Cat has just written a long post as a reply to Gumdrop’s question and I had to open a whole topic about it. I have never ever in my life seen nor heard about a tale as disgusting and insulting as this one! Never. We have talked about the insemination a lot when it was the story of the day, but to see it synopsized like this and remind yourself about it is something else. But what struck me in equal measure is the whole Brooke/Ridge/Taylor triangle... What a great story this one could have been and how appalling it is now... I am embarrassed to say that I have watched this show for so long and am still watching it. Absolutely shocked.

Yes, I was wondering if anyone knows who's parents on B&B is baby Jack?

Well. It's a complicated story.

Taylor & Nick were married and Taylor desperately wanted another kid to add to her growing Octomommy brood (Thomas, Steffy and Feeble -- I mean, Phoebe). However, the doctors said that her organs couldn't go it alone! So Taylor and Nick did the whole IVF/insemination thing with what they thought was a random chick's donor egg.

Dr. Bridget (before she became Madame X, International Designer of Mystery) volunteered to do the icktastic insemination. We even saw Taylor's feet in stirrups and Dr. Bridget in scrubs doing her thang. This was back when B&B thought it was GH for one hot minute and started filming every other scene on its pink hospital set. The reason I mention Bridget is that she and Nick were once married, but he couldn't stop his magic peen singing whenever it saw Brooke, Bridget's mother.

Did I mention that blonde Brooke and dark-haired Taylor fought over human-waxwork Ridge for more than 15 years? Yeah. They're still fighting over the Rigid one.

Anyhoo, back to our story! Apparently, Bridget and her incompetent hospital messed up on the egg samples and picked the wrong test-tube marked "Mrs. Marone"! See, once Brooke had been Mrs. Marone, too, when she was married to Nick for a hot minute. Taylor, Bridget and Brooke have all been Mrs. Marone at one time or another. B&B is kind of incestuous. You may have heard that criticism before.

Anyway, Taylor carried her baby to term, but not before collapsing when she was about to give birth in true Soap Opera fashion. Baby Jack was born but it had some bone-marrow problem. Quick! We need an insta-bone marrow transplant, STAT!

When Bridget went to track down Random Egg Donor Chick, she was shocked to discover that some administrative [!@#$%^&*]-up had been made and Brooke was the Donor. Brooke offered her marrow but the news leaked out and Taylor boohooed a lot about it. It even gave her troubles bonding with baby Jack. That is when Brooke, Ex-Slut-Now-Earth-Mother, became a big Buttinsky and decided Jack needed his real mother. Or as she says, his "weel muthuh." Nick compounded the whole mess by admitting he still had feeeeeelings for Brooke.

Taylor & Nick divorced, but not before there was much Tug-of-Love fighting over who gets custody of baby Jack. When Taylor started falling for younger man Rick (who happens to be Brooke's SON! Yes, Brooke has birthed many B&B characters), Brooke issued an ultimatum: Taylor had to choose between RICK or BABY JACK!

Taylor stupidly chose Rick. They broke up, like, two weeks later. Rick is currently trying to woo Steffy, Taylor's daughter.

Is your head starting to spin yet?

I guess they are intentionally making the show so bad so that it can compete with the telenovelas in Europe.

I have often wondered about that. I do think that is part of the story.

Newsflash. Bradley Bell is a hack.

Actually, that's an insult to hacks. Bell makes Guza look like Doug Marland.

He's no writer. He is a "conceptualizer." And he has conceptualized this entire show into a corner. How do I know? Because Bradley has been regurgitating the same exact SL since the 90s. And because he can no longer excite the imagination of his viewers.

A few months ago, we -- the above-mentioned lowly viewer -- would prob have been able to lay out where B&B was going wrong, where it could go right, what assets it needed to play up, what fat needed to be cut off the bone, if Bradley cared to ask. One might even have suggested that B&B stop planning the show as 5 half-hours a week but rather a one-hour show spread over two days, allowing not just one SL to play out at a time but two, maybe three. Utilizing the entire cast and allowing the writers to stretch themselves a little without really adding to anybody's workload or production schedule.

Today? Personally, I don't even care. The characters are merely empty ciphers who move to the wind of Bell's latest half-baked plot-point. And I say this as a die-hard fan of Susan Flannery and Katherine Kelly Lang, of Ashley Jones and Lesli Kay. I love them but I am no longer in any way invested in Stephanie, Brooke, Bridget or MIA Felicia.

