Gatecrashers

They could have made some of the white people related to anchor them better to the core. I guess there is speculation that Ashley is Joey's daughter, and, honestly, I wouldn't hate it. Vanessa and Derek could have been siblings, and Pamela easily could have been Smitty's mom. I would also give Tomas and Caroline both some family connections to diversify the canvas.

No, actually, you didn't. But, I lived away from my home state for 10 years, and I didn't have any family nearby, so it's understandable. However, a throwaway line to explain this would be helpful. Then again, no friends have visited either. Not even Jacob, his so-called bestie has come by. Also, my family from out-of-state would visit me as soon as possible if I were paralyzed. It seems as though Derek, as a character, is not a priority to the writers. He's just propping Ashley and providing a stumbling block to Ashtray (my version of AshDre, because they suck together).

Who, in soapland, could play a convincing Ashley? I can see her as more of a scrappy, wrong-side-of-the tracks sweetheart (as written). I can't think of any current actresses that could make her interesting. As for JJ, I think she'd make a much better bitch. When she showed that side, she actually was more appealing.

It IS as tacky as (most of) Ms. Hayley's clothes...

100% When you reiterate what it is supposed to be - what it is on paper - I finally see what Michelle and co. are going for. I've seen none of that on my screen, though.

The ladies are certainly no slouches, either.

I missed my Fairmont Crest friends last week, but I missed y'all, too.

Awwww... I like Dumb-as-a-Post Doug. His naivete has endeared him to me.

This is really good!

It is a bit strange considering what this episode is about. You know - to include a real-life Instagram reel.

I vote for Naomi.

I'm really disappointed. The "Marlena" that I read in SPW was always critical in an intelligent way and this completely missed the mark. She is getting older and has had serious financial troubles lately (I believe related to her and her husband falling for a scam). Perhaps, sadly, she is not as sharp as she once was, and that is the reason for the bum article, or, she hired a ghostwriter that doesn't have a clue. Either way, this is terribly sad.

I didn't see a lot of my cousins growing up, but I still know that it is disgusting to sleep with them. I will never understand how these shows didn't just air incestuous storylines, but downright glorified them. And, the nasty people that think these relationships are ok are usually the first ones to clutch their pearls when a LGBTQ or interracial pairing is introduced. SMDH

Oh, ok. I thought it was a strangely missed promotional opportunity for such a new show.

How does Soapy only have two guests from BTG?

The latter, with well-drawn characters written in shades of gray. One villain is quite campy, but they have recently been balancing her with more of a back story to explain her motivations.

BTG brought a lot of that back. Have you had a chance to watch it?

Me, too. It sucks to have a week off from something you actually like. I mean, a week off from school or work is different.

Yeah, I tried to get back into GH around June, then I lost track. But, that does look interesting.

Love it. I had fun watching those Eterna clips myself last year. I still love any storyline with both Gabrielle and Tina.

Hey, y'all! I'm not only in Gates withdrawal, I also miss our tantalizing after-episode conversations. How is everyone? Do y'all watch other soaps? Does it make the wait better? I used to watch all the other current soaps at other times in my life, but nothing has reeled me in in a long time (I'm 47). Gates is of such a great, rare quality for soaps today (to me, I know others don't agree, and that's fine) that I'm truly hooked. I sometimes watch older episodes of current and canceled soaps on YouTube, too. I hope some of you are around to talk.

Ridge seemed so queer-coded to me as a child/teen, but he was written as a playboy. I think it would have been so interesting if he had all the same traits, but was into men. But, alas, that was 1987, and daytime had a hard enough time with Hank on ATWT in 1988. I lurk on Datalounge a lot, and the volume of queer folk who adored soaps from their golden age is amazing. Many of us are the only ones who are still talking about them and keeping them alive. To think that daytime took so long to give a damn about us is insane. Of course, there were Nuke on ATWT, Otalia on GL, and Bianca on AMC, but a lot of their respective stories were mishandled and sometimes downright offensive.

Isn't that what happened?

YES!! Thanks Errol and Toups!!

If I recall, it depends on the soap and the network. CBS aired "soap classics," but I can't remember which days that happened.