Soaplovers

And CBS renewed their coverage of these games till 2030 after their ratings came out in 2024, and they wouldn't do that if the ratings weren't strong and/or the $$ didn't come through for the games.

Pre-emptions have been a tradition in daytime for decades. It isn't as if it's something that just developed over the last few years, but I guess society has gotten more entitled and more prone to demanding instant gratification instead of enjoying the anticipation of a show and/or event.

I remember his character during his return in the early 10s... and didn't his character end up distantly related to Julie Carp and Eileen G? Speaking of which, it's so typical of this show to bring back a formerly cheerful positive character like Julie and saddle her with a very grim story.. just to usher out Eileen. Whatever happened to just coming back for a visit and having an ok existence?

I could see Vernon possibly having a soft spot for her because he would be aware of the spell Bill cast on his precious Dani.. and would try to be a father/grandfather figure.. which would anger the domineering Dupree women. Would be a good character driven conflict that wouldn't need to be an A plot.. but character building. I know the actress that played Hayley recently said during that brief interview she did with Michael Fairman (the one she did with Timon) that Hayley was getting more development/focus on the episodes they were just filming so perhaps after May sweeps the focus might shift back to her and her backstory. Maybe it's just the actress playing Dani that I have a problem with. She would be more at home on a Tyler Perry production and a superior actress could be cast in her place. An unknown... like Dominique Jennings on Sunset Beach back in the day. But yes, I do like that we do get a couple days break from characters and that no one character is totally hogging the airtime. That's a big plus in my book

I remember during the era when John Edward the 'medium' was popular and the show utilized that type of character for one or two episodes hosting an event that Ed and Michelle. And the implication was that Maureen was communicating through this medium and it was hella cringe. Back when this individual was popular, I knew he was a fake and having a similar character appear on GL was just one of many examples of the soap world trying to jump on the bandwagon instead of picking and choosing which trends to utilize.

I would agree with that. I have a feeling that had Beck not opted to leave the soap.. she and Trucker would have settled down as a newly married couple with her having a problem with Curtis dating Dinah Lee.. the woman that Trucker cheated on her with. So Trucker/Trisha would have been married and having conflict because of Dinah Lee still having a place in the Alden family due to her dating Curtis. Once Trisha was gone.. and Curtis was written out, the show focused on pairing Trucker/Dinah Lee as an end game couple. I also think once Jessica Collins leaves in mid 1994, that also reshaped the show.. especially when her replacement didn't fare well and was written out within a few months.

I think what separated those three plus Agnes/Claire/Harding was a passion for writing and creating. Plus, they were almost OCD in terms of plotting. I remember in that post 1988 writer strike article from SOD where Long said before the strike that she knew where each and every character from inside and out all the way to the times of day they went to the bathroom so during the strike, she was anxious about where the strike writers would take the character. Aside from those choice of words... it showed that they had a passion for their shows and characters. If a writer and/or EP has an investment on the show they're on... it will show up in the quality of the writing, sets, lighting, and vibe of the show.

I liked the callback to the 1st episode of Days of Our Lives with the mention of Julie being caught shop lifting. Julie should be doing more than just volunteer at the hospital, but what? Maggie calling Phillip to task was a good scene, although she was blind to the toxicity of her insta son Daniel. While I understand Sarah's reasoning for not cluing Xander in regarding her knowledge of Phillip's fraud, this is a soap opera and he will find out. I assume he'll find out before their 1st wedding anniversary. Chanel/Johnny was so I understand both of their viewpoints, but I agree with Chanel that she needed time to digest the news Johnny was telling her before he told Sophia/Tate that the adoption was off. Days may have a lot of faults and things to fix... but the one thing they know how to do is an end of episode fade out. Beyond the Gates... take notes.

On Jen Jacobs Instagram, she had a post from earlier this month with her, Derek, and Andre together after filming scenes so I assume maybe this 'Apartment merge' story is a step toward breaking up Ashley/Derek up so that she turns to Andre. The way people feel about Derek/Ashley is kind of what I feel toward Dani. The last two or three episodes have flowed very well without Dani being on, which tells me she's also out of place on the show.

Ashley's mom saved their scenes LOL Shame we can't revive Claire Labine or Harding Lemay LOL

I think soap fans prefer a writer that doesn't write their scripts in crayon like Tyler Perry does.

