The Bold and the Beautiful Watching The Bold and the Beautiful

[Monzo]

I don't think he's writing his own material. I heard something about him writing for characters like Deacon.

Perhaps the Ridge & Deacon fight scene was his idea.

 

[Rove]

Ingo was NEVER right for the part. Thorsten was NEVER right for Ridge either.

And the recent recast of Taylor is just as bad. I understand the importance of legacy characters but when I look back at the departure of Susan Howard and Ron Moss I think that was the time for the B&B producers to shake things up a bit. Perhaps a new family with a solid foundation, not connected with either the Forrester or Logan families should have been brought in. From the snippet I caught of B&B the other day it's a poor excuse for a soap.

 

[cws]

And the recent recast of Taylor is just as bad. I understand the importance of legacy characters but when I look back at the departure of Susan Howard and Ron Moss I think that was the time for the B&B producers to shake things up a bit. Perhaps a new family with a solid foundation, not connected with either the Forrester or Logan families should have been brought in. From the snippet I caught of B&B the other day it's a poor excuse for a soap.

I can't believe it got renewed for 2 years! It's garbage!

 

[Daniel Avery]

The writer of that day's episode only writes the dialogue/settings, etc. off the plan or outline given to them by the breakdown writer. Their "creativity" is limited to how well they can translate outlined plots into dialogue and activities onscreen. So LSV would not be given the chance to write any "stories" for anyone, much less his character---he'd just be putting words into the mouths of the characters. Until very recently these writers were referred to as the Script Writers (as opposed to Head Writer or Breakdown Writer) for this reason. A lot of soap actors have graduated to writing for the soaps, and some have even worked their way up to Head Writer.

 

[Emelee]

And the recent recast of Taylor is just as bad. I understand the importance of legacy characters but when I look back at the departure of Susan Howard and Ron Moss I think that was the time for the B&B producers to shake things up a bit. Perhaps a new family with a solid foundation, not connected with either the Forrester or Logan families should have been brought in. From the snippet I caught of B&B the other day it's a poor excuse for a soap.

I think Krista Allen is a good recast. She looks like she could be related to Steffy & Thomas and she's got chemistry with her on-screen family.

But Ingo as Thorne was a bad choice. Winsor Harmon, Jeff Trachta & Clayton Norcross were all great as Thorne.

And I'm still not feeling Thorsten Kaye. He is just not Ridge to me. However, he seems to have great chemistry with Matthew, Jacqueline and Krista. Not so much with Kelly Lang though. Which is why I think they should either recast Ridge or break up Brooke & Ridge forever. However, Brad Bell is soooo obsessed with this couple that he can't see that the two actors have much better chemistry with others rather than with each other.

And what has happened to the Spencers???? Liam is reduced to Hope's puppet, Bill is still Brooke obsessed and Wyatt is just a small footnote. This trio is embarrassing.

And they ruined Quinn/Carter. For what?! Their secret affair was so hot.

At least Steffy seems to have forgotten all about lame Liam and is happy with Finn. That's the only positive. But unfortunately, happy carefree couples get very little screentime.

 

[Rove]

I was reminded today how good B&B use to be. With a minor case of man flu I awoke from an afternoon nap and flicked the television on. There was Brooke, reminiscing with Hope about a conversation she once had with Stephanie. Then B&B played a throwback scene between Brooke and Stephanie. Gee did that wake me from my slumber. An appearance from Susan Flannery showed how much B&B has declined since her departure...the flashback scene was that good.

I'm curious if any posters can answer this question. If a flashback scene is used and that actor has since departed a series does the actor receive some sought of payment?

 

[Monzo]

I remember the episode. It was over quicker than usual since I was able to skip those flashbacks.

I wish Brooke's imaginary encounter with Nick in the anniversary episode would make her wonder what became of Jack instead of constantly thinking about why she was drinking on New Year's Eve.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'm curious if any posters can answer this question. If a flashback scene is used and that actor has since departed a series does the actor receive some sought of payment?

It is difficult to keep up with, but I am 99% sure the actor whose scenes are being used will receive some small residual payment, since their likeness is being used to create new product (that is, a new episode that includes their past work). If a decision is made to use a lot of flashbacks (like a tribute episode) then they may decide to add the actor's name to the closing credits, which would give them a larger residual payment. I'm pretty sure they will reach out to the actor (or the actor's manager/agent, or his/her estate if they're no longer with us) to get permission to use the scenes if they're going to be part of a newly-produced episode.

If the producers simply re-aired an episode in which the actor appeared, the residuals would be in a totally different category since it's just reruns. They may get nothing, dollar-wise. It's only if old material is used to create new episodes that the actor gets some say in whether their material airs again.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Well, that was unexpected. And really...how often can you say that about a plot twist on B&B?

Sheila was really looking forward to getting at least one Mother's Day card, too....so close, Shi-Shi, so close....

