Paul Raven

That's great . Thanks so much.

James Houghton's (Greg Foster)death means the first of the original Brooks/Foster kids is gone. He now joins Robert Clary and Dorothy Green as deceased original cast members. Robert Colbert (Stuart) and Julianna McCarthy (Liz) are still with us at ages 93 and 95 respectively.

Hardly a mention of Dani, Anita and Vernon. Will they be on less or is this deliberately keeping some things back?

That's what made the Ashley/Derek story seem so out of place. Maybe keep that to the second week.The first we see of Ashley is a nurse at Laura's bedside and then in Wk 2 we find out more. Same with the brief 'role play' story with Vanessa. That can be introduced down the line. My main beef ATM is the gay story. First there is no chem b/w the two. Martin's acting is subpar. To have them married with teen kids seems a missed opportunity to explore 2 guys living together but realizing the goals are different. It all seemed a little too hetero for me. And the lack of affection when other characters are cavorting/kissing seemed suspect. Defenders will say it illustrates the gulf b/w them but that might work had Martin rebuffed Smitty or just gave a lifeless kiss.

GL was always a one family show and the Bauers were pretty limited with only Mike and Ed, who by the 80's were aging and had been through several marriages. There were only 2 grandchildren Hope and Rick. Meta and Trudy were long gone and they had no children either. Doyg Marland recognized that and brought in a new family-the Reardons with a number of siblings to provide story for years.But he kept the Bauers present. Wisely, he introduced the Reardons slowly .First Bea and Nola, then Tony and Maureen, with others offsscreen. Maureen married into the Bauers. That was the setup but Kobe/Long were not interested. They basically wanted to create a new show and get their own characters onscreen. Slowly previous characters were dropped and those that remained were used to service the new characters /stories rather than respect their history. The Reardons, set up for years of story,were pretty much gone. Tony/Annabelle were there for one plot based story and then written out, as was Jim. Nola exited. Mike, Hope, Hilary were dumped. It was not a wise move to decimate the foundation of the show for newbies, many of whom were shortlived also. By 85 there was hardly anyone with more than a few years on the show left.

@DRW50 thanks for posting. Don't thjnk a new thread is necessary. OFH had a good cast and an interesting premise but couldn't hold on to Moonlighting's ratings In Wk1 OFH was #51 coming off Moonlighting #22 Remington Steele on NBC was #20. Wk 2 saw OFH fall to #62 while Remington was #30 and CBS movie #35 Moonlighting won its timeslot up against Riptide and the movie but viewers were switching over at 10. ABC quickly swapped OFH with Spencer for Hire ,which had been languishing on Fri night. Moonlighting was #19 and Spenser jumped to #41 way better than what OFH had been doing. Remington dropped to #39 as a result.

That's where I see a Guiding Light radio reboot dealing with an inner urban multi cultural setting to be different enough to command attention.

Already behind. Just finished ep3 which I found a little dull. The scene with Vanessa and Zeke and the 2 men in the car seemed out of place. Vanessa was there as a talk to and I don't think we need to delve into her story as yet. As for the 2 guys WTF? A brief scene b/w 2 new characters-not needed. I liked the outdoor sister scenes, I guess that was outside the studio? Hope they can incorporate more, provides variety. Martin's acting prowess is suspect at this stage. Of the two sisters Naomi was stronger. Dana and Mona were fine but nurse mom is bland. Andre explaining his past to people who know was forced. Maybe had it been an anniversary or a parents birthday etc it would have made the dialogue more natural. Dani's on her umpteenth costume change and evertbody else still in the same duds.

I think a reboot of GL that is based on the original radio concept could be viable . A minister and his daughter (Rev Rutledge and Mary) the idealistic young man (Ned Holden) the embittered artist with mysterious past (Eliis) , the striving immigrant family (the Kranskys) etc. Update those characters with different ethnicities and give the stories a modern twist and away you go. A more realistic and issues based soap to contrast/ complement the more glitzy shows.

If there is an illegitimate child in the offing it would be good if Vernon knew about him all along , rather than the usual soap plot of discovering him as an adult. Maybe Anita could know as well and kept the secret. Real Mom could be in on it as well. And hell, why not have the son be aware also.

Shooting till 8pm I'm sure would be overtime and there's no way Days would be paying a cent more than the minimum. Would be interesting to know how a typical shooting day is arranged. Are they taping according to what sets are available or what actors are there that day? The logistics must be horrendous and it must heavily influence how the writers plot out the week - if they are still mapping out a week at a time in the traditional way.

The empty bar trolley?

