Soaplovers

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.

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.