On 4/2/2026 at 4:01 PM, ranger1rg said:

Are sweeps months still a thing? I see so much less written about sweeps in recent years, especially since streamers have taken off. The soaps need to keep their foot on the gas all-year round. If they're still gearing up for sweeps, I think it just shows another area where the soaps are behind.

Advertising...which sweeps is a part of...will always be a thing. Case in point...Sterling Brown posting an informative tweet over the continuing discussion over why shows now have 10 episode-seasons when most people want the old school days of 15 to 22 seasons. I thought it was quite enlightening in terms of network shows vs streaming shows. Otherwise, I would agree with you on soaps staying busy all year round with A stories, B stories, C plot, and rotating them all the way around.

I can't fault for BTG for wanting May to be a thing. I CAN fault them for how they execute the stories to get there. There used to be a time that GH would start to foreshadow stories in the fall/winter months, January the following year would have a momentum/flow to it, and they would have great February Sweeps. Then someone would kill the momentum...abruptly I might add...mid-March.

On 4/2/2026 at 4:06 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

My main frustration with this show (which I may take a break from for awhile) is that the writing continues to tell us, rather than show us. We get endless conversations in front of brick walls, we get conversations about what happens at a the preparation for a cotillion but no scenes of any of the actual preparation (and honestly, they would only need a handful of scenes to show us the preparation). We get conversations over cocktails between nurses at a bar over a man being stabbed within an inch of his life and left outside of the hospital but we didn't see any of it.

The Anita cancer story, as deeply triggering as it is, is truly the only story that is being written with care and detail (and good for Tamara who is surely in the running to get her first daytime Emmy award), every other story is meandering and unfocused.

Thank you for saying this. I still like the show, but I have started to notice there has been a growing thing of telling, not showing that was not there before with me. Is this BEYOND THE GATES or Josh Griffith's Y&R? Cuz Hunni, what is dis? And it goes without saying that I was livid when Hayley and Bill went to St. Barts OFF SCREEN when THAT should have been a location shoot where the Hayley storyline came to a head. Heck, if budget was an issue, they could use that room they used every time Vanessa and Joey go out of town. We still haven't seen the clinic. We still haven't seen the university. The cotillion has been reduced to just being talked about when it felt like they were playing the beats to it...and I was enjoying SEEING it. This telling...not so much. I don't know if you were checking the thread, but I was extremely excited about it and it was turning into a good B story with the momentum it had. Now it has upped and died.

Something I can't say for Anita's story. It might be serious and triggering, but I can't say enough about how well-done it's been done to date. I don't see how they can do that so well, but other stories have been abruptly stalled except to think they would like to do what they did this time last year with a slow build to May. BUT they could have done that build and still kept the stories moving. I just don't get it.

On 4/2/2026 at 4:01 PM, ranger1rg said:

Are sweeps months still a thing? I see so much less written about sweeps in recent years, especially since streamers have taken off. The soaps need to keep their foot on the gas all-year round. If they're still gearing up for sweeps, I think it just shows another area where the soaps are behind.

Nathan Varni, who oversees GH, said this:
Nathan Varni @nathanvarni
Jan 25, 2026
"Historical sweeps hasn’t existed in years. Today, national networks use continuous measurement across linear, DVR, and streaming platforms.
For daytime dramas, this means major storylines are planned year-round—not just during sweeps, which now mainly matter to local stations."
https://x.com/nathanvarni/status/2015469454852079821

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by janea4old

A grain of salt.

39 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Advertising...which sweeps is a part of...will always be a thing. Case in point...Sterling Brown posting an informative tweet over the continuing discussion over why shows now have 10 episode-seasons when most people want the old school days of 15 to 22 seasons. I thought it was quite enlightening in terms of network shows vs streaming shows. Otherwise, I would agree with you on soaps staying busy all year round with A stories, B stories, C plot, and rotating them all the way around.

