I agree with Eric. I was shocked that the show retained as much as it did. And I also agree that OLTL will not hold this level of viewers. It never does. I would say that OLTL has the largest amount of casual viewers who tune in when the show looks good and tune right out again.

Really? Because I would've said DAYS. They seem to move up and down a lot. I think AMC and OLTL have a fairly fixed set of viewers but they also have a large group of former viewers who are still attached enough that they are willing to return if something grabs them. (But perhaps that's what you meant and I read it wrong.)

I've taken a million viewing vacations from AMC but I always follow it and I always eventually return home to Pine Valley. And as much as I hate myself for it I watched OLTL last week so I could see John kick his ho to the curb but I also know enough about ratings that I made sure to do it by watching clips on the net so that OLTL didn't benefit from my viewership.

But the 30 minute thing does limit character development.

That's why I've never been a fan of the suggestion to cut hour soaps to half-hour. I think that has a bad effect on storytelling. Better an hour soap three times a week with seasonal hiatuses built in.

Edited February 19, 201114 yr by marceline

Who cares how a rerun performed? And they did manage to cling on to more viewers than some other soaps and not to mention it rose in viewers every day of the week up until the rerun, which is obviously because of the Jessica/Natalie/Rex DNA reveals.

Not only did they basically hang on to viewers, the ones that didn't watch apparently didn't turn to the "other" network, which no bones about it makes me happy. As much as it pains me I have to agree with the comment that OLTL has viewers that don't watch regularly anymore, but will tune in when something interesting is going on.

Really? Because I would've said DAYS. They seem to move up and down a lot. I think AMC and OLTL have a fairly fixed set of viewers but they also have a large group of former viewers who are still attached enough that they are willing to return if something grabs them. (But perhaps that's what you meant and I read it wrong.)

I've taken a million viewing vacations from AMC but I always follow it and I always eventually return home to Pine Valley. And as much as I hate myself for it I watched OLTL last week so I could see John kick his ho to the curb but I also know enough about ratings that I made sure to do it by watching clips on the net so that OLTL didn't benefit from my viewership.

That's why I've never been a fan of the suggestion to cut hour soaps to half-hour. I think that has a bad effect on storytelling. Better an hour soap three times a week with seasonal hiatuses built in.

Marceline, That is exactly what I was saying. And I totally agree about Days. In fact, Days and GH probably have the largest number of formerly loyal viewers who are willing to tune back in sporadically, and I would say next is OLTL. GH's returning fans tend to stick around longer than OLTL's. And Days is probably the success story of the last 5 years, even though the show has lost significant ground.

I must say that I have loathed Easton and Archer for years- I tuned out for two years primarily due to John/Natalie/Evangeline (I thought all 3 actors were horrible and I think I am the only one who could not stand any of them. REG was hugely popular, especially.

But I have grown to like Melissa alot. And I have to say I have even been enjoying Easton. First spark of -anything- involving Gina T, were her scenes with him this past week. I didn't fast forward the DVR. I actually felt something for Kelly since she returned. The show really needs to find some sort of heart in addition to all this neverending scheming/paternity nonsense. The show is pretty much must see for me, yet its pretty void of any depth. I guess all of the shows are now.

I've seen a lot of complaints about B&B turning into a PSA. IMO, this is a case of a show straying too far from it's brand. B&B has always seemed to be about glamour and a certain level of frivolousness. It's supposed to be about the fashion industry with it's pretty clothes, whorish women and stupid men not homelessness and cancer. It's not a show that has much room for a social conscience and clearly that's not what their viewers tune in to see.

Those stories belong on AMC. That's a show that was built on issue stories.

IA. I dont want to see that type of stuff on B&B. It should stick to the over the top scandals adn take this PSA nonsense elswhere. It doesnt fit in with the tone of the show and seems so out of place

The problem is Brad Bell isn't very good at over the top stuff. I think the best he did with that was the Pam/Donna feud. The rest of the time it's tacky stuff like the Brooke/Oliver sex or the Rick OTT horrors of a few years ago.

