Broderick

I think when they constructed the Athletic Club set, they pretty much just took what they wanted from the Gina's set, the Embers set, and the Top of the Tower set, added some new things, and called it a day. I've looked for some vestige of the Colonnade Room in the Athletic Club but can't find any. (Maybe Chancellor Park is built out of pieces of the Colonnade Room??)

Aw, I doubt that set was really 30 years old. When it transformed from Pierre's to the Allegro in about 1975, they might have used some of the same materials in the Allegro set that had been in the old Pierre's set, but it was basically a whole new set, with the doorways moved and the bar moved and a totally different layout. Same circa 1980, when it switched from being the Allegro to being Jonas's bar. Ditto for the 1982 switchover from Jonas's to Gina's. If you compare a 1973 photo of Pierre's and a 1985 of Gina's, it's pretty much impossible to recognize any vestige of Pierre's in Gina's. I'd guess the Gina's set was about 20 years old when it bit the dust (though I believe some of the same set materials were probably used in constructing the Athletic Club set after Gina's burned.) The salad bar was a big clumsy stainless steel contraption right in the middle of the floor. To get a "master shot", they had the camera out on the edge of the set like they'd always done. If they wanted to show someone walking through the door, they had to move the cameras around to the side of the salad bar. If they wanted to focus on a specific table, they had to move the cameras to the other side of the salad bar. It was a disastrous decision to put it where it was. It should've been against the rear wall, or on one of the side walls.

We'll probably see it like this for a few more days, and then POOF the fireplace will vanish and never be mentioned again 🤣

I knew someone backstage at Y&R in the early 2000s. The day the salad bar premiered, I emailed him and said, "Woops! I'm afraid y'all have messed-up badly with that salad bar. That thing is gonna haunt y'all for years to come." He said, "Don't worry, we already realize it. It was a mistake. It's being addressed." I pointed out, "If they suddenly take the salad bar down after making such a production out of installing it, it's gonna be accidentally comical." He said, "They're having meetings about how to best handle it." Wasn't long till Kevin Fisher locked Colleen Carlton in the freezer and set the restaurant on fire. Total loss. Action moved to the Athletic Club. 😅 They're CLEARLY having the same issue with Joey Armstrong's fireplace. The camera was BEHIND the thing for a while, with the flames in the foreground. Then the cameras were MOVED in front of the fireplace to capture the sofa without the flames. Then back again, with the flames in the shot. Then back again to the sofa. It requires time, money, and adjustments to the lighting each time they move those cameras within a set. That obviously ain't gonna be sustainable on a daily basis.

Regarding Joey Armstrong's strangely-placed fireplace -- I think that thing is going to prove a pain in the ass for the cameraman in the future. I don't predict the fireplace will last. I remember when the set designers on Y&R hauled-off and stuck a gigantically oversized (and ridiculous-looking) salad bar in the middle of the floor of Gina's Restaurant. The cameras couldn't move around the damn thing to view the tables and the characters who were dining. To solve the problem, the writers ended-up burning down the set entirely and creating the Genoa City Athletic Club to replace it. Joey's fireplace is likely heading toward the same fate.

Mary Williams croaked. During Dina Mergeron's final year, Dina set Nick Newman's nightclub on fire while suffering from Alzheimer's. Paul Williams told Jack she'd need to be booked for arson. Jack said, "Paul, you can't arrest my mother for this. If your own mother -- God rest her soul -- had done something like this, would you have arrested her?"

I'm guessing it'll be Carlton, since Beautiful Nicole slept with him. I'm thinking this might play-out at Leslie's New Clinic, giving Ted a chance to save the Beautiful Nicole before he saves Leslie (and making Nicole swoon that he prioritized her over his ex-concubine.) And as you've predicted, I'm thinking it will lead to a temporary truce between Kat & Eva. As well as some kind of turning point for Jacob & Naomi, and some kind of effect on Martin and Smitty.

The thought occurred to me today that the person who's most likely to be placed in danger at the climax of the plasma storyline is Nicole, and the person who's most likely to save her Beautiful Ass is Ted.

Kinda surprised Joey now has a house AND an office, while Vanessa (a Realtor) has neither.

Oh yeah, I expected Anita to lose her hair (or some of it), because that's an old soap staple when someone has breast cancer. But you'd kinda think if they're going to the effort of "educating" us about the BRCA gene, they'd also "educate" us a little bit about newer chemotherapy developments, especially since they explained about the infusion port and showed her first treatment on-screen. (I figured this was just an opportunity for Miss Tunie to ditch her wigs for a spell.)

I kinda thought with Anita's long flowing hair, she might opt for scalp-cooling from the get-go. The person I knew who was doing it went through a "hair cooling" process shortly before each chemo session and then wore a "cold cap" during the chemo infusions which kept the hair pretty much "frozen" during the infusion. There's also a long list of things you can't do -- not supposed to use any hair-coloring products, not supposed to curl it or iron it or any of that stuff. All I know is that it works.

