All My Shadows

About halfway through the second season, and I forgot just how good the show gets after it moves on from trying to make Lane/Field the central couple. Michael was a great addition to the cast and provided a more nuanced antagonist than Titus ever was. Field was more interesting in his role as state senator, and Eudora finally had a little bit more purpose with the barrio storyline. The Sanchez family was good, too, even with some of the of-the-time writing for them. Gina Gallego and Fernando Allende were major finds for the show. Constance really comes into her own in season two, and this is the version of the character people should know/remember. She was never an Alexis or Angela or JR. She’s really more of an Abby, but I think the fundamental difference is that while Abby would choose money every time, Constance would choose love (superficial or otherwise). She grew up rich, so she never needed to scheme to get money. She never really felt love, though, and so she kept chasing it. She held on to Field for so long because he was the one who was supposed to love her, and losing him meant losing the pretense. She and Julio were truly fcking HOT together. There are still some things needing fixing. Elmo Tyson serves no real purpose and should have been replaced by another female character. Maybe one who was already established in the Flamingo Road circle and had a real history of animosity with Constance. Maybe a daughter for Elmo just to keep him around in a supporting role? I also thought we had more Lane/Sam in the second season, but they’ve been backburnered for the most part. Sam is Lane’s only saving grace for me, and her only reason for staying in town, so I wish we would have more of them together to solidify that or that they would have just written her out.

Slamming him, yes. Not applauding him, yes. Celebrating his death as if we benefit from him dying is weird, IMO. I think back to when Pat Robertson died and my reaction was “Oh well.” That’s just me, though.

Celebrating the death of someone who wasn’t primarily known for murder or SA or what have you is so weird to me. Chuck’s politics have literally nothing to do with why he was famous, and it’s still a sad day to lose another legendary host. They’re almost all gone.

I really have nothing substantial to support it, but I feel like it's been discussed on SON several times throughout the years. In my neck of the woods, at least, soaps = Y&R, B&B, ATWT, and GL. Pre-2008, younger people would branch out into the likes of DAYS, PSNS, and GH, but there might have been one or two people offline with whom I could discuss AMC or OLTL. There was just no competition between the CBS lineup of the 80s-00s and the other networks, and I imagine it's still the same but with much smaller numbers these days. I can almost guarantee BTG will have no problem up against GH in the south.

IMO, it being the first new soap since before Y2K (I feel like I keep coming back to that) should take precedence over it being a “black soap,” but I think for history’s sake, it’s notable for having a predominantly black cast. Yet, it’s not even the first soap to do that. Another point not being made enough is that, when it premieres, it’ll be the first new CBS soap in nearly 38 years. Everyone knows that the Eye’s daytime audience is notoriously loyal and that in the south, watching “the stories” means watching CBS soaps and nothing else. It’ll be interesting to see how a new soap, regardless of its casts’ ethnicity, fits into that. It’ll be on by default in many a doctor’s waiting area, student union, and retail break room. It’s basically coming in with a built-in audience that will not change the channel after B&B goes off.

IDK how I missed that RC is part of the writing staff, but I'm not gonna let that get in the way of us all enjoying the fact that we have a new soap. I don't feel like going back to find it or properly quote, but someone said that Bill Bell was ahead of his time when running Y&R from Chicago, and I feel like Irna Phillips would like to have a word with that person. She just wants to talk, that's all.

Tony Todd's death creeped me out because the day before, I'd just read an article about how he turned down the chance to do a Candyman/Leprechaun crossover film because he respected and valued the Candyman character/story too much. I need to not even think about this right now because the original movie is still the only horror movie that has ever truly scared me.

I would hope it's not multiple time jumps in an episode, giving it'll still be on five days a week. I don't want it to be old school Passions style with one year in our world amounting to only ten days in theirs, but we need our weddings and parties to last a few days. Based on the teaser promo, it seems like it'll look like classic daytime soap, which I know there are people who would rather it not, but I figure...it's daytime. The people tuning in to a new daytime soap will expect it to look like a daytime soap. The people turned off by that probably aren't interested in tuning in to a new daytime soap.

Do we know anything else about these Christmas movies? If they are happening, wouldn't they have been filmed already? It's time to get this show on the road, people.

Just put in to leave work early on February 24! The first new daytime soap to premiere in over 25 years, and the first one that I'm actually old enough to really understand, absolutely deserves me parked right in front of the TV on a Monday afternoon to watch it live. I'm very tempted to go watch it at my mom's house with a sandwich and Crystal Light lemonade, the way I watched soaps twenty years ago.

Clifton Davis is a GREAT casting choice! I watched all of That's My Mama over the summer, and one of the things that bugged me the most about it was that it was more about Clifton than about Mama, but that's neither here nor there 50 years down the road lol He's made a name for himself as a highly respected actor and even more respected man. He'll be the perfect patriarch. I'm really curious as to know more technical things like video format, camera set-up, etc. At this point, I really have no preference either way. Most of me wants and needs this to look like a daytime soap, but I know the desire is strong for it to NOT look like one, especially if they're looking to make waves in the streaming market. I'll take whatever they have to do to ensure its success.

