ranger1rg

The #1 soap shouldn't have budget problems like this. Just how can the "budget allow for some changes"? The truth is that the sets are important, especially when the writing is this bad. We end up with two or three characters having conversations in places that make no sense, and it's all static. People are seated and don't move. And today, an angry Billy goes to the park to make a phone call? What?

That bothered me, too. I was also smh over the stupid Anastasia talk. Hiding that she's the author of a damn romance novel makes Stephanie seem so immature. -- Someone clearly told Rachel Boyd to "Play Stephanie like she's a lunatic." Those bulging, popping eyes are hilarious. -- Half of Johnny and Chanel's dialog was about baby-proofing their apartment. All they did was put rubber guards on a table 😂 -- Speaking of sets, the bookstore is really bad. I know this show has a limited budget, but it's screaming "broke." It gives no sense of a real bookstore, and the extras that spend an our looking at one book don't help.

LOL What would happen if I didn't screw up at least once in every post? -- Portia is embarrassing. Brooke Kerr is treated so shabbily by these writers. -- Shallow Alert: Ryan Paevey is so good-looking that I don't care about his acting. That man is fine.

I'm with you on Kirsten Storms, and I agree it's past time the show let her go. Yes, she was great in the past year -- a Maxie revival -- but this constant in-and-out is hard to take. She's off for one reason, then another. Then another. Now we hear she moved to Nashville to be closer to her son. Well, the kid is young, so it's not like in 6 months he'll be off to college and won't need her every day. GH has been beyond accomodating to her and whatever she's gone through. At some point, Jesus, just replace her. Nathan's return would have been much better with Maxie around. And if KS returns in November, will we get a few episodes here and there when she has time to fly in and tape? Because this potential story seems to require someone who can be available on the reg. It is insane to me that GH/ABC have given Storms a leash this long.

-- I don't mind over-the=top -- I loved Dani pulling the gun at the wedding -- but this Vegas stuff is ridiculous. They were that drunk and out of it that they had no idea where they were? That they were married? GMAB. -- And no talk at all about getting the marriage annulled? Come on. -- Smitty is getting a lot of criticism, but I understand his anger with Martin. After all that's happened, going behind his back to set up the June/Samantha meeting was completely wrong. -- Was Smitty too hard on June? Probably. But let's not forget what a terrible mother June was, so neglectful she put those kids in danger. -- Good Smitty and Martin scenes. Same for Martin and Tyrell. -- I'll repeat: Having Samantha ask June for advice about boys is ludicrous. I can think of a ton of other things they could talk about to get closer and know each other better. Boys? No. -- June's advice for Samantha was right out of Saved By the Bell...one cliche after another. -- And think about it. Just a month ago, June was paying her diner bill with Monopoly money. -- The Derek and Ashley storyline continues to be lame. We've seen this before, with better writing. Derek is traumatized by bathroom renovations? (In his words, "Ashley's sanctum.") -- How is Derek going to get on that bed? I hope Jacob and Naomi work on a wheelchair accessible ramp to get up on that platform.

Why is Luna staying with $Bill? Just ridiculous.

-- Portia came off as completely unhinged today. She screamed at Curtis about having a drink with Jordan, but we just watched her have Doctor Office Sex with Isaiah! She's nuts. -- I didn't expect these Monica episodes to be wall-to-wall Monica, which would probably be too much. However, the mix of stuff they're including just feels off in a way I can't explain. It feels random and out of place to me. -- From those previews, my guess is that Nathan has amnesia. I don't think he recognizes Nina. Seriously, does anyone want to see that???

How exciting it will be if we get a ballad version of "Rock On"!

The wedding is set for November. YAWN.

-- All of it was laughable and bad. Traci called it off with Cane? 😂 Yeah, you go with that, Josh. -- This is another example of how Josh Griffith uses "history." He takes something that happened years ago and changes what happened. -- What is up with the eyeliner and fake lashes on Traci? I don't think her therapy is working.

That's his best acting, actually.

