Alan

Um... these CBS affiliate anchors don't know that Y&R and B&B are still on the air? Fairmont Crest is said to be located in Prince George's County and its seems that a fair number of characters will live in DC.

I like Daphnée's remark that Black Excellence is not just about wealth. I liked hearing a little bit about her working class roots in Miami during the Paley Center event. I hope after the premiere Sheila Ducksworth will retire her talking points equating achievement with wealth because it is beginning to grate.

CBS Chicago

WPIX11 New York

After several rewatches the theme song is growing on me. I like the bluesy descending melody that kicks in at the middle of the sequence. Kurt Farquhar is doing a lot with this theme, you have a symphonic composition for the Duprees, a blues-like melody that kicks in for the rest of the cast, a percussive hip hop beat throughout, and then it ends with pulsing electronica when when we see the final title card.

lol at least they used the actor names and not character names!

It looks beautiful! I love the motif of the characters being glimpsed beyond the gates. I'm glad they reshot the footage we saw from the first teaser. The core four have the same wardrobe except for Dani, who is now in a green dress. This looks so well done. It's heads and shoulders above the other soaps. I hope it will be easy to update the cast images. The theme music will take some getting used to. It doesn't strike me as "unforgettable classic soap theme" like Nadia's Theme or Jelinda's Theme or Faces of the Heart or Hold Onto Love. Maybe the closing credits version will be a bit more tuneful.

Tamara leaves her dressing room door open just like Lena Horne left her door open for Tamara!

I'm re-watching today's special and I think we were fed a major spoiler about Leslie.

This was my favorite episode so far! I love getting an up-close look at the details on the different sets. I do wish that each set shown had been specifically described. (i.e. "What you're looking at now is Bill and Hayley's living room," etc. ) I like how each character has a signature look, a detail that is sometimes overlooked on US soaps. Kat's look is very Hilary Banks. Nicole's look is a modern twist on the shoulder-padded, power-dressing soap divas of the 80s. Very interesting that Anita's look is based on Diana Ross, and that TT insisted on silver hair for Anita. Oh, I just noticed Jeresa Featherstone making a cameo in the B&B rerun!

CBS needs to bring back Susan Banks as promo director!

A newsletter - how retro! I haven't signed up for a CBS daytime newsletter since Desiree's Dish back in the day.

It looks like BTG did record Santa Barbara-style character introductions ("I'm Anita Dupree. Don't mess with mama.") that ultimately weren't used in promos. I think that was the right choice. The ads showing dialogue from the show and action scenes were are more in line with how tv shows are promoted in the 2020s.

Showing a Black m/m couple would be landmark representation but I doubt there is any particular reason for casting Smitty with a white actor. The casting for the supporting performers seems to have been pretty flexible. For example the casting call for Vanessa McBride was looking for a Black actress. It looks like Martin will be a Mayor Pete-type who wants to portray a flawless, respectable image to the world while Smitty is the bored husband who wants more fun in their lives. Something I have personally never seen is a gay love triangle where the outside person plays both members of the adulterous couple without their knowledge. That would be so fun on BTG, especially with the political theme in the background.

Well now I'm curious. 🤔

I am about to watch a second time but I don't think we heard from Jibre Hordges, Alex Alegria, Sean Freeman, Mike Manning, Timon K. Durrett, or Marquita Goings in this installment. It's a short episode so I'm not bothered. I was mainly interested in hearing more about the Thomases and more behind-the-scenes information. Tamara Tunie's story was very emotional. 🥹 I'm so happy that BTG was able to scoop her up. She is one of daytime's unsung icons and I'm thrilled that she is fronting this show.

This! The fact that Anita was part of a girl group then broke away to go solo brings up so many Dreamgirls-coded possibilities. I can imagine Bill or Leslie bringing one of Anita's ex groupmates to Fairmont Crest to expose her sordid past. It feels like there is a lot of backstory behind every character which gives us a lot to look forward to.

It's an ET special so no PGP logo. The credits music was generic production music I have to say I'm glad Sheryl Underwood managed to swallow hard and "pass the torch" to BTG. After all, Martha Byrne, Elizabeth Hubbard, and some other ATWT cast had to make nice with their replacements on The Talk during those "reunions."

You have to hand it to Generations. For a little soap that ran for less than two years in a bad time slot, it certainly left its mark. Not only was it MVJ's first soap writing job, Sheila Ducksworth specifically mentions Generations as the impetus for developing BTG.

I think that Bill blackmails Vernon into bringing the family there. While I am wildly speculating:

Cady was hiding in the promos all along! There she is, right behind Daphnée Duplaix.

Holy 🤯 Is this the first time daytime soap has been promoted on a late night show?

Also, since Sheila/Lauren there haven't really been any truly successful crossovers that made a meaningful difference to either show. When characters like Ashley or Amber crossed over it always felt like they were just biding time before returning to their proper shows. There was no point to them. Sheila's exit to LA made narrative sense because there was no way she could stay in GC. I am all for keeping BTG crossover free. Also in the early character profiles Doug and Vanessa are described as having a pair of twins. No idea what their ages are meant to be.

I am so here for this thread. 🥹

Thank you mentioning GL's incidental music, including "Destiny Calling" the Josh and Reva cue, because it reminded me of some files that I have had for eons. I saved these cues many years ago from GL's soundtrack website. Brian D. Siewert is my third favorite composer for soaps, (after Jack Allocco and David Kurtz), his cues always stir memories. A lot these are from Taggart's era, which like you I loved. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/dgnj8z4nsn7dv/Guiding_Light_soundtrack