GLATWT88

She got big feet or something? Yes, that's exactly how I felt about it too. I'm fine if it was some seedy backroom or illegal underground spot, but calling it a casino does not give that impression at all. The aesthetic doesn't match...and if it was only Lindstorm's character calling it "the casino" then fine. All they really had to do was show Doug having to get approved to get into the place or have to enter on the sly and I would be like okay cool, it's not a real casino. My issue isn't even the set itself if it was present as a game room, but that it's being called a casino and looking the way it does. Especially since most of the sets so far are quite good.

I see why Nicole stayed and Lesile is acting so crazy.

I know this is a soap, but I am not loving the way they handled Nicole talking Silk Press Sheila off the ledge. There was no police presence? Even if she went up to the roof alone and the police decided it would be the best course of action for Nicole to talk her down, the police should have been there. It just seems far fetched that someone would just be like Nicole go ahead girl, do your best! Similarly, the way they just simply let "Sheila" walkaway alone after a brief conversation? Okay, you just tried to kill yourself, but we talked it out in half an hour, you're free to go. Umm, what? Also, the casino set is pissing me off. I think it must have been a last minute thing, but I have never seen a casino with wood paneling and a random door in the corner with an unmaned bar. I mean they could have shown his gambling problem without it being in a casino.

I just got an ad for BTG on CBS Daytime while watching The Traitors UK on Peacock.

Overall, I'm super excited to see where this soap takes us. I think there are some things that have been done really well that have been sorely missing from soaps for a long time. The sets are beautiful and it just shows how good sets impact stories and the feel of a show. The costuming has been exquisite. I do think they went overboard on the amount of outfit changes for Dani, she literally went from one outfit at the family meeting to a completely different one when she was home and her daughters came to console her. It would have been one thing if she was in comfy home clothes or pajamas since it was evening, but this was a whole other day look. I'm not complaining too much, because it's been so nice to see. Also, I think on Friday's episode Dani had four outfits overall. A few of the shortcomings... A few of the cast are so green that it takes away from the scene sometimes, but then there are some heavy hitters on the cast that do a lot of heavy lifting. The actor that plays Martin needs to work on his delivery. I'm all for keeping him on and I want new talent to succeed, but some of those scenes have been hard to watch. Dani's daughters also need some work, but Nicole's daughter has actually been a standout for me. I'm sorry I don't know everyone's name yet, but I'm working on it. The premeire needed something big, it felt too ordinary and I think for some people just tuning in out of curiosity or those that are not typical soap viewers there needed to be a draw. Only thing I can think of is what White Lotus does. Their seasons starts with something explosive that piques our interest and then it really is a slow burn until the final episodes. I feel like a good soap premiere usually does this. I wish we could have started with Dani having a flashback walking into her husband having the affair or maybe his daughter finding out. I mean we could have even started with Dani pulling the gun out at the wedding. Also, I think someone mentioned a great idea. It would have been nice for some of the exposition to come from the employees of Fairmont Crest at the diner. You would see them living for all the drama and messiness that's been going down. Then we could have also had the family talking out some of the details as well. In the process, this creates the two worlds in this show, the ones IN Fairmont Crest and those that just work there. The dialogue was also very hit or miss. Some of it was wonderful and some of it was just doing too much. It sounded like something you would read in a novel and say wow, but that just doesn't translate genuinely when a character is saying it on screen. Like when Dani told Bill he had been treating her so shabbily. I'm sorry, but who the hell says that? I had to laugh. There were other instances but I can't recall right now. A lot of the other hiccups were minor like some of the shots were off, but overall these things take time. I am hoping that the show did enough to hold an audience all week and that it's successful. I've mentioned this before, but I am curious as to what the network and everyone involved would consider to be success numbers wise.

Omg!!! I literally typed that out and then deleted it, because I didn't want to get attacked. But that is exactly who I thought of, as well. He's great eye candy and hopefully in a few months he will ease into this role more seamlessly.

Some of those shots and transitions today were so odd, especially in the scenes with Martin and Vernon. Also, the actor that plays Martin delivers his lines like he's narrating an educational video or something. It felt so disconnected from the scene. Daphnée is impeccable. The dialogue in some instances was doing too much and on the other hand some of it was really good. The hospital stuff was just awkward. I wish there was a bit more movement. It felt a little stagnant. Hopefully other storylines will begin to take shape. I'm excited to see how this goes. It's exciting to have a new soap to dive into and I know it takes time to get things running smoothly.

I stayed home to watch and I'm glad I did. There's just something about watching a soap at midday that just brings with it so much nostalgia. I'm going to start with a few low points: - The opening was disappointing. I didn't love it when I watched the clip on here and watching on TV did nothing to change my mind. I love the idea of it, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. - Some of the acting was rough, but I also understand that this will take time especially with such a large and fairly green cast. The seasoned players were great. - I feel like the opening needed to be more grand and faster paced to set the stories into action. Besides a lot of exposition, it felt like a standard soap episode. I feel like Dani's scene throwing the coffee mugs needed a flashback to her catching her husband having an affair in their bed and as the episode progressed it's revealed this woman was actually her daughter's friend. Some of the positives for me: - The sets were beautiful. The costuming was great. - The soap vets were phenomenal. Daphnée was so good. - The end of the episode with Dani finding out her ex husband has decided to take residence in her community was solid soap. I'm excited to see how it all develops and what this first week has in store.

