te.

I actually have no problems with Johnny not knowing or having asked too much about his conception. I mean, I would've just assumed she was with Lucas and had an affair with EJ, especially as she went on to marry him. I probably wouldn't have been too inclined to think about the practicalities of it either. I also don't have an issue with there being an unspoken / off screen "pact" with the adults. Again, that would've been Sami's place to tell him and Allie. That's because James Scott was hot, let's be real. It's the same issue that always comes up with soap opera rapists - often TPTB wants to cast a nice "hot" hunk to play the part to make a point, but then the audience takes to said hunk and they feel pressured to either retcon, redeem them or ignore it. Just look at how some wanted Charlie to stay because they thought Mike Manning was hot. Or of course the horrible example of Ben, the reformed serial killer of women. Soaps in general need to get better at sticking to their guns and not let audience popularity sway them in these cases.

Meh, get Heidi to perform her hit album Superficial on the show. Actually, just have her do that, it would be better than the current show! I'd tune in.

Lol, yeah, Dee actually looks great there.

Indeed. I've said it before, but 90% of Ashley's scenes have been other characters telling us how great Ashley is. It's been very tell, but not show. I actually don't have issues with Jen Jacobs as I'm not sure how anyone could really play those scenes believably (I thought she's was ok when she actually had a real conversation with Naomi); I think ole' Lughead is slowly improving too and his part isn't really taxing so I don't have huge issues with him either as long as he can upgrade himself to Soap Opera Meathead in the vein of Austin Peck at least (lofty goals I know). But the way they're telling this Andre / Ashley / Derek story is just... dreadful. It's not even autopilot, it's just plain bad writing. You could recast them all with competent experienced actors and it would still suck because the scripts are just bad. I guess my TL;DR is that I don't see a purpose in recasting these characters unless the scripts improve. It's not like some of the other green newbies where the script is there but they're not delivering. It'd be better to have them ride into the sunset if need to be and up Cady and someone else to contract.

I mean, we know there were production issues - stuff like the lighting equipment not having arrived and CBS forcing them to start filming because they didn't want to delay it further. We also know that they spent time reshooting scenes, had to get an experienced soap videographer out of retirement to help them out and Tamara Tunie sending out an e-mail about "professionalism" (ouch), so it wouldn't surprise me if it did get delayed from whatever projected airdate CBS had in mind. I guess we'll see next week if there's a big set up for the pre-emption cliffhanger and that's why this week's Friday cliffhanger seemed off (or rather, seemed to have happened on Thursday).

It was just speculation, but it would've made more sense for it to premiere in January with The Talk ending in December.

Add that period pieces tend to be a lot more expensive just because of the wardrobe alone since you not only have to dress the cast, but all the extras and there's no such thing as "off the rack". Then all the sets you'd have to construct... there's a distinct reason period pieces almost always end up in the bin. For daytime it would've been incredibly expensive. They likely only used the tv movie bombing as an excuse to let them down gently.

To be honest, I think the main issue is that 90% of the scenes so far has been about propping up Ashley one way or another, but particularly with them continuously telling us what a great nice nurse-person she is rather than showing us. And it's not like it would be hard to show her being caring, compassionate etc. They've done a great job with showing us that Nicole is level-headed, caring and compassionate so I'm not sure why they feel the need to hit us over the head with Ashley. Just give her more scenes with other characters where the scene isn't about the other characters telling us how great she is. I'll never get why writers sometimes insist on doing this sort of insane propping up since it never works and is always awkward.

After the dire streak with Body & Soul I'm happy to see the show looking juicy again. The necklace story is dire in general, but I always like Melinda Trask and seeing Julie go head-to-head with her will be fun at least. I'm not sure if Ron was put under strict supervision when writing the transition to the next writers or if he just decided to go out with a bang, but I'm here for it.

They're airing DAYS now? I don't think next week seems that interesting. Might save the episodes for a weekend binge.

Yeah, I don't see what was bad about Johnny's reaction either - his entire identity was just put into a spin with this information. I don't think it's odd he reacts a bit self-centered. I agree Allie should've been here for this though to help him put it more into context. Also, I hope Belle is publicly roasted for her hoe ways with EJ now that we're done pretending about Johnny's conception.

