BTG: April 2025 Discussion Thread

[1974mdp]

Leslie/Dana is still the best part of the show for me. Eva is also turning into one of my favorites.

However, yesterday was the first episode that I didn't finish. I got busy with dinner, and later that night, realized I never finished the show that day. But, I didn't go back to it. I knew nothing really interesting would happen, and there would be no story movement at all. I just don't think that's good for a show that's trying to bring in new viewers, including ones new to a daily soap. It just feels like everything has been in a holding pattern for weeks.

[Marco Dane]

Yeah some of the stories are getting a little dull

[Vanguardian53]

Yep! With all of these people involved with this show: writers, directors, producers, etc. Why is it looking like this show doesn't really have its act together?

[INFJWill]

Too many cooks in the kitchen perhaps? Those scripts have to past through so many layers of bureaucracy before they finally make it to air. The showrunners, CBS, Proctor & Gamble, NAACP, etc. Granted none of us know what the story bible looks like, I shudder to think this is MVJ's original untempered vision playing out 

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[ReddFoxx]

At the start there were complaints that the pacing was too fast but now things are apparently too slow. As much as some people complain it's not traditional enough some of the pacing is on par with how old soaps used to do storylines. To get a pay off for most of these stories we need to know the characters well enough and I think we are getting to the point where payoff is close.

Plus I think there was some tinkering based on audience response. Ashley and Derek seem to have been dialed back.

[Maxim]

I've drifted off couple of times, not gonna lie... especially during the casino stuff. That's my sign that something is not working. My eyes start closing, brain shuts down, refuses the material, LOL. And then when Leslie comes up, I just perk up. That's the type of presence I want on my screen. And yet... I do think she's becoming a bit cartoonish in the way they are writing her. I want a slow-burn type of crazy. Still, not complaining about her. Love her. I just want them to be careful. I don't want her turned into rotten modern day Sheila too fast. 

Now thinking about it... I think what is happening is quite normal. A safe-kinda-boring period where the show is establishing itself after the fireworks beginning. I remember Bold's first 60 episodes - other than the beautiful dialogue and great acting from Susan Flannery... some of the stuff was borderline sleep-inducing. It wasn't till the 60+ episodes they started really bringing it. 

 

 

Praise the Lord for that! 

[Vanguardian53]

I thought the pacing was on point during those first two weeks. Pacing was amongst one of my main discussions roughly a year before this show made it to air. I was seriously adamant about it.

[Liberty City]

People are never going to be happy and will find reasons to bïtch for the purpose of bïtching. Period. Point blank. And [some] have wanted the soap to fail since its announcement (even coming out of their dark, lifeless corners of the earth to make their unnecessary POVs known). To me, as some have stated, this soap had a blank slate to create THEIR history and THEIR pacing and THEIR style without a precedent of 50+ years of the serial before them. And I think they've done fairly well. To me, it fits in the arena of the American daytime soap opera, but it's done in a new and interesting way.

[Maxim]

I don't have a problem with the pacing of BTG. Not in the beginning, not now. I am one of the people that can watch a soap that moves incredibly slow (not that BTG is slow, btw)... IF IT'S WRITTEN beautifully and the characters are not cartoons. My main issues are that some of the writing so far has been sketchy (I believe because of growing pains and establishing so many characters at the same time) and some of the stories just don't work (Ashley's the saint and the mob stuff). Otherwise... I love a slow-burn. I don't like primetime-pacing, even though I am not opposed to short periods when it's fast-fast-fast.

I think the issues right now are mostly in terms of character development, acting, not working stories, lack of cliffhangers and some editing problems. The pacing is fine by me. I'm not rushing. AND LET ME SAY THIS - some of the dialogue writers are good. Some aren't. That's just the truth. I'm sadly not remembering who is good and who is bad... because I have ADHD and if I don't write them down, I may mix the names up. But some of the dialogue has been very Bradley Bell, something I've said from day 1... month 1... and that has irritated me to no end (the whole board knows I HAVE PTSD from Bradley Bell's writing). And some of it is just cringe. I've given plenty examples. Not gonna repeat. But I've also had episodes where I'm just enthralled by the writing and I find it clever, multi-dimensional and just... classy. 

So... I think a lot of these things need to be cleared with time and the soap has the potential to really blossom. I'm optimistic. 

Edited April 23 by Maxim

[Soaplovers]

The other soaps that debuted as an hour soap (Texas, Santa Barbara, Sunset Beach, and Passions) all had to do a soft reset of sort within the first few months of their debuts so I do have faith that might happen with BTG as well soon.

We have to remember that when the show was debuting, they had about 60 episodes in the can.  We've just reached 40 episodes aired so I have a feeling we're going to be seeing some minor tweaks coming along in the next weeks.  I do have a feeling Ashley/Derek/Andre has been scaled back with Andre/Dani now being focused on while Ashley is now the support to other characters at the nurses desk.

Pacing is the toughest thing to get right for any soap opera, and I imagine it's tougher for a brand new soap right out the gate.  However, if that Instagram story shared earlier wasn't a joke, but a reality then there needs to be someone stepping in and saying 'Everyone.. we need a little less talk and a little more action'.

[GLATWT88]

I was confused as to why Anita needed some cheering up. I know that Naomi used Dani as a ploy to get Anita to gather the family at Uptown and to get her to come out, but what was the motive? She told Dani that Anita needed to be cheered up, pretty much what she told Anita about Dani. Was this just a way for the show to push this karaoke night to get Anita's singing storyline to the forefront? Felt like an odd way to do it, because I'm not sure if Anita was really feeling all that down. 

Definitely. I think the episodes we get this summer will already have some changes based on feedback as well as just working out some kinks in the background. Then by fall, I would assume we would have a much smoother show. 

I may have expected a lot since these were all big names in the soap world trying to get this project off the ground. However, it wouldn't be realistic to expect that there would be a perfect product from the jump. There are many things that need work, but tomorrow marks 2 months since the premiere so it's early days especially in a soap timeline.

Edited April 23 by GLATWT88

[Liberty City]

It stemmed from the episode before, where Anita was playing piano, Naomi walked in, and she got to reminiscing about her time with the Articulettes and how she missed performing and that those days are behind her, and then they shifted to discussing Dani, so Naomi suggested they go to Uptown to uplift Dani and then recruited Dani re: Anita.

So yes, Anita was feeling down about that; it was in-text and hinted at via the acting of Tamara Tunie. Kind of baffles me people do not pick up on this and makes me wonder if people are truly paying attention. This isn't the first time something like this has come up in this topic of people missing what happens in-episode.

Edited April 23 by Liberty City

[MontyB]

I don't think the audience has anything to do with it at this point. Remember, they started taping three months ahead. We have a ways to go to see if there are any changes based off audience feedback.

So do I.

[GLATWT88]

I see what you're saying. I do remember that and the "noodling" (both Naomi and Anita used the word, which I thought was interesting since I haven't heard that in a long time. Sounded uppity and fitting for their stature.) I just didn't feel like her feeling nostalgic called for a whole karaoke night, but I understand your perspective. 

Yep. What we are seeing now and any changes wouldn't have anything to do with audience/viewer feedback. I do wonder if they always planned to film this far in advance (which isn't uncommon for soaps) since the original premiere was sometime in January. 

[MontyB]

Oh that's right it was supposed to start in January.

It's interesting, remember when soaps used to actually come on during that actual holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, I recall one Thanksgiving Erika Slezak being interviewed on WABC-7 here in NYC and she said OLTL was taped two weeks in advance. That was either late 70's or early 80's she did that interview.

Things surely have changed.

Edited April 23 by MontyB