AMC: Amy Tyler, Ray Gardner, Billy Clyde Tuggle, Michael Cambias

I've had this exact thought so many times over, yes, the last five years lol Whooooo the hell is these people, lord. Re: soaps catering to a minority audience. I mean, I really don't care, and I feel as though TPTB have been doing their jobs long enough to know what to expect out of any show in regards to reach, but I'm thinking about how the BBC produces a soap in Wales, set in Wales, featuring a Welsh cast, speaking Welsh, that's been on the air for 50 years and is basically unheard of outside of Wales. Not every soap has to be a worldwide phenomenon. I feel as though most of ours really haven't been?

Newmie!! It's just so hard to imagine anyone from Baywatch as no longer living.

When I finished the first season, I had so many thoughts I wanted to share, including echoing yours, and I still plan to make that post soon lol but yes, the line of separation wasn't strong enough. Lute-Mae's is supposed to be this bad, wrong side of the tracks type of place, yet the prominent men of Truro hold meetings there? I've decided that Lane is really an awful person. She did exactly what Titus said she would do from the beginning. She complicated things with Field and Constance, and she lured murderers to town, putting the lives of a houseful of people in jeopardy. She was mad at Lute-Mae for not supporting her relationship with Field but also didn't hesitate to ask her for money on her way out of town. I don't understand how/why Constance is supposed to be the resident btch when all she was doing was RIGHTLY confronting her husband over the very public extramarital affair he carried out quite cavalierly in her face.

What a shock! When Tom Parker of The Wanted died, it stung to see a member of a band associated with youthfulness and carefree partying pass away. This feels the exact same way, except it's a lot darker due to the troubles Liam's been through and in over the years. I figure we will learn a lot in the coming days/weeks, but almost everyone in my friend group thinks he jumped. Re: TMZ. The only picture of "his body" that I'm seeing is of the red tent that they put up over it. They have a photo of his actual body and say it's clearly him because of his tattoos, but it's not posted. Maybe it was earlier and then they removed it?

Jesse Soffer is hotter now than he's ever been, but when I tell you I have absolutely no interest in watching any of those shows he's done since ATWT

I feel like what makes GL easy to go back to (tone taking precedence over core families) is also what makes AW hard to go back to, because as it changed families over the years, it also changed tone. People forget that GL's TV debut might as well have been a soft reboot since it had already moved completely away from its original characters and setting. I actually just got in the mail an original edition of the tie-in book "written" by Rev. Ruthledge that goes through the early storylines. I know I talk AMC up because it's my favorite, but it really does deserve its props for maintaining continuity. These movies can tie even the tiniest thread back to the show's first year without trying very hard. I feel like only DAYS and B&B (maybe OLTL via Viki) can say the same - quality of such continuity notwithstanding for alllll of the above. After posting earlier, I was thinking about how DS could be a series of TV movies that come out annually at this time of year. I really want a continuation. What is the state of Collinwood in 2024, and what is the state of the Collins family? I don't want someone trying to be Barnabas, but create a character with the same mystery played by an actor with the same charisma. Carolyn and Maggie as the creepy old ladies in town who've seen a lot of sht, recast David if Henesy won't act. I can't remember what was established by Julia and Barnabas's trip to 1995 in the original series, but retcon if you have to in order to set up a new generation of Collinses.

Those are some interesting, and realistic, thoughts. I do agree with Schnetzer that it’s too late for AW. Maybe if SoapNet was still a thing, but if it was, the soap landscape would probably be different altogether.

I want something that firmly establishes gates as the show’s symbol, like the DAYS hourglass or the AMC family album, and I would absolutely hate something that is clearly fake CGI crap like the current B&B opening. Those headshots are nice, but everything else? The pink roll-away fabric at the end? Garbage. I know GL’s final theme song was trash, but I very much appreciated the real footage of Peapack.

The weird Chandler Massey obsession has been going strong since Obama’s first term. Make like a Disney hit and let it gooooo. Cornelius, you better be in talks.

This is such a shocking loss. No matter how many times John and Marlena were written out or taking a break or whatever, you always knew they'd come back, and they always did come back, but now? It reminds me of Jackie Zeman's passing. We just don't feel ready for this generation of soap legends to leave us. Yes, we've already mourned plenty of them over the years, but there are just some who seemed like they'd live forever. They were supposed to make it to Frances Reid/Helen Wagner/Ruth Warrick status. It's really a privilege to live in a time where 70 is seen as an early death.

I just finished up season one, which ends with Hurricane Michelle hitting Truro, which is situated in Florida’s Big Bend region…just as Hurricane Helene is about to hit Florida’s Big Bend region.

I am IN LOVE with the new title. "The Gates" really just had that something missing, and simply adding "Beyond the" totally completes it. It's a classic, vintage soap title without sounding too dated. Brilliant. I'm also very thankful the family isn't called Gates because that would have been too much. I'm not gonna sit here and fawn over Tamara Tunie and Daphnee Duplaix coming back to daytime because everyone has already adequately expressed how exciting it is, but...man. Talk about doing everything right! As it important as it is to highlight black talent on this show, it's also important to highlight those who who've already made careers in daytime. Cornelius Smith, baby, you better be next.

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think it's time for awards shows to do away with memoriam segments. The number of significant deaths in each industry (especially television) gets larger each year, and it will never be possible to truly honor everyone the way they deserve. A good compromise would be to simply post the segment online each year so that there are no concerns over timing for the actual broadcast.