B&B: Should Brad Bell stick to producing?

[y&r_fan]

Under Kay Alden's writing during the strike, B&B was the best it has been in ages IMO. Everyone, with the exceptions of Thorne, Felicia and Jackie, was involved in some kind of storyline, and bringing back Alley Mills was just genius.

But now I'm afraid Bell will ruin it again with his bland, repetitive dialogue and overexposure of Brooke. With Jack Smith rejoining the writing staff, I think he and Alden would make great co-head writers (like they were at Y&R) and Bell should just step aside and be executive producer only.

Thoughts?

[JackPeyton]

Bell will ruin it. He is like Corday. He doesnt see whats best for his own show.

except, even when B&B is bad, its still better than Days when its good, lol.

[Cat]

Truthfully, yes. Not that the EP position is anything to sniff at. It is tremendously important and helps shape the feeling and direction of the show.

But EP *AND* HW, even on a half-hour soap, is too taxing. LML proved that. I suspect Brad Bell must adore the writing side of things, the creativity. Who can blame him? He has some interesting initial ideas and an appreciation of campiness and humor which is refreshing. But he also has problems executing and following through on promising stories. The pacing on this show is awful, way too fast. He is intoxicated by plot in order to keep the show pacy, IMO. As a result, character suffers badly. I dn't want predictability but sometimes I don't recognise Brooke from one day to the next.

It's like Brad has A.D.D. He gets excited by new stories and new characters and then... one month down the line, the new toys are thrown aside so that Brad can go back to his Ridge, Brooke, Nick and Taylor dolls. That's when the pacing goes all over the place.

It makes the viewer feel like a dog on a leash, and that leash being suddenly jerked back for no apparent reason, knocking the viewer off-course.

Personally, I would love it if Jack Smith and Kay Alden were co-HW. Brad would still have the power, still dictate some stories and SL direction. Perhaps JS and KA would rotate the canvas more, bring the nu-spectras and the forgotten Forresters to the frontburner. And clean up the DAMN PACING.

[Cat]

Oh... and I also think that when certain SLs change mid-stream, it usually amounts to pandering to certain very vocal fanbases. I don't visit the "official" B&B board. But I did once and, well, if you want to see vicious board wars between Brooke fans... Ridge fans... Nick fans... Taylor fans... and their respective pairings, that's where to go.

If that's what Brad Bell is reading on a daily basis, well, then, he may be inclined to think that all B&B viewers are like this. Maybe that's why he writes the way he does: to keep the fanbases riled up and on their toes.

[Sylph]

What I think this show desperately needs is a gay man. But not an effeminate caricature, and definitely not a fashion designer. I hate that cliché!

It just has to be a normal, beautiful person (not in a physical way, but I'm sure he will be gorgeous) with a f!cked up emotional life.

[MarkH]

I thought Kay Alden initially spiffed up the show.

But the WGA-strike era scripts...I don't know...I say Taylor go batsh*t and take up with Brooke's son, Brooke vacillate between men worse than ever, Pammie go over the top...

I love Kay. I wish she'd never left Y&R. (Indeed...don't pelt me...I was very happy when Kay and Jack and Lynn and Ed etc. were all forced to work together...I thought some GOOD stuff came out of that era...but I digress).

I do not find that the B&B written by Kay Alden was better, esp. now that we learn Jack Smith may have been helping. Uh uh.

So, that either tells me that Brad interfered too much, or it has to be the RIGHT "new vision" HW to work under the Brad Bell EPship.

[Sylph]

Yes, this is the new awfulness. I struggle with the show every day. It can have very good moments, but on the whole...

[sungrey]

I would make Kay sole headwriter. Jack Smith has a Reilly-esque tendency to ruin what he touches (although he could have been cured of that, I do not know).

I have thought for many years Brad Bell is a good producer but an average writer. He tends to cycle characters through his scripts, introduce them with great fanfare and then write them out a few months later. When asked why he did it, Brad always says "well, if we had an HOUR to tell these stories" in a not-so-subtle way.

Barring a major schedule change, Brad, you ain't going to an hour, so learn to tell 30 minute plots.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

Couldn't disagree more. B&B was a mighty mess under Alden during the strike. It became dark and brooding and unappealing. Kay's lack of knowledge of the history of the show and characters was especially obvious. There were episodes when she played only four or five characters in two sets. The scenes went on ridiculously long. IMHO, the only thing worse than Alden as headwriter of B&B would be Alden and Smith as co-heads. They had their chance at Y&R and blew it royally. Word is Smith is just writing scripts, anyway. Maybe he can't do too much damage.

[detroitpiston]

Yes, but Kay Alden and Jack Smith should not become the new head writers.

[Chris B]

This is more old soap than a bad thing, IMO. When she last wrote a half hour soap (Y&R) it was normal to only ever feature five or six characters per episode and scenes were longer as it was more character driven. I think that's what Alden brought to B&B. Yes the scenes were long, but they weren't repetitive and I actually feel like she understood the characters better. People are finally taking Brooke to task and seem to be growing. I wasn't crazy about every storyline (which I think were more Brad's ideas), but the quality of the scripts was high.

[DeeeDee]

Yes!

Bi CJ! Bi CJ!

[Chris B]

Why have Bi CJ when you can pair him with Bridget or Felicia? I say Bi Thorne if they refuse to remember his amazing chemistry with Brooke.

[DeeeDee]

Why have Bi CJ when you can pair him with Bridget or Felicia?

That works.

Bi CJ would be fun though.

His sister was a alcoholic lounge singer, his Dad's a fashion designer/con artist & his Mom was the Diva To End All Divas.

CJ's being bi would be tame in comparison. lol

I say Bi Thorne if they refuse to remember his amazing chemistry with Brooke.

That works too.

[y&r_fan]

I say Bi Thorne if they refuse to remember his amazing chemistry with Brooke.

I hope they NEVER revisit "Throoke". I like that there is at least one guy on the show who doesn't turn to jelly at the thought of Brooke's name. But I also hope they don't turn Thorne gay/bi, because he is an established straight character. It would send out the message that people can just "turn", which would fuel ignorance.

Anyway, I hope they pair Thorne with Ashley!