BetterForgotten

Vanessa gives me major Lucy Coe vibes, as much as Haley gives me major Brooke Logan vibes. Fitting, I guess, since GH and B&B were the soaps MVJ spent the most time on before this.

Dani is so delusional - she misses the facade of her marriage, a marriage that never worked before Haley ever entered the picture anyway.

Very Bill Bell.

Her cousin and Nicole’s daughter, Kat Richardson.

The thing is it’s played more for being naive than being malicious. Very much in the vein of how Brooke was written on B&B for years, IMO.

Love the look on Anita and Nicole’s faced when Dani delusionally spoke of Bill keeping his affairs away from home before Haley. Dani is a piece of work herself.

Sorry, second viewing of the first episode and I still think this white couple and the actors are the worst part. They zapped the energy out of this pilot when they’re on. These actors have no chemistry and are not that good.

Haley has a Brooke Logan-level lens of the world, lol

Oh god, this boring white couple is on now! 🙃

Feel like a slight nod to Nancy Hughes’s first line on ATWT - “Good morning, dear!”

Hilarious - when the “You’ve built these gates, but I see beyond them” dialogue was said on B&B, CBS flashed a quick graphic at the bottom of the screen that said BTG was premiering next.

Hilarious - when the “You’ve built these gates, but I see beyond them” dialogue was said on B&B, CBS flashed a quick graphic at the bottom of the screen that said BTG was premiering next.

Vivica A. Fox’s CarSheild commercial with Ice-T just showed on my CBS affiliate during B&B, lol. Fitting, in a way, since Vivica is responsible for introducing Sheila Ducksworth and Michele Val Jean. Ice-T being Tamara Tunie’s SUV co-star as well!

I have to admit, and not being African American myself, I did get flashbacks of Florida Evans when Anita used “jive turkey” in the first episode. Is that term still used by some black folks of a certain age for those more culturally attuned?

Agreed, it bears repeating that a daytime soap is not primetime, film, or even a finished Broadway play. Things need time to simmer and build. You need some time to care about these characters and their dilemmas.

As painful as it is to get though both Y&R and B&B these days, I am going to watch the full CBS soap block today to see how everything flows, lol. We have not had a real soap block in such a long time, I figure I might as well try to experience it on this historic day.

Per the Variety article, P&G talks about how they’re going to integrate their brands into BTG: Kimberly Doebereiner, head of P&G Studios and an EP on BTG: “We all want this to succeed as an outstanding piece of drama and content. That’s our first priority. And if that goal is met, the company can weave its products into examples of everyday use on the show. We have families with kids. They have to do laundry. There’s one time when one of the women is throwing a party and Febreze is going to help set the stage with the scent.”

Tamara acknowledges that she and others will be singing. It’s great that she’s musical theatre trained as well - I always felt they needed someone like that for Anita when reading her character description. That fact that it ended up being TT was beyond my wildest dreams.

They kept those on the Paley screening as well, but obviously there were no commercials lol. It was voiced by Tamara Tunie.

