Soapfan8

So we all know ultimately Y&R has been held tk a further respect than bold, and might be considered overall “superior” in recent years both soaps have declined (Yr at times more so) but during the golden age of soaps would you all say there was ever a year or time period Bold surpassed Y&R in storytelling?

1 hour ago, Sasha66 said:

Who are the top 5 actresses of bold and beautiful to y’all? 

I’m going to go with these in this order.

1. Heather tom

2. Rena Sofer

3. kimberlin brown

4. Katherine Kelly lang

5. Jacqui Woods

honorable mention: Annika Noelle

Who are the top 5 actresses of bold and beautiful to y’all? 

What is the absolute best year of Y&R for you all?

What are you alls overall thoughts on the Ridge Brooke Taylor triangle? When do you feel it ran it course, and when do you feel it was at its prime.

Any thoughts on the 1996 year?

Did you all enjoy the year 1996?

Who is y’all’s favorite and least favorite bold character atm and why?

Here we go

1 hour ago, Videnbas said:

I think Stephanie was the show's center of gravity, so to speak. Everything and everyone existed in relation to her and had to take her influence into account.

From Stephanie, two main "force fields" emanated - Stephanie/Brooke and Stephanie/Sally. That is why I'd say Brooke and Sally were the second most structurally important characters on the show after Stephanie. 

After these three characters, the rest is a matter of personal preference IMO. I may have tuned in to watch certain characters, someone else tuned in for some other characters. But there wouldn't have been a show without Stephanie. And it would have been a very different show without Brooke or Sally. 

I think Brooke was like the Face, she was Bold she was beautiful, but Stephanie was the heart and soul

Who to you all’s opinion contributed to B&Bs success the most?

19 hours ago, Videnbas said:

I am not sure. I think either pairing could have been endgame. But Brooke/Ridge makes for better narrative symmetry because it would make Caroline prescient on her dying day. 

Who had the better chemistry to u

I wonder if the writers always meant to have ridge and Brooke as endgame or it was Tridge before Hunter left 

7 hours ago, Videnbas said:

Just curious - when would you say was the last time the show had an actual storyline? I mean a proper one with some kind of working narrative structure and a clear sense of forward motion. (as opposed to just random things happening with no purpose or goal) 

I can't even remember. 

I know it was dragged out and pretty much took over the show, but I’ll say the baby Beth story, I feel the issue with that one was more so the pacing. I think bold REALLY started to go in [!@#$%^&*] when Patrick M stepped down as story consultant after 2019

What did u all think about the year 95

12 minutes ago, Videnbas said:

I don't think Bill Bell played favorites. I think he really made an effort to develop all his characters. If there is any one character who emerges as more central than the others, I'd say Stephanie. 

Yeah Stephanie. He went on about Caroline in his book. I think for Taylor he was more fascinated with hunters beauty more than the actual character. 

So from what you all analyzed who do you all think we’re bill bells favorites? I think Caroline, Stephanie Ridge and Taylor. 

So remember when Bradley bell said Hope was the new Taylor and Steffy was the new Brooke? Am I the only one who thinks Hope was more similar to Caroline Sr? They both had that coming of age arc. Though Caroline was written better. 

1 hour ago, Videnbas said:

I think it may be too late now, because too much has happened to undermine Brooke's credibility as a maternal/family oriented character. She came close in the late 90s during the Amber/Rick storyline. After Hope's birth when she was staying in Stephanie's guest house and Stephanie was helping her was also a possible turning point.

Now, I think it would be harder. In order for Brooke to have an inner Stephanie she needs to actually care about keeping her family together, and that goes beyond merely disapproving of someone's choice of a love interest. She also needs to display a calculating side in order to achieve her goals. And she needs to monitor herself for behavior that could harm her loved ones. 

I just wanted to say I rly enjoy your takes, you have a lotta knowledge 

6 hours ago, Videnbas said:

That's a tough one, especially if "best" means "objectively" most interesting, most complex, most well developed, best written, and so on, rather than just our personal favorites. Also, there are several very good characters who have been ruined by out of character writing (in that case, I prefer to remember them as they were when they were at their peak). But I'll give it a try.

