcement, I'm not excited.

I have to say, of all the white actors to champion for this show, Chandler seems like an odd one. Of course there will be white actors on the show and I hope at least one will be a name, but when we finally have the chance at real diversity, that is where my main focus is in terms of who I want to see. Chandler could easily get hired on one of the other soaps. These Black and Brown actors can't, so that's who I'm going to fight for.

If they had to kill someone off for this Sharon story, I wish they'd found a way to make it Chelsea. I feel like that would've worked better because the character is tired and you wouldn't have the baggage of killing off a legacy character but being unable to bring their family back to play the story. Heather still had so much momentum left. They hadn't played her relationship with Adam and of course Paul and April are MIA. Hell, with Steve Burton back on GH, they couldn't even spring for Dylan. I just can't understand how it was approved to kill this particular character.

I was pondering Diana's exit once I reached those episodes and now I'm beginning to wonder if they simply didn't need her with Lisa Hartman around as Cathy. From what David Jacobs said, they loved writing for her, so my guess is maybe they just didn't have room for her. You could easily swap Diana for Cathy in the Joshua story, but Hartman was so popular that I imagine that was what sealed the deal. Another aspect of Diana that I loved was the complicated relationship with Abby. I think between Diana and Olivia, it did a lot to humanize Abby and show different sides of her. Abby couldn't stand Karen, but I love that she didn't try to turn Diana away from Olivia. I feel like an Alexis Carrington would've tried to do something like that, but Abby was reasonable and did love her family.

I just finished season five and I absolutely loved Diana this season. I know she's controversial, but the Karen/Diana relationship had so many ups and downs and she's so similar to Karen that her stubbornness with Chip made sense with what they established. I also thought this story gave us the best performances Michele Lee ever gave us. I don't know if you've seen the entire season so I won't go into more detail, but I love how this story transformed and ended up. Their reconciliation made it all worth it.

Rowell wanted to write and direct, period. Bill Bell already let her re-write her own stuff which was obvious by how unique her character was compared to the others.

When I read this my mind immediately went to Passions wasting money on a London remote shoot for that revolting Princess Diana storyline. I agree with you that unless it's really awful I will be forgiving. I do hope that it starts with some momentum though. They'll need to make adjustments along the way, but it doesn't look like they're filming too far in advance so that will be easy. Audiences have a short attention span these days so the first few weeks do need to highlight what they do well.

I hate he didn't get one of those other roles. Like his father was, he's green but has a lot of charisma and potential and I can't see B&B doing much of anything with him. He would've have a better opportunity for growth on one of the other soaps.

BET announced its holiday slate and you have Aaron Spears from B&B and Valarie Pettiford (new Amy Y&R) in one film each. Victoria Rowell will be starring in two of them!

She is still trying to act lol. I've seen some updated clips of her still trying. She will always be my favorite Belle. Unforgettable. On the subject of asking if actors have commented, I think it's fair in a thread like this. The only time that bothers me is when fans go to the actors directly demanding a statement. We're just trying to see if anybody shared their condolences, but hounding actors who are grieving is wrong.

It's been years since I've seen the one episode available, but I do recall it being pretty dull and it didn't seem like a primetime soap. It certainly didn't hold a candle to Peyton Place. It felt very cheaply made and was very slow. I'm not surprised it didn't work out.