Chris B

@Cat Chicago is often listed as a city they’re looking at. I know when Salt Lake City was chosen that was one of many on the list. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is further along than we think in terms of casting. But I will say I grew to love Tinsley over the years and will miss her. I also loved her exit. I miss when HWs would organically leave mid season and also when we’d get new wives mid season. It felt more real. In retrospect they should’ve done the same for LVP last year. On the international front, I found a link to season one of Real Housewives of Johannesburg and the clips did NOT do this show justice. It is FASCINATING! I know only 2 wives continue to season 2 (which I’ve heard is even better) and I cannot fathom that because the cast is *so* good. The only odd one out is Lendy who is listed as a housewife, but has only appeared in like 3 of the 9 episodes I’ve seen. This show is like ATL on steroids in terms of the amount of friends in the cast and the light hearted shade and drama of those early seasons, but the ability to move forward and film. I also love seeing South Africa. They went on a trip to Botswana for one of the wives who was throwing a birthday party for her mom in her home village. It’s so interesting to see them go from these luxurious mansions to a village setting but still be respectful and enjoy themselves. One other thing that is interesting is that there is a VERY racist white woman in the cast who doesn’t see color and doesn’t believe racism exists. In America I feel she would’ve been beat down by several HWs by the point I’m at, but these ladies show incredible restraint. In the most recent episode they’d gone to a clothing store to get dresses for a wedding and one of the wives said she was going to get something custom made because they didn’t have anything that fit her style. The owner said they didn’t want to buy anything because they couldn’t afford it and the white girl said that once again “you people” have to make a big deal out of everything which caused a huge blow up. Whenever she wants to refer to the black women negatively it’s “you people” and then she acts offended when they call her out on it. If anybody wants a link DM me. This is definitely worth a watch.

@Fevuh It’s incorrect to say VR is the only one who spoke out. She’s the most vocal, but others have tried and been punished. Kristoff St John was suspended for 3 months in 2010 for speaking out and confirming her claims. I recall the same happening to Bryton. Maria Area Bell was also going to bring her back, but only if she wouldn’t speak on her issues with racial injustice. Instead of going with it, she revealed it and the return didn’t happen. Also, VR made a good point in an old podcast I just listened to. Let’s look at Tonya Lee Williams: She was also a big star for Y&R with tenure. At one point the writers just gave up on her. She begged in the soap press for story for years. When she guest starred on B&B she expressed hope it would be another chance for her. Even though she never said anything negatively she was still discarded like a piece of garbage. She didn’t even qualify for a final storyline, she just stopped appearing. So you can’t even argue that VR’s outspokenness is why she isn’t back. The black actors STILL on the show who are keeping their mouth shut are still having the same problems. Hell, Loren Lott knew nothing of this and she had similar issues! They couldn’t do her makeup, they couldn’t light her, she had to provide and do her hair haircare and she was never given a love interest, the ONLY actress in her age range who was never given a love interest. Change needs to happen because these issues are real.

They settled. And with Brad Bell, there were emails included in her lawsuit. She was definitely going to B&B it looked like from those emails. Same with DAYS. Marnie Siatta was fired as Casting Director by LML and Ed Scott brought her to DAYS. She specifically sought out VR but Sony removed her from the audition list. I don’t know how widespread the blacklist was though bc she did still keep working. I think it was mostly soaps and CBS/Viacom projects where she had issues.

This is coming from Arena which handles the Bravo shows in Australia. If this pans out, we won’t get another episode until July 8th! Explains why they showed the mid season trailer when their final episode aired, but this is very strange to randomly take a month off. Could editing really be that slow due to Covid-19 ? Are they trying to stretch it? Are they re-editing? It’s odd. Most likely this is a stretch tactic since Salt Lake likely won’t have a long season, but what a way to kill any momentum the show has going.

They did air Auckland and I still don’t understand how Melbourne’s 2nd and 3rd season aired in primetime with NO promotion, averaged around 500,000 viewers and yet they didn’t air the 4th season. M I was shocked they didn’t air Sydney right away considering they’d aired Melbourne and Toronto seems like it would’ve been easy to air. I never have seen that one though.