Well Tom's long lost Asian daughter didn't get much of a look in after her first go round either. Irna tried that story twice-on Love Is A Many Splendored Thing the character lasted a few months and then when she went back to ATWT. The minute she was fired Amy was out of Oakdale.

How come the Dani/Bill wedding photos (supposedly 30 years ago) have the character looking like they do today? Dani went straight for that golf club w/o a sideways glance. Does Bill always leave it there?

It must be so freeing (and maybe a little daunting) for MVJ to have a blank canvas to work with. No Sonny, Victor etc who have done everything but still have to seen 3 times a week. Or having no room on the canvas to introduce new characters,. I wonder how far ahead the show has been plotted? Obviously things change when the actual writing takes place. But I'm sure she is smart enough to have a lot of possibilities waiting to be brought into play. Mainstream reviews I have read are favorable. Let's hope the initial numbers are strong.

I think we might be more interested in Ashley if there was some hospital drama depicted rather than her just chatting at the Nurses station (with the empty shelf) There was all this talk of her beginning this long anticipated career so some encounters with difficult patients or maybe disappointment that she was assigned admin stuff? Again maybe something is coming...

The Damian/Nate story is interesting because it is something FRESH. Seeing Sharon kidnapped again, Victor going after Jack, Adam/Chelsea etc is just variations on what has occurred over decades with these characters. It's hard to come up with new angles for vet characters but Josh makes no effort. If it worked in 85, 95, 05 and 2015 it'll work again! now seems to be his mantra.

Or have a whole day pass in an episode? Show a weekend? Or make clear that several days have passed b/w episodes?

So many interesting comments from everyone. The hospital scene with Mom and the two women showing up was awkward, especially the 'I've only known you for a few months, but you're fulfilling your destiny spiel' from the daughter. I still don't know their names or how they are connected to the nurse. Are the two older women friends? Day 1- Dani punches someone out Day 2 Dani destroys the desk Day 3 ??? She bulldozes Bill and Hayley's new home??? I don't want to see DID,a murder, or any of those soap cliches so soon. Let the characters provide the drama, not an evil twin etc I though Nicole's house looked a little sterile, although maybe that was intentional to reflect her more reserved personality. Some pattern, texture and color please. I wonder how long this day will go for? I want to see Tamara out of that silver space suit!

Episode 2 was a better watch for me. Of course because it was the 2nd ep and some stuff had been established. I thought Clifton came across better this time. Need to give the actors time to settle in. Karla was giving more depth and Daphnee continued to shine. Still a few too many characters telling each other how wonderful they are and having conversations to explain relationships. I'm glad Bill isn't a complete villian-gives the character greater longevity. We still are not sure why he ditched Danni this time after other affairs. Maybe she just got too old. The new supporting characters-the other nurse and Nicole's older assistant were fine. Do the Duprees have a housekeeper? So far , no. Hello husband/hello husband -cringe. The gays were not allowed a kiss? They didn't seem a good match first time around. Saddling them with teen kids?

Reminds me of BITD when ABC premiered A World Apart up against Search for Tomorrow. The Friday before SFT had Joanne in a car accident cliffhanger. Irna Phillips (creator of AWA) sent a message to SFT congratulating them on their strategy.

After a second watch. Standouts for me were Daphnee and Timon. They came across natural and gave us a good sense of their characters. Tamara is fine but was stuck with a lot of unnatural dialogue. Karla needs to reign it in. A character like that needs finesse. Not a fan of Dani resorting to violence. I think a better choice would have been for her to slay her rival with some well chosen words. I didn't think Clifton showed the gravitas needed for the patriarch role. He seemed way too meek and gentle and a little hesitant. It was too soon to really judge the others but yes,the Derek character and Dani's daughter and her cousin seemed very raw. There was too much expository dialogue .Plenty of time for backstories and history to be revealed w/o overloading the first ep. The white couple seemed out of place but I guess they felt they needed to be included in Ep #1 so viewers would know it was not a totally black cast.

I wonder if GH will make some gesture ? Would be a classy and positive thing to do.

Todays DOOL was probably taped before Beyond The Gates was even announced.

I enjoyed it. Pretty much delivered what was on the tin. Would have liked at least one more location scene to provide some variety. That scene at the end with all of the Duprees rooted to the spot during the confrontation needed better staging, maybe some individual close ups? And then them all filing past with dagger looks... The white hospital set was a miss. Lighting could be softened a touch to give the sets more moodiness. Love the posters referring to 'the white couple'-in years past it would have been 'the black couple' And the male cast, down to the extras -yowsah! The costuming/styling was great. Y&R needs to up their game several notches.