Chris B

I think that is what Chelsea is worried about but remember Bill told Hayley he wouldn't care if their fake baby was gay. I will say, I did find it amusing that Chelsea referred to Madison as her friend. At least in my experience, that is so common in the Black community so I enjoyed seeing them put a spin on that.

I just started episode 8 of Hyperion Bay and they finally had a good episode! Episode 7 was written by Bernie Lechowick and felt very much like the Lechowick/Latham era of Knots Landing. The dated tech business stories took a back seat and they focused more on the relationships with the various characters. It was centered around a high school reunion which allowed you to understand why everybody feels the way they do. Episode 9 is the last episode before the reboot and they finally seem to be heading in a nice direction. I wonder if this could've worked had the network been more patient. The cast is strong, it's really the writing that has let them down. This is one of Sydney Penny's strongest roles.

Happy 6 Months to BTG (and season 1 for the cast/crew)! I can't wait to see where the show is in another six month and beyond! It's been such a delight having a US soap that I anticipate watching daily. It hasn't been perfect but having seen the beginning of so many soaps, they got a lot more right that many of the others.

My guess is the speed of stories is one to keep viewers invested in the show and two an effort to move things to the second phase now that we know all the players and have gotten past the initial setup stories. I can't imagine it'll always remain at this pace but right now it definitely feels like they want to establish their next set of stories and getting out of that new soap mode.

When they do cast the twins I'm curious what that'll look like. I hope the casting makes sense and that the actors are good. Vanessa has been a bright light on the show and I think seeing her as a mother could be so helpful. We already have a strong female cast but the son could be particularly important when it comes to Kat and Eva who are overdue for a male love interest who can act.

After Peaches I just hope it isn't Tajh Bellow with grey streaks.

It could be me just imagining things but it feels like we've had longer scenes recently, particularly in the opening segment prior to the credits. They've also fixed the editing and removed the abrupt transitions at commercial. These were small improvements that have helped the show IMO. Now looking at the week overall, I was absolutely in love with Leslie's transition to power. This feels like classic soap without the time delay. I wouldn't mind them slowing stories down a bit but I feel like I'd be wrong to complain when I know how irritating it is seeing the stories dragged out on the other soaps. They can slow down a little bit in year two but I don't blame them for keeping up the pace to maintain viewers. I loved how Leslie being Barbara's daughter got so much of the cast involved. The Dupree's, Bill and Ted, even Vanessa. It showed the potential this has to move the show forward. I also can't wait to see how her new house set looks! I know people keep pushing that Vernon rumor but I hope they make Dante Green her family and finally give us the second family we wanted. Wishful Casting: Sean Blakemore as Dante Green, Victoria Rowell as his new wife and give them a son! The Chelsea kidnapping I found to be a fun cliffhanger. I'm curious if Alison will be the one who kidnapped her or if it could be related to the ChelseaKat lawsuit. This is one story I hope they go the more traditional soap route and stretch out for a while.

Probably because of the late start date and because that's an easy number to settle on. Based on when the show premiered you would've lost 7 or 8 weeks depending on if you start 12/30 or 1/6. That is already 35-40 episodes lost. Maybe 200 looked better than picking up 210 for year old. We'll see. Maybe we will have more dark weeks or maybe they quietly added more to pad the year out.

nuTed seems like the type who would see the good in Leslie and eventually soften up to a relationship with her. I could only see old Ted falling into hate sex with her but he seems all about Nicole and his family. The best part of this Leslie development for me is that Anita has a rival. I didn't realize how badly I wanted that until I saw the scenes between the two this week. They worked so well off each other and I like how Tamara Tunie is playing it. The Duprees view Anita as a saint but as she told Nicole (and has told Vernon in the past), she was NOT a saint in her past life. Yes they were young, but she didn't treat the other girls well so as much as she hates this current situation, she understands she caused it. This feels like a classic soap feud in the making. One of my hopes when it comes to the limited sets is that they take Leslie's apartment set and refurbish it to add on to the bedroom that Jacob and Naomi have. It would make more sense for them to be meeting with June there than Orphey Gene's if Naomi isn't going to have an office. I do wish they had more places they could meet up. A hotel lobby/bar would be a good idea and I wish there was a small coffee shop. I also think since they aren't going to do be doing location shooting that there should be some sort of studio based outdoor set. I don't think I've ever seen a soap where the characters are never outside in some way.