I mean, I'd say in their daytime line up GMA3 is far more problematic at this point. General Hospital grows out of it and tends to be top ten on the Hulu charts. Networks don't tend to worry as much as beating other shows in the timeslot as much as improving the overall performance on their line ups.

There's a whole generation that's only ever known streaming at this point and "Netflix drops". You often see them getting into linear tv shows and being confused at the concept of not only one episode at a time, but the fact that there's episodes spread out and aired irregularly during nine months. At least Beyond the Gates doesn't have that problem (except for pre-emptations).

I suspect that's the case - I've noticed he only ever seems to talk with the lower part of his mouth. He doesn't look unhealthy, so yeah - I think botched or ongoing dental work. I agree with those that say that it should've been Lucas flipping out. I think BD would've also given the scene more gravitas than JT can at the moment.

Re: families. I don't think we need a rival family at this point to be honest as the show is busy as it is at the moment. They can always pull out that card once Silkpress's revenge business is done and Bill / Dani / Hayley winds down. Not everything needs to be introduced at once (if anything I think they've introduced too many c-storylines at the moment that don't have the ability to grow for a while due to the business of the A/B storylines) - we're just about to end week 3!

BTG fell a bit in total viewers because of the inflated premiere, but held steady in the important demographics so that's good. Hopefully it can stay stable and maybe even grow from here.

He lives in Atlanta, so I'd be surprised if they won't use him more (in fact, kind of shocked he wasn't cast in a main role).

I'd suspect that Jon Lindstrom was a part of the re-filmed material they did. It would explain why it looks so make-shift.

I kind of agree, but then again, after suffering through Body & Soul for months it might just look a lot better in comparison. But then again - I don't think Ron was fired as much as he reached the end of a contract cycle and was let go. But who knows how many months in advance he was let known? They might've given him directions or something to follow to even out the transition to the new writers. He obviously didn't just come into the office one day and was let go in the middle of writing scripts. Otherwise I'd feel there'd be a lot more immediate changes. Then again, as much as I'm loving the build up to But then again, that we're finally getting secrets that have been boiling for decades finally coming out I don't mind predictable storytelling.

I don't mind Jen Jacobs, but honestly, the writing has been dismal for her and Derek mostly. I just don't get why they have to constantly remind us what an amazing person she is - if you have to say it, it's probably not true lol. She and Derek are the definition of filler material, but I guess she and Dani might eventually go head-to-head over Andre so that might make things interesting. He just seems to oddly over-enunciate some words and it's very awkward. They definitively need him to work with an acting coach because I'm seeing the other newbies gradually improving. There are some sour spots, but compared to week one even ole' Lughead is less stale. Wednesday's show was so-so honestly. I think the issue is that we've had so little exposure to the c-plots so far and they kind of dominated this episode. But not every day will be a winner for soaps and set ups needs to be done.

That's worrying, because it indicates that they didn't get rid of Ron because they were unhappy with the material he was delivering but potentially needed cheaper options. Unfortunately, sometimes I fear the rot is far too set in on this show at this point to ever turn it around properly.

Eh, I hope they write Chad out. However, if they're having money woes it might be as simple as they just don't have the money to pay a ten year tenured actor on the show what they deserve. It'll be interesting if we see more cuts.

This is why it would've made more sense for Martin to be Anita and Vernon's youngest child - besides the obvious age issues with him and Nicole, it would certainly explain why he'd be so desperate for approval by Vernon to the point where it's self-destructive. Being the only male child of Vernon and Anita, being the one who's supposed to continue the family name and trying hard to fit into that mold would explain a lot. I just don't think the same type of pressure applies with Nicole and Ted who so far have come across as very level-headed and modern-day progressive.

I agree - I don't think they should have her actually cross that line until they feel like they've run out of story for her. I don't want a murderer running around and getting away with it on the canvas because they can't let go of her crazy vibe. That's why I'm a bit worried that they pulled the "Sherry Carter" stunt already - Nicole sees her and connects her and Eva then it's going to be hard to explain her not putting the pieces together without dumbing her down. I choose to have more trust in the writers for now, but I fear they'll just be too tempted eventually. Same with how I want them to stick to their guns with killing off characters unless it's an obvious "soap opera death" (which is why I'd be against killing off Naomi since that's the type of character that's tied to the main family and could be useful down the road).

I wonder if the recent deaths of beloved actors have made DAYS's money woes worse? I can't imagine doing these tribute episodes have been cheap.