BetterForgotten

Anora isn’t a bad film, and I’m not going begrudge an independent film that was made on a shoestring budget without major studio backing (initially at least) winning and shedding a light onto relatively unknown creatives and actors.

If you’re in the US and are in a Nielsen household, and can’t watch live, consider viewing the episodes on-demand the week of or same day - it counts towards the ratings. Obviously, stream on Paramount+ or CBS.com if that’s an issue.

Sean Baker Ties Walt Disney’s Record for Most Wins in One Night at Oscars 2025

BAFTA once again proves it's the best indicator in those acting categories.

In the Michael Fairman interview, Karla Mosley said she was using both Erika Kane and Reva Shayne as influences for Dani, but Michele Val Jean has specifically cited Bette Davis and old Holl ywood as an influence.

In that Michael Fairman interview, Marquita Goings (Haley) mentioned she had played a young Debbi Morgan on two previous projects after a fan wrote in and said she bore a resemblance to her. I know Haley said her mom is dead, but what if that’s a lie? What if they’re estranged for some reason, and her mom is like 100x more trifiling than her, lol. Of course, played by Debbi herself.

ETA - wrong chain

Veteran R&B/Soul Singer Angie Stone Dies In Car Accident

BTG is the first daytime soap to premiere during the streaming generation. That show is designed to be binged and steamed as much as it is to be consumed traditionally.

Again, just because:

Back to serious matters…. I think Queen Leslie/Dana is going to kill Mona as I think Mona may be the first to uncover her plans and confront her. Mona -

It was speculated MVJ was one of the writers super upset when Brad Bell got rid of the Avant’s and demoted Karla at B&B. She very clearly wanted Karla to front her own soap, and it’s clear she’s partly writing this as a star-making machine for her, at least at the beginning.

@Errol already said Michele Val Jean wrote the first 5 episodes entirely by herself from scratch. I am sure that was by design and other writers will start to be credited soon, like next week. MVJ is one of the few writers left who has experience HW-ing, scriptwriting, editing, and writing breakdowns. With this being her creation and likely not having much of a writing team from inception, it makes sense she would write the first batch of episodes herself.

Yeah, like it or not, this show was developed with 2025 sensibilities and viewing habits in mind. It’s the first daytime soap to launch on streaming as well from the beginning. They know a great deal of folks will likely be binging this and they had to have some immediate hooks and expedite some of the pacing to keep initial interest up. I think it’s all intentional and while they respect the genre, they intentionally do not want to follow a lot of the existing format from the other/legacy soaps. I am sure some things will settle over time - but we need to give this new soap a chance for a few months to see how things are unfolding.

You can skip to 27:50 in. Some interesting things Karla mostly said about the production: - The lighting was being shipped from Germany and was delayed, so they had to start filming the first week without all of their proper lighting equipment in place. CBS wouldn’t delay production further. - Because this is an Atlanta production, much the crew, the camera people in particular, had never done or shot soaps before. They said some woman came out of retirement and trained them for the first month and a half or so (they didn’t say who exactly this woman was) - They had some catch up to do as the crew adjusted to the pace and unique nature of producing daytime soaps. It was not 17 episodes exactly - just scattered scenes across what felt like 17 episodes, since they like the other soaps, shoot scenes out of order. It was a lot to do but they got through it - They estimate filming 5-7 episodes a week now, which is on par with the other soaps - They estimate they’re 12 weeks or 3 months ahead - They feel like the learning curve is over and they’ve settled into a normal rhythm now

Thank you. Seriously, when did having an opinion become “hyperbolic?” I don’t think anyone was claiming this first week was better than sliced bread. Everyone is welcome to their opinion, and I wouldn’t say those who felt differently were “out of touch” or “blind,” they’re entitled to feel that way without dismissing how others feel. I saw the first weeks of The City, Port Charles, Sunset Beach, and Passions - and I stand by this having a hell of better foundation than those soaps in their first weeks. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement and change - but this is just the first week, and because daytime soaps are on 5 days a week, they have room to make changes and improvements over time if they’re wise. But, unlike those other soaps I saw the first weeks of, I feel instantly drawn and thrown into the mix here. There are characters and relationship dynamics I already care about and want to see developed further. I get a sense of the world building in Fairmont Crest. I am excited to tune back in for week #2 (which I struggled with on the other mentioned soaps). Overall, while there are things to be worked out (which I’ve already gone into detail about in my posts in this chain), there is great promise and potential here, and the show is off to a solid start in my opinion.

MVJ and Tamara Tunie appear, in a segment, on this podcast - this episode focuses on black audiences and their daytime viewership.

We’ll see how it plays out over time, but my feeling is while they’re respecting the typical soap tropes, they are also intentional about deviating from them as well I feel that way about MVJ too. After years of writing for mostly white characters on GH and B&B, it must be refreshing for her to write for characters from her own community and different from what she was told was the norm on those other soaps.

Clifton Davis and Karla Mosley on the local NYC flagship affiliate CBS2:

The Paley Center panel is back up:

And then a few minutes later, Bill torched her ass when she came begging, lol