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More Heather Tom and Ashley Jones sharing scenes together! I really enjoyed them.

But let's dial it WAY down with the Nick worshipping. Honestly, Mount Rushmore is not the end-all and be-all of male booty in LA!

Ridge (or "Cliff" as Nick called him) needs to get his ass on a plane somewhere. He was so infuriatingly smug with Storm. If he thinks Storm is so dangerous, how come he left Ashley alone with him at the restaurant? So much for saving his newest sweetheart. "Ashley, Storm is so very, very dangerous. He's the one who shot Stephanie. But don't tell him you know. Even though he knows you know because I just told him you know. Just act TOTALLY normal and get him to drive you home. I'd offer you a ride but I just want to get out of here as fast as I can and jump into bed with Brooke. See ya. And Good Luck."

Why are they making Storm so icky now.

MarkH:

I was Brooke's staunchest defender.

Now, honestly, I can't stand ONE of these people.

I mean, really, is there one likeable character on this show?

Is their *one* fun story? (Maybe Pam....).

Even my Heather Tom, who can do no wrong in my book, is saddled with this awful "I'm falling for the ex-husband of my sister and my niece" story.

Apparently, now Jack Smith is joining Kay Alden on the writing team. But I have no hope, really. Jack used to co-write this show, and I seem to recall bad dreck then too.

I fear I will even lose my residual interest in keeping track of this show from a distance. And then it will drop from my radar, as AMC/ OLTL/GH did years ago. I TIVO'd every episode this week, and I only watched (mostly FF) Friday's.

CBS really is clueless.

At least when it comes to B&B's family tree: CBS promo tag on Y&R - Will Bridget lose Nick to her SISTER?

OMG is Hope being next to seduce Nick. I mean, it has been a long way coming, hasn't it?

MarkH:

Now, let me say, today's B&B highlights the fundamental crack cocaine of this show.

I hate the characters and I hate the stories :-).

And yet, today was riveting.

The suddenly crazy Storm (bad writing), was chillingly compelling...and I truly believed Ashley was scared. Watching this little horror movie unfold is going to be interesting.

So, too, suddenly, Bridget turned into a possessive bitch. She was taunting Katie and making her feel insecure. She even had VOICEOVERS, saying "no, Aunt Katie, you're not going to steal Nick from me". A bitched up Bridget (makes no sense! this is inconsistent with all the prior years of plotting!) was terrific to watch. And, Heather Tom straddled her multiple character streams with aplomb (insecure: Nick could never love a girl like me...something Bridget fed on; feisty: ready to drop Nick, but suddenly wanting to fight once Bridget implicitly challenged her; chemistry: all this great subtextual stuff with Nick). Heather and Jack and even Ashley are SUFFICIENTLY GOOD that I can actually forget for a minute that this is ANOTHER incest story!!

Bridget and Ridge arguing about Storm...yawn.

Preview ads for this week suggest that Donna may be the instrument of something bad happening to Tiny...and that is going to fuel Pam even further. That is another TERRIBLE story...insta-crazy Pam. Eric would never tolerate this dangerous nut. BUT....it produces compelling drama.

The day-by-day shifts in quality and character motivation totally parallel the bad stuff on LML's Y&R. You never quite know what you're going to get. That signals the abject failure of Brad Bell and his co-headwriter team.

On the other hand, on specific days, the individual dialogue and the performances save the show...time after time.

Imagine if this show were well plotted/written. What a great show it could be.

Edited April 15, 200817 yr by MarkH

MarkH, a lot of what you say, I really agree with. ^

Like that point about Bridget suddenly revealing her bitchface. Under WJB, that would have been more skillfully done. Something about the way William Bell wrote characters... they were three-dimensional. A "good girl" character like Bridget -- essentially Caroline back in the early days -- was fundamentally decent but when push came to shove, she could pull out the bitchiness and manipulation and it was accepted. Because Joanna Johnson played a multi-faceted character with traits that the audience recognized in themselves.

Now, though, the characters have become plot-points which is saddening. I watch in the hope of glimmers of what they used to be. The Storm story is a perfect illustration of that.

