BetterForgotten

Honestly, Hayley seems like a much more sympathetic character to me after this trailer. They might be labeling her as the "homewrecker" but it seems as if she and Bill did genuinely fall in love, and all Hayley is craving is acceptance from her new community that has automatically disregarded her because of the affair and the power the Dupree's wield in said community. IMO, I also think the Dupree's constantly berating/slut-shaming her is going to make her look a lot more sympathetic to the audience, which I have to wonder if that's intentional or not. In a way, she is the CBS Daytime successor to Brooke Logan, lol (at least when Brooke was genuinely sympathetic, which I did think she was in the first decade or so of B&B).

Totally - if the show fails to attract an audience, or worse, if the desired target of Black women don't support it, it wasn't for lack of trying on the part of CBS.

To be fair, I do think the production for DAYS in the 60's/70's was also quite cotemporary for the time (and much more than ABC actually) from what I've seen. And welcome back @EricMontreal22!

I have a feeling that Hayley may end up being a much more rootable and sympathetic character than what the Duprees want us to believe. It can't be hard with Dani constantly raging at her. A homewrecker? Maybe, but it takes 2 to tango and it seems like she does genuinely love Bill rather than using him for just the money and power.

I’ll just say it, Jane and Alexa have a much more believable chemistry than Genie and Alexa. If you had no prior knowledge and stumbled upon the show one day, you can easily assume Lulu was Tracy’s actual daughter and Laura was either an aunt or some close acquaintance.

He totally skipped over Laibson and rightfully so, lol. McTavish’s writing for Roger was arguably the nadir for that character’s writing. Laibson seemed to be only as good as his HW.

Essence finally posted their article on their X account as well:

And MVJ wrote that catfight, too! She’s still friends with Vivica and Jonelle to boot!

Blex media, another black-owned media property, has also posted the extended trailer on their platforms. Love that CBS is prioritizing black-owned businesses with the rollout of promotion for the show. Again, this show needs to succeed with the black female demographic, it’s obvious that’s the demographic CBS is prioritizing given who they’ve given the promotional exclusives to.

Oddly, this clip from Roc showed up on my YouTube shorts as I read this post, lol

I mean, most of the final 5 years or so of the ABC run were so painful to get through. It often felt like active sabotage.

Black women have been watching and supporting soaps with rich white people behaving badly for generations with little to no acknowledgement or regard from said soaps. Now they’re hopefully going to see people who look like them doing the same things on a soap that was primarily created with them in mind.

Ron, luckily, has no creative power as he's just a breakdown writer. Previously, the Bell and P&G soaps existed in the same universe. Do we think BTG will take place in the same universe (if loosely) as the Bell soaps? Will the Newman's and Forrester's suddenly mentioning having business dealings with the Dupree's? lol

I think releasing the trailer to Essence first says a lot about the core demographic CBS is prioritizing for this show - black women. Yes, I am sure they want a wider base of viewers, but black women over-index for daytime viewership and that is the demographic this show will need to be strong in to be a lasting success. They've said as much about this unserved demographic when the show was first greenlit as well. The type of commercials buying airspace on the show should be interesting as well. I have to believe products specifically geared to black women will be given a priority (as they should).

CBS has the video Unlisted on YouTube for some reason so that is impacting its ability to pick up more views - Unlisted videos on YouTube are not picked up by the algorithm because they are intentionally set to not appear in search results or on a channel's public video listings. So, I guess, Essence posted that article a lot sooner than CBS was probably intending to release the extended trailer to the masses, lol.

It was like the entire production (including actors) was dipped in Vaseline, and then pushed into sets lit like your nearest Costco warehouse. Way too many blondes running around in pastel colors for a while too. Luckily, wardrobe, hair, and makeup seem to be on point for BTG.

It could all look different once post-production is final or if it’s run under some type of filter then. We’ll have to see when the show premieres. In addition to hair and makeup, lighting is incredibly important on a show made up of actors of colour. A lot shows have long misunderstood that unfortunately.

Essence is also sharing/promoting the trailer on their social media outlets. That’s nice and encouraging.

Tamara Tunis looks like a queen throughout the entire extended promo. I loved the soapy window shot of her towards the end of the extended promo. Julie Hannan Carruthers’ pre-LA AMC was similarly lit - in this situation, though, I hope it’s more of a case of them being new, trying to find their own signature look, and making easy/fixable changes with more feedback/time.

CBS seems to be very methodical with how and when they’re releasing promotional content for the show. Shows that there’s an actual plan and commitment there which is great. I think (hope) the Paul Rauch-homage lighting design will change as time goes on.

That promo still holds up - that story was oddly both the best and worst thing that could’ve happened to the show. I’ve lost count of how many times they’ve tried to recreate it since.

Beyond the commercials, I'm interested in what type of press tour CBS will give the show in February. Will some of the actors appear on CBS Mornings orThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert? What about Black-owned media properties like Essence? There really is no traditional soap press anymore either.

This show badly need to move on from the Frank Valentini era. It’s stuck in this continuous rut it will never get out of. Hoping Beyond The Gates inspires change across the daytime soaps if successful.

We’re lucky they didn’t just “lightly” redress the same GCAC room they used to give to everyone on this show.

There's at least some thought put into it, which I don't think would have happened had Ed Scott not returned to work with the production designers.