I agree. They've gotten so much more conservative in the last couple decades. -- And then there's Batsh#t Crazy Sheila, who thinks Luna pulled a power move in screwing Will and getting pregnant.

-- Andre doesn't come off as drunk at all. Sean Freeman is playing it like a sober guy pretending he's hammered -- and failing at it. -- As I said before, this comes off like a really bad Friends retread of "Ross and Rachel get drunk in Vegas and decide to marry." -- I appreciate what they tried to do, but it didn't really work for me. If you laughed a lot, good for you. -- So Anita tells Nicole she was wrong for thinking of giving Ted "a second chance"? I guess sanctimonious Anita thinks only THE DUPREES deserve second chances. -- Others see that Doug and Vanessa scene as one showing them getting closer? To that, I say "HUH???" Doug is a big league cuck who knows his wife is screwing Golden Corral Mob Boss Joey on the reg. I wish he'd divorce Vanessa. -- Good scenes with Martin and Eva, but the writers are working the "You're my sister" thing a bit too hard. -- Kat should just dump Tomas if she isn't feeling it. Blaming Tomas for this lack of sexual spark says more about her than about Tomas. -- Then we have Tomas being so stupid he tells Eva about his sexual adventures with the half-sister she hates.

To be fair, this is done all over prime time. Do these productions simply hate giving "free publicity" to a platform or product?

Britt is awful. I'm also rolling my eyes at Rocco's investment in her. I think it's over-the-top and ridiculous and not believable. And why do we have Rocco referencing "MyFace"? It takes me right out of any scene when these fake names are given to social media platforms or anything else. Just call it Instagram, for God's sake. BTG references pop culture all the time, and there's no reason the other soaps avoid it. It's not a story, and I don't get it either. I do have to laugh that Outback never looks at anyone on screen😂

Gotta agree. B&B is awful, but I can't turn away from the complete over-the-topness of Luna. It's as if the writers threw away any and every attempt at realism and just decided to go nuts. Will and Electra are a laughable Romeo & Juliet couple who are so bad I want Luna to make them miserable.😂 Electra is completely disposable as a character. She's useful only for those "Insert a scene where she talks about how perfect Will is and how she trusts him completely and how their love is eternal and forever and infinity." Crew Morrow is cute af, but there's no missing that he cannot play emotion. At all. His facial expressions and looks when he has no dialogue are so bad it's ridiculous. I blame direction and I blame production. I don't think Morrow is getting ANY notes on his performance and it's hard to believe he watches his scenes and thinks he's doing good work.

-- I enjoyed the Nicole and Ted scenes. Everything else? Not so much. -- Doug seems to be hurtling towards death, but I hate that they're writing him as this stupid and careless. I mean, what is his plan? Go to Orphey Gene's and hear Randy LOUDLY bark "I might know somebody"? -- Why is Randy acting like this? -- Bill knows how dangerous Joey is. So why throw Doug under the bus in that way? -- I DO NOT want to watch Joey and Vanessa in bed. I DO NOT want to see them screw. Please get Joey off my screen. -- I'm all for Vanessa having a piece of the action, but as a realtor selling homes worth millions, isn't she already wealthy? -- I want Eva to tell her mother something other than "Oh, maw-ma!" It's a constant enabling that's already tired. -- I absolutely hated the Anita/Leslie scenes. The acting was fine. That's not the problem, which is that Anita should not be kind to Leslie -- not with the sh_it Leslie has pulled on her and on the family. Leslie wrecked her daughter's marriage, purchased the mansion across the street, and bought her way into Fairmont Crest. Anita should HATE her for all of that. -- And no, Anita, Barbara did not come up with "Articulettes Strong." GMAFB. -- Are Andre and Dani going to get drunk and get married in Vegas, a la Ross and Rachel in Friends? -- Those previews don't do much for me. -- Yes, BTG is 100x better than Y&R. But that's really a low bar. We all know Y&R is beyond horrible. I want GATES to be better than this, and I don't think this was a good week.

