Soaplovers

I wonder if the frostiness between Martin and Smitty at the start of the soap was due to their marital issues stemming partly from whatever happened to Martin two years previous.. plus whatever issues were bubbling under the surface before the major event of two years ago.

I saw a few scenes between Alex and Mike in 1984.. and I think had the actor playing Mike not been so hung up on the age thing... Mike/Alex would have been a dynamic pairing with two strong minded individuals coming together... but the teasing of the two together in a pairing seemed to happen after the two obstacles for the coupling (Alan and Hope) were both gone from the canvas. My late mom actually thought HB and Alex were a fun odd couple, but she figured it was more like two friends going on social dates vs an actual romantic pairing between the two. Fletcher had chemistry with both Marj and Bev's Alex.. but I always viewed Fletcher/Alex as an opposites attract sort of coupling (oddly paired up when stranded on an island just like her brother Alan was when he was paired with Hope). However, Fletcher didn't really accept Alex for who she was... he kept trying to change her even though some of what he was trying to change were negative/toxic traits Alex possessed. To me, I liked that Alex was such an interesting character and had a strong presence without the benefit of being in a pairing.. though post country club 1991 really did a number on Alex when she could have benefited from making peace with being free of Roger and just standing by to watch Mindy self destruct like she always did.

As I said before, I think pacing is the bigger issue right now. If you look at a Marland and/or Pam Long era episode of ATWT and GL in the 80s, you saw multiple stories going on and progressing at different speeds. While at BTG, you have some plots and characters not shown for episodes so that any momentum/interest is muted by the time they do appear again. In regards to the Ted story, I think part of the issue was the changing of the actor that played Ted at a crucial moment of the story. So not only are we seeing the fall out from the secret being exposed and how the relationships are progressing post secret reveal.. but we're getting to know a new actor playing one of the main characters in the arc. We're seeing the actor finding his way in playing Ted, in playing scenes opposite Eva/Kat/Nicole/Martin/Silk Press Sheila. While this is going on.. momentum has slowed down because of this adjustment.. and since the show writes their scripts two to three months ahead of what's been filmed.. it could take weeks for the writers to adjust writing Ted to the actor's strengths. It certainly took a few weeks for the wardrobe department to adjust the wardrobe for the new actor.

'I'm sure this time it's forever' Alexandra Spaulding's final comment while giving Reva wells wishes on the latest marriage of Reva's. That conversation was one of the last times the two had a conversation with the two sharing stuff about their lives.... with Reva confirming Josh isn't the father of Dylan, that she's having a boy... while Alexandra confides in Reva about Phillip and he being in a mental hospital after trying to dig up Beth's grave. I liked Reva's reaction because she had history with Phillip and to a lesser extent Beth... and there was mention of Lujack and how similar Lujack was to Dylan. I miss scenes like this on soaps.

If I had a choice of a female co worker/manager.. I'd pick Laura. She seemed confident, competent, and knew how to separate personal from professional.. and was upfront if she wasn't happy with the quality of your work. Karen would be a nightmare to work with and for... and leans too much into her emotions instead of being pragmatic. Abby would be too much for herself so you couldn't trust her to actually be honest with you and would probably throw you under the bus in order to get herself out of trouble. Val seemed better being self employed as an author (though I did love that brief stint in season 8 trying to write a screenplay.. and her work space at home was a mess... relatable).

Catherine Hickland wouldn't have been the right pick for Mindy either... it's the one thing JFP was correct about. Unpopular opinion: I would have kept Mindy off the canvas after she left in 1992 and only bring her back if Simms or Krista T were available to reprise the role. Characters like Reva and Mindy fit in better during the 80s.. and we saw how much they didn't fit into GL in the 90s and beyond. In fact, the show went OTT in order to fit Reva onto the show. Some characters are best left in the past.

Not surprised this wasn't picked up... the episodes were hard to follow with the constant flashbacks, etc.

All of this could be resolved if CBS spoke on these sudden decisions to air reruns last minute instead of an original episode. Is this due to the original 200 episode pick up for season 1 so there will be more reruns? Or is it due to lower than expected ratings/demos so the network is opting to air a rerun on a holiday and/or holiday week? I kind of wish they would do what other soaps have done in the past where the holiday episode would be a recap of a major story (i.e. two characters talking about the story with flashbacks shown), or do a week of interviews with the cast updating everyone on how things are going backstage. I'm curious on how many episodes were included in the season 2 pick-up... is it another 200 episodes, or is it closer to 250 episodes?

