Soaplovers

One fall out that I haven't seen anyone discuss yet in regards to Martin's secret being revealed to all... will be what Nicole's reaction will be to this news. Not only will she feel a certain way about her own son not coming to her... but to find out that both her husband and father knows about this secret and kept it from her will certainly be a sight to behold!

I remember Alex and Gretchen were filming confessionals.. and how excited they were being all glammed out in front of the green screen so I had assumed Caroline had to have at least filmed a few confessionals.. and I wonder if the questions being asked of her in the confessional made her feel weird/regretful over whatever had happened.. and she kickstarted the lawsuit to stop the show from being shown. It's a shame.. since everyone was excited to have Alex come back... and to see how she would interact with the other women since she had been away from that world for years... and she was always a bit off beat.

I think the original plan in 1989 was to have Roger/Sonni/Holly once she and Ed broke up... with Billy/Ross/Vanessa/Nadine as a quad. However, once Michelle Forbes opted to quit the show in the fall of 1989.. Sonni quickly broke things off with Roger before leaving town for a new start... while Roger/Holly/Ross/Alexandra/Fletcher/Mindy became the new plan in 1990 and Billy/Nadine/Vanessa became the main focus. 1989 was the last time the show attempted to try Vanessa/Ross... other then in 1993 when Blake felt insecure over Ross/Vanessa's close bond.

Maybe Martin/Smitty had marital issues.. and Martin went on the apps or found a male escort/hustler from Joey's business. However, the escort/hustler was perhaps straight and/or in denial for being gay.. and decided to rob Martin or perhaps tried to assault Martin and Martin fought back and killed them. However.. Martin thinking of the potential scandal derailing his future political goals called in his grand-dad and there was an agreement made between Martin/Bill/Elon/Marcel/Ted/Joey to keep it quiet.. an unholy alliance of sorts. And perhaps Kenneth was the brother of this escort and was paid off to not cause trouble.. but money ran out and is now back for revenge/bigger pay out. I recall one scene between Martin/Chelsea where he made it clear that he and Smitty weren't in an open relationship... but it didn't mean he didn't perhaps try to find someone on the down low for release... and Smitty perhaps was either too emeshed with the kids and/or kept his distance from Martin because of continually being shut out from the past.

The only thing I didn't like about the finale was reuniting Josh and Reva when the show had taken great pains over the last few years to show that they loved one another... but were no longer in love with one another. I always like to think that Jeffery ends up returning from the dead and throwing Josh/Reva's newfound coupledom out of the window.

Goutman didn't cry... he was viewed as an A-hole. Had he cried, people especially would have painted him as "less than". If the EP of a show is crying, that means they aren't right for the job. Wheeler was recruited most likely because she had directed scenes and episodes that showed she had the ability to direct.. and perhaps P & G hit two birds with one stone by elevating her as an EP as both an effective way to get someone for cheap and as a reward for being a loyal P & G employee. However... being a good/decent director doesn't mean you'll be a good Executive Producer. Directors are creative in a sense because they have to have a vision/imagination and the viewer sees that vision when watching the episode they're directing (I tend to think when watching an episode that I'm seeing the episode from the POV of the director). Executive Producers have to deal with budgets, performers gripes, and the production company/owners of the show they're running.

Me thinks Martin/Smitty have had problems in their marriage for awhile now.. and perhaps Martin did utilize some male company and things got a bit too rough/violent.. and Martin defended himself and the person ended up hurt/killed... or maybe Kenneth was that escort? It could explain the sexual undertone to his scenes with Martin. And maybe one of the reasons Martin didn't want Smitty to go back to work was because he knew Smitty would probably end up digging and finding out the secret. Just a theory.

Both Dani and Haley lack self worth

It's weird that I was ready for Kenneth and Martin to make out, but I know that isn't what I'm supposed to be feeling. Only proves you can't manufacture chemistry.. and a shame the actor wasn't cast as Derek. I hope the nugget revealed that Bill's mother passed isn't the show saying that Bill is a toxic masculine men because his mom passed...because if so.. so predictable. Especially since we've already witnessed that Naomi, and to a lesser extent Chelsea, have thrived because of his parenting to offset Dani's domineering tendency (inherited from mama Anita). I hope Nicole/Eva aren't revealed as mother/daughter because I think the complexity of their relationship is richer and having them slowly rebuild their former closer relationship and the success of that slow rebuilt will be richer if they aren't mother/daughter... but alas the show will probably pull out the soap opera trope that they're mother/daughter... same with Leslie/Kat.... when both pairings have created such interesting and strong scenes with the parent/child relationships already believed to be fact (Nicole/Kat and Leslie/Eva). Dani only has changed feelings toward Bill since the stroke only because she views herself as physically stronger/dominate over him. I doubt Dani is capable of actual unselfish love... due to the fact that she probably didn't get true parental love from at least Anita (who probably sees herself in Dani).