The theme is okay, but I'm going to wait until Monday to really see how I feel. In some ways I wish they'd gone the Days route which has been timeless and had a quote about gates read by powerful voice and some dramatic Orchestra in the background. I think I saw on someone's home the other day something like "Love is the master key that opens the gates." I'm sure they could have come up with something.

Lindstorm saying he's the minority on this soap made me chuckle. I totally get what he was trying to say, but I felt he could have worded it differently.

You saying "a fifth soap" really made me pause. I know many of us would never have imagined we would ever get a brand new soap opera again, especially in daily form and on network TV. Yet, tomorrow we get our first preview episode. I'm excited to be home tomorrow to watch it and discuss with you all here.

That's exactly what it was.

Do we know it will be a success out the gates? I'm actually cautiously optimistic, because outside of this forum I've not heard anyone talk about it. I feel there was more buzz around Sunset Beach than BTG. Granted that was nearly 30 years ago and the soap landscape was very different. There was still a larger interest in soaps and a greater younger demo watching them. I'm not sure what would be considered a success. I don't think just matching GH's numbers will be enough. It seems like they're putting a lot of money and effort into this and that means they're hoping that it actually works - which can be good and bad. I definitely love the effort and care being taken with this project, but it might mean that the expectations are so high that anything less than will be disappointing. I know a few people said they don't care how the sets look, but to me that's one of the most off putting parts of soaps today. They just look cheap. If we're finally going to get a brand new soap, I don't want it to go the budget route of the ones still on. Considering the irregular airtime for GL, the clearance on CBS stations remained really strong, so I'm hoping it won't be an issue for BTG. As for GH, in the NYC area it's on at 3pm. I haven't followed regularly but it was moved to 2pm at one point only to be back on at 3. So it won't be direct competition with BTG in one of the country's largest markets.

I'm surprised that someone who has such experience with soap operas didn't realize that an hour long soap has a runtime of about 36 minutes without commercials (not 45). The exclusion being Days now that it's exclusively for streaming which has a more varied runtime. In fact, I don't remember the last time a soap had a runtime near the 45 minutes. By the late 90s, most soaps were clocking under 40 minutes to squeeze in more ads.

I'm curious as to what metrics will be used to determine if BTG is a success. We are obviously in a new era of television, one in which no soap opera has ever had to premiere and find an audience. How will BTG be measured? How much will live figures matter? Will streams matter?

Sorry if this has been posted or asked already, but do we know anything as far as availability to streaming platforms and release time/schedules. From the commercials, I know that BTG will be made available to stream on Paramount+. Will new episodes be available to stream the day of or next day? Since this is the first time a soap opera is available to stream from the very beginning, will they try to promote/push for streaming viewership over live viewers. Similarly, will they try to innovate in some ways? I think weekly/monthly summary episodes with the highlights would be great for new viewers trying to get into watching that may not want to start from the very beginning or feel like they don't have the time to always watch all 5 episodes each week.

Hmmm...why have that gap between the final episode of The Talk and the prmeire of BTG. Not that the shows cater to the exact same audience, but you're going to lose people who typically tune in at that time slot to stop and possible not give BTG a shot. JMO

I know originally BTG was slated for a January 2025 premiere, but it seems like that may not be the case based on the title of the thread. What do we know so far? Also, when do you think they'll start promoting. It's obvious most of us soap fans are in the know, but I don't think much of the general public has even heard rumblings that there may be a new soap coming.

Yes, I was referring to just the title. For me personally, I think The Gates worked better, but again, opinions... I'm super excited for this project otherwise.

I might be in the minority, but I'm not loving Beyond the Gates. Seems a bit on the nose, and it's giving Tyler Perry's The Haves and Have Nots energy. The classic rich vs working class family. Echoing what's already been said, but Tamera Tunie is such a great inclusion to the cast and I mentioned her as someone I would love to see on this project when this was first announced. As for BET/MTV, not sure if a daily evening airing would work, but maybe they could air an omnibus like the British soaps on weekends and air the 5 episodes back to back. Although with streaming, this may not be necessary altogether.

Ha! I love this 😀

I personally prefer an hour long soap. The runtime of soaps are condensed as it is, so to truly develop story and rich dialogue, I think an hour works best. However considering the state of network TV, soaps, and budgets, I think 30 minutes would be favorable. If they're going to do this, I want it done right and I don't want to see cheap-looking sets that are empty with just the main scene actors. Maybe a week long premeire of hour long epsidoes to set the stage before reverting to 30 minute episodes would be nice...but honestly, I'm just excited to see what comes out of this.

I know that soaps generally focus around families, but I think having a core friend group or colleagues in some sort of business/profession can open up storylines and steer things away from the incestuous.

Definitely don't see a reboot of any of the daytime soaps as a possibility...at least not in the standard soap opera format. Maybe a prime time version ala Pine Valley could happen, although that unfortunately never took off. Yet, even that is pushing it. As we further remove ourselves from their cancelations, we are losing any steam these soaps had. We could be nice is some "crossovers" or even the return of some soap greats to participate in this new soap in some way. There are a few names I would love to see acting again even for a short arc.

Oh hey, Alexis and Dominque, love the catfight but this is the Dallas thread ladies...