They say B&B is a show about romance. I don't see any when I watch the show. No romance, no feeling, no intimacy, no sensuality, no heart-thumping desire, no raw sex! Ergo, no investment. The whole package is shoddily put together on all levels -- production, costume-design (which should be a whole other character on B&B!), acting, writing. Perhaps Bell is gearing the show to be featured nightly on Talk Soup? Whatever. I am just surprised that Bradley is treating his future nest-egg, his main source of revenue, this way.

Before he left, DaytimeFan implied things would look up. He was wrong.

The irony is that things WERE on the build. Rejuvenated Jackie M...a fashion war. "Sick" didn't do it for me...but the Ridge-Rick battle COULD be epic. I loved that little snot saying "I own her ass". That's a muscle-twirling villain...and that's not a totally bad thing on B&B.

But instead of following through with that, Bradley dialed back on Rick's villainy...and is apparently trying to rescue this despicable scum as a romantic lead. All rooting value for Steffy is gone -- a bizarre marriage of horrendous writing and HANDS DOWN the WORST ACTING in ALL OF DAYTIME. WORSE than Charity Rahmer. Yes! You CANNOT build your next generation on that kind of casting.

Every promising seed...every one...is extinguished.

Some people liked Marcus-Steffy. (Not me...I thought they were an insta-couple with no basis). Killed.

Some people thought Marcus' backstory could humanize Donna and make her interesting...maybe even tie in the Baker clan as a viable new African American family. Killed. (Why did they sign Mykel Shannon Jenkins to a contract?????).

Some people thought the Spectra-Forrester war could turn into something. Killed.

Some people thought Owen between the cougar and the sexually challenged Bridget could turn into something. Killed. Why? The cougar turned into a rapist, and Bridget seems headed back to Owen's orbit. Sigh. There is an OBVIOUS cougar-battle for Owen that could have been interesting (paging Felicia) but that never got developed.

Lesli Kay's whole tremendous potential on this show. Killed.

Brooke and Ridge were finally going to setting into romantic stability...and leave the drama to the next generation. Killed. Now we have chicken-dance-silicon-lips back in that damn triangle and I want to shoot myself (sorry, Storm, I know it's not funny) EVERY time I see those three. Aren't they SIXTY YEARS OLD???

Stephanie was going all independent. Hell, I guess I thought they might finally acknowledge her latent lesbianism. Alas....now it's clear she's gonna be defending Forrester against the cancer she brought to town (Bill). Rivalry...killed.

Heather Tom. TOTALLY sparked with Flannery. That story had the makings of something...a friendship of respect across warring families. Alas, Katie became a husband-stealing Logan slut (while simultaneously dying), cried for four months, UTTERED THE WORST DRECK EVER PENNED BY PATRICK MULCAHEY....killed.

Don Diamont. It is hard to imagine that walking-sex with that amazing beard to be anything but appealing. They were gonna make him rakish, plain-talking. Okay. Then, in his first scenes with Gareis, he's telling her to "get on her knees" and to f*ck him. Now he's a rapist slimebag, IMO. Killed.

Thorne? Huh? I thought they put him on recurring or fired him or something. That wouldn't bother me. But off-the-stove for YEARS...why bother? Killed.

Don't even get me started on Pam. Here you have an engaging actress. How many roles has she played? Long-suffering daughter of Betty White. Loopy off-meds sister, trying to protect Stephanie's interests. Deranged bear-siccer. That's a brain tumor. Instant redemption! Cool! But what do we get after the tumor? A return to campy off-meds Pamela. She's crocheting bikinis. She's mistyping social security numbers. What fun. Killed.

Killed killed killed killed killed.

I have never seen so many good ideas killed. So many promising leads aborted in mid-sentence. It is MIND BOGGLING. I tape this sh!t every single day. Every day I say a little prayer that THIS will be the good episode. ('cause they DO sneak in good episodes).

They say slot machines are so powerful because of 'variable reinforcement'. Once in a while, you win some coin. That turns out to be THE best formula for addiction. You keep playing because maybe the next time will be your lucky break.

B&B. Variable reinforcement with a very low reward schedule. I am filled with self-loathing that I still keep rooting for this crap. (Now I'll be called harsh, negative, unfair).

The funny thing is that B&B has had worse stories so I didn't think that this one was that horrifically bad. Goes to show how your standards of soap entertainment gradually lowers to the point where you don't even realize that you are been shoveled crap.

Jackie raped Owen? Whut?

And who is raising Jack now?

Jackie raped Owen? Whut?

And who is raising Jack now?

Not really rape. But last week (in a famous B&B flip flop) Owen wanted to be free to pursue Bridget. Jackie refused to let him go, telling him he would be required to continue performing services for her. No choice, if he wanted a job.