Sadly, I think Brad bell is used to writing with this plot-point template. It's about keeping the audience on their toes, as opposed to crafting characters that grew, change and evolve.

i love it when bridgett pulls out her inner bitch card. AJ is fab at snarky bitch. heather tom is ...

aside from those two actress i hate everythiong about B&B right now and i shouldnt, because IMHO whats going on sounds good, but it comes off as BAD.

the incestual route doesnt bother me because of what a small cast they have. but the storyline, like al others on this show, is just lacking that little something needed to make it amazing.

"Ash"ley, Katie, and Storm are the only people keeping me tuned in when we haven't been seeing Pam and Stephanie around. Ash, Doc, Logan, lol, Ridge thinks of his own name for everybody.

I really don't like Taylor and Rick, no matter if the relationship is "physical" or not. And Bridget and Nick are on their same ol' merry-go-rounds.

Apparently, now Jack Smith is joining Kay Alden on the writing team. But I have no hope, really. Jack used to co-write this show, and I seem to recall bad dreck then too.

Jack Smith was BRILLIANT when he co-wrote B&B. Most of the characters were involved in a SL, there was NO incest (apart from "Ridget", but that was over before it began due to viewer backlash) and there was much more variety! I PRAY that JS is coming back to B&B!

But bottom line: ANYONE IS BETTER THAN BELL!

Edited April 16, 200817 yr by y&r_fan

I actually enjoyed today alot..I just hate that Nick gets to be so important all the time.

^DITTO!

^DITTO!

There is no question the show can keep you often. I'm learning more and more that even when the *stories* suck, scenes/dialogue, good acting, good production values can all save the episode.

So, for me, it puts me in this odd situation of disliking the overall canvas...but enjoying what is painted on it some days. I don't know if that makes sense.

I just wish the quality could be more consistent, and more emotion/character-based rather than plot/incest-based.

I liked Donna and Pam today, Jennifer Gareis is so much better than she was when she was Grace Turner.

I just posted this on Usenet, but I think it is germane to our discussion here. I'm still trying to find words to explain why I am SO annoyed with B&B these days.

Brad Bell always mentions the "small canvas" and "half hour show" as an explanation for all the incest.

But I think back to other 30 minute shows (most of them were, including Y&R, back in the day) and THEY WEREN'T LIKE THIS.

Even if I narrow it down to a 'family-based soap', I come up with Ryan's Hope. IT WAS NOT LIKE THIS. Of course brothers (Frank, Paddy) shared women (Delia--once)...and I'm sure there are other examples...but for the most part THEY WEREN'T LIKE THIS.

I'm sorry to "shout", but the more B&B plumbs these depths, the sicker and sicker I get, and the more and more irritated.

I'd LOVE to see Heather Tom in a love triangle with Jack Wagner and Ashley Jones. BUT, when you say that "Bridget is in love with her mother's ex-husband, and is now battling her aunt--her mother's sister--for the same man"...smoke comes out of my ears. And it doesn't matter how well acted it is, or how sparkling the dialog is (both ARE good), smoke comes out of my ears, and I get so irritated at the squandering of the Bell legacy.

The problem is that I have read an interview with Brad Bell--maybe with Logan in TVguide over the last few years--where he basically said incest is part of the B&B formula.

THAT'S THE PROBLEM. The identity that Bell has forged for this show is a fundamentally sick, twisted, icky identity. He COULD choose otherwise...I devoutly hoped Kay Alden would HELP him choose otherwise....but he repeatedly dips in this irritating well.

Even the Pam-is-psycho and Storm-is-psycho stories are repetitive. Over the years on this show we've had Sheila, Angela, Anthony? (Michael Sabatino's character)...and I'm sure others. Even Rick flipped his lid and shot Grant Chambers...but I guess that is different. I love a good psycho story...but here, two fine/normal characters were SUDDENLY turned into psychos to suit story purposes...and that is even worse.

B&B only won me initially because it was a Bell show...and it kept me over the years because of some of its' terrific performers, sumptuous production values, and--yes--occasionally fun and campy twists. I do like the camp, but when I say that, what I really mean is "Sally wears a disguise" or "Donna tries to get Bill Spencer naked to take a picture of him" or "Sheila is new in town, she makes little Eric's nanny take a bad fall and crack her head, so that she can be the replacement nanny". (Sheila's first run on the show was great...the less have been less inspired.).

I try not to whine about this show, but for me it really is like an "underperforming student". It could be getting "straight As", but due to lazy writing, it ends up getting a lot of Fs.