B&B: Bold from the beginning

[Liberty City]

Brooke, up to the 130-area episodes, is a vastly different Brooke from the one we are saddled with now.

[Forever8]

I always wished they would've continued with Theresa's passion for design which she had early on when she was sketching wedding dresses etc., I would've loved for her to start her own business that somehow the Cranes would've messed with. 

[DramatistDreamer]

It actually makes me a tinge sad seeing the earliest episodes, knowing what's ahead for Brooke, Donna and the rest of the Logans.

[Soapfan8]

When do y’all think the decline of Brookes character began?

[Broderick]

I like her.  Judith Baldwin's Beth character seems down to earth, but sort of innately sad.  Yes, there are hints that Eric will ditch Stephanie and reunite with her.  When Beth caters a party for the Forresters, she's hurt that Eric doesn't appear to recognize her.  Later in the episode we see Eric wondering to himself, "Why did that caterer seem so familiar?"  In the same episode, Stephanie is a bitch on wheels, blissfully unaware that Eric would drop her like a hot potato if he realized the caterer was his beloved Elizabeth Henderson.  But it's more complicated, of course, with the backstory having already been laid-out that Stephanie's daddy had plenty of money, and Eric owes his current career to Mister Douglas's financial backing. 

When the episodes first aired in 1987, I didn't get much enjoyment from the Logans, who seemed like cheap knock-offs of the Fosters on Y&R.  But re-watching now, I really enjoy Ethan Wayne's Storm character (aside from his silly name) and Carrie Mitchum's Donna character.   Brooke is awfully pretty.  Katie is still as dull as ever.  The storyline involving Katie and her acne, her love for Rocco, and her semi-rivalry with Donna is FAR too reminiscent of Traci Abbott's weight issues, Danny Romalotti, and Lauren Fenmore, which had aired only four years earlier on another show.     

[DramatistDreamer]

While I admit, I never followed B&B as closely as the other CBS soaps, I grew up watching, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say, when she married her mother's sweetheart.

Pretty early on, it was obvious that the writing was setting Brooke up for drastic changes. Over the weekend, I watched an episode where Brooke's fiance Dave told Storm that he thought her obsession with the Forresters was unhealthy. It was obvious too that she was, in a way, using Caroline to gain entree to the Forrester family when she snuck into Caroline's hospital room, so we already had a sense that Brooke wouldn't make a loyal friend to Caroline, so I had low expectations there.

Brooke was, however, portrayed as a dutiful daughter, who was loyal to her mother and siblings, even really loved her grandmother, so that betrayal to Beth, snatching up the man who her mother had once hoped to marry, felt like "all bets were off" where Brooke's character was concerned, from then on. 

[Liberty City]

Recasting Katie Logan with Heather Tom was a win for the role, because it really opened up doors that I do not believe Nancy Sloan would've made available. However, Bradley Bell really did a 180° turn in the past five-to-ten years. As for Jennifer Gareis... huge miscast. Plus, having Brooke be the one to have an affair with Bill (when it should have been Donna) was a huge missed opportunity to revisit the Katie felt growing up by Donna & Rocco.

The role of Beth was watered down when Judith Baldwin was replaced by Nancy Burnett. Even in their opening shots, they were two different kinds of Beth. Baldwin was superior, but I feel like Burnett gave them more of a Brooke vs. Taylor contrast in terms of looks and attitudes.

[DramatistDreamer]

Yeah, I'm not even talking about casting in this case (though I agree about Gareis being miscast, although the writing for Donna became far more problematic),this was  strictly about the writing.

I will never understand why it became so vital to strip the Logans of their identities the way they did. There are way to evolve the characters without taking a hacksaw to their characterizations.

Edited October 19, 2021 by DramatistDreamer
Why is autocorrect changing the spelling of names??

[Chris B]

Now that they have more episodes uploaded at a faster pace, I’ve started binging and this is GOOD! I had heard the early years were boring, but so much has happened in the first 30 episodes or so. I feel like they had a really solid cast and background for the show. I also love how separated the Logan’s are from the Forresters which allows both worlds to be fleshed out before they mesh. 
 

One thing that disappoints me is this thing with Stephanie and Kristin hating each other which I know wasn’t used to it’s potential. The Kristin character has never seemed to go anywhere either which is a shame.

Also, the original Thorne is GORGEOUS and a good actor. I don’t look forward to his exit. I never liked his replacement.

 

 

[Soaplovers]

My mom said with Baldwin..she couldn't imagine Eric looking Stephanie's way.  She was tall, busty and confident.  She was stern, yet loving to her kids...and she had a sad wistful look when thinking of the past.

Burnett had more of a gentle passive vibe, but was a warm person.  And you could buy her Beth being run over by everyone. 

Original Donna..not sure who she was like in the Bell domain.  

[soapfan770]

I know someone answered it already as early as Brooke went after Eric but for myself I would say sometime in 1996 when Brooke went crazy nuts with the dolls. I enjoyed the villainous turn Brooke took there 1997-98 but after that ended she  became absolutely trashy between Brooke’s Bedroom and embracing herself as the Slut from the Valley. 
 

Nancy Sloan’s Katie was annoying throughout the 90’s only appearing as the babysitter for Rick, Bridget and CJ and being a ditzy live in sister/roommate talk to for Brooke. I swear I remember one time after Rick and Amber had their car accident and kidney donation  Katie was helping them and wearing an outfit that looked like a maid’s outfit a la Esther on Y&R.

I think the reason Sally and Macy were a success was because they were some Bell created uniquely for B&B and not a rehash of something Bell had done for Days and Y&R before. 

[Soapfan8]

Ahh wasn’t a fan Of the Brooke bedroom arc

[kalbir]

The best part of it was the Jabot/Newman crossover, which to me was the last good storyline Bradley wrote.

[Broderick]

So much for Beth Logan.  6/02/1987 -- "The role of Beth is now being played by a whiner."  Didn't realize it would happen quite that fast.  

[Paul Raven]

And that was it for recasts until Clayton Northcross was dropped.