What weird uppercrust Transatlantic accent is she using today?

I think OC could do that and it would work.. because it's the OG so it would be going back to their roots. On the OC, I remember Gina and Heather going back to the East Coast since both were from there... and Gina's parents were warm and sweet while Heather's mom was.... well... you understood why Heather was the way she was LOL

I think P & G are only using BTG as a way to advertise their products... but aren't super involved in the day to day decisions of story/cast. Perhaps had P & G agreed to co-produce their soaps with another company and/or network.. maybe the budgets wouldn't have been cut as drastically and the quality would have been maintained a little longer.

In regards to the Chelsea/Madison story and people saying that the two are moving too fast, there is a stereotype within the LGBTQ+ community where when two cisgender females start to date.. that date #2 or date #3 will involve a Uhaul. In other words, F/F couplings tend to move at a lightening speed so I'm not at all surprised that the two have quickly moved into girlfriend territory... and Dani isn't helping that at all with her OTT fawning over the two. What would be an interesting element to take with the Chelsea/Madison story is to really lean in on the statistics that I've heard in regards to F/F couplings... which are that divorce rates are higher for F/F marriages and that domestic abuse is higher in F/F relationships then in M/F and M/M relationships. So I hope that the vibe I'm getting about Madison being 'too good to be true' does come to pass, but I have a feeling the show might not want to go there because there's little to no representation of LGBTQ couplings on daytime tv. And so far, the soap seems to be playing too safe, but it's also a brand new soap so I can understand them wanting to play it safe until they get more momentum. And also, Kat wanting to wait before sleeping with Tomas is actually more the norm for Gen Z women in 2025 so I do applaud the show for reflecting that reality... and having Eva basically indicate interest in Tomas will hopefully result in something happening with the triangle in the coming weeks/months.

If what she wrote about Ellen was true about crying, I don't blame Kim for being annoyed with that. You're the boss... you need to keep it together.. or else you need to resign so someone competent and in control of their emotions can take over as EP. And Kim's statement about preferring a male EP is more typical then not for women. I know that in the tech world, females younger then me will switch jobs in order to work for a male boss.

Housewives back in the day would sometimes only feature one, or two, housewives on a vacation without the other women. I think I recall on RHOBH, Camille in season 1 would be in Hawaii with all of her friends.. and she was so fascinating that it worked. I remember on RHOC in season 4... Tamra would go on trips with her hubby to see family, Gretchen went to a college reunion in Texas solo, and Vicki/Jeana would go on trips to Mexico with the kids.... and it was a lot of fun. So if Miami wants to feature Lisa/Larsa having a girls trip to Milan.... I say I'm all for it. Isn't there a rumor that they had a falling out during the season? If so, it's nice to see the fun times before the drama hits the fan LOL Poor Julia.... she is such a newbie when it comes to reading and/or stirring the pot. As Cynthia once said on Atlanta 'You gotta make sure the reads hit the people that need the reads... not all over the place.'.... Julia is aiming at the wrong person.

Locher has the knack for interjecting his cringe comments during odd terms of the interviews... especially when the person being interviewed is in the middle of telling a story, etc. And usually what he says hijacks the momentum of the interviews. The best interviews are the ones where the guests are interesting and/or conversational. One of my fav interviews was the one with the actresses that played Lesley and OG Morgan.. where the two hadn't worked with one another.. but were both very interesting and quirky. The most recent one he with the four performers from BTG was just so awkward and I had to exit watching the interview a few minutes into it. I thought to myself 'Alan... please find a different because a Youtube is not your forte.

It was about time the show gave Clifton Davis something to do beyond being a purse holder for Anita or giving speeches about the Duprees and family pride. Insecure people tend to talk about empires and kingdoms. Power corrupts and we all know that Vernon and Anita probably did some stuff that wasn't good in order to get that power. As the old saying goes 'Hate the game, not the people playing the game'.

I think the Dani/Bill/Hayley/Naomi/Chelsea situation has potential.. but it isn't giving 100 % because we're seeing the aftereffects of the story without seeing the build up nor climax. Going back to old school B & B, it would be like the show debuting right before Brooke/Eric were about to walk down the aisle without seeing the almost 4 years of backstory that lead to this moment. Just based on the few flashbacks we've gotten... Bill/Dani seemed to have a good rapport... Bill had a close relationship with Chelsea, etc. What we haven't gotten in flashback form is Bill/Hayley nor Hayley/Naomi. Contrast that with the Nicole/Ted/Eva/Kat/Silk Press Sheila story. While there was a lot of backstory/history to it... the show started the story off in the right place with Silk Press Sheila catching sight of Ted and start to form her plan in the first week of the show. The problem with the story has been the recasting of Ted.. which happened what after the anniversary party so we never saw NuTed and Nicole in a happy relationship in order to root for them to get back together. I view it as observing what happened to her aunt Dani.. and now what she's seeing her mother going through that has made her even more caution/fearful.