I'm going to miss the Mona/Jan/Silk Press Sheila friendship scenes. Her speech to Mona/Jan is foreshadowing to what's to come after the two day break

It helps that she's played by a wonderful actress. An actress that according to her instagram has had such a rough time in her personal life when she got this part. Is it bad I wish she could have played Dani instead so we could be ensured she stay on a long time and not run the risk of being written in a corner? Two of my close guy friends are in open marriages and they have those honest talks with one another.. and whomever they choose to bring into their relationship. I was glad that the conversation wasn't too Afterschool Special and seemed realistic. If that makes sense.

It's called compromise and both men and women have to compromise when merging two styles together into one apartment. Ashley needs to remove the stick out of her ass since she seems like an anal individual.. and her mother Jan seemed to think the same thing LOL But of course, it's always the man's fault.. right? I wish that she had more scenes outside the Have Not gossip sessions because I have a feeling Ashley is so tightly wound up because of something that happened involving Jan and whoever is her father (Joey maybe?). With that said, today was a great episode and a nice calm before the storm. We had no Dani, we have the Have Not gossip session, we had Derek/Ashley interacting with other people, we had Silk Press Sheila mixing it up with some of the Duprees, and we had a flashback to right when her late husband passed away. Lastly.. the final shot on Silk Press Sheila's face was a great way to end the episode.

Luann is only a good wing woman to those she views as beneath her, and not a threat to her. Otherwise, she's putting a knife in your back and stealing your man away from you. Luann doesn't strike me as someone looking to settle down so I'm guessing she's on to keep her name in viewers minds. Gizelle is too demanding and not honest so any self respecting man would steer clear of her. Ashley has two small children.. so any man would be smart not to engage with her or else be prone to using some of his money to help her raise her two kids if Michael isn't giving her proper child support, etc. Shannon, as much as I like her, needs to get her self-esteem in working order before even thinking of starting a new relationship. Still the trainwreck appeal is high for this.. and if RHUGT is no longer a thing.. this would be a nice show to have come up every so often with four single housewives.

Plastic surgery and botox should be a no no when starring in a soap opera because the medium depends on your face and the soap opera expressions. If you're nipped, or botoxed, within an inch of your life... it's going to be painful when doing any sort of acting. It was painful seeing Roman and Patch attempt to act sad/heartbroken over what is happening with Bo. For some reason, I don't mind when Diedre attempts to act because she uses her voice to convey emotion... and she's very good at using her voice to convey sadness/longing/happiness/sarcasm. Seeing her hopeful face when talking about John made me sad because we all know how devasted/sad she's going to be. With that said, Marlena is at her best when she's in therapist mode and she displayed that in fine form with her grandson today. It gives me hope that the new regime understands what makes Marlena/Doc tick and that she'll be in good hands. The high school/teen scene is kinda cringe and it makes me really wish that we can go back to the old days when the teens were only featured in the summer. I'm hoping Jada/Shawn will be a nice slow burn. The chemistry was so apparent today and I loved that their 1:1 scene with one another was long and not cut up into three shorter scenes. I was wondering last week if Patch/Jada have a bond and I was glad to have that answered today. Learning today that Johnny just found out about how he was conceived makes me side with him more than ever once he has the talk with Chanel about his reservations about adopting the baby. I'm sure fans, and writers, will probably paint him as a misogynist since that's been the trend in the 2020s (which is a form of misandry).. but I will reserve my judgement until I see the conversation between the two play out.

I remember SOD had an opinion piece about AW during Swajeski's stint as headwriter and the main thing they thought hindered AW was episode breakdowns. They gave an example about how two characters would just about be ready to kiss on a Friday while a third character was about to walk into the room. Then Monday would roll around with no follow up on the cliffhanger.. but then on Tuesday's episode, it would pick up right around the time of the Friday cliffhanger with the before mentioned character about ready to enter the room as the two characters were just about to kiss.

I could see Ashley being in her late 20s/early 30s and not going to nursing school right away because of $$. After all, she wasn't raised with money. I also think the script writers don't understand how to write younger white couples and that's why their conversations seem odd/unrealistic/boring. I agree that Ashley has a lot of connections to the other characters. In the first week, she was established as being good friends with Naomi, that she knew Silk Press/Eva when they wished her luck on her first day as a nurse, she knows Andre from a long time ago, and it's established she has known Dani/Nicole/Ted for several years. Why the writers seem incapable of mixing her with the other characters baffles me.