I've recently learned there's an elaborate process of "scalp cooling" (freezing the hair) and using gels which keeps most chemo patients from losing their hair. A friend of mine opted for that and went through chemo without ever losing hair (except eyebrows). I had no idea the process even existed until last year.

When they attempt to construct an episode that doesn't feature any of their four "A-list" characters (Anita, Vernon, Dani, and Beautiful Nicole), it seems the energy level drops substantially and the episode drags. Just an observation.

Regarding the soap tropes, it would make sense for Dani and Big Bill to reconcile at some point if she's given valid reason to believe he's changed from his philandering ways. So far, she's got no reason to believe that. He hasn't even been married to Hayley for a year and already has a wandering eye.

The show hasn't had much luck so far casting interesting Caucasian actors in decent roles --- with the obvious exceptions of Smitty and Vanessa.

Sharon stole the show. "When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is He. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches over me."

FOUR love scenes today -- gotta be a new record. (1) Ted & Shanice (2) Beautiful Nicole & that God-awful Chemistry-free Carlton Creature (3) Dani & Big Bill (4) Jacob & Smitty 🤣

If I remember right, the first time we saw that "coffee spot" was around Halloween. At the time, I thought it was part of the hospital cafeteria. That ain't the case, based on those little signs. I really can't figure out what it's supposed to be.

It's a new year, and I genuinely planned to give that thirsty horndawg Nurse Ashley a chance to entertain me as she desperately throws her Basic Wares at yet a 3rd victim in a brief 10-month period --- but it's just plumb excruciating, y'all. I keep expecting Timothee Chalamet to appear as an X-ray technician or Rami Malek to show up as a nurse's aid, in a last-ditch effort to make her drab ass interesting. That "ice cream comparison" was agonizing, but at least it led to a cute scene between Shanice and Ted.

I was taking the opening scene very seriously, until Hayley pulled out that big envelope that said TEST RESULTS!!!!, and then I busted out laughing, realizing it was Dani's ghoulish nightmare. I thought it was effective. I love Beautiful Nicole, but Lord have mercy -- Carlton is plumb dreadful. I believe he's enrolled in an acting class taught by Tomas & Derek.

Besides being WAY TOO THIRSTY for his "best friend" Ted's ex-wife, Carlton just can't keep up with Beautiful Nicole in the acting department. He's dull as hell to me. Sometimes I wonder if Greg Vaughan's unavailability to tape some scenes led to this sudden resurgence of Nicole's friendship with Carlton. At one point, she acted like she was DONE with him. Then after Winterfest, he popped up again, to my disappointment.

And I could be dead wrong. But there's been a TON of literary symbolism going on the past few episodes that points to Naomi being pregnant. It's the type of thing writers & readers jump onto. Anita yelled at Tracy the other day and broke a teacup. As she flung the cup, Senator Dupree walked in just as Anita yelled, "I want more grandchildren!" Then, at the Mardi Gras celebration following Epiphany, Naomi (of all people) "got the baby". And Naomi didn't say it once, but yelled it twice, to drive the point home, that SHE was the one who "got the baby". Anita then brought Naomi a crown, which seemed to symbolize Anita "passing something" to Naomi (the triple negative cancer gene). At the end of the episode, Naomi presented Anita with a gift, by placing the crown on Anita's head for the photograph, indicating that Naomi would be "gifting" something to Anita later (the grandbaby that Anita told Tracy she wanted).

Or the opposite. Naomi might change her tune entirely & decide not to postpone having a baby, after all. Based on the (excellent) Mardi Gras scenes, there appeared to be some foreshadowing Naomi will wind up pregnant. As she chatted with Andre & ate her king cake, she suddenly squealed, "I got the baby! I got the baby!!" The writers could've theoretically given the baby to any king cake-eater in the room, but they specifically chose Naomi for the honor. I don't think it was a throwaway. I think they were previewing a 2026 story for us.

Just finished Wednesday's show, where Beautiful Nicole dropped by with the mini-quiches and big plans for Samantha's cotillion debut. I loved Tyrell's tirade about cotillion culture being a way to further separate the "haves" from the "have-nots", juxtaposed with Nicole's explanation of how the debutante society (as well as fraternities and sororities) raise money to help the very "have-nots" that Tyrell feels are being discriminated against by cotillions, fraternities, & sororities. That conversation was NOT typical soap opera fare, and it was certainly something to think about.

Finally got to view Episode #200 tonight. WOW!! What great work from everyone involved. I know it's a gloomy issue, as each of us likely knows someone who's suffered (or who is currently suffering) with breast cancer, but those Duprees knocked it out of the park. Every single one of them. I'm handing them an armful of DuPraise of my own tonight. (And I just knew Anita & Vernon's little Sweet Baby would be the first one beating a path to their door. He didn't let me down.)