BTG: History, Behind the Scenes Articles & Photos

[Soaplovers]

Right now, I'm sure writers are being hired, story is being mapped out, and perhaps sets are being determined.

As we all know, going from a show Bible to reality takes time.

[SteelCity]

That is quite random and oddly specific!

[Faulkner]

I agree. You’re developing the first daytime soap in 25 years, a history-making event, and you don’t even celebrate it on your sole primetime showcase devoted to the genre? 

And it doesn’t just have to be about staffing news. It could be someone from the network going more in depth about why they pivoted to soaps, etc. What’s the backstory? Who approached who? MVJ is probably slammed with developing, but they could trot out a CBS rep to talk about it. This is 2024. Gotta think a little outside the box and the old rulebook. There needs to be a different strategy to keep people’s interest level up and cut through the noise that is our world today.

Hopefully, they have an ace card up their sleeves and surprise us with some huge names that go well beyond known daytime stars. Maybe Vivica A. Fox returns to her daytime roots? Maybe they’ve lured a few sitcom favorites on the level of Jackée to the show. (Mo’Nique!) It’s getting hard out there for actors at every level, especially for Black actresses of a certain age, and some “A-listers” or people who are “A-list adjacent” might leap at a chance for a steady gig, perhaps with some outs to do other stuff.

Edited July 12, 2024 by Faulkner

[ReddFoxx]

When I dream about soaps it is always like that, at random and in detail.

[DRW50]

I would guess they're keeping as far away from Mo'Nique as possible.

I do feel like the general lack of promotion is just a sad reality for today's soap world - they know there isn't a lot of interest, or they assume there isn't and don't care about changing that.

If they want to get back some lapsed soap fans, I would say they should consider hiring Debbi Morgan. 

[Chris B]

I noticed in an article about The Bay casting, one of the new cast members is listed as being from The Gates. 
 

 

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/jackie-zeman-general-hospital-the-bay-special-episode-1236067738/amp/

[Vee]

They mean the TV show The Gates from 2010.

[DramatistDreamer]

Measured promotion is a reality for most network television, I think unless you’re doing a reboot/revival or doing CSI, L&O or Grey’s Anatomy. I am hard-pressed to think of any new network television series that will debut next year that is getting a lot of promotion right now.  I am not talking about “prestige television” series that are usually showing on some streaming platform anyway. 
When B&B debuted, I was in primary school so beyond those teasers shown in early 1987, I am not sure what major promotion was done beforehand.

NGL though, I was hoping that Sheila Duckworth would put in an appearance at Essence Fest to at least mention that there was a breakthrough series on the horizon in January 2025. That seems like a missed opportunity, given the huge crowds who turn out for the festival.

[DRW50]

That's true, but I think there was a hope given the momentous decision to order a new soap for the first time since 1987 that they might make more effort. I suppose it gets us prepared for how little expectation to have.

I don't know what major promotion was done for B&B either. I know they started those glossy promos a few months before the show hit the air, based on what's on Youtube.

[DramatistDreamer]

It might be a little bit too early to predict and I am just going to try keep an open mind. If by Thanksgiving, I see scant promotion, then I will know something is wrong but I would give to at least Labor Day before citing a lack of effort.

And for people who might complain that it might get lost in the attention given to prime time television debuts, if promotion starts too early, people can start to ignore and eventually forget about it anyway. 

[DRW50]

I suppose given everything going on this summer and fall, I can't blame them. A part of me also wonders if they are afraid Trump and the GOP ecosystem will use promotion of a soap opera with a black female creator and presumably a large number of black talent in front of and behind the camera as some kind of rallying cry against the network. I hope that isn't a factor. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Nah, I doubt it. If the GOP/TFG is focused on a daytime soap among so many other issues that would be an indictment against their priorities. 

The only thing I remember were those promos that would air during the mid show bumpers of the other CBS daytime soaps. I don’t remember those promos ever airing during prime time. TV may have had print ads from stills of those same television promos but I don’t remember so I am not sure.

Also, from a writer’s perspective, I would put the smack down on anyone trying to leak anything right now. Folks would just have to sweat out the summer before any clues begin to emerge.

Edited July 13, 2024 by DramatistDreamer

[Faulkner]

This is uncharted territory for a daytime soap to launch in this kind of crowded media environment, especially when the networks essentially left this genre for dead for so many years. It was a whole different world when Passions premiered (1999) and may as well be a different universe from when CBS last launched a new soap (B&B in 1987). It’s a truly unique event that doesn’t have any apples-to-apples comparisons (which is why I’m questioning using traditional methods).

I’m curious what kind of promotional strategy they’ll employ. It’s fascinating to me.

Ads during CBS Daytime (both on linear and Paramount+ streams of the soaps) will be a given. If this were Frons era ABC (which owned their soaps), he’d force some kind of crossover event on the current soaps. But that’s also a different era. I’d hate to see what that would look like on modern-day Y&R and B&B. 

Obviously they have a target audience in mind, and CBS has a lot of primetime series that have rated well with Black viewers (The Equalizer being No. 1). NFL comes back early September.

CBS will be premiering most of its fall schedule in October, with Equalizer coming 10/27:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/cbs-fall-2024-tv-premiere-dates-1235947646/amp

BET would be a great platform of course, and they’re luckily still part of the corporate family (even though it’s costly talked about as up for same). What major fall events/premieres are lined up for them? The BET Awards have come and gone. I could see them rerunning episodes on BET for increased visibility, but that would be post-premiere.

An A-lister might help, even if it’s a short premiere arc, like what The City tried to do with Morgan Fairchild back in the ‘90s. Victoria Rowell making a return to soaps would probably be the biggest story in terms of actors primarily known for their soap work, only because she’s still so popular and hasn’t worked on daytime in 20 years. But someone we’d be surprised to see on daytime would really help cut through the noise.
 

 

Edited July 13, 2024 by Faulkner

[Vee]

I'm not going to make any assumptions about promotion or lack thereof so soon. They're still staffing up.

[Liberty City]

I agree; I don't doubt CBS' dedication to this soap, and I also have the mindset that no news, right now, is good news. If too much came out NOW I'd be worried/bored. Plus, I suspect they'll maintain the standard six-to-eight weeks tape-to-air model the other CBS soaps follow. So, I suspect September/October/November production, a break for Thanksgiving through the New Year, and then a return in January. So, I suspect, we'll have one-to-two months of material shot prior to airing.