Melroser

There's so much to keep up with in this topic! I live and breathe soaps. Grew up watching them and have never stopped. At least not completely. (I even self-publish my own soapy novel series). Shows have been yawns at times so I've tuned out here and there, but I will never give up completely. I have been as anxious for BTG as anyone. I'm loving this show so far. Do I love everything? No. However, there are far more pluses than minuses. I personally love the camp. I mean, Melrose Place is my fave nighttime show ever! (AW, my daytime show). I'll live with the camp because at least stuff is happening and it's entertaining. I'm so bored with Y&R and B&B where they have the same conversation for a week just worded differently each of the fifty times they have it. There are definitely characters I'm more interested in following (Leslie/Dana, Eva, Nicole, Andre, Naomi), but there aren't any I don't want to see. Maybe because they are still new and it'll take time. I'm willing to give it that to find its footing. I haven't been this anxious to watch a daily soap in years. It's a great feeling. I'm willing to look over some of the smaller issues because we have a new soap! Let's focus on that. So great the numbers were good for BTG. Personally, I was hoping it would knock Y&R off its pedestal, but I know that was too much to ask for. LOL. I hope we get streaming numbers soon because I have a feeling it did even better with streaming. I agree it's hard to dislike Hayley even though on paper one probably should. But Marquita Goings is a find. So are Leslie/Dana and Eva. New daytime talent that will hopefully stick around and I've been a fan of Daphnee (Nicole) since OLTL. Excited to see her thrive here. So much talent behind the scenes. MVJ, Guza, Carruthers, for examples. I just hope there aren't too many cooks in the kitchen and it gels without egos clashing. 2nd week in. Let's hope for 200 more.

I think soaps could easily come back. Fingers crossed that BTG proves this and leads the way. As far as "revivals" go, I agree AMC might be the only one likely and that is IF the movies for Lifetime come to fruition and have decent ratings. Other than that, I can't see any revival grabbing a new, youthful audience which is so coveted these days. Having a new "Dark Shadows" would work great, but as a whole new show and setting. A dark, creepy setting with lots of mist (thank you Stephen King) could pull in new and old viewers with the right storytelling. As others have said, an EON-style show could work too. Personally, I think a 30 min. show for streaming could be a big hit. It's less time consuming and can be binged more easily to keep up with it. Film 2 eps a day (as if an hour show) for 6 months and have 6 months off where the cast are free to do other projects. Don't hold them back because they are "under contract" with the show. Their other projects can lead viewers back to the soap to check them out on that.

I have my fingers crossed that BTG takes over the #1 spot for daytime. Y&R has been slowly chugging along for years afraid to upset the apple cart by doing anything...dramatic! They recycle the same stories (poor Sharon kidnapped again!-Adam/Chelsea again! Victor vs Jack again!). Please for everyone's sake, topple the apple cart, will ya? Maybe BTG will push Josh Griffith aside for someone that follows through with story for more than a week. BTG has been great. Are there some kinks to work out? Of course, it's brand new. I'm loving the writing though! So many little nuggets here and there to add suspicion/mystery to the story. I love that! I'll give a couple of the "green" actors some slack because even they aren't as bad to watch as some of the others on daytime these days. (Looking at you Tanner Novlan). Bring on more eps! I'm more than ready!

Lily/Damian are working for me. I like it...a lot. Holden/Audra are also interesting. I can't believe there's something fresh and interesting on this show. It has been awhile! Forget about dioramas and redecorating the Abbott mansion and focus on this. Please.

I also agree but soaps don't take the time to plot out major story arcs like that anymore. They live week to week. It's a shame. Before the week is over they are already onto something completely different for the next week. This is part of why they lose viewers. There is nothing to get invested in. No long term romance build ups. Characters meet, hit the sack, get married, and two weeks later break up. No one cares.

I enjoyed her podcasts but she never seemed to get the hang of the technical aspects. I get it, some people (like myself) just don't understand all the "gadgets" out there. lol. I loved hearing some of the backstage AW stories. I wish there were more. I do hope she's well.

AW was my show growing up and their constant backstage changes drove me crazy! There was never a long-term vision and stories often were changed halfway in when different people took over.

Thanks for the responses. I'm enjoying what I've watched. Perry Stephens could be a Grant Show twin to me. It's eerie. lol. I do like Jack and Stacey. I think I'd be a fan if there were more episodes to follow them through. The few bits of Roya Megnot were fantastic! I see why people loved her Ava. She was such fun. I have always been a fan of Lisa Peluso, so I enjoy her Ava as well. It's been great to see early work of others like Susan Walters and Rena Sofer whom I enjoy.

I'm curious if CBS has a ratings/viewership number in mind for BTG to be considered "successful" or if they are just going to let it find its footing first. I'm sure we know it will do well out of the "gates", but can it sustain itself? I suppose if it can at least improve on numbers for The Talk, it will get a good run. My fingers are crossed for this show getting some time and not ending up a flash in the pan. The about of hype going into it is promising so far!

I've been diving into earlier episodes of Loving as this wasn't a show I ever watched, except for a bit of time when the quad of Cooper/Ally/Casey/Steffy were on. Which couple is considered the shows "super couple"? Jack and Stacey? Trisha and Tucker? I know the early episodes are sparse and jump around. It makes it hard to get a feel for the show and who the audience was rooting for. Just curious...

