I've been super busy this week and I haven't had a chance to watch this week's episodes. I'm looking forward to them despite some of the comments I've read here. BTG is light-years ahead of the other four soaps IMO, regardless of a couple of stumbles here and there.

2 minutes ago, skiman12082004 said:

I've been super busy this week and I haven't had a chance to watch this week's episodes. I'm looking forward to them despite some of the comments I've read here. BTG is light-years ahead of the other four soaps IMO, regardless of a couple of stumbles here and there.

There are plenty of positive, even effusively positive, comments as well. YMMV. It’s definitely light years ahead of the Bell soaps, which just have a whiff of neglect about them. I don’t think “neglect” is at all the problem with BTG. I don’t watch DAYS or GH enough to know what they’re up to, aside from when they step things up for real-life deaths of cast members, but I obviously stopped watching those for a reason. I just want the best for this show.

The difference between BTG and the other soaps is that BTG actually is trying to deliver while most of the others are just coasting by on regular viewers while delivering subpar material. It's not perfect (no show is perfect) but it has laid down a solid groundwork.

1 hour ago, dragonflies said:

TBH I think MVJ needs to step down and let others take over HW duties, I think she has her moments but IMO she's not cut out to be a HW. Let her just be the show runner and write scripts  now and then 

I've thought this too... not gonna lie... but then I remember how much I loved the beginning. The first five episodes... MVJ laid a perfect foundation. That's why I'm so let down by how it has progressed... or rather, not progressed. Just take a look at Hayley... she was meant to be a significant character... the arch-nemesis of Dani Dupree... the persona non grata in the gated community. It had SO MUCH potential, I could scream from excitement. What have they done with her up to this point? In my view - nothing. I anticipated a feud on the level of Young and The Restless (in their prime). The magic was THERE.

That being said... I enjoy reading honest, real comments and I also love critical thinking. It's a clear sign of intelligence. Just as I don't judge those who love the show as it is... Why should I? I envy them! If I could appreciate everything about it without feeling annoyed... I would choose that too. I simply want it to be better and to recapture that magic I felt at the start.

Perhaps I should stop watching classic OLTL before BTG episodes, as it makes it difficult to go from amazing dialogue... to BTG. And yes... If I were to compare it to utter garbage like Bold... it is indeed better... even great. But that isn't a great compliment. I don't want to measure it against trash and say how good it is.  

The show is gravitating towards the worst mistakes of soaps from the 80s through 00s, seen on stuff like Santa Barbara, GH, B&B. I thought they could do better. They should look more towards the P&G soaps from 60s and 70s, like Guiding Light, Another World, Edge of Night.

With MVJ, wasn't it mentioned that she had the idea of this show in her head for awhile.. and was playing it in her mind?   If that is legit a quote and/or statement from her, it can explain why some of the beats are missing and stories are starting at odd places because she knows all the backstory and knows all the connections and beats... it's just that she's not sharing the right stuff with the audience nor her writing team either at times.

The first five episodes did showcase the upcoming wedding of Bill/Hayley with Dani acting a hot mess ending with her pulling out a gun at the end of episode 5.  While it was an exciting way to kick off the show, the one drawback was that the main focus was just those three characters and the upcoming wedding with little to no clear focus on the other stories/characters. 

Also, episode 1 had the odd placement of Derek and Ashley in their own world and I wondered to myself what was their connection with the rest of the cast (and after 137 episodes, that question still is on my mind LOL).   At least in episode 2, Ashley was starting her job and she was established as knowing SPS, Eva, and Andre...but there has been no interaction between Ashley/Eva since that first week or two.

@MaximAnd I agree that the ball has been dropped with Hayley.. though at least the show is now establishing her partner in crime friendship with Caroline and perhaps there will be more exploration with her connection to Randy.

I can’t imagine anyone but MVJ writing this, even though she doesn’t have a long stint as a HW on her resume. It’s not like we have a strong back bench of trained head writers left who could handle this type of material. Lorraine Broderick? The Cullitons? Nope. Maybe as a co-HW? Tracey Thomson doesn’t instill confidence IMO.

Most of the great HWs have died in the past 20 years, apprentices like Kay Alden and Natalie Minardi Slater have been run out of the industry, and, even then, none of them would have had this level of personal connection to the material (including the obvious—she’s a Black woman who has had a long career in a very white, insular genre). 

There’s a lot of Guza (obviously) and Brad Bell influence here, two writers I have little respect for. The show could use a lot more Claire Labine influence (to cite another MVJ mentor) in the attention to character. Think of how rich and well-thought-out Delia was and how sketchy Hayley and Leslie are as troublemakers. But sometimes I wonder if it’s simply hard to achieve a certain level of creative success with all of the cheapness and pandering to low attention spans. It’s a problem that’s hit a lot of creative industries.

 

7 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

@MaximAnd I agree that the ball has been dropped with Hayley.. though at least the show is now establishing her partner in crime friendship with Caroline and perhaps there will be more exploration with her connection to Randy.

Only time will tell.. I'm crossing my fingers they don't completely drop the ball on her. I want that persona non grata element active and relevant. It has certain nuances and elements of human nature and psychology that I love exploring. 

1 minute ago, Faulkner said:

Think of how rich and well-thought-out Delia was and how sketchy Hayley and Leslie are as troublemakers. But sometimes I wonder if it’s simply hard to achieve a certain level of creative success with all of the cheapness and pandering to low attention spans. It’s a problem that’s hit a lot of creative industries.

 

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean she wrote some great and no so great stuff on BOLD and I've read her other stints on other soaps were good, but maybe HW is too much for her 

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

Flaws and all, BtG is still more enjoyable than the hot garbage that's Y&R.

Very.

50 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

nd I agree that the ball has been dropped with Hayley.. though at least the show is now establishing her partner in crime friendship with Caroline and perhaps there will be more exploration with her connection to Randy.

I agree. I love that the interaction between Hayley and Caroline have been increasing. And they are definitely going to establish what the connection between her and Randy is. Moreso now that Randy's other story (Doug) is gone.

 

44 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

There’s a lot of Guza (obviously) and Brad Bell influence here, two writers I have little respect for. The show could use a lot more Claire Labine influence (to cite another MVJ mentor) in the attention to character.

You're the second person to mention this. It is definitely a fascinating mix to watch. But I also do wish there was more of a Claire Labine influence. Also more of Guza's ability to do events. When the show first started, it felt like we got an event a week which allowed the show to build up to story beats as well as develop characters. It was while I was excited for the Articulate concert we got recently. Before that the last event was the anniversary party and that was TWO MONTHS before. Events give the show something to build toward whether it is a story turn or an old school climax and the show should get back to have more of them.

While most of us here were complaining that the "Chelsea is Kidnapped" story arc came out of nowhere practically, skipped most of the beats, and ended too quickly, I stumbled into a Facebook discussion where everyone agreed that it should have been completed in ONE day instead of five.  lol.  

The "short attention span issue" definitely is at play. 

A lot of viewers now seem to want a solution to every issue in an hour.  

 

Mona and Jan!  Love that they're back to gossiping about the neighborhood. They need a new third member now haha.

Writers:
Teresa Zimmerman
Judy Tate

Director:
Michael V. Pomarico