1) Stephanie, and it isn't even close. This one pretty much goes without saying. She is everything. She has a whole universe of different thoughts and emotions inside her and she lights up every scene she is in, in a "can't take your eyes off her" kind of way. (However, I have to admit that even Stephanie's character was pulled a bit out of character at the end, when she lost her subtlety and became "Gangsta Grandma").

2) Sally. Just as indisputably #2 as Stephanie is #1. Completely unforgettable, original, and a scene-stealer. She could easily have become a joke, but this was successfully averted by giving Sally a warm and soft heart underneath the tough surface, and by mixing her comedy with elements of tragedy. And she stayed in character no matter what, for almost two decades.

This is where there is a huge distance to #3, and it gets really difficult...

3) Although I don't really like the character, I'm going to have to go with Brooke (not anymore, but as she was originally written). Original Brooke actually had a lot of subtlety and dimensions, and she truly came to life through her rivalry with Stephanie. I'd say she earned this place as long as there were many dimensions to her and she wasn't just used to create scandal. After all, the show wouldn't have been B&B without her.

4) Sheila (as written 1992-1998). The show did a good job creating a truly frightening character who still had something in her that made you almost feel sorry for her. And she was intelligent and witty.

Now it gets even tougher because I try not to play favorites and un-favorites with the characters I personally like or don't like.

5) Macy. I feel this character took a while to fully develop, but once she did, she was very dynamic because she could believably cover the entire spectrum from being on top of the world to hitting rock bottom, and was equally human and relatable at both ends (whether she was performing in a stadium in front of 10000 people, or lying passed out in an alley in a pile of garbage). She also had this warmth about her, and she brought out that quality in other characters as well.

6) Caroline. She had a wonderful story arc where she really came of age before our eyes, had all of her illusions broken, picked up the pieces, moved on, built a new worldview, triumphed, was forced to face her mortality, and finally came to terms with it before her untimely death. And she was quite complex in that she had a lot of subconscious desires that went against her image of herself as a "good girl".

7) Bill Spencer Sr. The original "powerful man" on B&B, and a more commanding presence than any of his successors. Also a man of many faces - overprotective father, upstanding moral citizen, publisher of seedy magazines, respectable husband with not so respectable desires...

Taylor (that's supposed to be a number 8 but the computer won't let me!) I found Taylor hard to place but her significance on the show means she has to be up there somewhere. It's hard to describe her character in the early years because there was always this cool analytical distance about her - and maybe that was exactly her strength in a show filled with characters controlled by their emotions.

9) Ridge (as played by RM). He is a one-note character for sure, but what an entertaining note! His arrogance and boyish charm make him the archetypal Don Juan and a believable object of all those women's desire. B&B wouldn't have been the same without him.

10) Eric. Not as colorful as many others on the list, but he has nevertheless been a stabilizing factor through the years as the founder of Forrester Creations and the father of six other characters who have played a major part on the show.

Honorable mentions: Margo, Clarke, Thorne, Darla, Saul, Bridget, Aly, Amber (and I never even liked Amber)... oh, and Deacon. Deacon almost made my list.

1. Stephanie 

2. Sally

3. brooke

4. sheila

5. Caroline Sr

6. Ridge 

7. Macy

8. Taylor

9. Eric 

10. Bill Jr

Honorable mentions: Bridget, Thorne, Steffy, Amber, Maya, Clarke, Deacon, 

5 hours ago, Videnbas said:

I agree with what you wrote about Brooke. The character has become irrelevant on the show and she used to be in frontburner storylines all the time.

I think it's a long term lack of direction for Brooke that has led to this point. She used to be complex in the 90s - it was the sex scandals AND her taking over Forrester AND her being a mother AND her rivalry with Stephanie. Now, Brooke is too old to be the siren, not at all focused on her career, and Stephanie is dead. So we're left with Brooke parenting her adult child as her only storyline. And that just doesn't cut it because Hope is a pretty well-adjusted grown woman who doesn't need a whole lot of parenting.