I don't think a half-hour soap limits character development. Ryan's Hope didn't. I think good writing can develop characters in any format. I often wish some new fifteen-minute soaps could be created -- I don't mean websoaps, which amount to a minute opening credits, five minutes self-indulgent prattling, two minute cameo from a soap star of 1972, two minutes of story, and one minute of closing credits.

I've seen a lot of complaints about B&B turning into a PSA. IMO, this is a case of a show straying too far from it's brand. B&B has always seemed to be about glamour and a certain level of frivolousness. It's supposed to be about the fashion industry with it's pretty clothes, whorish women and stupid men not homelessness and cancer. It's not a show that has much room for a social conscience and clearly that's not what their viewers tune in to see.

Those stories belong on AMC. That's a show that was built on issue stories.

I'm all for social conscience on soaps; however, B&B is doing a really bad job with it. The stories feel contrived, trite and preachy. Even the dialogue is poor. These isn't any real tension or build up with these stories. The most recent 'Nick has a spot on his lung' story was the worst and medically inaccurate considering these spots are very common after a bad cold.

It seems as if Bell has no idea with vets and, therefore, these PSAs are extraordinarly vet heavy without cross generational involvement. Stephanie is not St. Stephanie of LA and should still be somewhat part of the mix. Got this bad feeling that Brooke is slowing becoming the 'new' Stephanie. The manner in which she rips Amber up sounds very familiar.

I've been predicting B&B's fall for a while and it seems to be coming true.

The problem is Brad Bell isn't very good at over the top stuff. I think the best he did with that was the Pam/Donna feud. The rest of the time it's tacky stuff like the Brooke/Oliver sex or the Rick OTT horrors of a few years ago.

That stuff was entertaining. BB fans would rather watch Brooke sleeping around than Stephanie lecturing about the next social issue. I watch the show for the scandals, controversy and craziness. B&B is taking itself way too seriously these days

I'm not sure if there was a big interest in that story or not. It seemed to be wrapped up quickly, and quasi-rape is already something the show has done with Brooke and various men. It just seemed desperate to me as many of Bell's attempts at camp do.

I think what were slowly starting to see now is that OLTL is growing their audience. Their way from they were in September when the show starting hitting on all cylinders. Now their the top soap on ABC. The key for OLTL is to continue doing what their doing and this time next year their going to be back over 3 million viewers everyday day of the week.

Again for AMC even though their show is a little better they still need a lot work and need to read the book on how to grow like OLTL has. GH seems to be pretty stable right now as they’ve really stopped their bad bleeding that they had in 2010.

DAYS is a bit down this week but up until this week they were one of the strongest soaps. If DAYS can get back in the ball game here they might finally catch B&B for second place.

CBS’ soaps had a very weak week after a couple of strong weeks due to the snow but I think that was expected. B&B has had some horrible storylines lately and its finally catching up with them. They need to get back to basics on that show but at least my girl Steffy is back!

I do agree that OLTL is either holding or gaining more viewers than any other soap. Yes, the DNA reveal helped but OLTL has been on the upswing for a while. Since these 'gains' are in HHs as opposed to key demos, I do wonder if picking up Zimmer and the ATWT all stars hasn't slightly helped. Curious to see what happens to ratings once Peck and (possibly) Howarth join. It's pretty clear Frons is still chasing after certain fan bases.

I just realized that B&B is the new ATWT. World had lost it's mojo and was at 2.1 in 2008. It is only a matter of time before Bold is pulling in 1.9 for HHs. This shouldn't make me happy, I've watched the show for years, but Bell deserves it.

I'm all for social conscience on soaps; however, B&B is doing a really bad job with it. The stories feel contrived, trite and preachy. Even the dialogue is poor. These isn't any real tension or build up with these stories. The most recent 'Nick has a spot on his lung' story was the worst and medically inaccurate considering these spots are very common after a bad cold.

That's the problem with most issue stories these days. Writers are unwilling or unable to give them the level of research and/or time that it takes to make them really work. Plus the political environment (as in office, not government) makes it hard to be truly brave with them. For all the things he did wrong at AMC, Pratt started an intriguing story about Brot and the effects of war but they chickened out. I hear RC has a bullying story planned for OLTL. It'll be interesting to see how he handles it. The Kish story was so preachy it put Tyler Perry to shame.