I had listened to a podcast interview from around the time the show was debuting that featured the actress that played Vanessa... and she had stated where they were in filming at the time of the interview (scenes from episode 54 to 60). She also mentioned that they had only been picked up for 200 episodes.. not sure how many episodes soaps air in a season.. but I would think it's a bit more than 200.

Julie Hanan Carruthers used to be known for going well over budget when she was EP of All My Children while Frank V was known for running OLTl well under budget. As a result of Frank V doing so, the unused budget portion was then reallocated over to All My Children to offset going over budget. So I'm sure she knew right away to use as much budget as possibly to launch BTG. The fact this decision was last minute from CBS does give me pause. If ratings aren't as high as CBS was hoping for... I could see them deciding to not sir the soap during the week leading up to 4th of July if the ratings aren't holding up. However... doing stunts like this last minute and not communicating this to viewers.. or even the show themselves, tells me that CBS is panicking. If CBS owns part of the soap, I can see them starting to interfere down the line (a move of which hurt their previous soap properties like Secret Storm, LIAMST, Love of Life, etc).

Trisha and Lily came from the same mold (rich girl in love with a blue collar man, and had a cold/controlling mom that she was distant from)... however, Trisha had this likability and warmth that her more approachable.. while Lily was just a straight up bitch. If anything Noelle Beck was more in the mold of Lucy Deakins' Lily... and could have played Lily in 1985, 1989.. or even in 1993.

I'll never be Team Dani... she's a great example of the ugliness of wealth and being able to avoid having to suffer for her bad choices. I'll always be on team that's against a Dupree

No offense.. sometimes you need to go above your pay grade in order to find out something so this whole 'that's above my pay grade' is a cop out. Knowledge is power.

The show has strong script-writers that will make some of the crap in the breakdowns (which we know Ron C and Jamey G will have) go down a lot better

I recall that right before the show premiered, that the actress that played Vanessa went on a podcast and had mentioned that they originally were picked up for 200 episodes... so I'm wondering if perhaps that's one of the reasons why next week is on full repeats because only 200 episodes were picked up instead of the standard amount of a 'season'.. which seems closer to 240 to 250 episodes in a season. With that said, Allison coming back into the picture after the way she dismissed Chelsea seems on par of someone that wants what she can't have. She did give off some creepy vibes during their brief interactions in the past. Sounds like Hayley is revealing a dark side... which I would care about had the show bothered to give her character some focus/dimension

Unpopular opinion (on this board anyway)... but I think the correct actors are playing Martin and Jacob. Jacob is supposed to be a wide eyed idealistic young man that's joined the family tradition of becoming a cop like his old man. I think that idealism is one of the things that attracted Jacob and Naomi to one another. I couldn't see Brandon play that type of character. Martin is supposed to be an upper crust snob that went into politics because of his grandfather, who he idolized. I think he's played the tortured scenes quite well as well as his elitism toward those he deems beneath him. He views himself as superior to Smitty.. whether he wants to admit it or not.

Y & R and B & B could get away with a week of repeats because they have built in loyalty... but BTG has only been on for four months and loyalty is still being built so bad move on a week of repeats for a new soap.

I was wondering about the vacant position Guza left... and I dread it being RC or the incoming Jamey Giddons. I also wonder if there is another recast and/or firing of a popular cast member... and it doesn't have to do with behind the scenes.

I think the Santos family would have worked better as a first, or second, generation immigrant family trying to balance their dual identities (of being Americans and their country of origin). I could have seen Mick being the bad seed son where his death would have bought on good son Danny to find out what happened to his brother... focusing on Michelle and the two develop feelings for one another with the conflict being that Michelle believes she's the cause of his brother's death. Meanwhile.. his mother Carmen has managed to make a business a success while distressed over her son Mick's wayward ways and she depends on Danny to be the man of the house/head of the family after the death of her husband. Carmen would naturally be resentful of Michelle for being the new woman in Danny's life and also being conflicted over Michelle's role in her son Mick's death understanding it was in self defense.. but still having a hard time forgiving Michelle. The Santos family could have worked without the mobster element.. but that would have required the writers to think outside the box.

