BTG: July 2025 Discussion Thread

[ReddFoxx]

Sharon is a big talker, but is the one that had a panic attack, lol.

Martin and Smitty need their gay cards revoked for even considering missing a diva concert.  At least they both finally decided to go, though.

 

[ranger1rg]

And it's not believable that family members would know every single note and move of the Articulettes and know nothing about Anita as a jazz singer. That woman would have made sure they listened to her music.

 

It is messed up. The writers are not making Anita look good with this writing. She says she'll leave it up to Sharon and Tracy to decide if she gets the solo, but she's just playing mind games to make THEM seem selfish.

Tracy was especially ridiculous, seemingly ignoring every argument they had about the past. Why is she completely bending the knee for this woman and acting like Sharon's the selfish one? Why are Tracy and Sharon now calling themselves "backups" like they're inferior?

This is now Anita's Concert, and it's a shame.

 

I agree, and I don't think this does the Anita character any favors.

 

-- Sharon having a panic attack didn't work for me. We've been seeing previews of the concert taking place all week, so we know that's going nowhere.

-- The dialogue for the Nicole/Smitty and the Vernon/Tyrell scenes was well done. No one "won" and both sides made excellent points about their feelings.

-- I think the chemistry between Martin and Smitty is palpable, and I do believe these characters are in love.

-- Andre flipping tablet photos between Dani and Ashley just makes his taste in women even more of a joke. I have no idea what he sees in Ashley. None.

-- Anita waited until concert day to speak with Andre about taking photos? Sure.

-- The actress playing Jessica is pretty good, and should have been cast as Samantha. At least she doesn't look 30.

[janea4old]

The breakdowns for yesterday (Wed.) and today (Thurs.) seemed choppy -- in that the transitions from scene to scene weren't clarified.

Wednesday: We're deciding to redesign the concert costumes, and then abruptly, they're all redesigned. Should have been a line of dialogue thrown into say everyone worked furiously for an hour.  There was the seamstress right there, saying let me know if you need anything, but they didn't ask her to get fabric or fringe or whatever. 

Today Thursday, there could have been a line of dialogue after a commercial where they say, "whew we got that solo worked into the evening lineup just barely on time", implying that time passed during the commercial.

Two seconds of dialogue would have made these scenes make sense, but instead we have to handwave it.  These are nitpicks and I don't care that much, but still.

Overall I still loved the episodes.

The dialogue, especially for today, was superb.

Edited August 1 by janea4old

[ranger1rg]

-- Agree with your entire post. It takes so little to make things make sense so e don't have to handwave more than necessary.

 

-- I would say the dialogue for today's show was about the best it's been for the entire BTG run.

 

--And did you notice we didn't have to listen to slang being thrown in all over the place? Tyrell didn't tell Jessica it's "lit" when she mentioned going to Stanford. Jessica didn't say "No cap" when reinforcing a point to Tyrell. Vernon didn't have to respond with "What does that mean?" when Tyrell talked in slang.

[Broderick]

I agree that Nicole, Smitty, Vernon, and Tyrell all laid out their positions well, and made good sense.  I could see everyone's point of view.  

I was completely opposed to Anita's solo, until SHE said that her subsequent "jazz career" is closely associated in the public's mind with the Articulettes, and some fans might attend the concert wanting to see a jazz number.  That actually made sense to me, and now I don't think her [one] solo number is such a bad idea, after solos were also offered to Sharon & Tracy.  My only problem is how quickly Sharon & Tracy capitulated into tagging themselves as backup singers.  If they always viewed themselves as "backups", why did they get mad when Anita left them?

Smitty teared-up when Martin stopped by.  I'm surprised by how many posters think they should "get a divorce" simply because they're having problems right now.  (I also don't think Nicole & Ted should rush into a divorce, although Nicole might disagree with me.)   

[DemetriKane]

I think it makes sense that Sharon would be the one having panic attacks before going on stage (If that's what's happening). Tracy and Anita continued to sing in front of crowds, Sharon sings with a choir at a church, it could be a small one. Added in what she experienced within the group, I find it believable. Will it lead to anything? Probably not, reminds me of something you'll see on a sitcom.

Andre flipping through his tablet did not bother me. Soaps used to be great at showcasing how people were drawn to different types of love interests. He's supposed to be world-traveling, so it works for him.

I don't see Martin and Smitty breaking up. 

Agreed!!! I love the direction they are taking him in. He also benefited from not being a part of the Dupree drama. He seems so at peace compared to some others in that family.

True. I am crying, lol.

Edited August 1 by DemetriKane

[Taoboi]

Hehe. THIS.

 

Oooo closing out the month at 100.  

[te.]

I think this is a classic case where the show really didn't think some things through. If we were talking about Diana Ross going to solo, she pretty much kept going in the Pop/R&B mainstream direction. The Supremes also continued to exist, even if it was at diminishing returns with each line up; Mary had some minor hits and so on.

However, in Anita's case they had her go in a completely different direction to her girl group roots - jazz. I very much doubt that a lot of fans of The Articulettes would expect to hear her jazz stuff since that's miles away from the usual girl group pop and would sound out of place.

And I agree with those that said it's odd how they limited Tracy and Sharon's personal lives for no reason. Sure, I think it's obvious that they'll likely be written out and barely mentioned again after this mess of a storyline, but basically making them props in Anita's storyline isn't good writing. Plus it's always good to have those sort of characters existing somewhere out there in the future. 

[Cheap21]

Sharon did all that huffing and puffing including wanting a solo only to have a panic attack hours before the show? If she don’t sit her azz down somewhere….

[Chris B]

I love Sharon! I wish they had a church set so she could be around in the background as a friend for Anita and we could see her at the choir every now and then. Sharon reminds me of the British supporting characters. She could be someone good on the side as a talk to to give advice and throw shade. I love how sassy she is! 

[Cheap21]

yes and have her meet and be friends with Leslie, Anita be damned!

[Aback]

Yeah yet another case of the writers doing a 180 from a story they themselves had plotted. 

Again, big agree. Anita is obnoxious yet portrayed as a Queen. Such a waste of TT’s talents. 

Further thoughts:

- I loved the last couple of episodes. Especially love it when soap characters get fixated on ordinary details like “Are you coming to the party or not?”. And they go canvassing each other’s sets as if it were an election campaign.  It reminds me of Bill Bell’s Y&R. Love it. 

- I thought Sharon’s panic attack was SO SWEET. Here you have this hardened, sassy woman whose emotions come back to surface and take a toll. 

[melanatedbtgfan]

 Yep that's exactly all the stuff she bought with that "loan".

So far this show is doing well. The only critique I have besides the lack of a rival family for the Duprees, I want to see more of the gambling storyline. I'm also curious about the biracial kids that Doug and Vanessa have together. I can only imagine how weird it's gonna be when those kids come back home to see how fake the marriage between Doug and Vanessa has become. Or even worse if they find out about Vanessa and Joey.