Faulkner

Not to add any negativity: I’m super glad that BTG looks to be getting off the ground, but we call them TIIC (the idiots in charge) for a reason. I’m sure they did their due diligence and plan to support this well, but we’ve been burned many times by well-meaning executives, especially on CBS Daytime. They appear to be making moves to improve Y&R but that show had been languishing and the moves they’re making now (bringing back Ed Scott to make that raggedy soap look polished) feel reactive and overdue. And elevating Carter out of nowhere on B&B is laughably transparent. I hope with so many entities operating with their own agendas (CBS, P&G, NAACP) there aren’t too many cooks in the kitchen. I’m sure MVJ has thick skin over her 73 years on this planet, is focused on the right things, and can ignore the peanut gallery. I want an engaging show first and foremost, and it appears she’s put together a solid team of BTS people with different skill sets. Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis are spectacular, attractive, experienced leads. I’m being very cautiously optimistic, if only to avoid a letdown. The industry is really unsettled right now.

Nominations announced. Beyoncé being nominated in the country categories is B.S. pandering but whaddya gonna do?

Finola hanging with Vinessa Antoine (ex-Jordan, GH):

Oof—I wonder if there’s a fix for how quoting posts with IG embeds breaks the board. I haven’t watched the show in weeks but I may just check it out.

I wonder who MVJ might be grooming as her Kay Alden/Natalie Minardi Slater. Susan Dansby? MVJ is in her 70s so obviously it’s something she might be thinking about long term in regards to retirement, etc. Developing strong, visionary Black talent to rise in the ranks is crucial, and thankfully she has Dansby, Judy Tate, Jazmen, et al., on staff and not just Carlivati waiting in the wings for his next HW stint.

Prince’s sister Tyka has died.

I’ll never get over seeing actors’ shadows looming on the backdrops because they’re not lit properly. The show often looked so sloppy and amateurish. I haven’t watched since Ed Scott returned so I’ll need to see if it’s any better.

That’s crazy to hear on a soap that used to be head and shoulders above other soaps and even some primetime series regarding production. A precipitous decline.

Purely superficial post: Writer Jazmen Darnell Brown is kind of a snack. He could get it:

Yeah, I sort of like the tension in places, but one critic mentioned that Quincy didn’t foreground Donna’s voice enough, especially on songs like “Love is in Control.” I love “State of Independence,” though—even though you can’t really pick out any of the famous voices in the chorus. May as well have hired the Mississippi Mass Choir.

One of my favorite Q productions, sort of a proto-“We Are the World” with its all-star backing choir: And, of course, this all-star confection: