B&B: Week of June 30th

[Sylph]

I just fell asleep!

[MarkH]

But they DID this story a few years ago! Thorne felt neglected at Forrester. He lashed out...so dramatically that the family FINALLY understood how they had neglected him. He took over Spectra. He raised it to new heights.

And then...partly related to Darlene Conley, I think...it was dropped.

Even now, they have a VIABLE Forrester-vs-Spectra storry with campy-Jackie as the owner of Spectra...and they take it NOWHERE. One of the many, many, many wasted story possibilities and character grous on B&B. As I write this, I have no idea why I am so bitter .

I swear JP, I love your ideas...but I think I have seen versions of this exact story many times already on this show .

Your bigger point though--that the real action here is one fashion house vs. the other--that is totally true. That is the DNA of this show, and it is totally neglected.

[Sylph]

That's why I fell asleep. In a deeeeeeeeeeep sleep.

[bandbfan]

I think the Thorne/Felicia getting fed up with the rest of the family has been done too much, especially the rivalry between the brothers.

There could be some good camp and fashion if they started Jackie and Spectra back up (with Nick NOT involved). I think LAD can do some of the camp that DC brought. And I hope Stephanie goes back to some of her crazy ways before SF retires.

[JackPeyton]

They have done it.

for a month here.

a week there.

three days six years later.

B&B needs a huge overall storyline that will shake every single char to the core. make them question everything. it needs o last longer thna a few weeks. it needs to be about everyone, not a select few people. its really not hard.

Honestly, B&B is the most plot driven mess of a soap.

and Brad Bell is worse than Dena Higly, Guza, B&E, LML, EW, DK, JP, CG all combined. oh yes i went there. because its true.

He is in a legue with Ken Corday and Brian Frons.

[bandbfan]

That makes me think of the Salem Stalker s/l of DAYS or the recent tornado of Y&R, which were both way over the top. I'm not sure how that'd work out for them.

[Cat]

THANK YOU! For speaking the truth. He's cleverer than Corday. But still a hack!

[JackPeyton]

the Salem Stalker was greatness. the aftermath was horrid. but no, BB doesnt need that.

They dont need as long ongoing event. soaps always do that now.

i wish if they needed something shocking to shake things up they would do one event. that one event should be shocking,g et people talking, get people watching, get people to care, and then they should tell the fallout froms aid event. not drag it out til noone cares.

[Cat]

Eeeek, no! Murder mystery SLs are not B&B's forte.

And natural disasters? Well, LA is quake-prone!

LOL, for some reason, "natural disaster" is triggering long-repressed memories of that GODAWFUL Aztec wedding between Brooke & Ridge. Sheila and Sugar (her prison guard) had somehow finagled their way out of jail and into the local guerrilla group where Bridge were honeymooning. They kidnapped Ridge (while Sheila slung a baby around, claiming it was Massimo's!) and he fell into a fiery furnace after some extremely bad cartoon-fighting. Then Brooke & Nick had grief-sex. Then Ridge reappeared, alive. Then we had 8 months of WTD. Ugh.

[bandbfan]

Yuck to THAT! Lol.

I can't remember anything that B&B has done that has affected everybody. I think Beth's SL has the potential to cross over to the Forrester side since they all knew her along time ago. But they haven't dealt with that yet.

[nicknack]

IMO, B&B's strenght has always been that they have done people stories rather than adventures. I don't want them to change that.

And I too think that "Felicia and Thorne are mad at their family" is overdone. They have done it, they sucked at doing anything outside, why bother again? It's not like they are going to get any more credible if they repeat it 10 times more.

They should bring on a charismatic actor to do the whole "Up and coming fashion designer challenges Forrester" spiel again. Yet they have done it countless times before. Yes the other party always loses, but so what? At least it gives the designer characters something to do again.

As for storylines that affect a lot of people, well it depends on how you define a lot of people, but to me bigger events were:

- Sheila holds the Forresters hostage

- Grant's shooting (including Ridge being sent to jail)

- Amber confessing stealing Becky's baby

- Brooke dating Thorne (including Macy's death by car and Kimberly's revenge)

[DavidEvanSmith]

They need to have a master umbrella storyline. A natural disaster (most likely an earthquake) may do it. But they need the proper buildup, to get the entire cast into the same spot (a fashion show with some elaborate set that can collapse on everyone!)

From there, it can be a catalyst for everything. Someone fairly major is killed in the devastation (I wanna say Ridge, but it would most likely be Thorne). Felicia suffers a horribly disfiguring scar which makes her go into seclusion and withdraw from her family (I'm thinking more like a Julia Santos storyline from AMC, than the pathetic Erica Kane "phantom of the opera" version where we never even SAW the devastating scar). Jackie bears some of the responsibility because she called for the stage design and the equipment that was shoddily constructed and contributed to the death and Felicia's disfigurement.

Bridget was pinned under some heavy material and paralyzed, leaving her unable to help the survivors, and having to fight her way back to being able to walk. New Dr. Owen tends to the survivors and gives Bridget some "tough love" recovery coaching? Nick's concern for Katie shows Bridget where his true love lies, leaving her bitter and angry and more open to Dr. Owen's atttention.

Rick dove to protect Taylor from falling debris, only for the debris to collapse on and kill Phoebe instead? (Though this story may be hard for Hunter Tylo to play, so I don't know). Steffy losing her twin is devastating.

Ashley is traumatized by the earthquake and after a close call of losing Abby she decides to move back to Genoa City.

Stephanie and Brooke are trapped together under the rubble and forced to hash out years of their feud as Brooke tries to keep Stephanie awake while she has obvious internal injuries.

Beth is gravely injured and confesses on her deathbed to Donna that Stephen isn't Brooke's father. Opens up possibilities to bring in a new father for Brooke (it couldn't be Eric or Massimo because Brooke's slept with all their children, and Eric himself). Donna isn't sure what to do with the information and fears that Brooke's blood donation in the relief effort will reveal that she couldn't be Stephen's daughter.

A lot could come of that kind of umbrella story. ALL the characters against the backdrop of a life and death situation could change EVERYTHING.

[Cat]

^^ Wow, David. Those are amazing story suggestions. It truly would change the face of B&B (even though I don't think I could deal with any more death on the show).

I still want Eileen to stay on B&B, though. And Lesli Kay needs to be primped to take over as Stephanie's "heir." I do not understand why B&B is wasting her so horribly. Is this Brad? Or Barbara Bloom?

[bandbfan]

If Barbara Bloom is in love with P&G, then it could be her, since LK came from ATWT. Somebody mentioned that Barbara nixed a cross-over, which I can only think would be LK's (as Eileen's would be very obvious and needed in some cases). It's awful how much she's wasted.

[nicknack]

Personally. B&B and disaster storylines don' t mix. If people want desaster storylines they should stick with some of the other soaps. One of the things that made B&B likable to me is that they (mostly) avoided cheap stunts like this.