Tracking sets for the month of September. Here's the set usage for this week: Mon., 9/15: Crimson Lights / Society / Train / Park -- 3 sets Tues., 9/16: Crimson Lights / Society / Billy's place / Adam's office -- 4 sets Wed., 9/17: The Abbotts / Cane's Train / Park -- 3 sets Thurs., 9/18: Crimson Lights / Society / The Abbotts / Billy's place / Park -- 5 sets Fri., 9/19: Society / Cane's Train / Society / Billy's / Photo Studio -- 5 sets For the week: 4 days -- Crimson Lights / Society 3 days -- Chancellor Park / Billy's place / Cane's Train 2 days -- The Abbotts 1 day -- Adam's office / Photo Studio In THREE FULL WEEKS, only 1o total sets have been used. TEN. Only 8 were used this week. Here's the running total for 3 weeks: 12 days -- Crimson Lights / Society 9 days -- Park 7 days -- The Abbotts / Billy's place 5 days -- Cane's Train 3 days -- Victor's office / Adam's office 2 days -- The Newmans 1 day -- Photo studio

-- Steve Burton was again really good today. So were Jane Elliott and Rory Gibson. -- The Monica dialogue and discussions have been very strong. I trust we'll get more flashbacks at the memorial. -- So much going on today....I really think I would have held the Gio/Emma kiss for next week. It just didn't fit with anything else. -- Outback is a cute dog, but I hope they're done with characters having conversations with that beagle. Josh Kelly did good work in his, but that pup was clearly looking at his trainer the entire time. -- The Ryan Paevey reveal at the end? Uh...I don't know. If I hadn't read all the casting news and speculation, I'm not sure I would have had any idea who was on that gurney wearing the oxygen mask.

Yeah, I don't want his style to change either. Show up at the hospital in your leather to see Basic, Andre! Seriously, count me in on him doing wilder stuff on canvas. This show longs for that. Make him a real fcukboi.

-- I have to LOL when I see Randy. Here's a guy who says he wants to stay away from Joey's radar -- so he goes to the very public Orphey Gene's, sits in a booth, and broods loudly. -- I'm still not feeling Vanessa and Joey at all. They've written her as a slut, and I don't know how anyone can argue with that and just call it "open marriage." Diego, I can see. Joey, I can't. And spare me the idea that no woman can resist Joey's peen. -- Sue me, but I like Andre's outfit. I don't think he's always properly styled for the scenes he's in, but the fits are fittin'. -- Andre and Dani scenes are fine, but we need to move on from having Ashley and Bill up all the time. Get this couple moving or end it. -- I usually like Kat, but she was a complete bitch to Tomas. I've stated dozens of times that I think he's ridiculous, but I can't blame ANY of that or what's been happening on him. She's the one who's been lying from the jump. -- Telling Tomas that maybe he's the one who isn't good in bed after misinterpreting everything he said was hard to watch. What a complete bitch.

The baby story is OK, but for me the Leo/Javi stuff is a complete miss. We never see a real baby or even a baby doll. It's that constant camera angle behind the stroller, and I don't know how we're supposed to believe those guys are attached to Tesaro. Likewise for Javi's completely off-camera baby story. None of it works.

-- I co-sign all the positive comments about Steve Burton's acting and @Vee's analysis of Jason and his role with Tracy and the Quartermaines. -- SB and JE were wonderful today. Without them, we wouldn't feel the loss of Monica (or Leslie Charleson) the way we do. Great flashbacks, too. -- Britt is so unlikable. Why does this show insist on actor returns that paint their characters as hard to take? Alexa Havins nails her Lulu role, but she's been so difficult to put up with at times. Are we going to hate Nathan (if that's who Ryan Paevey portrays) when he returns tomorrow?

At this time, AA's portrayal of Tomas is the worst acting on all of daytime. There's no one worse on BTG or anywhere else.

"Annoying self-entitled bitch" can also be applied to Eva. She does have her good moments -- as does Kat -- but Eva can also be an awful mean girl who enables her criminal mother while knowing her mother is ruining other people's lives. But also, Tomas is a POS, so maYbe he does deserve Eva.