Chris B

Covid slowed down the process, but they're working on converting the rest of the episodes. It seems like they plan to convert all of them before they start releasing them. This is a new improved app. The previous app was horrible, wasn't available on your smart tv and drove me away from the show for years. The new app works so much better. BTW, to update on my streaming, I'm in October 1974 and the show definitely picked up in the second half of the year. My girl Karen is alive and so is Mike, although nobody knows he's alive yet. They finally wrapped up John's murder and things overall are picking up. I'm hoping for a strong 1975 since it's The Pollock's last year.

Joss and Dex have strong chemistry and I like that we've seen her express she knows she's a hypocrite considering how she's treated Sonny and Nina. I needed her to be dropped down a peg and this helps. I just wish they'd do the same for Willow and Michael, two cheaters who have no room to judge anybody. Now my only thing with Joss/Dex is that I feel it'll be an excuse to sideline Cameron. He deserves a proper story and love interest as well. He's never had chemistry with Joss so it's no loss IMO. But he deserves someone.

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall Lydia was initially announced as a temp recast and didn't they even go back and forth for a while?

What a wonderful clip! I always love when we get to see pre-80s stuff from soaps. It’s been so fun getting to watch The Doctors streaming and I hope Days gets there one day. From that clip you can tell the show was so good! I’d love to see more from this era.

This is the first sign of hope for Y&R in years. I don't think they'll keep Josh Griffith running the show alone so at the very least we will get a new EP, but I also think we may get a new HW finally. Fingers crossed!

You are so right. She was such a talented actress and her body of work proved she could do so much more than what GH gave her. I got excited with Epiphany finally becoming a doctor, but alas it wasn't meant to be. So sad for the GH family and all of her friends and family. I know this is a big loss for them because everybody loved her.

I'm happy for the show! I'm glad I never bought a DVD set for Dallas because this will definitely be the one to buy. I hope it includes the movies and the reboot series as well, but if not those are easy and affordable to get already anyway. My biggest hope is that this leads to something for Knots Landing. I don't need HD, I just would love to own that series on DVD or see it on a legit streaming site.

I think he's been really fantastic as Tucker. Right now I don't really have many cast complaints, the issue is just the writing is so boring.

Okay so now Mike is "dead" and it's very obviously a soap death. I don't really see the point. It's very strange they've essentially recast him with Gil Gerard's Alan right down to him mainly sharing scenes with Toni, Mike and Maggie. In general the show is running out of steam. The Mike story isn't memorable, John's reign of terror is done, Mona's gone which has left Steve and Carolee in limbo and Mike and Maggie aren't doing much. I'm curious to see where the second half of 1974 takes them as they begin to launch their next long stories. I'm really excited to get to 1975. I know thats the last year for The Pollocks and when all of the endless HW changes start. I'm ready to head into that journey, which from reading here I know had many ups and downs. I've heard so much about the Dancy's and Nola, so it'll be nice to finally see those characters in the coming years.

I feel like Marcus started out good as Nikolas, but once he got comfortable and felt he had job security, it's like his acting got lazy. EVERY scene partner he has eats him up in his scenes. But I do wonder what caused them to get rid of him, if this is true. It's not like Kelly Monaco isn't sleepwalking and she can keep her job. Maybe Frank is doing one of his classic stunt castings or perhaps they will bring back Tyler. I would love to find out he's turned his life around and can work again. I know in his State of Mind he mentioned that he wanted to work again. I wish him the best so if that's the case I would definitely welcome him back.

Forgive me if this has been mentioned, but I heard Days is introducing a Cass Winthrop who sounds a lot like the one from Another World. So far he's only appeared off camera in a phone call, but I imagine it could lead to more. On one hand I'm not sure why they wouldn't just bring the actor back as Julie's brother. I also wonder if P&G would allow them to use the character in a bigger capacity. Certainly an interesting choice for a random easter egg though.

I'll be back to give my thoughts on the launch! 4 episodes is going to be a gift and I love that they're doing that because it allows them to really let the stories breathe and develop instead of feeling like you have to oversell the premiere. Right now I feel like we're in a good era for housewives. Beverly Hills and Atlanta drove me crazy, but Potomac is having it's best year since season 4 and Salt Lake City is better than it has any business being considering everything they went through to produce the season. I'm so excited for MIA and Orange County to continue the momentum.

I’m going to start this tonight!

I've been back watching the show for like 3-4 weeks now and it's such an odd show. I feel they have many of the elements to make a good show, like the cast. I like the characters they've brought back and I see potential, but the show has no sense of urgency to any of the stories. Everything feels so slow and one note. It's almost like when a show is in transition waiting for a new HW to join, except we know that isn't the case.

I do, especially since his storyline and the people he’s interacting with are the same as Mike. I’ve heard about the Mike recasts, but I haven’t seen them yet. I’m very curious about that though. I know we have a few more to go through which is a shame because I got so used to having one actor in the role for so long.

I’m in January 1974 and I’m beginning to think Mike is going to be gone for a while. For a few months now there’s a new character, Dr. Alan Stewart and he seems to be filling Mike’s place on the canvas. So far the actor is fantastic and I’m loving him with Matt, Toni and Maggie. His scheming wife Margo is interesting as well. The pacing can be off, but the show keeps adding really interesting characters. It’s nice to see them expanding after keeping the cast small for so long. It also still feels very much like The Doctors at this point.

