B&B: Old/Classic Discussion & Articles

[Planet Soap]

I will say the first 7 years are gold especially in terms of production value. Much like Y&R there was a slight quality slump between 1994-97. (In fact all CBS soaps minus Guiding Light maybe faced a alump after 93). 

Much like Y&R, 1998-2002 was pretty good IMO.  I'd call it Bold's silver era. Brooke/Thorne/Macy, Brooke/Taylor/Ridge,  Brooke/Deacon/Bridget and Sheila's '02 return are some good storylines from that period.

From what I've watched on YT, more trashy, cartoonish and camp than the earlier days of B&B but it's silver compared to today's show. I still need to get into the Rick/Amber/Kimberly/Deacon mess to guve it a solid judgement.

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by ironlion

[Marquise]

i am whatching 1997 from YT now and it is getting quite boring. I used to remeber that i enjoyed the Grant getting shot story. I have a question what happened to Scout the dog Thorne gave Tyalor? thanks 

[Soapfan8]

So far how would you rank the first 11 years from best to worst

[Maxim]

1.1993 - The episodes leading to BELIEF are masterpiece. Both me and my partner who had never watched Bold in his life... made him a fan now. We would rewatch the company fights scenes 10 times and make short clips from it. IT IS ICONIC. Sheila is lurking in the dark with her evil cleverness. The show is 10 out of 10.

2.1992 - I simply love this period. I love Taylor when she was winning. I loved the fights with Brooke. 10 out of 10.

3.1987 - I mean... THE BEGINNING. It was like a fairytale. I LOVED the first 250 episodes!!!!!!!!!

4.1991 - Brooke taking Eric from Stephanie... Stephanie homeless. TALK ABOUT LEGENDARY!!!!!!!!!!!! 

5.1988 - Stephanie VS Brooke started pretty much here. The first slap... Stephanie won the first round. AMAZING.

6.1989 - Amazing DARK year with shocking twists.. Angela was SICK AND AMAZING storyline.

7.1990 - I loved this year but it was more calmish after the incredibly dramatic 1989!

8.1998 - Had some great moments... but the real camp has started.

9.1996 -   I was surprised by this year. Had some very good moments. I cried during some episodes. I loved Stephanie's mercury poisoning

10.1995 - The show didnt know what it was. Was it teen show now or not. TOO MUCH new characters... Storylines lacked cohesion. It WAS BORING.

11.1994- COMPLETE MESS compared to 1987-1993. If I had started watching here I would have stopped. The Leila storyline changed to show into a caricature of itself. It was absurd and DESTROYED Taylor's character. The show started to sound MELODRAMATIC and poorly written

12. 1997 - This year... was A MESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It started great... the first 40-50 episodes... then it spiraled... I couldnt bear the Grant Chambers storyline and Ridge in jail WENT FOR SO LONG. Maggie and James were also so unbeliavable. It was the most boring year of the show I have watched from the 90s.

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by divinemotion

[Vizion]

I have never understood anyone who liked 94-96/97 it was AWFUL. Boring. 1994 really does highlight what a bad writer Brad Bell was. It was his first full year writing the show and just 5 or 6 months in we were having to watch Stephanie reduced to nothing but protecting boring Jessica's virtue, all of the Spectras basically backburned and the only person we ever saw at Spectra was Dylan...oh and Ivana in yet another story nobody cared about. Macy and Thorne's singing contract story was atrocious. Princess Leila went on entirely too long! Hunter returned in fall 1994 and Taylor did not reveal herself until almost summer of 1995 and then by like November it was announced Hunter had been cast on Melrose. So they wasted allllllll that time in Morocco instead of immediately getting the character back to LA. Ridge and Brooke were boring as all hell, doin nothing but having sex with zero conflict or even real conversations. 95 was also a big bunch of nothing (except entirely too much focus on the kids like it had suddenly morphed into a Nickelodeon show).

[kalbir]

@divinemotion Your breakdown is on point.

@Vizion Remember too that 1994-1997 Y&R/B&B were both shaken up by the huge rise of their time slot rival Reilly's Days. 

I will forever maintain two things about B&B: Belief was Bill Bell's last hurrah before he passed the reigns to Bradley, and Bradley did not inherit his father's talent.

[Maxim]

I completely agree.

[Soapfan8]

How is 1999 so far for you?

[Maxim]

The stupid yputube channel stopped uploading 1997 and is uploading 1994 once a day... which is absurd. It would take years to upload to 2005. They really destroyed this nice thing that was happening. Thank God for videoland. 

[sheilaforever]

In my memory 1999/2000 had great storyLINES. Stories actually mattered and had a huge buildup and big climax. Downside: every day in LA lasted liked 20 episodes and we only got to see a certain set of characters for those days. Amber was on every single day. 24/7. 

[kalbir]

I stopped watching in 1999 after the Jabot/Newman crossover ended. Bradley did not give us a scene with two of his father's greatest creations Victor and Stephanie. A Victor/Stephanie scene would have been so epic and EB and SF would have given us a master class in acting. SF herself even said in an interview it was a missed opportunity that Stephanie and Victor did not interact during that storyline.

[Vizion]

Why waste time with EB and Flannery when we can have countless scenes of Brooke disrobing for Jack, standing around in lingerie and kissing Victor? That whole crossover was dumb and a complete waste.

I also hate that every single crossover seems to happen solely to help/prop B&B. It never does a thing for Y&R (going all the way back to 1992 and having Scott actually die on B&B instead of the show where he originated just to help their ratings). 

[YRfan23]

To this day I’m still wondering if we’d see Stephanie and Victor interact as individuals who show a certain respect to one another, or if Stephanie would flat out tear into Victor for going along with Brookes schemes. We often say Stephanie would probably be one of the few people to put Victor in his place. 

[kalbir]

In my mind a Victor/Stephanie scene would be like watching two gladiators facing off and sizing each other up, one recognizing the other as someone not to mess with. Stephanie would not dare to bitch slap Victor.

[Planet Soap]

Been saying this! Its a crime the two never interacted. Those two as enemies would be great television. At least Susan Flanney acted alongside JR Ewing! I wish Stehpanie had scenes with Kay Chancellor in Kay's prime when she was bitter and nasty not mellowed out.

 

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Modern day B&B is revisiting Sheila killing Dr. Jay Garvin and Lance in the 90s and 00s. This may not be the best written story, but it's nice to see them use open ended historic plots (that actually happened and we're not retconned). 

Edited April 12, 2023 by ironlion