15 minutes ago, ReddFoxx said:

Correct. The grace period is contingent on the filming schedule and adjustments won't be seen until later this year. MVJ pays attention to what viewers are saying and has been in soaps long enough to see what works and doesn't so I think she is open to tweaks.

Not be a Debbie Downer, but everyone in charge at all the soaps have been around for a long time, but that still doesn't stop them from doing things that doesn't work. What would make Michele Val Jean stand out from them? Why does everyone think that she will be any different from people like Brad Bell or Frank Valentini in that regard? 

I really hope she does take feedback into consideration cause Ashley needs to GO! Derek has become somewhat tolerable and when he's in scenes with anyone but Ashley he's tolerable! 

I'm not saying cater to fans, but take into consideration what people seem to be embracing & what they seem to be rejecting as a whole 

12 hours ago, te. said:

I think in general, this week is just likely lower in the ratings. I noticed that with DAYS it's gone from being consistently in the top 5 for the past few weeks to being in the lower top ten on Peacock. I assume lower viewings levels worried them, but it's likely unnecessary. Daytime is a marathon, not a sprint. 

I noticed that as well the day's numbers. Once the favorites left and all the emotional and good stuff was over Days numbers dipped. It hit #6 once and the rest time it was at either #9 or #10.

20 hours ago, ReddFoxx said:

At the Essence Fest, Sheila Ducksworth was doing damage control by saying they wanted people to be able to "catch up" and "relive the magic". That's obviously not true since it was CBS' decision, but sometimes you have to give the viewers excuses. I saw this on the show's IG story and was not at the Festival for full disclosure.

 

20 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

Then you have at the end Sheila, Tamara and Karla telling fans to tell their friends to watch the show. It sounded desperate.

They didn't sound desperate to me.  They sounded enthusiastic to me.

Here's the whole feature for anyone curious:

https://www.facebook.com/essence/videos/714705827937754

45 minutes ago, I Am A Swede said:

Not be a Debbie Downer, but everyone in charge at all the soaps have been around for a long time, but that still doesn't stop them from doing things that doesn't work. What would make Michele Val Jean stand out from them? Why does everyone think that she will be any different from people like Brad Bell or Frank Valentini in that regard? 

Because her story overcame odds and made it to screen when it was thought there would never be another new daytime soap. And anecdotally, Black creators are going to be more cautious with their approach because it often takes twice the work necessary to achieve. That caution in my opinion was evident in how much exposition there was at the start of the show. Bell and Valentini don't care as much because they didn't create anything from scratch (in Bell's case he inherited his father's work).

Also, the character development so far has been better than most soaps have had in recent memory. Granted that development messes with the pacing and that is something that should be tweaked.

I think there have been missed opportunities to explore relationships (like how Martin relates with his parents, for example—he was barely in scenes with Nicole/Ted prior to the Leslie/Dana reveal, and it wouldn’t have taken much to establish more layered dynamics there).

Nicole’s had her own drama, but she’s a psychiatrist, and her son has been enduring psychological trauma. She’s been much more involved in her sister’s drama than her son’s.

Whether that’s a character choice that we’ll learn about later remains to be seen (or if it’s been an issue of lining up actors’ schedules/guarantees), but there’s a weird choppiness to the show that undermines a lot of the good ideas. Soaps require a lot of walking and chewing gum at the same time, so I don’t envy MVJ one bit, especially if budgets aren’t there.

BTG doesn’t have the luxury of counting on viewer patience like new soaps in previous eras had. (Passions was 1999, which may as well be the Neolithic era in TV terms. Much less talking about Santa Barbara and B&B’s launches back in the early Stone Age. You can’t do an apples-to-apples comparison to previous soap launches because the viewing environment has changed so drastically. Hell, 2019 seems ancient now.)

Fair or not, BTG had to hit the ground running in ways that no soap in history has had to do. Things move much faster these days, which is why launching a soap in 2025 was such a risky (and courageous) prospect. Its very existence is its own triumph, and they’ve done pretty well in holding an audience, all things considered. 

Edited July 5Jul 5 by Faulkner

There was so much foreshadowing and these little hidden nuggets in the first week of #BeyondTheGates. Rewatching the first week has been a fun eye-opener. #BTG

— Dan J Kroll (@DanJKroll) July 4, 2025

8 hours ago, I Am A Swede said:

Not be a Debbie Downer, but everyone in charge at all the soaps have been around for a long time, but that still doesn't stop them from doing things that doesn't work. What would make Michele Val Jean stand out from them? Why does everyone think that she will be any different from people like Brad Bell or Frank Valentini in that regard? 

Brad Bell and Frank Valentini have another level of job security. So does Josh Griffith at Y&R. BTG is a new soap that has to deliver to build an audience and stick around. If she doesn't take feedback seriously either she will be out or the show will be cancelled. The stakes are much higher for Michele.

I really need BTG to be a success, because I love soaps and want the genre to make a comeback.
The show feels like a more decent and serious B&B and this should not be a good thing. 

I agree with the people who want more of a 90s GH vibe and less of a Bell soap one. 

MVJ decided to start a new soap with a family of twenty people. The show's matriarch and patriarch are already great-grandparents to some grown up people. 