Those are good choices so far. I hope they round it out with Dru and Neil’s wedding in Japan and don’t just jump to recent years for one of these tired couples we have now. I could see it being a Villy wedding.

LVP has mentioned it but by doing the bare minimum so I don’t think she’s being prevented from responding. She was tetweeting things from 3 years ago to prove that she has one black employee. That’s embarrassing. Just like she’s called out cast members in the past. She could’ve easily rebuked their comments. It’s a bad look and the fact that we still have no statement from her is shameful.

When they’ve shared scenes together the chemistry is pretty off the charts and it’s glaring because they will literally pair Brooke with *anybody*. Considering how he looks, the only reason a shallow show like B&B wouldn’t give him an actual story has to be due to his race. Especially when it comes to the Steffy pairing which fans have been asking for for YEARS.

This has been a shock and very disappointing. Especially on light of them having to fire four cast members. She hasn’t said anything and should’ve been leading the charge considering the show has her name on it.

Speechless! Bravo actually held them accountable! Max and Brett are also out!

@Taoboi I hadn’t heard they were re-editing, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Denise has been so well received I can’t understand how they didn’t see this coming. As for the schedule, I don’t understand why they don’t just air strategic international shows for content. I just started Real Housewives of Johannesburg and while I doubt it would do big ratings, it would give them room to breathe and not have to rush the returning series. Also, Melbourne season 4 is on deck and that show already aired its first three seasons here.

These are old episodes with new commentary from the HWs. They aired a promo, it’s basically pop up videos of the ladies watching the episodes and commenting on them. I assume they filmed these when they filmed the confessionals at home. It seems like the entire lineup is on this hiatus so my guess is they’re just trying to stretch things as much as possible. Brandi is getting heat for this now that they’re calling out the Vanderpump Rules cast. I’m glad because I hated how Joyce was treated and I still maintain she should’ve stayed. I feel like they purposely sabotaged her (particularly with the tag line) since they knew she’d be feuding with their big star. At the very least I hope this puts an end to Brandi getting a diamond in the future.

This story of a British soap star speaking out in the UK has not only blown up On Twitter worldwide, but even Variety is covering it. I wish the black daytime soap actors would speak up while people are listening. I just was listening to an old Victoria Rowell podcast with Buzzworthy Radio and she mentioned how Kristoff had reached out to her asking for help because Bryton was airing once a month and he was only getting 2 episodes himself. She at this point was upset because she’d taken so much heat and nobody publicly defended her. Shortly before this interview, Kristoff did his own episode of the same podcast confirming what she was saying and was subsequently suspended for three months. Rowell then said she no longer heard from him after they threatened his job. Of course they did eventually reunion and do a film together, but listening to this stuff again with our current mindset made me so angry. I wanna know more about Tonya Lee Williams as well! At one point the host asked Rowell if she felt being outspoken was the reason she wouldn’t be asked back and she used Williams as an example. She said Tonya would come to work, keep her head down and get her work done with no complains. How did that work out for her? I remember her final years when they stopped writing for her she was constantly in the press basically begging for a story. I remember her guest appearance on B&B where they made Olivia and Justin cousins, she talked of playing up chemistry with Don Diamond in hopes they’d use her more. People often forget her, but to be a front burner character as long as she was and just disappear is very disrespectful. I also hated how when Maria Arena Bell did her comeback tour for so many former characters, the *only* one who came back and remained a day played was Olivia. Nina, Clint, Phillip and all the others at least had short term story. The only one who sat in the background when returning was Olivia. To know the stories *everybody* has and nobody knows. I wanna know what Karla Mosley and some of the B&B actors have to say. How does Lawrence St Victor feel being on B&B for almost 10 years with no love interest despite fans requesting him be paired with Brooke or Steffy? How did Christel feel when she was called to audition for her own role? How did Bryton feel winning an Emmy but appearing 15 times a year? The writers too. I *really* want someone to blow a lid on the Teflon and racist soap industry in the US. I feel everything will change or evolve *except* daytime soaps.