Thank you for saying this. I still like the show, but I have started to notice there has been a growing thing of telling, not showing that was not there before with me. Is this BEYOND THE GATES or Josh Griffith's Y&R? Cuz Hunni, what is dis? And it goes without saying that I was livid when Hayley and Bill went to St. Barts OFF SCREEN when THAT should have been a location shoot where the Hayley storyline came to a head. Heck, if budget was an issue, they could use that room they used every time Vanessa and Joey go out of town. We still haven't seen the clinic. We still haven't seen the university. The cotillion has been reduced to just being talked about when it felt like they were playing the beats to it...and I was enjoying SEEING it. This telling...not so much. I don't know if you were checking the thread, but I was extremely excited about it and it was turning into a good B story with the momentum it had. Now it has upped and died.

And as I hate to say this, there seems to be more effort to build on certain characters. It's the reason why that vacay/work trip to L.A. between Dani & Andre never delivered. It's why this big wealthy Black family has all their dinners (even Easter??!) at the country club and not at a dining room table (yes, Rowena could've had the day off and they could have gotten it catered 🙄) It's why we still haven't seen even a hint of Banneker (supposedly an HBCU), which MVJ loved to brag about in earlier interviews. It does smack of Josh Griffith, overpromising and under-delivering. But I thought everyone understood that if you're going to do a series about Black wealthy people and "Black excellence" you will need to spend some coin?

I was reading Essence magazine online and saw the the only grandchild of Dr. Martin Luther King just had her cotillion. She vividly described the process in detail, things we are unlikely to ever see onscreen on this show.

Essence

Exclusive: Yolanda Renee King, Sole Grandchild Of Dr. Mar...

The 17-year-old, who is already an accomplished children's book author, is stepping into womanhood on her own terms.

1 hour ago, janea4old said:

Nathan Varni, who oversees GH, said this:
Nathan Varni @nathanvarni
Jan 25, 2026
"Historical sweeps hasn’t existed in years. Today, national networks use continuous measurement across linear, DVR, and streaming platforms.
For daytime dramas, this means major storylines are planned year-round—not just during sweeps, which now mainly matter to local stations."
https://x.com/nathanvarni/status/2015469454852079821

I'm no Varni fan, but this is exactly what I meant when I said sweeps no longer matter.

If they did, Josh Griffith would wait until May to being Malcolm back on Y&R. He didn't. The Marco murder on GH would have been held until May. On B&B, Sheila losing it would be stalled.

We keep talking about this damn cotillion as if that's some grand sweeps moment, and it is not. I have no idea what we're going to get, frankly.

I'm my mind, the streamers and their 8 and 10 episode series that completely ignore any sign of sweeps helped hasten the demise of the sweeps period we used to know.

13 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

So if Hayley and Lynette plot and kill Tomas, what are the actual stakes? How does that put them on even ground?

All that does is make both characters murderers written into a corner. They're already on even ground now -- they each have a lot of dirt on the other.

Look, I'm hardly a Tomas fan, and I've been complaining about Alex Alegria from week one, but I don't see how offing him creates any decent story.

We'll just end up with Hayley and Lynette arguing over drinks at Uptown. We already have that.

They wouldnt plot to kill Tomas. It would be an accident while trying to stop him from exposing them. The adds higher stakes as an actual life is now lost. Right now Lynette has the upper hand on Hayley but that would put them on even ground with a mutual investment in protecting each other

Regarding the cotillion:
There was a primetime soap called "Our Kind of People" about the wealthy Black community of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. Similar premise to Beyond the Gates but more sensationalized. The series was loosely inspired by a book by author Lawrence Otis Graham -- he wrote about Black elite communities. In the series, Yaya de Costa plays a working-class single mom -- and her character is the secret out-of-wedlock daughter of a wealthy man in the community. Debbi Morgan recurs as her aunt. The cotillion is a big deal in the series, and Yaya's character tries to get her teenaged daughter to be allowed to participate in the cotillion. Along with the cotillion dance itself, the exclusive woman's association/sorority promotes women in business, does scholarships, etc.

I have to admit that I knew nothing about Black wealthy elite communities until I saw that series. Of course I realized the series was sensationalized, but it inspired me to learn more actual facts about the topic -- so then I was somewhat prepared for Beyond the Gates. I still need to read Lawrence Otis Graham's books.

