Maxim

What I got from Errol's post is that he's asking if we want for the main active soaps to each have a section where multiple topics about different aspects/questions about the soaps can be opened. Not just have one main discussion/spoiler topic each month. That's what I get, but maybe I'm reading it wrong. If that's what he is talking about, I'm all for it...

Finally finished Book 5 of Karl Ove's My Struggle. This book took me longest to read (I didn't have much free time), but it's the best one so far. I would put it right there on top with Book 2. So far my ranking is... Book 5 - 5+/5 Book 2 - 5/5 Book 1 - 4.5/5 Book 4 - 4.25/5 Book 3 - 4/5

If it's just for the current soaps... I think that could be an interesting idea. While keeping a General Discussion topic for the soap in question still available for people who want to talk "in general". That general topic can without a problem still be in the X-nameofsoap's individual section. But each soap having their section is just going to work... IMO. Lots of material... pictures, any type of interesting things can go in different topics and not get lost in the main topic. I'm supportive of the idea for the main active soaps having an individual forum section each, if I understood correctly. 💪

I CAN'T WAIT for the app and I hope I can install it on my TV, so I can play the episodes in the app. This will be pure bliss.

Chileeeeeeeee hhhahhahahaha

Eric almost dies every few years now... it's borderline exploitative at this point. We get it... he's very old and can die at any time... but stop milking this time and time again. Same with Katie's bad heart. That woman has been dying for the last 15 years. Brad Bell just wants to play on these cheap sentimental storylines (cue the violins and the stapler) that even a dog could understand. Cheap melodramatic hack.

I've started watching season 1 again from the official website this time... and I love that I can just click on cast onto the TV and it works with captions instantly. The fact that they are going to make the entire show available in this way... for this amount of monthly fee - is amazing. The other soaps should watch and learn. That's how it's done. Not asking for 40-50 euros a month for 20 new episodes a month. I am giving Bold and their team huge credit for this. And that way the show will survive for decades in the future. They are really setting great example.

I'm so grateful they ditched that fake looking runway opening that I hated.

I feel like the first season of Bold had a distinct fairytale vibe. I was truly astonished by how many storylines were happening simultaneously while I watched it for the first time... because these days, Bradley can hardly manage two at once. Quite frankly, he struggles with one. Bill Bell managed to have nearly every character pursuing their own thing while still interacting with the others in a natural way. It didn't feel crowded or busy like some other shows do when there are too many things going on. Everyone had something. Donna wanted to be a model. Katie had pimples and low self-esteem. Brooke was ambitious and envious of the rich and famous, wanting to experience first hand the glitz and glamour from the magazines. The fashion house side was also pretty well crafted, even if some of these characters are cliched archetypes - Ridge - the spoiled favorite son/Don Juan cheating player, Thorne - the anti-Ridge/good-hearted underdog, Eric - the horny ageing rich guy, Stephanie - the controlling frustrated matriarch with a sharp tongue. The season wasn't flawless, but it laid the groundwork for what was to come in the years ahead. For example... Bill Bell was consistently dropping hints about Stephanie going somewhere behind Eric's back. You would think she had a secret gigolo waiting in his briefs in some hotel somewhere, but no... that mystery continued well into the second year... until it was finally revealed that she was concealing a secret daughter. It was eerie, yet so brilliantly executed and thoughtfully crafted FROM THE GET GO. 300+ episodes of build-up. We also saw Brooke being set up as a social climber right from week one. Reading about Ridge and the Forresters, imagining herself in their world. It's pretty amazing that Bill Bell stuck to this storyline for thousand plus episodes after that. It was RIGHT THERE from the start. And that's what I adore about that first season. To me, it’s absolutely essential viewing... if you want to fully grasp these characters and witness their evolution... even if it has its dull moments - Donna's boyfriend bored me to death, Beth and Eric just didn't work as supposed to and they QUICKLY got that and moved on (in a way Brooke took over that path). That reminds me of the one thing that changed slowly but progressively - the level of involvement of the entire Logan family in the narrative. Initially, they gave nearly everyone their little place in the spotlight. We even got to see Brooke's grandma occasionally... but once Brooke stepped into the realm of the rich and famous... the other Logan relatives started to fade away and received less and less screen time. The dynamics changed. And couple of years later... when they were acting as Brooke's babysitters, helpers... people who we see once a month consoling her... - it was over. I would cringe when Donna or Katie would be babysitting for Brooke and being given 1 line a week, when I remember how essential they felt to me in the beginning. 😄 So yeah... the conflict and contrast shifted from rich family/working class family to Brooke's fairytale/nightmare into the Forrester mansion and her war with Stephanie. The rest is history as they say. Once Sally Spectra joined the show in 1989... along with Macy (who was so fresh in the beginning), the show was running like a well oiled machine. But even now, I think some of the most iconic moments from the entire series happened in that very first season. I can still remember the concrete dialogue. I remember Stephanie warning Eric, Ridge, and Thorne about Brooke being an opportunist... just a week or two after they met her. And then there was that moment when Stephanie told Eric what Brooke was going to do... it was like she was reading the script of the future seasons. Like a trailer for what's to come. Everything unfolded just as she predicted. As time went on, Stephanie's foresight only made her character appear stronger, a sort of wink from the writers to the viewers... "If we let this girl into our home... she’s going to do this and this..." And guess what? SHE DID. The first years of Bold are so underrated by many soap opera fans. Some of them have barely watched more than a couple of episodes... yet they still bash that period. But I love these years and I always rewatch them. Every single time it's like a new experience. Season 1 is again... like a fairytale to me.

I personally love it. It's my favorite video she's done.