Chris B

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.

I'm not giving that troll any attention, but I will say that I have faith that this show will be good. We have a new producing partner in the NAACP, we have someone who is experienced in soaps at the helm who has a history of producing good work. MVJ also had recent experience working on a primetime show and based on that I do feel that she knows what's going to work for a Black audience in 2025. She also had Guza on hand who we know can create a ratings grabbing stunt like no other. I also think the fact that they're filming in Atlanta is smart because they'll have better access to Black actors and their budget won't be eaten up by the high rent of a studio in LA. Until they give me a reason to worry, I'm not worried and so far they've done everything right, down to when they've made announcements about the show. We've gotten a steady stream of information as we head into filming within the next two weeks. It's only up from here and I'm excited for what's to come.

The last two years CBS released their midseason schedule on November 7th and 13th so that should give us an idea of when to expect a premiere date.

There is a fan podcast for the show and they put together a really nice thread with clips of the cast in other roles. Very interesting for those of us who don’t know some of them.

This is an exciting announcement! The more we learn, the more real it is starting to feel. Also, while these aren't names known to daytime, I do love that so many of these actors have worked on popular Black projects. That's going to help bring in their fanbases who watch the soaps on streaming and BET, but may not immediately want to watch a daytime soap. We still have quite a few names to be announced so I'm sure we'll have some more big names coming, but I love that we have a lot of new blood as well. Let them make their own stars like many of the other soaps did.

CBS has no control over B&B which is why Brad Bell is still the Headwriter. Sony and CBS have been fighting since 2005 over control of Y&R. Steve Kent is now directly overseeing the show so that would tell me that Sony is winning that fight. A big part of why they want Beyond the Gates to do well is because it's a show they have a stake in and can make more money from. I think if this does well B&B could be in trouble.

Plus there is always a big political story so I wouldn't use the election as a reason to delay the show.

I wish they'd do two episodes a week when they have interviews. I can't believe we still haven't even reached Jo's first episode. This is such a long journey.

I think doing a midseason launch gives them more space to focus on this. There are less shows premiering than there are in the fall, plus that would've made the pre-production incredibly rushed.

That is possible, but my biggest issue isn't the recast, but who they recast Amy with. It's a total disregard to who Amy was.

Even then, I still don’t think we have much longer to wait for a premiere date. I’d be surprised if they don’t announce it with their mid season schedule. The Talk is ending in December so they’ll need to fill the slot sooner than later. Also, more progress:

They will be on set in less than two weeks. It's not like we have much longer to wait for information. I'm sure by the time they start filming they'll do another media blitz with more substantial casting information. They have a limited amount of time to promote the show and I think they're using their time well. Starting by announcing three name soap actors allowed them to create some buzz for the series. Next they can announce the start of filming and the broader cast. Once they get some material under their belt they can start providing pictures, promos, etc. Basically, things are about to start rocking and rolling for us. January is not far away. Plus, don't they announce midseason schedules in November/December? So we should know the premiere date soon as well.

It's funny, the people who probably have the most to complain about (Doherty and Williams in this case) are super positive when it comes to their respective shows. Still the Place announced they want questions for a Heather Locklear interview. She's been private the past few years so I didn't know whether we could expect her. I'm happy to hear she's doing it and I hope she does it in person like most of the other interviews. I'm very curious to hear from her in 2024 and I hope she is doing well.

Based on the timeline that makes the most sense. I still can't quite figure out what he would've done though. Unless maybe they planned to pair him with Claudia. I can't imagine they'd want to keep Val and Gary apart any longer at that point. When it came to re-populating the cul-de-sac in the later years, I wonder what it would've looked like if Richard returned with his new wife. I loved Richard so I would've been all for it, but I do think that could've genuinely provided some great story. It also would've been nice to see Laura's boys back, older and into the mix. Perhaps a better idea would've been Robin Strasser as his new wife. They could've still kept her as a rival to Karen with Richard in the middle due to his friendship with Karen.