detroitpiston

So based on Parry Shen’s SOD interview and Cassandra James twitter feed they were given their scripts and shooting dates two days in advance, Frank directed the scenes himself and they were filmed August 2nd. Smells like Frank put a plan to answer potential backlash against dumping Blaze before things could get fully ugly. 🕵🏾‍♂️

Thanks for sharing @LostinHarmony and @Liberty City Love that the show will be filmed in a newly built studio. All of the news we’ve gotten so far has been indicating money being well spent to set the series up for success and high production value. I never thought we’d see a new soap let alone a black lead one getting this kind of effort.

Exactly. It provides a nice demarcation so if I’m behind a few episodes I could stop reading the thread after a certain point to avoid spoilers and get a sense of where the discussion viewpoints are based on. Their line readings are very unnatural and almost take me out of the viewing experience. They sound like people trying to remember and spit out dialogue as opposed to people just having a normal conversation. A lot of the cast hired post Frankie V taking over deliver their lines like this and its really hard to listen to. I agree that the show has been more entertaining overall. I thought the character work and dialogue during PM’s tenure was much stronger quality wise but these last few weeks have made for an easier, mindlessly soapy watch that suits FV’s producing capabilities better. I expect to be bothered by the contrived plotting that’s already reared its head sooner or later but I’m not as ready to drop the show like I expected to be.

IDK I kind of like the credit posting as a signal that a new episode has aired and about to be discussed. 🤷🏾‍♂️ Jagger has gone full throttle with the vengeance today. I laughed so hard at him arresting Kristina and saying she could bring the wheelchair, he’s ice cold man I wonder how much longer he’ll stick around and how far the writers take him off the ledge. Molly’s scenes with Jordan were good even though ole girl playing Jordan is a very robotic actress. I’m glad Jordan confronted her about abandoning TJ and the fam while they packed the baby nursery and it was nice how she and an offscreen Robert still had Molly’s back but checked her for visiting Ava in her cell. Molly finally got to vocalize her doubt in Kristina’s being innocent in the Ava hotel confrontation too. I much prefer watching Laura worried about her kids as opposed to running around with a cape on for Heather Webber. Her scenes with Anna and Dante were good today and I’m curious who she found in Lulu’s hospital room. Jason telling Anna and later Sonny it was Valentine behind the med tampering was good but man I wish he wasn’t back to being Sonny’s lackey. I mentioned Jordan’s robotic acting but Brad and Terry gave her a run for her money, my goodness. You can tell CVE is back in the main seat when these lame recurring players start popping back up. I could’ve done without all the Brit talk as well I hope they aren’t hinting at a return for that character.

I’ma stand beside you lol I loved their chemistry together. I’m fine with her and Spinelli for right now though

Jagger arresting Kristina while she’s checking out of the hospital was nasty work, my goodness. So was Scotty leaving the pharm doc with Jason, glad we got the reveal of Valentine’s involvement with the med swap. Molly and TJ were once again the standouts for me this episode. Loved their scenes trying to finalize details for the baby and TJ confronting her for using work to avoid helping. Molly’s scenes with Alexis confronting her for always putting Kristina first and TJ asking Ava about the hotel incident were really good too. The Brennan/Laura/Anna scenes were fun, love that Brennan is trolling Anna for helping Valentine run off with Laura’s grandbaby. Wasn’t expecting the Lulu cliffhanger, I wonder if they already cast an actress and have her gearing up to air soon. The Scorpio/Jones gang I really hope they fire Sasha and Cody next.