"Our Kind of People" aired on Fox in the 2021-2022 season for 12 episodes. It was available on Hulu for a while, but I don't know if it's still there. It can still be found on Amazon. I think it's worth a watch.

Debbi Morgan describes the series on this video:

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by janea4old

1 hour ago, ranger1rg said:

I'm my mind, the streamers and their 8 and 10 episode series that completely ignore any sign of sweeps helped hasten the demise of the sweeps period we used to know.

THIS is what Sterling Brown spelled out so well in his tweet. So I do feel you are right. And why people have been discussing it as of late. Especially after that Buffy news.

2 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

And as I hate to say this, there seems to be more effort to build on certain characters. It's the reason why that vacay/work trip to L.A. between Dani & Andre never delivered. It's why this big wealthy Black family has all their dinners (even Easter??!) at the country club and not at a dining room table (yes, Rowena could've had the day off and they could have gotten it catered 🙄) It's why we still haven't seen even a hint of Banneker (supposedly an HBCU), which MVJ loved to brag about in earlier interviews. It does smack of Josh Griffith, overpromising and under-delivering. But I thought everyone understood that if you're going to do a series about Black wealthy people and "Black excellence" you will need to spend some coin?

I was reading Essence magazine online and saw the the only grandchild of Dr. Martin Luther King just had her cotillion. She vividly described the process in detail, things we are unlikely to ever see onscreen on this show.

Essence

Exclusive: Yolanda Renee King, Sole Grandchild Of Dr. Mar...

The 17-year-old, who is already an accomplished children's book author, is stepping into womanhood on her own terms.

By certain characters, who do you feel is being build up more? And by build up, character development or propping of the characters? I'm curious.

I admit I did think that was silly re: Dani/Andre's road trips, but the power of the story and the chemistry between the characters was enough to override the silliness. At least for me. I did like last year how even without a dining room, the writers did find time to give us Dupree family scenes. I know I always looked forward to them sitting in the foyer (?) and I loved the Anita episode where she popped in from practicing with the Articulates to catch up with everyone and it was also a clever way to do a recap episode without doing a recap (with flashbacks) episode.

It would be nice to see more though. The last thing I want is for this show to turn into current Y&R.

ETA: Thank you for the cotillion article. I don't like how the story was stalled, but I actually might say that once they start stalling it, they might go back to detailing it. Fingers crossed. I guess we will see.

Edited 57 minutes ago57 min by Taoboi

2 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

We keep talking about this damn cotillion as if that's some grand sweeps moment, and it is not. I have no idea what we're going to get, frankly.

Elsbeth recently did an episode about a murder at a cotillion and it was well done and had stakes. I'm positive the writers can make cotillion both an event of grandeur and an event that moves plot. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening.

8 minutes ago, Gatecrashers said:

I'm positive the writers can make cotillion both an event of grandeur and an event that moves plot

With momentum back up (I haven't started this week yet, but it sounds like it) I'm hopeful.

3 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

I was reading Essence magazine online and saw the the only grandchild of Dr. Martin Luther King just had her cotillion. She vividly described the process in detail, things we are unlikely to ever see onscreen on this show.

Essence

Exclusive: Yolanda Renee King, Sole Grandchild Of Dr. Mar...

The 17-year-old, who is already an accomplished children's book author, is stepping into womanhood on her own terms.

Oh wow. Just saw your post and read this. Thanks for posting this!

Edited just now1 min by janea4old

I don't know much about the "sweeps periods" but if I were planning to write a Cotillion storyline, I'd probably want it to air in May when some of the schools are beginning to let out for the summer, so maybe a few young folks will catch it when it airs. I'd mention it several times from Christmas to Easter, so it wouldn't look as though I just made it up out of thin air when it's time for it to start. Not sure what mindset MVJ has about it, but that's how I would've handled it if I were the writer.

(In my part of the South, Cotillion season generally starts in the fall and wraps up with the final spring ball in March.)