There were a few elements during Long's brief OLTL stint that reminded me of her style. There was a bigger focus on the newspaper and a lot of crowd/social gatherings. And she created Lindsay Rapaport and established her as Nora's rival though the two were not actively fighting.. but were on a ceasefire. Long paired Lindsay with Clint.. even had them elope and showed her trying to find her place in the Buchanan family. The moment Pam Long was driven off the show.. Lindsay/Clint broke up and Lindsay became fixated on ruining Nora.

That was why she and her friends were about to watch GL in Chicago at 9 AM central time. Most of them started work at noon so GL was the only soap they could watch live. My mom and her friends all watched other soaps, but the only one all of them watched to discuss was Guiding Light.

My first soap opera memory happened in December 1985 with two particular events on GL: Reva's jump off the bridge attempting to kill herself and Lujack dying in Beth's arms. My first primetime soap opera memory was Pam opening the shower door revealing Bobby taking a shower. I only recall that memory because my parents spent the whole summer fighting over if this was really Bobby or a lookalike with my dad guessing that it was going to be revealed that Pam dreamt Bobby's death and my mom saying only a moron would do that story.

Kat/Tomas is giving me shades of Steve/Alice on AW with Eva looking to potentially be playing the Rachel part. 1) Rachel/Alice were sister in laws that didn't like one another pre-Steve while Kat/Eva are recently discovered half sisters that don't like one another. 2) Alice kept Steve at arms length in part due to what happened to her sister Pat when she went all the way (abortion and murder trial)... while Kat is keeping Tomas at arms length in part due to the men in mom/aunt's lives cheating on them. 3) Rachel enticed Steve until he succumbs to her advances... Eva has already made one overture to Tomas.. who is remaining strong.. for now. A traditional soap opera trope can be used in 2025 if the acting is good and the character motivations check out. Chelsea/Bill/Hayley were a good combo today. June and Hayley have to be related... they sound alike and kind of act alike. So hot busboy seems kind of shady... but having Jacob's dad and partner involved in what happened to Martin makes me think perhaps maybe Joey could be involved also?

For me, I was a small child home during the summer of 1991.. and I turned the tv onto All My children and found myself loving Hayley and thinking she was hilarious... and I became an AMC fan. The Natalie well story was far fetched, but there were two long term effects of that story... the introduction of Dimitri & Janet becoming pregnant with Trevor's child. Considering that we had Stuart hiding in an attic, the whole Goldie/Silver story, and Erica yelling at a bear.... it wasn't as if AMC wasn't a little wacky pre Nat/Janet.

The backstory of Doug III's dad's conception in the 70s was interesting (Doug III's dad was conceived via IVF)... and I'm glad the show in the few years has been going back into the history to resurrect some stories/character threads. Chanel is a wonderful example of the classic female ingenue/heroine of yesteryear.. and her popularity shows that this type of character is as welcome in 2025 as in the past. All one needs is decent writing and a strong actress to play that type of character.

My late mom and all of her GL watching friends in the Chicago area loved Jeffrey/Reva as a couple... that they thought he seemed to accept her for her without wanting her to change. I think they related to her because they were in the same boat/close to the same age as the Reva character... and most of them rolled their eyes at the Josh/Reva coupling. What's funny was my mom went on a rant when the show was ending about how Pam Long ruined the show... and I asked her what characters/couples she loved on GL. She said she loved Billy/Vanessa (told her Long created that coupling), she loved Tony/Annabelle (told her Long created that coupling), she loved the 4 mousekateers (told her Long created that), she loved Fletcher.. and his couplings with Claire, Maeve, and Alexandra (told her Long created those), and she even said she loved Reva's siblings Roxie and Rusty (told her again Long created them)... and then when she mentioned loving India + Lujack/Beth.. she said 'let me guess... Pam Long created them). While I think Pam Long/Gail Kobe did damage with some of their decisions... the ratings remained in the top 5 (hitting #2 in the summer of 1984, and #4 during the climax of the Infinity story in November 1985). And part of why the ratings didn't faltered too badly was because she wrote compelling/interesting stuff... some in a trainwreck sort of way.. others in memorable ways. And it seemed to appeal to the under 35 viewer at the time. Now had there been more then basic cable as an option during that time.. ratings would have probably been weaker for all soaps... so GL could get away with some of their decisions because the options weren't as vast as they are nowadays.