Reeses Pieces to me felt like heavy Pratt influence, KW’s casting included with Guza tying her to Carly to try and make things interesting but none of it working on screen. I did enjoy her catfights with Carly though and Alan smacking the hell out of her 😂 The Pratt/Guza/JFP tug of war era was so messy by the end. The show was all over the place and felt like three different voices throwing [!@#$%^&*] at the wall and the lead actors just doing whatever the hell they wanted with the material instead. I remember when Pratt finally dipped for primetime and Guza’s first official solo episode was Bobbie and the hospital gang working in the ER. I don’t think he gets enough credit for shifting some of the focus of the show back to hospital drama even if they were clearly cashing in on the Grey’s Anatomy hype. I was on SOC and ABC boards at the time and I couldn’t believe how nasty the comments were about her daily, she really never stood a chance. I don’t believe she’s worked since and I felt awful when the firing was announced because she had just been in SOD talking about buying a new house with her husband and being pregnant. Later on it was revealed she’d had a miscarriage and that was the last update I remember hearing about other than rumors she was joining in on Kari Wuhrer’s lawsuit alongside Leslie Kaye.

I hate when yall make me have to go search for stuff 🤦🏾‍♂️ 😂 I’m not bothered by her responses tbh. Stop tagging these actors in negative comments and expecting them not to respond.

I’m with @titan1978 I think JFP was dead serious about making JB work in the role but it was just never gonna happen. I remember the last ditch effort too when they lightened her hair and started having her do more press interviews to try and sway the audience but they were still brutal to her. I know when Laura Wright originally met with Frons it was about getting her on one of the NY soaps and then pivoted to Carly afterward. If Kari Wuher hadn’t got pregnant they probably would have left Carly in the mental hospital for a few years and kept Reese as the new female lead instead of recasting again.

I’m hoping JHC can get Judy Blye Wilson to do some casting work for the show.

All of that sounds great and I love that they have characters living outside of the gates with high ambitions.

Woof. That info doesn’t bode well for me considering this material these last couple of episodes has been mostly boredom inducing mid. Missing kid plots where everyone spilts up and screams the child’s name 100 times are just so tired and we just had a big water stunt, did we really need another so soon? I get they wanted an easy way to set Cody up as a hero and have Mac forgive him but come on. In the year 2024 no kid is running around without a device that can easily be tracked and no way Spinelli the FBI hacker doesn’t have those children on surveillance. All that said, James overhearing Willow and Nina discuss the forbidden kiss and attraction for Drew was hilarious and I liked Willow’s explanation of being bored of and lacking trust with Michael. Still hoping Mikey goes full Alan Jr when this story gets ramped up. Deception scenes were a snoozefest but I like that Lucy is played with a bit more dignity again instead of a complete joke like she has the last few months. I liked Tracy wanting no parts of Sonny’s involvement too. Now Ava, Scotty and Jagger were the best part of the show for me, I enjoy this gruesome threesome. Ava’s totally about to run the bus over Jagger but I’m glad because he’s definitely stacking the deck against her hiding the pharma doc at Wyndemere. I’m happy he sparked the idea of using the images to show Kristina was the aggressor in the hotel incident though, and she absolutely was.

Molly and TJ have gotten some really compelling material these last few weeks and with the work Kristen Vaganos and Tahj Bellows have been doing I’m more invested in them than any of the other pairings currently on the show. I’m hoping with KV being upped to contract regular that the show actually does allow them to lead story going forward but we all know how the racism embedded in this show works.

So I’ve been watching the early seasons of Knots Landing for the first time (I only ever watched the Mack and Greg Sumner years) and I’m almost gobsmacked by how much Melrose Place clearly took inspiration for their first couple of seasons, right down to the character templates and storylines. Some of this stuff feels literally bar for bar man but Knots definitely did it better 😂

Record low ratings for 20+ weeks. Blaming it on the head writer you never wanted and America not liking to see happy lesbians on Daytime is a real easy scapegoat… especially when they were one of the only consistent pairings airing during this last regime. I think JGL was a mid actress and I’m not sad to see her go but the optics do look funny. Especially with Natalia staying on the show. I predict Kristina remains single for the next few months until they feel the coast is clear and they pair her with a man again (probably Dex).

