Michael

This person isn't Sasha or Willow or Esme or Molly already?

I thought nuRHONY worked much better than I thought it would. Yes, it's a different show than what we had with the OGs, but that makes the transition easier in a way. And the cheese fight was funny to me -- the fact that the rest of them were sitting around laughing about how insane it was, and then even the women involved wound up laughing at it, went a long way. If they harped on this for an entire season, I would lose my mind. Brynn could be fun as a pot-stirrer, but she's giving me Kelly Dodd energy in terms of eventually becoming too unhinged to be on the show. I agree that Jenna could have worked as an addition to the prior cast.

Koslow and Rinna definitely do come off more like sisters than mother and daughter, LOL.

In an alternate universe where the show wasn't littered with recasts of various talent levels playing characters who exhibit little or no resemblance to their prior selves, I could actually see GT as Sami more than as Billie. The age thing would bother me with Billie, I think, even though I know GT was really young for Phyllis, too. But we just saw Lisa Rinna (who's 60) as Billie in 2021. Gina isn't even 50 yet. It would feel glaring. Actually... GT as Cassie?

They've dropped the ball really badly with both Holly and Parker. Does Nicole even remember that Holly's lurking somewhere around that DiMera mansion? I know it's tough to use child performers much, and I suspect they're keeping Parker's age vague on purpose, but it makes Nicole and Chloe both look so awful.

They need a Philip for the Victor tribute stuff. I thought he grew into the role all right toward the end of his 2015-16 run, and this is one of those times where it's like... I'd just prefer to have the character involved in some capacity.

Well deserved! I sorta agree with Andy that it's befuddling none of the RH shows have ever received a nomination -- but we know the stigma that "trashy" reality shows carry. This kind of feels like a barrier being broken down, if nothing else.

I can see what you mean there. There's just such a weird disconnect for me -- I just don't pin that on Rikaart, who I think is doing a good job with the material he's been given, and it isn't his fault he isn't 28 (or doesn't look it). Once they decided to make Leo more of a regular thing, I don't know why the writers didn't adjust accordingly. They could totally have written into that! It always felt odd to me that Will and Sonny were mixed up with this dude was a good 10-15 years older than them, and that was never an issue, but Leo being with Craig was SUCH a scandal. There's actually a bigger age difference between Zack Tinker & GR than there is between GR & Kevin Spirtas!

I don't think Leo is unlikable because of GR's performance. I think he generally does a good job with what he's given. It's just largely Too Much of what should be a very, very supporting character, and they've done too many fake-outs where he seems to learn a lesson and then regresses with no explanation. And it irritates me that they seem to craft entire scenes and scenarios around giving him these pithy one-liners that would largely be funny in isolation but feel like they come at the expense of solid storytelling, characters I care about, or even basic logic. Of course, there's the larger problem that they don't know where the line is with him hitting on every straight man he comes across. It's one thing for him to make a comment to Gwen about how hot Xander is, but the constant sexual harassment is a bad look. One thing that I struggle with, with GR in the role, is that he's very clearly a guy in his mid-40s. It seems like Leo was conceived and introduced as someone who was supposed to be, like, 28, and they still write him that way. But I'm sitting there going, "This man is 45 and should know better." That factor aside, I don't think the casting is an issue with Leo.

Nothing about the new RHONY is blowing me away yet. It all looks... "fine." I'll certainly give the show itself a chance. Welcome to Crappie Lake is delightful. I love seeing the women as their oblivious selves and yet also not looking down on the town or its people. There's a general kindness to the whole thing that I find endearing. Although Sonja seems DRUNK in every single scene...

Man. Way, way too young.

Dimitri's father is someone we've never met or previously heard of named Oscar Von Leuschner. Megan said it in dialogue a few weeks ago. We have no idea how the broader family tree lays out, but presumably this Oscar is the brother of Carly and Frankie's father. The Von Leuschners and Alamains aren't related. They said something in the first Beyond Salem about how the Alamainian Peacock originally belonged to the Von Leuschners and was supposed to be part of Carly's dowry when she married Lawrence, so that's why Dimitri wanted it back. Nicholas Alamain is both an Alamain (through his father, Lawrence) and a Von Leuschner (through his mother, Carly), though -- he's the sole link between the two families.

Someone on this thread (I think) had at one point suggested that Debbi Morgan could return as her PC character, Ellen, which could also work if she were open to doing GH.

Seems like it's doing impressive numbers and getting good press thus far, and I'd love to see an adequate Twitter replacement take over. But functionality-wise... I use Twitter for way different things than I use Instagram for. I don't necessarily want my soap discussion friends to be following my Instagram, or for all my family and friends who follow me on Insta to be seeing my soap discussions or whatever (not even that I CARE about them seeing it, it just seems weird to be serving that stuff to them). I dunno, having them all linked doesn't make it very appealing for me.

It's definitely supposed to be the same space, but they rotated it 90 degrees. Except the entrance that connects the living room to the foyer is still where it used to be, right?

Good call! Thanks. Probably both. The Diana who showed up in 2019 played by Judith Chapman was absolutely not the same character that Genie Francis played in the 80s.

Leo was thought to have been killed when Will and Sonny rolled him up in that carpet. Nicole "died" in that warehouse explosion. I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty of people. I don't think Justin has ever been thought dead, though I could be forgetting something.

I don't think Xander has. Gwen, neither. Wendy hasn't... Johnny was, as a kid. I don't think Paulina and Chanel have been presumed dead. Or Gabi, but I might be forgetting something there. Actually, Brady has been at death's door but I don't think has ever been presumed dead! He's probably the longest-running character right now who hasn't been. What a cartoon.

Why did Tripp go in to work at the hospital right after he was downing tequila shots with Wendy? I know we're low on doctors here, but jeez.

Ugh, hated even seeing these headlines. Hoping for a quick and full recovery.

I have to say, I'm liking Cameron Johnson more as Theo this go-round. I wish they'd invest in this character more.

I think the biggest problem was that we never had a sense that Hope was looking for Bo or had any idea that he was "out there somewhere." The audience was longing for it, but that was never baked into what we saw onscreen. Super-weird. I also have a (completely unfounded) theory that the showdown where Bo was about to shoot Kate was the original climax of the BS3 story, and that was supposed to be Hope on the other end of the gun and that's where Shawn would've shot Bo. So perhaps BS3 itself would've been confined to that lab setting rather than all the crap with "Bo Kiriakis" taking Kayla to Greece. It says a lot that the absolute best part of the entire arc was that final episode where Hope was at the hospital with Shawn and Ciara.

She said numerous times she would never be back "in Salem," for one thing. That's why she agreed to do a BS special but not the main show originally. Editing to avoid drama even though my post has been quoted. I still think the recent Bope arc was a mess and there were a lot of production constraints at play, which have been discussed elsewhere.

She's CHILL! Can't write a press release without input from at least two men, but she's a COOL CHICK!

This always kills me. "Chugging from the bottle" is code for Drinking Problem, whereas "pouring a glass of liquor from your living room bar at 10 a.m." is absolutely normal in soap world.