Given that B&B is set in the fashion industry, if they wanted to tackle a social issue it would make more sense for them to deal with eating disorders or cocaine use. That would be organic and, I suspect, would go over with their audience much better.

Edited February 20, 201114 yr by marceline

Llantano is full of codswallop. Worst soap in daytime? Right.

B&B has so many problems, that one doesn't know where to start. But the main one is that it never really was what it was supposed to be. The premise is so rich and multi-faceted, but the Bells have a certain type of stiffness about them, they are conservative in a certain kind of way, so whereas sometimes that's good and produced some great stories over the years, and as someone said – no one wrote rich people like Bill Bell did, on the other hand it was just awkward and never really jelled.

Edited February 20, 201114 yr by Sylph

I'm not sure if there was a big interest in that story or not. It seemed to be wrapped up quickly, and quasi-rape is already something the show has done with Brooke and various men. It just seemed desperate to me as many of Bell's attempts at camp do.

That story was funny whenever they played that silly song. I wouldn't call it quasi-rape because Oliver really did think he was with Hope. The notion of mistaken ID when it comes to sex is insane. Brooke should know Ridge's penis by know. I doubt the two men are 'twins'

Thom kissing Brooke while she was asleep was icky molestation.

I'm not sure if there was a big interest in that story or not. It seemed to be wrapped up quickly, and quasi-rape is already something the show has done with Brooke and various men. It just seemed desperate to me as many of Bell's attempts at camp do.

The show got alot of buzz on the threads when it was going on. It had people talking. It whats expected of B&B.I think you are trying to apply other soap logic to B&B. You cant come to this show with the same mentality, you'd expect from others. The campy, over the top, silly plots seen here wouldnt work on other soaps,but its right up B&B's alley, just like the more social grounded plots from others dont work as well here. As someone said, this lung cancer and homelessness story approaches may have been better suited for AMC or OLTL. B&B? not so much. At least not without some campy fun plot to balance it out. Unfortunately Bell has sucked the drama out of the show. This past month ad NOTHING. Enemies wre making peace with each other. Family feud was ended. No coprorate fashion rivalry between the two houses. We got an isntant marriage for a couple who werent even dating. And throughout all of this Stephanie preaching about cancer, and the PSA scenes with Nick and the homeless angle with Dayzee. Its horrible and boring. I want drama, fighting, affairs, scandal, sillyness, and out of control behavior from B&B adn they have not been delivering on that. Its no wonder, the numbers have dropped bc the show at the moment sucks

I guess it reminded me of DAYS when Stefano brainwashed Hope and John and they had sex. It was the type of story that drove off viewers. The whole "isn't it fun/hot when two people are manipulated into having sex with each other without realizing it" is something that I don't think the show had the guts to delve into, either as a joke or seriously, and they'd already done these types of half-hearted stories with Brooke before in the last few years (being raped and using this to get Ridge back; Ridge having sex with her when she was out of it on meds).

The show got alot of buzz on the threads when it was going on. It had people talking. It whats expected of B&B.I think you are trying to apply other soap logic to B&B. You cant come to this show with the same mentality, you'd expect from others. The campy, over the top, silly plots seen here wouldnt work on other soaps,but its right up B&B's alley, just like the more social grounded plots from others dont work as well here. As someone said, this lung cancer and homelessness story approaches may have been better suited for AMC or OLTL. B&B? not so much. At least not without some campy fun plot to balance it out. Unfortunately Bell has sucked the drama out of the show. This past month ad NOTHING. Enemies wre making peace with each other. Family feud was ended. No coprorate fashion rivalry between the two houses. We got an isntant marriage for a couple who werent even dating. And throughout all of this Stephanie preaching about cancer, and the PSA scenes with Nick and the homeless angle with Dayzee. Its horrible and boring. I want drama, fighting, affairs, scandal, sillyness, and out of control behavior from B&B adn they have not been delivering on that. Its no wonder, the numbers have dropped bc the show at the moment sucks

+1 Well Put!

The writing is so bad. You'd think Bell, Adlen and Smith could make a good soap. Maybe this is why Frons rejected Adlen for AMC