Since the press has started to post detailed reviews, I am going to repost my thoughts from the screening from the first episode that I saw at the Paley Center last week. Don’t ready “beyond” this if you don’t want spoilers. I will watching the live episode today as well and add more if I missed or forgot anything Beginning/Credits: - CBS/NAACP/P&G spent money - The first episode opens with a sequence of Nicole driving into the country club with ‘Best of My Love’ by The Emotions playing - In terms of credits, Michele Val Jean’s “Created By” credit is first. Queen 👑 - MVJ was also the only writer I saw listed, I didn’t see the whole writing team listed - breakdown writers, or a scriptwriter. I am guessing MVJ wrote this first episode entirely by herself. I know that first script leaked online a while back but the credits listed there don’t fully match what was listed in the writer credits for this first episode. I’m also wondering if the televised credits will differ, I guess we’ll see in a few hours - Steve Williford is the only credited director for the first episode Some Episode/Character details with my opinions (If this is too spoilery for most of you, let me know and I can edit): - The first episode can be quite exposition heavy at times; That’s understandable, I guess, since these people and relationships have been going on for years and we’re just being introduced to them - Dani is not presented as a very sympathetic character, honestly, IMO. She’s bitter, controlling, and pretty childish at times. Yes, she’s understandably hurt by Billy and Haley’s affair, but she doesn’t seem totally innocent either and her marriage was never as rock solid as she likes to pretend it was pre-Haley. Anita and Nicole pointed out to her that Bill has cheated on her before, but she always overlooked it. She’s just upset this time that he actually left her for the other woman, ruining their seemingly perfect facade. Also, her mothering skills in relation to Chelsea specifically are also very questionable. It’s almost like Dani wants to live vicariously through Chelsea’s modeling career. - Haley’s betrayal hurts Dani because Dani basically considered Haley as almost another daughter before the affair, and Dani got Haley the job working for Bill in the first place. Haley seems very naive, but you never get the sense she’s totally malicious either in the first episode. She loves the security that her new life affords her, and seems to just want to fit in. As I had said before when watching the trailers, she has some shades of B&B’s Brooke Logan in her. - Bill is sleaze-ball from the start; None of Dani’s family ever liked that man. However, Timon Durrett is sexy and has amazing screen presence. Probably the most obvious standout character for me in this premiere episode. - Nicole is presented as having a totally perfect life, but you know something is simmering below the surface… - Tamara Tunie brings a big royal flair to the show; Anita is wise, and loves her family, but also seems like the type you don’t want to cross - girl grew up in the projects after all! I am excited to see her fully fleshed out in the weeks to come. As I mentioned, Tunie infuses a lot of subtext into her performance in this first episode. The skill of a great actor and matriarch. Her scenes with Nicole and Dani are the highlight for me in this first episode. The look she gave Haley at the end (I won’t spoil what happened yet) was hilarious and priceless. - I don’t really have much to say about Vernon and the gay grandson, Martin. They had some scenes in the diner before going to the country club, but the grandson seems like the type that places his career aspirations before anything else. We don’t see his husband “Smitty” in this first episode - The 3 granddaughters are OK - even with limited acting experience, they all do have a nice charisma. I did kind of role my eyes at the Naomi and Jacob’s over the top sex scenes after a while though. Jibes Hordges is pretty hot though! What I didn’t really like: - By far the worst and most painfully boring part of the episode was the white couple. Sorry, based on the first episode, Jen Jacob and Ben Gavin have ZERO chemistry as Ashley and Derek. Their scenes took away energy from this first episode and were totally isolated. I am willing to give them more time, but I do not have a good first impression with these characters, their relationship, and the actors. It felt like this couple was tacked on because someone told them they needed a white couple on the show for some people in America to be able to digest this show better… - Karen Hugher’s guest spot was OK, and at times when you observe her reactions in the background, it can be funny. But, I am not sure this cameo was totally needed. All and all - it’s episode #1. Don’t go in expecting something groundbreaking right away. You don’t meet every single yet, but the foundation is definitely being laid for what is to come. Please go in with your soap viewing lens, but also realize this is a new daytime soap launching in 2025. The pacing can be quicker in some instances, and I think the way they film and use music may take getting used to for some daytime soap opera purists. But my advice is to judge this show on its own merits and its own unique identity that it’s trying to establish. I am definitely excited to learn more and follow through residents of Fairmont Crest from here though!

Look at P&G doing promo for this show and even acknowledging Irna! https://www.instagram.com/share/_jafxmY-p

Look at P&G doing promo for this show and even acknowledging Irna! https://www.instagram.com/share/_jafxmY-p

He's tired, working hard, and this is his first major role. It's understandable IMO.

New soaps just need time to breathe. The first episode (or few episodes) will be set-up and introductions to characters and their baseline relationship dynamics. Daily soaps need time to simmer and build, that's especially true for a new daytime soaps. We need some time to care about these characters before we get invested in the mess they're in. I plan on watching the first episode live again, but will post thought this afternoon around 2pm that I had from the Paley Center screening last Thursday.