Today was mostly a snooze fest for me. The only thing that really held my interest were the Willow and Drew scenes and Sonny and Lois making up. Everything else 💤 That scene with Tracy and Cody talking about Finn reeked of setting up his return. I really hope we are spared, the show is so much more pleasant without the OLTL crew running around the canvas playing their #525,600 character.

These streaming channels aren’t really about trying to make a successful programing block, they’re just utilizing space with old content that would collect dust otherwise. The channels that can pick up 10k or so viewers consistently are considered easy wins and they don’t care about the audience watching all of the episodes because the show will play on endless loop for ages anyway. CBS used to put more effort into actual blocks until they realized they got more consistent viewers running one series on repeat.

Nice goodbye message. Her being surprised and how quickly this exit happened with the new regime takeover certainly gives me some thoughts lol. Frank really sticks to his old playbook.

Daytime is too sanitized to really go there but I would have leaned more into her religious upbringing. Showcase the debauchery, hypocrisy and brainwashing that can happen in church in an earth shattering way that forces her to question her faith lessons and judgement. Instead they’re relying on Ava exposing her and Sonny still making googly eyes and it just doesn’t land.

I guess that’s a wrap on Blaze lol? That felt like a very hard writing pivot, Kristina pretty much gave Blaze her ass to kiss. Mulcahey must have been the one responsible for their storyline this whole time. Good luck to Eva La Rue who seems to be sticking around, for her sake I hope they bring on Natalia’s son and can redeem the character for the audience because I do see value in her being on the cast, the character was just not started on the right foot. Molly’s face while Kristina showed her the pictures of her confrontation with Ava was telling. I’m looking forward to her hopefully calling Kristina out for being reckless and irresponsible. Ava, Scotty and Jagger walking into the Metro Court restaurant was brazen lol I loved Carly dragging Jagger specifically with the dig about ignoring his son. I didn’t buy her allowing them to stay and eat though, as soon as CVE appeared in the credits again we went back to these really contrived character actions that are clearly just for setting up a scene to happen. Jagger is definitely going under the bus for Ava and its what he deserves. Anna looked kind of goofy with Brennan today and not in a intriguing way, I prefer him and Carly. I did not enjoy Anna’s scenes warning Sonny and Jason to leave Ava alone though. We did not need Tracy and Violet having a tea party all episode. Send that little girl offscreen with her mom please.

I didn’t mind the Miguel call back, it felt appropriate but maybe would have landed better to tie it into him doing a favor for Lois.

Today felt like CVE resetting the canvas back to how he had it. Willow got her job as a nurse back and I’m glad they did that. Her scenes with Kristina were actually pretty good. I hope we get scenes of similar understanding with Kristina and Sam soon. Looks like Blaze is headed for an exit. We all just had this discussion my feelings remain the same lol, she can go. Kristina was so cold with her. Curious how long Eva La Rue will last without a child on canvas. I like Brennan and enjoyed his scenes with Carly and Anna. I don’t know how I feel about a potential triangle yet but everyone has good chemistry so far so there is potential. Molly and TJ got some great scenes today talking about his need for religious rituals during grief and her wanting legal justice.. Really good acting from both actors there. Nina and Maxie scenes were fun I like their dynamic. Nina’s motivation for keeping Drew distracted with sex feels a bit contrived but I’ll roll with it I guess because I enjoy their chemistry. Overall enjoyable episode today but I’m still watching with caution.

GH Twitter sure loves a fake actor conspiracy theory. 🙄

I’m okay with the flip flopping when its appropriate. If Missy could be there for Doug’s funeral that was a no brainer but I prefer Cady when they have some story to give Jack and Jen.

I’m still waiting for her to shake off the “recurring bit player” feel and be a little more comfortable and confident on screen. Its like soaps cast one half of gay couples like this on purpose and it always drags the pairing down for me (Tessa from Y&R, Sonny on Days, Noah on ATWT, Natalia on GL, Lena on AMC all had the same problem).