I remember in the premiere episode that I sense some underlying tension/hostility between Dani and Nicole... and I noticed Anita's face change to one of judgement/resentment when Vernon was doting on Dani. And I thought to myself 'I need the backstory for this'... .and was kind of disappointed that Nicole/Dani were being close sisters after that initial first episode and Anita not displaying a dismissive tone when it came to Dani. Now I'm noticing that we're getting a revisit to those initial first scenes in the premiere episode... and I wonder if Anita/Nicole/Dani is the 2020s answer to Y & R's Lillie Bell/Olivia/Dru with Lillie Bell favoring Olivia and resenting Dru because she wasn't planned. It could explain why Dani is so extra and so prone to emotional outbursts.. because Nicole was the favored child that got all the accolades/attention of Anita with Vernon being extra doting/enabling of Dani because deep down he knew that Anita favored Nicole (my guess is that Dani was an unplanned pregnancy). And I think Nicole's letting repressed anger/resentment come to the surface.. and I wonder if eventually some of that anger/resentment will be directed to her parents.

So if I understand correctly... Andre is kind of pressuring Dani to go public with their 'relationship'/'no strings attached' arrangement... yet is also keeping quiet about this once Ashley starts to indicate she might be interested in Andre. I guess this is the show attempting to show that Andre still has a bit of player in him. The show is still figuring out the story focus rotation... but MVJ seems to love shoe horning Dani into scenes... even if other characters might benefit from focus/development. Hopefully the show in the fall will reign in Dani a bit to where she's humbled a bit.. but still has a backbone. @dragonfliesJoey/Vanessa/Doug and the casino set seems more Guza oriented with Joey's criminal vibe, Vanessa's obsession with the dark side, and Doug being the outsider watching his wife and the man he owes money to undressing one another with their eyes. Ashley seems more like a Brad Bell esque character

That's how Billy and Nadine started interacting... because he was interested in trying again with Vanessa and he felt Ross a threat so he flirted with Nadine and she eventually agreed to help him keep Vanessa and Ross apart. This was in the fall of 1989... but eventually the show decided to make Ross/Holly a thing... and the show decided to do a Vanessa/Billy/Nadine triangle.. but I'm sure when the show decided to go in that direction. I do remember a scene where Ross and Nadine end up at a function at either the Spaulding mansion, or the country club... and Vanessa and Nadine meet.. and it was dislike at first sight. I think it might have been before the 'soft reboot' of Nadine, or right after she came back from that brief absence.

Given the Ashley/Dani tension... I would be open to a Ashley/Dani/Andre triangle down the road since the Bill/Hayley/Dani triangle seems kind of played out (and we've only seen them for 81 episodes... not a good sign). I agree with everyone that Hayley hasn't been given a POV whatsoever. Most of her actions and interactions have been in regards to proving herself to Bill (i.e. trying to get the female employees to drop the lawsuit, going off on Ted for using Bill as his clean up man, etc) with little to no focus on what she really is thinking and feeling. Other then the 1 on 1 scene with Caroline in week 1, we've not gotten to hear her POV nor what she's truly feeling... and that will make the audience either confused over what they're supposed to think of the character.. or they don't care. When Ashley and Derek (token white couple) have gotten more of a POV and decent 1:1's with other characters... that is a problem. Maybe early Ridge/Brooke circa 1987 to 1989/1990 should be what writers should model a relationship after.

I hope Ashley does steal Andre away from Dani. Women like Dani deserves to drink themselves into misery and lonlinessl

I remember when Reva returned in 1995, that there were a lot of viewers that actually were team Annie and not team Reva. It was pretty evenly split until Annie was made crazy. The one thing I noticed about late 90s Guiding Light was that the show seem intent on not writing compelling triangles.. instead having a couple with a third wheel as spoiler. We had Hart/Cassie/Dinah, Beth/Phillip/Harley, and Reva/Josh/Annie that took up the 1996 to 1999 era... and it always involved ruining a character to prop up the main couple. Annie became psycho, Beth became an emotional unhinged mess, and Dinah ended up accidently killing Hart when he stepped in front of her intended target Cassie. Who knew once 2000 rolled around that those badly constructed triangles became a high point once we got into Santos/San Cristobel overload.