@Gray Bunny I hope im not proven wrong when the episodes air, but from the various trailers I get the feeling that Garcelle and Denise will acknowledge the role Rinna often plays in these types of drama. I truly don’t understand how she’s gotten a pass so long. I don’t MIND shyt stirring, but it is odd how she always does it but nobody acknowledges it. I hope they hold her feet to the fire!

I generally am very hard on child actors because they are often terrible, but Kent was great and that scene was stunning! That’s what I mean. How could the network look at what they brought and just let it go? It’s really crazy.

I have to join in on the Eric Steinberg love! I thought he was a fantastic actor and it was so different seeing a sexy Asian man with agency who felt equal. He also took Jess Walton out of a years long rut. Imagine had he remained the amount of years Colin did! With his exit I don’t hold that against LML. One of her big things has always been diversity and I’m guessing there was push back from him being a leading man. Another sad cast to add to the list is the Williams family in Knots Landing. Due to budget cuts they wrote off Julie Harris and Constance McCashin. Constance’s character Laura filled out their housewife group and with the Williams matriarch Pat she filled the void left by Laura. Their initial story in the witness protection program was EXCELLENT and full of thrilling scenes. Both Lynne Moody and the actor who played her husband (the late, great Larry Riley) had dynamite chemistry with the cast and fit in *perfectly*. They had toyed with Pat having an affair with lead hunk Gary Ewing, but the network didn’t allow it and slowly they fell into the background. Eventually Lynne Moody asked for leave and was killed off, then Larry Riley died which meant writing off his daughter played by Kent Masters King and then the entire family was gone. It was so sad because the show was trying to reinvent and add new characters and they literally added three excellent character who could’ve given them years of good story, but they weren’t allowed to write for them. There’s so many cases where this has happened and it drives me mad.

The creator of The Yellow Rose was so against the soap label, despite writing for Peyton Place. It’s a shame because it seems from what I’ve heard that he understood the format since many say Yellow Rose started good. Also, Peyton Place is an amazing starting ground considering how well plotted and character driven it was. I wouldn’t look down on that.

As soon as I heard about Kit it ended my plans to watch this reboot lol. I understand Pam Grier was on another show, but I wish they’d left it open to her returning later. She was the heart of the original series for me.

Season 12 was draining and mediocre to me so I am happy they swapped the order and aired All Stars second. This is a nice change of pace. I love the lineup of women and the first episode was great The talent show always annoys me because queens make our money lip syncing and they obviously can’t use regular songs so I feel it’s more difficult than if they truly had to showcase their talent. With that said, Mariah (stunning and timely!), Miz Cracker and Jujubee really impressed me. You could tell Shea wasn’t comfortable on the pole so that fell flat. India I know they loved, but her style of drag isn’t for me. It just seems so dated. Derrick was HILARIOUS! Just like on his season he is so tired but has a lovable airhead personality. He definitely is good for tv! Going forward my favorite as of now is Jujubee with Mariah behind her. I hope Ongina can improve. I’ve been waiting for her on All Stars and she was great on season one. Tammie, Shannel, Bebe and Nina all did great on All Stars and it makes me sad that she’s the first season one girl to return and fall flat. Also, for next season I’d love for Nina and Tammie to get an All Stars redo. The team aspect royally screwed them And both were years ahead of their time. I still hate how Tammie returned so game to do well and she *did*, but it wasn’t enough. Her final lipsync with Latrice was true Rudemption from her first season lipsync where she didn’t know the words.