This week, that's over. Owen has gone back to wanting Jackie more than Bridget. So, never mind.

Jack is being raised by Nick and his woman-du-jour.

Before he left, DaytimeFan implied things would look up. He was wrong.

The irony is that things WERE on the build. Rejuvenated Jackie M...a fashion war. "Sick" didn't do it for me...but the Ridge-Rick battle COULD be epic. I loved that little snot saying "I own her ass". That's a muscle-twirling villain...and that's not a totally bad thing on B&B.

But instead of following through with that, Bradley dialed back on Rick's villainy...and is apparently trying to rescue this despicable scum as a romantic lead. All rooting value for Steffy is gone -- a bizarre marriage of horrendous writing and HANDS DOWN the WORST ACTING in ALL OF DAYTIME. WORSE than Charity Rahmer. Yes! You CANNOT build your next generation on that kind of casting.

Every promising seed...every one...is extinguished.

Some people liked Marcus-Steffy. (Not me...I thought they were an insta-couple with no basis). Killed.

Some people thought Marcus' backstory could humanize Donna and make her interesting...maybe even tie in the Baker clan as a viable new African American family. Killed. (Why did they sign Mykel Shannon Jenkins to a contract?????).

Some people thought the Spectra-Forrester war could turn into something. Killed.

Some people thought Owen between the cougar and the sexually challenged Bridget could turn into something. Killed. Why? The cougar turned into a rapist, and Bridget seems headed back to Owen's orbit. Sigh. There is an OBVIOUS cougar-battle for Owen that could have been interesting (paging Felicia) but that never got developed.

Lesli Kay's whole tremendous potential on this show. Killed.

Brooke and Ridge were finally going to setting into romantic stability...and leave the drama to the next generation. Killed. Now we have chicken-dance-silicon-lips back in that damn triangle and I want to shoot myself (sorry, Storm, I know it's not funny) EVERY time I see those three. Aren't they SIXTY YEARS OLD???

Stephanie was going all independent. Hell, I guess I thought they might finally acknowledge her latent lesbianism. Alas....now it's clear she's gonna be defending Forrester against the cancer she brought to town (Bill). Rivalry...killed.

Heather Tom. TOTALLY sparked with Flannery. That story had the makings of something...a friendship of respect across warring families. Alas, Katie became a husband-stealing Logan slut (while simultaneously dying), cried for four months, UTTERED THE WORST DRECK EVER PENNED BY PATRICK MULCAHEY....killed.

Don Diamont. It is hard to imagine that walking-sex with that amazing beard to be anything but appealing. They were gonna make him rakish, plain-talking. Okay. Then, in his first scenes with Gareis, he's telling her to "get on her knees" and to f*ck him. Now he's a rapist slimebag, IMO. Killed.

Thorne? Huh? I thought they put him on recurring or fired him or something. That wouldn't bother me. But off-the-stove for YEARS...why bother? Killed.

Don't even get me started on Pam. Here you have an engaging actress. How many roles has she played? Long-suffering daughter of Betty White. Loopy off-meds sister, trying to protect Stephanie's interests. Deranged bear-siccer. That's a brain tumor. Instant redemption! Cool! But what do we get after the tumor? A return to campy off-meds Pamela. She's crocheting bikinis. She's mistyping social security numbers. What fun. Killed.

Killed killed killed killed killed.

I have never seen so many good ideas killed. So many promising leads aborted in mid-sentence. It is MIND BOGGLING. I tape this sh!t every single day. Every day I say a little prayer that THIS will be the good episode. ('cause they DO sneak in good episodes).

They say slot machines are so powerful because of 'variable reinforcement'. Once in a while, you win some coin. That turns out to be THE best formula for addiction. You keep playing because maybe the next time will be your lucky break.

B&B. Variable reinforcement with a very low reward schedule. I am filled with self-loathing that I still keep rooting for this crap. (Now I'll be called harsh, negative, unfair).

So much word... When you put it like that, all I can do is:

I tried to watch a few episodes but it is the same [!@#$%^&*] it was 10 years ago, it is such repetitive drivel.

I tried to watch a few episodes but it is the same [!@#$%^&*] it was 10 years ago, it is such repetitive drivel.

Absolutely right...except it depends on the episode. Once a month, they surprise us. And THAT is why some of us come back. Dammit!

I had to dig up this thread to remind myself of how horrible this show has been in the past few years. Absolutely wretched. Yet, somehow, I think it's quite salvagable, much more than any other on air. And if what people are writing in the spoiler subforum is true, then that must surely be a point of absolute no return and will make this whole show more of a joke than it already is. It's such an atrocious hack job that there are no words.