Soaplovers

I have a feeling that perhaps Paulina's mother might have been alive and a former flame of Mac had Watson not passed away so suddenly. Rachel/Mac had been happy for some time as a couple so it was time for someone to shake up their happy union.. and perhaps with Rachel being jealous of this woman.. she might have sought comfort from Mitch thus making Felicia jealous.

If the Joey/Doug/Vanessa story along with the Martin secret are Guza contributed ideas... then I'm going to miss him because those are the best stories right now. It seems like old school soap with a bit of sleaze/darkness without the earnestness of the other parts of the soap.

Marland was highly over-rated during his time at GL. His first year was coasting on the strength/momentum of the Dobson's.. and most of his late 1981/1982 stories seemed too complex/cold. His style was a better fit at ATWT... a show that also had a colder/reserved element.

I remember when Lucy first came on in the fall of 1993 that the show seemed intent on pairing Lucy with Alan Michael.. but by the following summer of 1994.. that pairing seemed over with Lucy being tested with matt and Alan Michael first trying to pursue Eleni again.. then teased with Gilly before the short lived triangle between him/Tangie/Alan. By 1995, once Lucy's raped... then the show began the process of slowly pairing the two together. The only reason the coupling had any legs was because of the chemistry between the actors... once Michael Dietz takes over as Alan Michael.. the coupling loses any momentum.

Such bitter shrews LOL A lot of Gen X women loved Morgan E as Dylan... and he was a much better long lost son of Reva then that freak Jonathan was later on.

The 1984 Bauer BBQ was pretty good since I think it was one of the first ones (if not the first) because it had Bert, Hilary, and Mike still on the canvas... and it just looked like a fun time. So if 1984 was the first Bauer BBQ then I guess that's another thing Pam Long created that became a hallmark of the show. The 1988 Bauer BBQ was funny because Mo was busy planning Fletcher/Maeve's wedding and she didn't tell Ed that he had to pick up the meat since she assumed he could read minds (sometimes she was such a pill)... Johnny and Reva had a heart to heart after Roxie's breakdown, while there was fun banter with Alan Michael/Rick not realizing that they needed to dress up for the wedding as Chelsea looks on laughing.

I've heard a lot of different things in regards to the show since the change of writers... Has everything between the end of April through now been due to outlines laid out by Ron C with the new head-writers only having control over how the day to day episodes flow... or has everything since the new writers taken over been all of their own work? I ask because the whole Sophia/Melinda thing seems like a Ron C move... and I wonder how the head-writers will either fix it and/or make the storyline flow differently? And while I think Doug III and Ari have a nice rapport.. it seems as though he's more interested in hooking up vs Ari.. who seems more interested in more then what he's willing/able to provide. Or perhaps I'm misreading the vibes/situation (wouldn't be the first time I did that LOL)

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.