I found 3 short-lived primetime soaps with full runs on YouTube. Party of Five spin-off Time of Your Life, The Street and Hyperion Bay. I remember loving The Street but I never bothered with the other two. I decided to start with Hyperion Bay since I found it interesting that there is a retool mid-season led by Frank South. Something interesting about this show is that it's one of the few projects Bernie Lechowick did without his wife Lynn Marie Latham. So far, it's incredibly dull. It's the typical story of a guy going back to his small town and reunites with his distant family and friends. If anybody is interested in watching any of them, here are the links:

I started ATWT in 2004 and recently decided to go back to 97 and watch from there since YouTube has those years either complete or almost complete. I've finally made it to the last episode of 1999. There's been lots of ups and downs in the years I've watched but the show is in a decent place right now. I feel like it should be a seamless transition once Hogan takes over in the summer of 2000. The biggest problem I've been having is the show has such an untalented younger set. Eddie and Georgia are the worst but they can't cast a decent Chris to save their lives. It doesn't help that he's being put with mature actresses who know how to act. The Georgia character in particular has eaten up so much screentime and she is a terrible actress. It looks like there is a shift in the storyline which will lead to her exit and it amazes me it took this long. One thing I've found interesting to watch is getting to see Tom and Margo still as real characters. When I started watching they were pretty much on their way out so all of the great stuff I've seen is from past episodes. It's also nice seeing a Barbara that isn't insane. I love that she has shades of grey but isn't a complete nut. Another interesting thing in these episodes is seeing the beginning of Katie and Henry. Katie in particular is lucky to have survived being in such a dull younger set. It's also nice seeing John Dixon still has a main character. The biggest highlight for these years was Denise. I think Cassandra Creech was so good in this role and it amazes me that she didn't last until the end. They've done such a good job of developing her character. I'm curious what Hogan will do with her and how her exit will be handled. It's a shame he couldn't see a future for Denise and Andy.

This season is entertaining as always but the Guerdy storyline is very disappointing to see. It's obvious this was a story Julia created for the show and it's even more obvious that Marysol and Alexia are in on it. Obviously it's backfired tremendously but it's making me not want to watch any of them. On the other hand, I've never been a big Guerdy fan but I've become one based on how well she's defended herself against Julia. They're gaslighting her so hard but she's standing up for herself! Adriana is still the queen of Miami, Lisa is getting a little tired and Larsa is delightful this season. I love how immature Larsa is, especially knowing she's a mother to grown kids. Larsa and Adriana definitely bring the comedy. Kiki was clearly auditioning for a mojito and I've enjoyed her increased presence. The new housewife is a mixed bag. I find her incredibly inauthentic in how she presents herself but she mixes with the group really well. My hopes for next season: Mojito: Newbie, Alexia, Guerdy, Larsa, Lisa, Stephanie, Nicole Friends: Kiki, Adriana (she deserves a mojito but I know it'll never happen) Fire: Marysol, Julia On another note, I just finished the first episode of Real Housewives of London and Bravo definitely is foolish for not getting behind this. They did a great job casting this and the women have real wealth and interesting personalities. I still don't understand how Andy went from announcing the show at HayuFest in London to acting like he's not interested and hasn't even watched the trailer. This should at the very least be airing on Peacock. Bravo's cheater brand reboot of Ladies of London has a lot to live up to!

I do agree that might work better. They'd still be able to get ahead and save money with their weeks down but it would give the writers more time to flesh out story.

Something I found interesting in that interview is that when Marc Cherry asked about the soap production model, Greg mentioned that Days is 11 months ahead and that Peacock is concerned about that because of quality control. Obviously if he's saying that, it's come up and it made me wonder if maybe the new HWs aren't working out as well as they'd hoped.

