Alan

Today's episode was ok. I will need to be rewatch to properly absorb all of the exposition. The fact that Ted told Andre about the affair indicates that he may be considering telling Nicole if Dana doesn't go away.

Dana just had her Fatal Attraction moment!

Killing a patient 😔

Samantha irks me. Does she really think Chelsea is going to have time to manage her when she is starting her fashion line... over Dani who actually has experience?

Not to mention Little Eric, who was at the center of B&B's stories for several years. It's weird that he plays absolutely no role in his father or sister's life.

Thank you! I have been on a late 90s/early 2000s CBS Daytime kick. Crystal Chappell did some amazing shoots for SID including a maternity shoot in a leopard-print coat. She's probably one of the most photogenic actresses ever.

Nick was a big part of the spoiling of B&B for me back in the day. I think the reappearance of Jack Marone is about as likely as the reappearance of Little Eric (despite the fact that his sister and father are presently part of the show.)

A villain's tenure on a soap depends how long she can keep her secrets. If everyone finds out next week that it was Dana who ran Laura off the road and then poisoned her, there's no way she can ever be integrated into the larger community in a realistic way. I'm also ok with characters being punished cosmically or karmically, if not legally. There are ways of meting out justice to misbehaving characters that don't require them to leave the show. I do think that some shows take redemption too far, like Marlena on DOOL vouching for a serial killer's re-integration into society, when her own sister was killed by the Strangler. Actually, the examples on DOOL are too numerous to mention. This was really bad and stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise good episode. Older writers include generation-specific slang with the expectation that younger actors will be able to pull it off, but it rarely works out that way. I am most familiar with her work as Jessica Griffin on ATWT. What really stands out to me is how different buttoned-up attorney Jessica is from retired diva Anita. Some actors basically play the same role from soap to soap. Tamara Tunie's unique characterization of Anita is remarkable. It's no surprise MVJ and SD couldn't see anyone else in the role. Today's episode was really nicely paced by Sara Bibel, as usual. I think Bill is going to make a big donation to the First Gen Grant on the condition that Hayley chair the board. Then we will see Dani and Hayley helm competing organizations, hold dueling fundraisers, and compete for dominance in the wider high society of Fairmont Crest.

CBS Soaps In Depth November 11, 1999 Sigh. This is why I miss soap mags. Now that I am watching an American soap again I wish we were treated to photoshoots and features like this about BTG.

I was also a Wesley fan, but I can see why people disliked him given that he began as a Gene Roddenberry self-insert and people tend to dislike child prodigies. I think Wesley became a more relatable character after "The First Duty," when he was finally allowed to have flaws.

I agree! Ashley so far has been the Mary Sue/Wesley Crusher of the show. She has no flaws. All anything anyone has to say about her is how hardworking, caring, nice, pretty etc she is. I like that we saw her screw up and be admonished by Dr. Flannery. Then we saw a flash of anger when she noticed Andre filmed the interaction. I wish the conflict had continued with Ashley insisting that Andre delete the footage. I also thought the actress had far more chemistry with the actor playing Dr. Flannery than any other male on the show so far.

Shanice vs Dana!!!

Oh, that makes more sense. I was wondering why Dani was so interested in the lining, lol.

Hmm this is a completely different handbag than the one they showed Dani the other day.

The actress playing party planner Julia:

Funny to think the actress playing wide-eyed teenager Samantha has several years on the ones playing her older cousins.

Exactly, they are following Irna's vision (intentionally or not) of placing the product, not shoving it in our faces.

It was actually "As the Country Club Turns." On rewatch I realized the ATWT reference is even deeper: Jan mentions a "Mrs. Eldridge" being three sheets to the wind before noon and complaining about her husband's viagra not working. Eldridge was one of the married names of Lisa, a long-running iconic ATWT character. The way Jan describes her is pretty much what I expect the character to be doing these days. Lisa leaving Oakdale and retiring to Fairmont Crest is now canon, at least in my mind. 🙂

I am going to mangle the quote but when Jan was updating Dana on the latest gossip she said something along the lines of "As the gated community turns."

I also wanted to add my praise for today's show. I love the literary references - I notice JDB does this a lot, it really helps to root the characters in the real world. He is a very culturally literate writer. I also loved the ATWT reference between Dana and Jan. Vernon reciting part of his speech at the end, as we see a montage of the episode's characters, reminded me of Mary Alice's Desperate Housewives end-of-episode narrations in a good way.

Jazmen Darnell Brown is today's scriptwriter and is still with the show according to his Linkedin. Gregori Martin is the breakdown writer who is leaving.

I also wish Maurice was staying on as Ted but I don't see any indication that Keith Robinson will make Ted unrefined.

They could have changed Martin to be the youngest child of Anita and Vernon before the show's debut without making that many edits. I have been watching carefully, and Martin has only had a handful of scenes with Nicole which could be cut and replaced. The bits of dialogue where Martin refers to Anita and Vernon as his grandparents could simply be altered with automated dialogue replacement. It's too late now, but it's a shame the change wasn't implemented. Especially seeing today's good scenes between Anita, Vernon and Samantha and Tyrell. I can't imagine Nicole and Ted having these kinds of grandparenty interactions. They would look more like Ted and Nicole's kids than grandkids. If Nicole and Ted needed a child aside from Kat you could say they have a son who is away at college.

And sitting them with their backs against the wall makes the interviews look like interrogation videos!

This and the Tide placement from yesterday is the ultimate realization of Irna's vision for soaps on tv in 1948: "The intriguing angle, of course, is the commercial angle where the product could be seen and used, but not announced…offhand i can see two girls washing out sheer hose in a hell of a dramatic scene." h/t @wonderwoman1951 "Seen and used, but not announced." It only took 77 years for her vision to be realized. At least it's more subtle than Caroline Brady hawking heat-and-eat orange chicken.