I also loved Reuben and Josie. They had great chemistry. It's too bad the show didn't go there further. I suppose in the day it would have been "risky", but hell, AW needed something to get people talking...in a good way!

Did Robert Kelker-Kelly ever work as Stavros on GH? I thought he was kind of panned in that role even though he was quite popular after being on AW (as Sam) and DAYS. I'm curious how Kimberlin Brown was perceived on Port Charles as Rachel. I never watched her, but I think Sheila has been the only role she has stood out in. I know she had short appearances on AW and OLTL. I concur that Sharon Gabet on AW was a complete waste for her. The changeover in writers did her no favors from being a mute amnesiac to regaining her memory as Catlin's no longer dead wife to being an abused spouse of Peter's. Such a wasted opportunity to have an actress of her talent on the show (which AW desperately needed to give it a spark). Of course, AW was lucky enough to get Sharon, Larry Lau, and Denise Alexander from ABC around the same time and squandered all of them with poor writing.

I prefer not to see "Angry Finn". It doesn't work. Ridge/nuTaylor do nothing for me. I couldn't care less about Poppy/Finn/Luna. The Daphne story is like a cartoon. Can't believe I'm saying this but can Liam come back? Where's Ivy? There should be more Zende. And I've always been a Brooke fan from the beginning, so I'll take any scenes with her where she isn't degrading herself for Ridge's attention.

This show has gotten ridiculous! Daphne is a cartoon character. Luna "serving time" at Bill's makes no sense! I'm so sick of how long "Who's the Daddy?" storyline has gone on. I mean really, does anyone care about Luna? She'll be gone as soon as Brad gets bored writing for her. The Hope/Steffy rivalry is tiring. It's the same dialogue every day. Nauseating. Ridge/Taylor against Brooke for a month and then back to Ridge/Brooke against Taylor. There is no life whatsoever in this show. I rarely even tune in anymore.

People probably thought AMC was back on the air and were watching Greenlee and Zach.

IMO, the best part of the Red Swan was Cali coming on as Paulina. I loved Cali in the role and found her interesting. (Tho I later enjoyed Judi just as much).

I really enjoyed that time on AW when the writers were setting up a Cory vs Frame feel again. Matt/Josie as the star-crossed lovers caught in the middle. I just wish the Rachel/Sharlene rivalry would have lasted longer...reminiscent of the Rachel/Janice feud.

Susan Sullivan posted on X a short time ago that she is suffering from lung cancer and lymphoma. I was not aware of this. I hope she beats this and pulls through! I have only seen a few clips of her on AW. I know her mostly from Falcon Crest. I wish there was more of her work out there as Lenore.

Yes. So happy CBS is advertising a soap! It's about time.

BTG just had a new ad played during the Bills/Ravens game. Finally, a different one.

GH was first Tues/Weds/Thurs.....not good for YR/BB.

Didn't he get burned in a way by his last contract with P&G? I always thought this is why he quit daytime after. If I remember correctly (and I may not), there was something to the effect he signed a new contract with AW roughly a year before the show went off the air. He had it in his contract that he got paid for 3 years (whether the show was canceled or not.) But he found out when the show got canceled, P&G worded the contract that he was under contract for them and not AW specifically. That's when they told him that "Jake" was being moved to Oakdale and he had to remain with the show until his contract with P&G was up otherwise he would be in breach of his contract. I don't believe he ever wanted to be on ATWT and was dragged there. He left as soon as that contract was up even though "Jake" and "Molly" had a decent following. If that's the case, I could see him not wanting to sign another contract with daytime after that.

There was also an ad during the Bills/Broncos game today.

Joanna Going is a very talented actress, but I never enjoyed her as Lisa. I'm sure it was more the writing. The on and off psychic gimmick didn't do her any favors and then I thought they intentionally wrote her as being weaker than Vicky. I was always team Vicky, but that's because I love Anne Heche so much! By the time Lisa left the show, I was ready for it. For some reason I just remember the Lisa/Jamie/Vicky triangle lasting way too long. (of course in comparison to Taylor/Ridge/Brooke, I guess it wasn't thaaaat long. lol)

That's heartbreaking for Tom. As well as all the others that have lost their homes. No one deserves that kind of loss. Now...back to our program... You can count me in the camp of those that thought AW totally blew their chance at having an actress of Denise Alexander's caliber long-term. As a soap viewer, I knew how important she was to daytime and was giddy when I realized she was coming to my show. A show that desperately needed a ratings boost. I think maybe the concept on paper of her being the McKinnon matriarch tied in with Reginald was a good one, however, the execution faltered badly. It's too bad the backstory got so messy and Reginald became the cartoon villain. I wish the show would have focused more on Mary and her lost time with her children and how that traumatized her. The whole McKinnon clan was never given proper stories, except Jake. Things with them changed so often (Ben replaced with Jake, Vince being replaced constantly, MJ replaced with a different actress and being turned into a hooker, Kathleen "abruptly" leaving). Mary and Mac would have been interesting, but I'm curious how Mary and Lucas would have faired. Lucas with his not-so-good reputation and Mary falling for another "bad guy" to upset her family. Denise vs Linda Dano. There could have been so many layers to that. Who knows?