BetterForgotten

At least they seem committed to not rushing the writing and production to get it on air. That’s key to really give MVJ time to develop a good Bible, and pre-production to get ahold of the finances and things like casting. Every new soap takes some time to find its groove, but a commitment to the show and giving it time in advance of airing to work out some of the kinks should hopefully go a long way.

Me right now:

Please Mulcahey/Korte, I beg you, kill Drew so we don’t have to suffer through Cameron Mathison’s “acting” any longer….

Agreed, I feel like it was just an easy working title to feed to the press when this news broke, and it tied into the supposed premise of the show being about a gated community of sorts.

I don’t think casting has even begun yet.

I just remember Keesha being reduced to nothing by the end of her run, with the occasional scene of being chewed out by SJB’s Carly. I can’t even recall if she got an actual exit and I was watching at the time, lol.

Roger Newman and Sofia Landon Geier (although she didn’t write for GL, but other soaps) are the other two that spring to mind. And, Ellen Weston, I guess….😬

Josh Griffith would have trouble writing a suicide note clearly if he had to. His continued tenure and power at this show is still mind puzzling. CBS needs to put major pressure on Steven Kent and Sony to change something on this show and fire Griffith. They also need to take a look at and reexamine the power structure - unless you’re William J. Bell, you don’t need to be both HW and EP.

Michael and his wife, Susan Hufford, wrote scripts together briefly for AW in 1988, a year or so before he returned to GL as Roger Thorpe. I think they just wrote a few episodes. In an interesting turn of events, Roger’s return reveal on GL (swinging from the church ceiling at Philip and Blake’s wedding) was taped at the AW studios in Brooklyn - the GL studios wasn’t big enough to accommodate the staging of that scene.

Unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath of ever seeing VR on CBS Daytime again - it's been almost 17 years since she was last on the show. She's probably never coming back to daytime in general (whether by choice or not). No other soap has even tried to get her. Who I could see? Maybe Vivica A Fox's washed-up behind making a return. MVJ did write that infamous Generations catfight (about the only memorable thing that show had going for it). What's she noticeably doing beyond plugging CarShield these days?

I think Molly is totally unbelievable as a lawyer no matter who is playing her.

Never saw her on DAYS, but I always enjoyed Patty Weaver singing as Gina on Y&R whenever she did.

Becky Herbst deserves better than Michael Easton…. Why does this show think this TJ actor is believable as a doctor?

I’ve heard that filming in LA had gotten to be almost as expensive as filming in NYC, hence why so many productions have migrated to Atlanta. It makes sense to me along with Atlanta often being the main hub for the black entertainment industry - there’s wide pool of talent they can pull from there (along with other parts of the country obviously). I feel like the premise of this show will evolve as they work through the Bible and pre-production. I know it mentioned a focus on a wealthy black family - but they will obviously need an element to counter that to make the show work. Also, they absolutely can’t afford to have the “black culture” in this show be whitewashed like it is on the 4 existing soaps. A show like this shouldn’t shy away from what it means to be black in America in 2024, and the socioeconomic complexities within the black community itself. Otherwise, what’s the use of having a platform like this if you can’t be real?

I’m just grateful we don’t have that awful Kristina we had from 2012-2013 that the Carlivati brigade was trying to tell us could act and that we were too blind to see it.

Yeah, it’s an option, I guess. Tyler did say he built that studio not just for himself and his projects, but other black creatives and Atlanta-based businesses. The Marvel movies do a lot of work in Atlanta as well.

it’s also a co-production with NAACP and P&G, so the bill is getting split a few ways (we just don’t know the % for each party). Even with smaller budgets though, you can do a lot. The problem is Y&R and B&B are plagued by bad management and people who don’t know how to work around it. If they do end up in Atlanta, that should help with studio space and storing sets quickly, not to mention a built in locale for exteriors and location shooting. A lot of production are based there because of the tax incentives. For all its faults and shoestring budget, The City’s production model from 1995 would be a nice template to relook at for the soaps.

Yeah, I mean, I think if they really want this show to see success from the onset with the priority demo they’re calling out (black women, I know they just said “African American” but women are the other demographic that still over-index for daytime viewership), they’re really going to have to lean into Y&R’s audience and the (often undeserved) brand equity and loyalty that show has with black viewers. Like it or not, black women have remained loyal to that show and CBS Daytime for some reason. They need a resurgent Y&R to get viewers of this demographic interested in sampling something new or something that directly speaks to them. But with those people likely only watching Y&R out of loyalty/habit, are they going to give this new show a chance? That’s why I think they need to reevaluate Y&R’s creative state and authentically start to write better for the black canvas again in advance of this show getting on the air. Josh Griffith is not the right person to do that job…

Paramount has been looking to merge with another studio and sell off their assets for at least 3 years now. WB was considered a possible merger candidate recently, but they backed down likely because of their own issues with being in debt. Universal is considered another candidate. If they’re looking to cut a lot of costs, I can’t imagine how much worse the licensing fees for Y&R will be now with the 4 year renewal. The show already operates like it has nothing left. If B&B gets renewed after their current 1 year extension, it will be the same. The barometer of success could very well look quite differently for The Gates. First off, they’ve been very direct in saying the core demographic they’re going after is black women, which incidentally is the same core demo Y&R significantly over-indexes viewership with. This is something that’s never often said publicly by networks. This show needs to succeed with this demographic first and foremost it would appear. Of course CBS would like stronger overall viewership, but if it doesn’t resonate with this targeted demo, it won’t last. I sincerely hope CBS forces some type of behind the scenes change and shakeup at Y&R in time for The Gates to debut. Y&R needs to be as strong as ever to pull some of that audience down to this new show.

Alternatively, if The Gates does bomb, CBS could very well just say, “See, we tried, but this genre and the economics just aren’t viable anymore.” Then proceed to cancel B&B anyway. Then we’re back to where we are now and just waiting for another revolution in the genre to take place. So much is riding on this project to succeed, I really hope it does.

That's the major thing - no other country can afford to pay the same licensing fee CBS is paying for it, streaming may be a possibility, but not really a guarantee. International revenue is just a cherry on top of the cake - this is an American production produced for an American network and an American audience first and foremost. It IS the CBS licensing fee that keeps B&B on the air, make no mistake about that - international airings and revenue are just gravy for the Bell's. CBS does not make a penny off B&B's international distribution - they have no ownership in the show and they/Paramount do not distribute it internationally. Also, again, B&B's global footprint is not as strong as it used to be or what the Bell's want you to believe. It's really not a valid argument for B&B's survival, IMO.

ABC is not going to want to pay a licensing fee for B&B, a soap they have no ownership in.

He sure does.

The Bell’s only profit from their stake in Y&R now, they are no longer pulling the strings or creatively involved. William J. Bell must be rolling in his grave that his legacy soap ended up that way, but it is what it is. CBS could definitely tell the Bell’s when B&B is up for renewal to, “sell us your shares in Y&R or B&B’s ass is a goner.” Not saying it would happen, but they have leverage and especially if it’s true that they want to maximize their profits through ownership of the shows. The other alternative is the Bell’s sell their Y&R shares entirely to Sony and get out of the business entirely if B&B is cancelled. There’s nothing left for them in Y&R, but they could just use it as a stable cash cow.