There is already too much history between these people. And too many secondary rather unimportant characters around the main family. 

Is there a couple around for the viewers to fall in love with?

Where does Washington fit in MVJ's story? This could have been Madison, Rosehill or Henderson.

I don't want BTG to end up in soap history like SSM's Generations. At this point, I think that there is a need for a change. Perhaps a story consultant? An experienced soap director? (Not from the Bell universe!) A new EP? Something. Along with some recasts. I mean... Hayley... shouldn't she be a little more interesting?

Why should I care about Ashley and her boyfriend? Or Vanessa's story? 

Perhaps it would have been better if Dani and Nicole were best friends and not sisters. Now everyone is related. Vernon could have been Dani's father and Anita could have been Nicole's mother. 

And I really need the show to feel soapier and more dramatic. If Days can make me cry with John Black's death and GH can make me care a lot once in a while...

 

What is BTG's identity? Being identified as the black soap is not enough. Even the opening is something out of the late 90s. 

Make it work people.

My primary gripe comes from the need for those to say, "Well, this soap does this," "This wouldn't happen on that soap," etc. This soap is its own creation, without any precedent in its way (i.e., a new regime coming into an established serial), and should own its turn, creating its own precedent to be set for itself (i.e., acting, casting, directing, editing style, music, production, sets, etc.). Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but those kinds of opinions⏤in my opinion⏤only set this soap up for immediate failure. This is not As the World Turns or Guiding Light; this is not General Hospital; this is not The Young and the Restless; this is not Days of Our Lives. Beyond the Gates is Beyond the Gates, and it should be allowed to be just that at the end of the day. It's the downside of the message board/social media frenzy we're presently in. Yes, we had publications like Soap Opera Digest or Soap Opera Weekly, but it feels like the social media era has, definitionally (again, in my opinion), corrupted the minds of [some] soap viewers beyond significant repair.

The focus on certain characters (and then vanishing) is very much a practice of British soaps, and it's a practice I not only find refreshing but also welcome in American soaps (a.k.a., updating the "norm"). The more subtle use of music has been refreshing from other soaps that drown their scenes in music to the point where I'm often taken out of them; the quick cuts, while [sometimes] jarring, also provide a more primetime-like feel, and I think it works for this soap. Again, they're setting a standard that is their own to establish and follow, not what's been done before them, in the same way soaps like Santa Barbara, Sunset Beach, etc., did when they first debuted. Yes, things are adjusted and will continue to adjust, but grace and patience need to be provided and not expected in a snap of a finger.

Michele Val Jean (as creator) and Sheila Ducksworth know what they're doing, and I have full trust in them to execute what this soap is to be. Are there bumpy spots? Yes. Is that to be expected? Yes. Is it enough to condemn the soap to a fiery death? No. As has been stated, they film three months ahead (to air), and scripts are written six months ahead, so things will adjust in time. Again, grace and patience are needed.

We saw what TOLN did with All My Children (and even One Life to Live) in terms of production back in 2013 and it was a nice change of pace in comparison to the other four soaps; Beyond the Gates has done the same but on a much larger scale⏤broadcast television (via major studios) versus a streaming platform (via a smaller, newer production company).

Val Jean is not new to this, nor is she a dummy. She knows her vision. She knows what works/what does not work, and she and her team are going to execute it appropriately. So much so that the network provided a second season pickup, which is all we could have hoped for in 2025.

Again, grace and patience are needed. 🙏🏻

32 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

Hayley... shouldn't she be a little more interesting?

Did you see the Hayley cliffhanger from the end of June 25th?  That will be continued week of July 7th. (it would have seemed more immediately addressed if not for the week of repeats).

9 minutes ago, janea4old said:

Did you see the Hayley cliffhanger from the end of June 25th?  That will be continued week of July 7th. (it would have seemed more immediately addressed if not for the week of repeats).

No, but I will check it out. I have seen the actress in many other scenes and I don't find her very interesting for such a part. She feels like a friend of the Basketball Wives, or something like that.

23 minutes ago, Liberty City said:

The focus on certain characters (and then vanishing) is very much a practice of British soaps, and it's a practice I not only find refreshing but also welcome in American soaps (a.k.a., updating the "norm"). The more subtle use of music has been refreshing from other soaps that drown their scenes in music to the point where I'm often taken out of them; the quick cuts, while [sometimes] jarring, also provide a more primetime-like feel, and I think it works for this soap.

I will have to respectfully disagree and say that IMO those are the things that are definitely not working on this soap. Nonetheless, I agree that BTG is it's own soap and should be able to create its own identity. 

Making the majority of the cast family was also a misstep.

9 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

No, but I will check it out. I have seen the actress in many other scenes and I don't find her very interesting for such a part. She feels like a friend of the Basketball Wives, or something like that.

Unfortunately, her role has been to pout to her man about the women Duprees and how she isn't welcome in the community or love scenes with Bill. That might change with the baby situation. 

25 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

She feels like a friend of the Basketball Wives

Hahaha, dead.

Agreed, that on BTG, the “British style” is not working at all. 

And I’ll be honest, that style is one of the (several) reasons why I think B&B sucks.  But I also agree that BTG is not at that level and is better than B&B