Many disagree, but I was in love with the show during the strike. Since then, Brad has been getting worse and worse. The show hasn't been in a state like now in years. They need someone to spice things up and if you take Kay's good qualities from the strike and combine them with Brad's wackiness this could be VERY good. I just hope what we're seeing now isn't Kay's input. I want her to bring back the progressive strike style. A more human Brooke morphing into the matriarch role while still being sexy. I want them to utilize the cast better and stop forcing pointless couples on us or those (like Brooke and Ridge) at the wrong time. I'll be interesting to see what develops with Felicia now that Brad isn't in total control. She's getting more screentime, but the storyline is bad and she's being used poorly. Why isn't Owen a love interest for her? They're smoking hot. It's like the show simply couldn't care less about her. It's odd. Kay seems nice enough (both of 'em).

^I loved the strike too, but I also think the show is good now: Brooke isn't waffling between men, there is a variety of different storylines and everyone (with the exceptions of Thorne, Ashley, Pam, Jackie and Clarke) is getting their share of screen time.

I'm optimistic that Bell and Alden having equal power in the writing department will be a good thing.

John F. Smith would have been a better choice. Meg Bennett - much better.

Meg Bennett - much better.

Where is she now? She has experience with Y&R, B&B, and GH (Guza is her huaband). It's weird that she isn't at one of these shows at the moment, and she was also one of Bill Bell's favourites, as she was an actress on Y&R and then he hired her as a scriptwriter.

I don't know what to think about Kay Alden being promoted as co-head writer. I liked her on Y&R mostly because she followed Bill Bell's vision. She is not the master but she worked with him for so many years. I think that Alden & Bell Jr could be good together. For me, the problem on B&B right now is that La Flannery is willing to retire. A new focus has to be found but too much on the Logans is a mistake, for sure. If I watch B&B, it is mainly for La Flannery. I'm waiting for the show to deal with that. I hope Alden & Bell Jr will do that together.

Wasn't Alden a big Ashley Abbott fan on Y&R? I, too, loved her work during the strike. It was more of an ensemble show and stories moved foward(about as far as they could on B&. Most importantly, there was more Ashley.

i dont think the logans overtaking B&B can be blamed on KA.

SF has spoken about her leaving the show for sometime now, and the show does revolve around HER and the forresters. Without her i can see them taking it can making it about Brooke and the logans.

Wasn't Alden a big Ashley Abbott fan on Y&R? I, too, loved her work during the strike. It was more of an ensemble show and stories moved foward(about as far as they could on B&. Most importantly, there was more Ashley.

I hope they start using Ashley more! I have wanted an Ashley/Thorne hook-up for a long time now.

I can't believe they took her out of the opening credits. Patrick Duffy and MacKenzie Mauzy are both recurring now, and contract actors are supposed to take precedence over recurring actors.

Besides, the Forresters are boring now. Really boring. Donna and Katie have so much potential.

I don't want either of the two families to completely dominate the show. Can't they just maintain a balance?

A balance would be great, I agree with you. Balance should be what dominates daytime.

i dont think the logans overtaking B&B can be blamed on KA.

Me neither.

Brad always has his thing for the new families he created. He loves Jennifer Gareis, he loves Heather Tom - so this makes perfect sense. He's trying to rectify Marone-Mania from 2004 which failed miserably to amp the show past the Forresters, this time around with the Logans. This time the casting definitely is there and the characters used to be refined until Brad botched everything post-strike.

B&B has some kind of balance these days although I don't like the focus. The main problem is that there is zero motiviation for the viewer to invest because stories last about a week. There's no build-up, no tension, no pay-off as a result. Medical drama follows medical which is followed by yet another family drama. This is so frustrating and as a result the show totally sucks for me.

Here is where I hope Kay Alden will intervene. This is exactly what she criticized about "the show she was consulting on" -> AMC in her MIT interview. Too much happens without any reason or sense.

One thing I wonder is that with Kay being co-head (who can do camp pretty well, IMO - crazy-ass Pam was her idea), my guess is that either Brad or Jack Smith could soon do double duty over Y&R... And as Sylph mentioned Meg Bennett, no thank you. She's the last thing B&B or Y&R needs, there's sth. about her writing style/taste that totally riles me up. She should slap her hubby back and forth at GH to get his act together but that's about it.

Ugh!

I never liked KA's strike stint - and that's putting it mildly. It was just so un-B&B in every way possible. Oh, and she wrote Storm into a bloody corner. There was only one aspect of her mess that I thought had promise - Brooke's maternal feelings for Jack. I thought they played it great - it was plausible and a nice change for the character, which didn't have her using Jack as a ploy to get-it-on with Nick. Even Ashley was involved. This lasted for all of five minutes, before becoming yet another flip-flopping session between Nick and Ridge, and her their ever changing feelings.

Now, nothing has really changed for me; I still hate the show. I hate Nick - I think even more-so than Ridge (is that even possible?). I hate the mess that Taylor, Bridget, Katie... even Stephanie, have become. If Kay Alden can produce something that isn't like her strike stuff, and can compliment Brad Bell, then I will be very happy.

I think the question really is: Can the show get any worse?

Oh and Re: The Logan invasion - I'm pretty sure that's all Brad's idea. He wanted an new set to take over from the Forrester's. But I want to know why one family must dominate the canvas, instead of it being shared out? One can be the majority, without completely taking over.

Frankly, I'm surprised Brad didn't offer this position to Jack Smith, since Smith has Co-HW experience on B&B and would be a better match. There's just something about Kay, she's way too Y&R for any other soap to be HW.

Sheilaforever, I agree about Brad sending Jack Smith back to Y&R to oversee things. If they're really searching for a new EP for Y&R, Brad should just send Smith and perhaps Shaughnessy back there. Smith is wasted writing scripts for B&B. He should be at least a Story Consultant for Y&R or something. Y&R needs a few more historians, and who better than Smith?

Where is she now? She has experience with Y&R, B&B, and GH (Guza is her huaband). It's weird that she isn't at one of these shows at the moment, and she was also one of Bill Bell's favourites, as she was an actress on Y&R and then he hired her as a scriptwriter.

I have no idea where she is now, but I heard only complimentary things about her and her writing.