B&B: Old/Classic Discussion & Articles

[Khan]

Michael Stich and John Zak were two of B&B's finest producer/directors.

[sheilaforever]

They truly were. They gave us spectacular location shoots in the 1990s!

 

Although I must admit that I was surprised that the look of B&B improved drastically during Dennis Steinmetz rather short producing stint and got some prime tim-ish style elements. I always though John C Zak introduced the glam factor.

[Days22]

 

I have more that I really need to get around to uploading. 

[sheilaforever]

Sounds promising!

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is anyone watching AmySilence‘s 1989 episodes? With the Spectras arrival (Darlene Conley was quickly upped to contract status...) and Kristen/Clarke it continues to heat up.

[YRfan23]

Awesome!

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 can’t wait to see them! 

[JamesF]

 

Add me to that list, I absolutely ate up the 1992 episodes.

 

I've just started watching from the beginning thanks to this thread and with some judicious FFing (mainly the Logans) I'm up to episode 50. I've always been a huge fan of Susan Flannery but her characterisation in these early episodes is mesmerising; to me she holds the entire show together. She's both terrifying (genuinely, not the cartoon slap slap 2000s version) and tragic.

 

I do have a question about Stephanie in these episodes though. In the first couple of weeks she received a phone call at home and did the classic soapy "I told you never to call me here" routine. Do we find out who the mystery caller was? I assumed it would be to do with "Angela" but it seems very early for that to have been factored in.

[sheilaforever]

There is absolute no resolution to the mysterious caller and it is not untill the 200 episode mark that Stephanie is regularly leaving on her mysterious errands which eventually turn out to be her visits to Angela. This is great build-up...

 

And I agree with you that the 1987 episodes are a mixed bag and everything surrounding Katie and the other Logan is forgetful by today's standards, yet it is the beginning of a legacy.

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[JamesF]

Thanks that's interesting to know and reassuring I hadn't simply missed it.

 

The Logan stuff is important context to the set up of the show and I can't put my finger on what doesn't work for me. The casting is stronger than I'd expected but other than Brooke and to a lesser extent Donna, I don't really connect with them. I'm also very intrigued about the recasting of Judith Baldwin with Nancy Burnett. Judith set Beth up as a kind and strikingly beautiful woman who life hadn't been kind to; one you could imagine, when watching for the first time, might realistically win Eric's heart and take her place in the house on the hill. Nancy Burnett however just does not play that character.

[BoldRestless]

 

I can't believe how bothered I was of a recast from over 30 years ago of a character who is no longer on the show! Burnett is fine in the role, but I don't take recasts lightly and Baldwin was better and unless it was her choice, I don't understand the change at all. 

 

The Logan family plays more like a sitcom than a soap, I think.  The set, the casting, the storylines, and the loving family aspect all remind me of an 80s sitcom but without the humor and the neat resolution at the end.  There's no real drama or tension for quite a while (which there is underlying the Forrester family from the start). Even Brooke's near rape and grandma getting beaten up don't amount to anything.  But they do a good job setting up the characters - I can still see why, to this day, the girls idolized Storm.  And I almost wish they hadn't glammed up Katie so much with Heather Tom although she's obviously excellent.

Edited October 12, 2019 by BoldRestless

[Soaplovers]

I like Sally in 1989...hated how the show turned her into.a cartoon and wanting the Forrester's respect. 

[will81]

@YRfan23 I did a bit of research. CBS broadcast the NFC Wildcard Playoff between the Rams and Vikings on Dec 26, 1988. On the West Coast the game started at 11:30am, on the East Coast it started at 2:30pm but CBS aired the tv movie "Quaterback Princess" at 12:30pm until the game started. This now places episode #442 as Jan 3rd 1989. And pushes back Sally Spectra/Darlene Conley's first appearance to Jan 17, 1989. The entire soap line up was pre-empted so this is also a pre-emption for Y&R as well.

[YRfan23]

aha! well that would explain why there always seemed to be a missing December 1988 Y&R date.....but if the entire line up was preempted that day, that also makes sense! and it looks like the dates  still match up for B&B as far as what I have!

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[sheilaforever]

How cool - thank you! Like YRfan23 I also have my personal B&B database and just from recaps and storylines in the episodes, I already had Dec 26, 1988 as a preemption date. Perfect to get verification for this.

 

The only information still missing for 1988 is about January 1988: there had to be at least one (if there non for New Years Eve, then even two...) pre-emption (presumably in the last week?) for B&B...

 

Case in point: my first episode of 1988 is # 189 which - I assume - aired on Monday January 4, 1988. Thoughts?

Edited October 13, 2019 by sheilaforever

[YRfan23]

I'm not sure about any other January 1988 preemptions that may have effected B&B, besides New Years, but Jan 4, 1988 is the first episode of that year. 

[sheilaforever]

So far so good: Do you have 187 or 188 episodes for B&B in 1987?