I wish I knew how to find this article, but around the time Shemar Moore left Y&R the show lost I wanna day 2 million viewers. I could be wrong, but it was at least a million viewers. A CBS Daytime internal report about it ended up being leaked to one of the soap mags. They were trying to figure out what happened and determined his exit is what caused the ratings drop. As a result they planned to bring in an influx of new black characters. This is what led to Victoria Rowell’s return among other new characters like Keith Hamilton Cobb’s Damon Porter. Likewise when Victoria Rowell left in 2007 I believe they lost around 600,000 viewers and the ratings collapse is what led to LML getting fired. Nothing leaked or was admitted, but we know they knew her exit hurt them by the influx of black actresses they brought in to replace her, which never worked because those characters never got the screentime she had so they weren’t able to be developed enough to build proper fanbases. Mishael Morgan was the first one brought on who was actually developed which is what I credit with her success. I’ll also say that despite her many issues, I will never fully hate LML because she wrote a nuanced black family with agency. There was no Winters Wednesday. These characters had screentime comparable to the other characters and were written to be just as important. She is the last writer to do that. It’s been over 10 years since she left. That is embarrassing....

Honestly, one of these soap publications is who *should* be doing it. Either here, TV Source or Daytime Confidential. It doesn’t all have to be on the record, but all it takes is one person to interview these people, write an article and get this out to the masses. It’s a shame my mind first went to Victoria Rowell, but it’s easy to do that when she’s the only one who has been doing the work. But I do agree the burden shouldn’t be all on her. She’s done so much already. I loved Rebecca and I do think they always wrote her as being racist and in the wrong. As crazy as Passions could be, I appreciated that they gave you various views on situations. The fact that Rebecca is one of the only racist characters in soaps isn’t realistic.

A black actress on Hollyoaks, a popular British soap called them tf out! And keep in mind Hollyoaks has pretty big representation for the black community on screen, but this goes to show (like Victoria Rowell said!) it takes more than that. How they’re treated behind the scenes MATTERS! Having people who can do your makeup matters. Having people who can light you (HELLO LOREN LOTT!) matters! Not having to do your own hair or wearing the shake and go they give you MATTERS! Who knows if it’ll happen, but now is the time that the US soap actors need to speak out and be specific. They can’t do anything to them now because the press would be too bad. Victoria Rowell needs to gather the best of the best and get on live or do one of those zoom reunions and everybody needs to speak up!

In regards to Denise, it’s so obvious Kyle and Rinna were behind the bad press for her. They made it seem like she pulled an LVP and didn’t show up for most of the season. So far she’s stayed more than long enough and engages, but eventually leaves when they refuse to stop talking about her kids. She’s doing her job IMO. And Kyle trying to make an issue of her leaving Garcelle’s event is insane considering they have already discussed that she does two episodes of B&B a day and she already said she had an hour drive home and an hour drive back to film at 6am. She could’ve used that as an excuse not to show up, but she went. We also see she’s on the cast trip. This entire “Denise isn’t showing up, is running away” stuff was a damn lie! I also am stunned to see just how clear Garcelle was about her issue with Kyle, yet Kyle acted so stunned when she said that on WWHL. As for RHONY, I do agree that the season is improving. Elyse is more integrated and the Dorinda/Tinsley feud isn’t front and center which makes it more watchable. That storyline is a big part of why this season hasn’t worked. I’m ready for a mid season trailer so I can get a feel of where they are going. I’m hoping after this that Leah is less drunk and more on Ramona’s ass.

They want to make Denise and her kids the story SO BAD that I understand Aaron jumping in. Garcelle and Denise were doing a good job defending her, but they will not let it go. I also think the ladies are using the fact that Charlie Sheen is their father to act like they aren’t kids. I find the unspoken part to be very disgusting if I’m being honest.

Rumor has it Gigi almost got disqualified because they were told their lipsync videos had to be filmed at their homes and she went to a studio to have hers professionally done. They made her refilm it. All in all I thought all the videos had a good idea. Crystal suffered from poor execution. If it looked more put together it would’ve been my favorite. Jaida was stunning. Gigi’s was good but I was bored with the song. I do think Crystal should’ve done Rhythm of the Night. Ru would’ve loved that and it would’ve been a nice bookend on her lookalike comparisons. In the end I’m happy Jaida won. It’s always nice seeing a black girl win when so many have been overlooked. For All Stars I’m rooting for the minority queens because that show is the worst when it comes to picking a worthy winner. Jujubee is my first choice then Shea.