BetterForgotten

If you haven't listened to it, Tamara Tunie's full Lecture at Carnegie Mellon is up. At various points, she bakes in stories from both ATWT and BTG. The part that got me was when she talked about how often she was the only black contract player on ATWT, and what a burden that could be for both her and the show. She said something to the the effect that when you have one minority/black person in your cast, that character (intentional or not) is supposed to be represent an entire community, and that wasn't fair since black people are not a monolith and that was feedback she gave to the producers. She gave the example of black viewers often writing into the show about why none of Jessica's black love interests ever lasted, and why her only successful relationship was with a white man. She said BTG has the opportunity right out the gate to showcase a variety of black characters at the same time, which is not something she had experienced before.

Looks like they’ve started doing character-specific promo on social media. Starting with Nicole: https://www.instagram.com/share/BAR5xlW_6j

Basically admitting that B&B's wardrobe has gone to sh!t since Jeresa left.

Here's that CBS Mornings promo (albeit in bad quality):

What a Queen:

CBS just aired a promo during Y&R for tomorrow’s CBS Mornings airing where Tamara Tunie will be a guest and promoting BTG.

Yes, and notice how they just fade into the background, and BTG just pops in the center with its backdrop colour? lol

Ms. Tunie posted this trailer today. Think it’s slightly updated from the one earlier this week? Or not? Hard to tell anymore, lol https://www.instagram.com/share/_hbrqjFnq

Williford and Pascarelli have a long history with Julie Hanan Carruthers, so makes sense as well. ETA - Looks like Pascarelli may still be at B&B. He's been credited in January and February.

Did Xavier go back to GH, and Pascarelli back to B&B? Williford is no longer with Y&R. ETA - Looks like Xavier hasn't directed GH in months either, so safe to say he's no longer there.

It's hilarious that they shoved Y&R and B&B to the side in that key art, lol. Basically a subtle way of saying "we appreciate the audience from those shows, but our priority is promoting the show we own!"

Looks like Steve Williford will be the lead director on the show, and Julie Hanan Carruthers seems very hands-on with the production.

Yeah, that never-used promo also enforced to me that Anita is not the typical, “pour coffee and let’s chat” matriarch, but an active one who isn’t afraid to get dirty when the situation calls for it. Again, in the vein of a Stephanie Forrester than the traditional soap matriarchs. Tamara also looks so touched that they wanted her and wanted her to be the symbolic centerpiece of this ensemble.

A nice highlight video for the Black Excellence Brunch that happened last Sunday: https://www.instagram.com/share/BAafKdHMri

MVJ is a major fan of the Supremes and Motown, so it makes sense.

She’d be good in a Sally Spectra type role to play off Anita’s Stephanie Forrester vibes.

It doesn’t even seem like she was even considered, despite social media fancasting her as soon as this show was announced. It’s been almost 20 years since she was last on Daytime as well. Perhaps she can pop in as a sister of Anita’s?

She’s 43 IRL, so not a huge gap I guess. But Karla does not look like a woman pushing 50, lol.

We also need to temper ourselves a bit - daytime is not primetime, streaming, film, or a Broadway production. History has shown that every new daytime soap needs some time to find its way and make tweaks for improvement. BTG will likely not be any different.

I’ve never seen extensive promotion done for a daytime soap like this in my lifetime. Thinking back to the premieres of The City, Port Charles, and Passions - I don’t recall anything ever on this level. We have to hand it to CBS for supporting this show and going all out for it. Regardless if it’s a ratings hit or not, they certainly tried in the beginning.

I’ll be at the Paley Center event this Thursday! I guess I’ll be seeing the first episode then. 🙂

That one should be interesting. Particularly, if they delve into Anita's casting - Tamara said MVJ wrote her a personalized note that she only saw her in the role, but Debbi Morgan let it slip a few months back that she was offered a role on the soap (we all assumed it was for Anita).

Jibre Hordges (Jacob Hawthorne) appeared on a local Atlanta show to promote BTG:

She’s probably wearing (very good) wigs. The benefit of having people on staff who understand styling for black women.

He started under Rauch in 1999, I believe - yes, definitely not the best time for P&G casting and certainly not on the level of the iconic Betty Rea. At the same time, it better work out or she won’t hear the last of it. JFP faced these accusations about hiring her friends in ill-fitted roles her entire career, and people still can’t get over Bill Bell hiring his daughter and force-feeding her on Y&R.