Kirstin Storms said we'd enjoy her exit storyline. I wonder if this will be connected to that?

The 13 week cycle is more a benefit for the show than the performers though.

I hadn't thought of contracts but now I'm curious how long everybody's contracts were for. I wouldn't imagine all would be the same but my guess would be 2-4 years max.

Thank you for clarifying! IDK where I got DC from, maybe I confused it with New Orleans. But still, I do think it's great if they're finally going to start using them.

This isn't related to a US soap but I thought it was interesting: https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a65795910/brookside-return-hollyoaks/ To celebrate it's 30th anniversary, Hollyoaks is doing a special crossover episode with it's long cancelled sister soap Brookside. Brookside ran from 1982-2003 and basically paved the way for Hollyoaks. I believe they've had crossovers in the past as well. I thought that was a clever way to celebrate their anniversary and something that was truly surprising. I'd love to see a US soap attempt something like this. We've seen crossovers and some elements similar like Delia in Ryan's Bar on GH but it sounds like they're actually going to bring back some of the popular Brookside characters and let us into that world at least for one episode. They've also gotten permission to film at the old neighborhood used for Brookside back in the day which I'm sure will be exciting for fans of that show.

See, if they have access to those facades and we know there is one specifically meant to represent DC, it makes no sense that they don't use them.

I agree. I don't like the speculation about Vernon as Leslie's dad for many reasons, the most important is that we already have enough Duprees. Giving Leslie money and potentially a father who can help lead another family would be helpful to the show long run. I also don't think it matters that he hasn't been introduced yet. You can't introduce everyone right away but he could be useful in the future.

While I do enjoy the show, I think their choice of the day-to-day EP is poor. Julie Carruthers was never a great EP in my opinion. I've seen all the shows she produced and she never did anything spectacular with them. People will throw tomatoes at me but someone like Jill Farren Phelps would've prevented a lot of the mishaps we've seen and the show would definitely look more spectacular. There isn't much talent left but I do hope they can one day find a stronger producer. Also, when it comes to the Peaches casting...I thought the actress sold it well but I do wonder why they couldn't find someone more age appropriate. They hired two Articulettes, do you mean to tell me nobody else auditioned for those roles who could've been pulled in to play Peaches? Not to mention other actresses who may have auditioned for Anita.

I enjoyed the content of today's episode but I don't understand why they skipped a huge chunk of June's story. I guess I can appreciate it's faster than some soaps but I feel like they could've waited at least a week or two before having June meet the kids. First I would've told Smitty and Martin (as Naomi did) but allow them to talk about it, then make their way around to family and discuss it with them, discuss it with the kids, etc. before making a decision on if they wanted to see her. This would've also given them time to more realistically clean June up. She also should've had a therapist to address any mental health issues. I loved the scenes with Ted and Vernita. He has turned into such a punk but I'm finally enjoying him now that everybody is getting their licks in. Watching them punk him out was hilarious! I just hate Carlton keeps getting the dayplayer writing. The actor is far too strong for this and is overdue for real investment. The scenes with Leslie and her mom were good! I hope they keep her around as she goes through this illness. It was nice seeing Leslie genuinely caring about someone. I'd like to see Eva in the mix and watch her grieve. I'm so glad they're finally giving her some layers.

I feel like we all assume Barbara is the mother (which definitely seems like where they're going) but I don't know how comforting it will be for Leslie to find out her mother figure is dying and her actual mother is long gone. Personally I wish one of the living Articulettes were her mother so they could provide guidance and be the person to try and talk Leslie out of her evil ways. I guess they could still accomplish that by making Barbara her mother. Anita's guilt could cause them to build a relationship but that is going to cause tension with Anita and Nicole.

Honestly...this is the best place for him with this new recast. I'd continue to focus on him as a doctor and father. If they want to put him in a relationship they need to find a way to get him with Leslie or find somebody new. The chemistry just doesn't exist with Nicole.