What I don't understand is, this was totally predictable and avoidable. The writers had to have known that Stephanie wasn't going to be on the show forever. And Brooke's character was pretty much defined by her relationship with Stephanie. Without Stephanie, Brooke's character becomes significantly weakened. If a three falls in the forest and nobody is there to listen, does it make a sound? If Brooke does something scandalous and Stephanie isn't there to react to it, what is the point?

The writers should have anticipated this by moving Stephanie's "spirit" INSIDE BROOKE. It's not enough for Brooke to have just any female rival. It needs to be "the Stephanie force". The only logical way for Brooke to remain viable without Stephanie is for Brooke to become part Stephanie. And that is not going to happen because I don't think the current writers fully understand what Stephanie was all about. 

How do you think she could be formed into half Stephanie, like what type of character should she be

2 hours ago, BoldKara said:

I adored OG Caroline the first time around, rooted for her against Brooke. This time around I saw the nasty side of her, which shocked me. She treated Brooke quite poorly (some deserved of course), and the way she spoke to Stephanie sometimes made my jaw drop. Really rude, high and mighty princess. This time around, I’ve been rooting for Brooke, even though I knew what would happen with Ridge. I guess after 34 years of watching Brooke, she had gained my loyalty due to the time spent with her compared to the little time with Caroline in comparison. So my view of Caroline did change. Although I still cried a little when she died a week ago in my re-watch! 

Oh and I don’t remember thinking Jake MacLaine was anything special looks-wise, but OMG he is gorgeous this time around! Maybe I did find him attractive, but I just can’t remember! Easily one of the best looking men in the show’s history. Hubba hubba! 

I co sign Caroline 

How would you all rank the all time best characters of b&b in a top 10 editions 

1 hour ago, divinemotion said:

I think something's happened between Bradley and  Katherine Kelly Lang... I remembered when she was his favourite... year after year Brooke dominated, had her own storylines... Bradley gave her MATERIAL to work with. I feel sad watching what KKL has to play thesedays... She has been downplayed to a character like Donna, who is there just to comment on everyone else. The Brooke of today is nobody in the scheme of things... She has one or two staring dramaticly scenes a week and that's it. What happened... It is very disturbing to watch. I think Quinn has been getting the Brooke storylines... and I just don't understand. KKL is the queen of greek tragedy disgusting erotic scandals... Quinn just doesn't have that energy... She doesn't feel real in these storylines. KKL did. Someone once said I think it was here that maybe KKL didn't want these sex scandal storylines... But I won't believe KKL wants this... that she is playing right now. No actress wants to play boring and irrelevant. It's a pity because I believe KKL has evolved as an actress and she could really rock the show if they made her CEO of Forrester again and she becomes this Miranda Priestley slash Slut from the valley slash Alexis Carrington type. Brooke in the 90s was a force. She was written as someone who always had next goal in life. 

What happened? I can't help but feel like the writers are punishing KKL for not accepting to play some story or something like this. I just think Brooke is above these stupid dialogues she has been written into.

God... Even Eric has more power than Brooke right now. Which is unbelievable. 

I think something's been happening since 2017... Brooke has been lost. There hasn't been ANYTHING new or dramatic.

Bradley... USE your characters! Write better! Don't waste them... please.

I remember when I was watching in 2007 I was thinking this is TRASHY TRASH. Now... when I watch couple of 2021 episodes and I open and watch an episode from 2007 it's like Chekhov .

When I watch an episode from 1993 it's like Dostoevsky.

Sad... really sad.

 

I actually liked how Brooke was written 2019 and went up against Shauna Thomas and Quinn, and wasn’t afraid to give it to Ridge, that was the first time I enjoyed her since 2013

Hmm this is interesting…

Liz and Chase pairing anybody?