The majority of the B&B episodes get around 10,000 views each with some special episodes hitting over 100,000. When you consider the volume of episodes of people finding it over the years, there has to be a good stream of money coming in. All of those episodes are ad supported.

That’s because the actor complained about his character cheating. I do think she was meant to be long term.

SOAPnet was successful in terms of ratings. What killed it was that they needed a place for Disney Junior. And I’m not sure I would consider RetroTV a failure. They invested in overhauling their app, they committed to The Doctors and they’ve even tried to license the P&G soaps. They wouldn’t be leaning in if it weren’t doing well.

I'm with you. I've never bought that soaps aren't realistic on streaming services. The two reasons generally cited are the exact reasons they *would* be viable. 1. The volume of episodes. When Peacock picked the show up, they explicitly said they did it to drive year-round subscriptions. Bel Air was a breakout hit for them, but they only got a bump for one quarter when people tuned in to stream it and then cancelled. Since soaps air year round (and classic soaps have endless episodes), you have a better shot at customers keeping their subscriptions year round. 2. Cost. When you look at the cost of even a standard streaming show, you're looking at between $20 and $30 million for 8-10 episodes. Not to mention how high it becomes if it is one of the premium streaming series which can balloon to the hundreds of millions per season. Days' budget was reported as $29 million around 2010 so I'm sure it's lower now. I'm sure that's a win for Peacock compared to their other originals. I think the biggest issue has always been a lack of interest. Soaps are the red headed step child so people haven't been willing to look into it, but I think the success of Days on Peacock (Errol said they're looking at a two-season pick up btw) and Neighbours will change things for soaps. Now when it comes to P&G, there's no telling if they'll respond if contacted, but now would be the perfect time for them to be pitching to someone like Amazon. Even if it is just reruns of the classic episodes, I do think their library would be a hit for them.

The Pollock's can be so hit or miss. 1973 has been a mixed bag. I like the addition of Penny and Mona, but the writing for Penny is pretty weak so far and with Mona, they've completely dumbed down Steve to make the story work. I love her interactions with Carolee and Ann, but Steve has really suffered with her around. Ann is another example of a great newbie now that I think about it. I didn't realize I was watching his exit story, but he's been gone so long I believe I've seen the end of Peter Burnell's Mike. It's unfortunate he went out in such a dark way (hooked on drugs, forcing himself on Toni, potentially having sex with 16 year old Penny). It's like they threw the book at him on the way out. It's going to be incredibly difficult for the next actor in the role picking up from such a low point in his life.

With Trevor, I say that because both actors who previously played the part were 20 years older than him. I'm not a fan of deSORASing fully adult characters, although I'll admit I do enjoy him in the role. As for Jess, I'm sure she did move because she wanted to be there, but the reason that was something she could even consider is because the show wasn't using her, which she said in the press. If she continued as a frontburner character as she always had been before, I highly doubt she would've randomly decided to retire/step back when she did. Say what you will about JFP, but I will be eternally grateful that she saw Jess' value and brought her back to the show.

Conner Floyd I wouldn't be surprised. He's better than the previous Chance, but the character hasn't been interesting since John Driscoll was in the role. With Susan Walters, I wouldn't be surprised. It was obvious that bringing Diane back was a last minute stunt to juice the ratings and help JG save his job. I think it would be a mistake, but it wouldn't surprise me. Now Mark Grossman? That would be a shocker to me. I feel like if he were to leave it would be his choice because I can't see how they'd decide to get rid of him.

I'm sure it's the show and not Jess. They just haven't valued her in over 20 years. The reason she moved is because she realized that, not because she wanted to work less. Much like Tonya Lee Williams, she's someone who basically begged for years for a story and decided to move on when that never happened. I do agree with everyone that more Jill would only help the show. She is as strong as Victor, Jack and Nikki when it comes to vets and she brings a lot to the show, as we see in her brief scenes. Back when Jack was languishing for so long without a love interest, I thought it would've been the perfect time to reunite Jack and Jill and finally let them get married. Then you'd have two strong heads for the Abbott family and I'd have Jack carry on an affair with a younger women to try and spark a new iteration of Jill/Katherine with that woman in question. I came back to the show the past two weeks so I could see the Abby/Devon affair and the show has the bones of a great show. The cast is strong, they just need a passionate writer who can give them something to do. I even find I don't mind Trevor St. John as Tucker, despite him being too young for the show. This would be the perfect time for someone new to take over the show. I don't think any of the stories are that damaging, they just need someone who can write with a sense of urgency and add drama to the show. I can definitely see the Succession influence over the show, but they need to remember that this is a soap and amp it up.

It's beyond time for them to move forward with Selina Wu. I would love for them to do a health crisis for Selina and do a shocking reveal that Terry is her daughter. They can use Terry being trans to justify it by saying Selina cut her off when she transitioned. It could be a powerful story that is true to many trans people and their families. They could eventually work towards reconciling which would soften Selina up and then they could give her a love interest. When it comes to mob stories, at this point Selina is where it's at. Sonny I feel has moved on from that point and they've told every new story they can with him in that arena.