Planet Soap

Yeah Y&R was in a really bad place in the mid 2010s... well it still is. The Nick in a JT mask mess was the stupidest of the stupid.

Surprised they would kill off Chance, a (sort of) legacy character, the grandson of Phillip Chancellor. And why bring back Cole just to bring kill him off?

While I agree with your assessment that Claudia is not necessarily a Brenda doppelgänger, she does fit look of a typical Sonny love interest. She was perhaps the last new Sonny love interest that I found compelling.

It's been argued that a couple of these women (Hannah, Sam) were Brenda replacements. Drew today brining up Michael talking Willow from Chase? How did that down again?...because it would be karma if Michael cheated with Willow against Chase.

ADA Turner fits the profile of a Sonny live interest. Dark hair, spanish/italian flair, sassy. Examples: Brenda, Sam, Hannah, Reese Marshall, Claudia, Olivia, Natalia. Loved that Portia's mail showed GH's address. Was that established before?

same. it was sad to see him decline so wuickly. They really blew her romance with Jason the first time around. Glad she's back.

I knew this day was coming and it's still a shocker. RIP to Lisa! Speaking of the grandmother clause, did Tom and Margot ever have a child? I forget.

Very late but I loved this exterior shot of GH taken from the 80s opener angle. (Episode from last week)

After a break, I'm glad that I happened to tune into BTG right as the Martin reveal scenes we're on. The situation was not as bad as I thought. Martin killing and injuring racially motivated robbers in defence of his grandfather and then covering it up. I get why he'd be afraid of the justice system but he had a solid defence for the killing. Though the killing is not as convoluted and dramatic as I thought at least it's grounded in something relevant and topical -- racism.

Yes! You explained something I couldn't quite articulate in the past. 90s GH as well as AMC and OLTL had more natural dialogue. Y&R was/is very plot oriented.

Agreed. BTG is very character driven show but since the Ted affair was revealed the show's plotting has slowed down tremendously. I find myself going to GH for the latest on Drew & Willow at 2:00 instead. BTG has good characters and the energy, we just need some good dramatic plots to keep up the intrigue. I think the issue is plotting. BTG's plots are certainly more focused than GH's. It just needs clear progression points and interesting mini complications to fuel filler episodes. Y&R was really good at this in the 90s. Beyond the Gates is down to earth by today's soap standards compared to the larger than life plots on DAYS and GH. No mobsters, explosions, spy agencies, possessions or super villains. Just cheating, music groups, a secret love child and relationships. By the 90s onwards, Y&R and to lesser extent B&B and AMC have had their fair share of over the top plots but they were generally more grounded than OLTL, ATWT, DAYS, GH or GL. Yes the aging is very off. For example it's hard to believe Martin is Ted and Nicole's child when he looks to be in is late 30s and his parents look like their late 40s early 40s. Moreover there's ALOT of Dupree family members.

Soooo ummm could Kristina not have gone though the back door instead of "needing" rescuing? Either it's bad writing or they want us to think Krisitna is dumb. I'm surprised Alexis didn't mention her sister Kristina's death (which occurred in similar fashion ) when she confronted Sonny.

Sorel!! RIP!

My first soap memories were around 2004-2005. GH: Dr Asher Thomas injects Sam in the neck with a syringe while Jason and Sonny fire guns running up a staircase to chase after her. B&B: A young Hope nearly drowns in a swimming pool (both those events happened in the same week) ATWT: an unconscious Parker sees his dad Jack in "heaven" GL: a boy with some kind of "powers" communicating with a snake. AMC: JR driving somewhere -- into a garage perhaps --- on a motorcycle.

Yrah of course this warrants a special report. It's just interesting and a little bit frustrating that breaking news seems to occur during soap hours and rarely during primetime, mornings ir early evenings.

It always seems like world events that warrant a Special Reports always breakout between 12:30 and 4pm ET during soaps.

He's a complete curse. The show is creatively dead. Nothing compelling happens. But this started way before Griffith. Though Y&R has been rotting since 2006 after Bill Bell died, it's been completely stale since JFP took over in 2013. It's only been getting successively worse since then. The only bright spots have been anniversary episodes with classic scenes, rebuilding the Newman Ranch, and classic episodes on holidays.

Hayley is 26👀😳. The actress Marquita Goings looks great but definitely looks mid to late 30s. The age vs actor contrast on this show is really off for alot of characters (Martin being Nicole's son for one).

Ed was great! As for JFP she needs to be nowhere near Y&R in any capacity.

Y&R is the worst on the air right now. We need over the top melodramatic storylines and compelling dialogue at this point because virtually nothing happens.

What exactly is going on with Maurice Bernard. Is it cognitive decline, does he just not care anymore?

GH A-, Loved the action with Gio, Michael, Willow & Drew and Kristina BTG B-, nothing new was happening Y&R F -, all around boring B&B F+, stale and repetitive but more interesting than Y&R. Literally who cares about Brooke, Ridge and Taylor triangle anymore? And how many times does Finn have to tell Luna he doesn't want a relationship.

Circling back to the custody scenes, the Willow actress was working for her check that day! This is the most interesting the character has ever been. It was irritating to keep hearing Willow say "my children" when one of them isn't even hers. That should be a cautionary tale in allowing step parents to adopt children should a divorce occur. It was also refreshing to see justice be served. If only it could've been Carly screaming "don't take my kids away" to AJ, 25 years ago. This was also a repeat of history in that Michael and Willow were in a custody battle against Nell for Wiley---which should have made him even more cautious about granting someone else custodial rights. maybe I haven't been watching Maxi's scenes but she seemingly slimmed down seemingly overnight. She looks fantastic.

Can you elaborate more on Amanda's restrictions? I agree that actors should have limited say in writing and character direction because actors don't always have the ability to write/produce well. Larry Hagman and Tony Geary are examples. I remember when Vanessa Marcille was on the reality show Queens of Drama where soap stars were trying to create their own soap and the actors involved had no idea how to write one. Likewise, from interviews it's said that Bill Bell took limited input from actors (and for good reason) because his near singular vision kept Y&R's quality high. However, I do feel for actors. No one wants to be a slave to what someone in a back room is writing. When it comes to issues like hairstyles I do think sometimes actors should have a say as it could become a cultural issue. Suppose there was an African-American actress had perfectly good natural hair but was always being asked to wear Eurocentric wigs or straight hairstyles. With wardrobe suppose you're always given the worst clothes and look terrible with no relation to the storyline? I would complain. Suppose writers were completely assassinating a character's character, then I think the actor should speak up. Again, I believe in writer supremacy but I don't think actors should just go for anything.

Wow the GH thread is marked "hot" instead of Beyond the Gates! The WillHOE custody battle & Gio paternity reveal has made the show a good watch on top of some other surrounding stories!