Quite frankly, I welcome the sudden shift in Janel because I'm sick and tired of seeing young vibrant couples saddled with a baby when they still have a lot of avenues and conflict they could explore before being saddled down with a baby. Given his chaotic upbringing and parentage of EJ/Sami... it's realistic he would have second thoughts because of his fears of how he would be as a father. He should sit down and talk with Chanel about this because it would be interesting to get both of their perspectives since I don't recall Chanel having a typical upbringing either. While I'm happy Shawn D and Belle are divorced (never thought they had chemistry), I'm confused as to why she's drawn/in love with EJ. Does she not remember the toxicity that he brought into Sami's life? Does she think it'll be different for her because she's Belle and not Sami? I've heard of Jada, but I'm never seen her in action. It makes my heart happy when I found out that her father was Marcus Hunter He and Patch had a great male friendship back in the late 80s and it's nice to see that Marcus lives on with his daughter Jada being on the show. I don't see chemistry between Jada and Rafe.. but I saw chemistry between her and Shawn D. I've watched some Youtube scenes and episodes with Xander/Sarah.. and I still don't understand the appeal. In fact, I don't find that either of them have much acting talent, although I didn't realize that she had been on B & B as Caroline (where she had much prettier hair, was blonde, and had a nicer wardrobe). Kristen is too one note.. at least as played by SH. I've yet to see her play the layers and vulnerability that Eileen did when she played Kristen.. though her Susan is so much than Eileen's. Still trying to get use to the newer Gabi since I had a fondness for Camille's take on the character. The new Gabi is a good actress, but she has a slightly more whiny princess approach to playing Gabi vs Camille's more intense take on the character.

Unpopular opinion: I liked Dixie/Craig together as a couple... even liked that one male character that the show was chem testing her with during the Prospect Park AMC revival. Tad/Dixie breaking up and making up diluted their appeal eventually.

I wonder if anyone is tweeting MVJ, or the other powers that be, regarding their odd choice of keeping Ashley/Derek in a separate universe.. and when that issue will be fixed. If they were forced to create and write for them due to network mandate.. they need to do a better job at covering up their resentment of being forced to write for them. Also, I also echo sentiments on the overuse of slang terms for Tyrell and Samantha. Sometimes I've sat at a local coffee house to do work and there are a bunch of teens that come in during their lunch.. and all of them hardly use slang words when speaking to one another.

I always think if you're going to try out someone in the head writer position that's never written for soaps, they should be paired with someone that has soap opera writing experience as a co-head writer. Even Harding Lemay listened to Irna Phillips and said he learned from her the foundation/structure of a soap opera so he knew what he could do and not due as head-writer. Perhaps Doug Anderson needed a strong co-head writer to show him the ropes so to speak.

Good episode today in terms of character interaction and an update on the delusional three female associates wanting to take over Bill's law firm and ruin it. If I were Bill, I'd hire Joey to take out Mike for putting his law firm in that position. I've seen nothing from the way the three female actresses have played their characters to convince me that they have any sense of logic or business acumen. I do notice that this soap is a little too pro feminist, but I've yet to see much evidence to show that all the accolades the characters are given the female characters is justified... except for Naomi and Nicole so far. Both of those characters are showing their abilities and acumen. I don't feel annoyed seeing Derek/Ashley being shown because it's so apparent it's sabotage by the writers isolating them from the rest of the cast. Out of the two characters, Ashley has the most connections to the canvas.. but the writers seem unable to actually show her character in consistent scenes with those characters.

You can't have misandry on a show without a little misogynist to balance it out.

So the episode was overall fine with a lot of emphasis on Kayla, but I'm confused over people shipping Xander and Sarah. They seem to lack chemistry and her mousy hair and punch-able face makes me seriously question the decline on casting beautiful and appealing women to play characters on the soap. I think the change in head writers will first be noticed in the initial day to day episodes, but I don't think a change will be apparent in the long term story plan for awhile since they have to finish off Ron's story threads that are ongoing. Is the show thinking of pairing Chad/Cat?