 

[Monzo]

It was too plot-driven for my taste. Maybe the only one in character was Sheila.

Steffy sees Thomas and Sheila in the alley and does nothing to protect her brother? Then she overhears Thomas on the phone telling Sheila in detail everything Sheila has done and meets up with Sheila, who once killed Taylor, in a dark alley. Steffy didn't care why Brooke was drinking for weeks and suddenly she feels compassion?!?

What a coincidence that Bridget is back in town right now, helping out at the hospital, where Finn is bound to be taken. Still, it's good to see Bridget.

 

[Monzo]

I never liked Finn, the reason was Tanner Novlan's lack of acting talent. Every soap opera has a handsome young actor whose talent is limited, but B&B always takes that to the extreme because most of the time nothing happens, but if anything happens it's big and you have to deliver as an actor. When Finn learned that Sheila is his mother or that Jack is not only his adoptive father but also his biological father, Tanner Novlan showed no emotion whatsoever.

Luckily, Sheila's second comeback run wasn't as wasted as her first. I had always feared that, like last time, she would simply not be seen again.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Tanner Novlan was "discovered" in the US starring in a commercial for Liberty Mutual insurance, playing a "struggling actor" doing repeated takes of an endorsement of the company. The commercials had recently started airing again; I assumed the company was airing them again because he had achieved a level of notoriety in his B&B role. But now he's been written out of B&B, so nobody knows what to think.

 

[Monzo]

This week was so good. The main reason for this is Kimberlin Brown. I had forgotten how good she is and thought I'd just tell myself how great Sheila used to be because B&B and Y&R were way better 20 years ago than they are now, but Kimberlin Brown proved that she's still going strong when the script allows for it.

 

[Daniel Avery]

It's an awful Catch-22 for KB, though. She could be doing similarly powerhouse work on other soaps playing other characters, but she's so readily identified with Sheila that she'd have trouble convincing a casting agent at GH or Days to take the risk. But the writing on B&B and Y&R are so weak/uninspired most of the time that she can only get so much good material out of them as Sheila. She got a role on the defunct Port Charles but the show never really wrote for her, and I fear that if a non-Bell show did hire her, they would expect her to play a knockoff version of Sheila with even worse writing (side-eye to Ron Carlivati). I don't think KB would even want to sign on for something like that, though--she'd have to be offered something that would help her shed some of the "Crazy Sheila" image.

Or maybe she could just run for Congress again!

 

[Monzo]

My enthusiasm is gradually fading. I was thrilled earlier in the week when Taylor was hanging over the edge, but now there's been too much sitting and talking at Steffy's bedside. The fact that Ridge turns to God to save his daughter after his other daughter has already died would have been a good plot on Touched by an Angel, but it was totally flat here.

First I didn't like Krista Allen as Taylor, then she convinced me, but now I have problems with the character Taylor. At first she seemed like the strong Taylor of the 90's, but now I don't know when Taylor ever behaved like this.

 

[Monzo]

And just like that B&B is bad again. I was worried that THE triangle would return, but I didn't think it would happen so soon. The only bright spot right now are Carter & Quinn.

 

[Rove]

This week was so good. The main reason for this is Kimberlin Brown.

Here in Australia most viewers wouldn't know. B&B is screened here in Oz at 4:30 in the afternoon. Unfortunately the shooting scenes or someone dangling off a roof has come when children are on school holidays. Some bright spark at 10 which screens B&B has re-edited episodes or simply has cut entire scenes out and shoved more commercials into the 30 minute time slot.

You would think 10 would rest B&B while the kids are on holidays but B&B is cemented into that time slot as it leads into their nightly news beginning at 5. Channel 10 have been found guilty of this practice in the past especially when Stephanie and Brooke were cranking up an argument and you knew the inevitable slap was coming from Stephanie only to see Brooke suddenly with palm on one side of her face. Bad...just really bad.

 

[Monzo]

Every episode that Sheila appears in, she flashes back to the shooting, so Ten has a lot of editing to do. I hope the original version of each episode is available on Ten's streaming service.

I remember for a while the latest episode aired first in Australia, so a few hours ahead of the US. The Australian broadcast also had an extra scene. It was nice but suddenly it was over and now Australia is behind the US for weeks, as far as I know.

 

[Daniel Avery]

You mean Channel 10 airs even MORE commercials than CBS (USA) does? That must be horrific. Half-hour B&B is actually only 22 minutes of material as it is.

 

[Emelee]

The Australian broadcast also had an extra scene.

You mean what B&B calls "bonus scene" that can be found online after the episode has aired?

Those bonus scenes are also included in the Swedish broadcast. I remember 10 years ago when I sometimes mentioned things that I had seen in episodes on message boards and many members were like "what are you talking about?!". I realized of course that we over here were seeing bonus material not included in the episodes airing in many other countries, including the US.

It used to anny me, cause they often cut away really good scenes. It bothered me that so many never got to watch them. And I could never figure out why they so often cut good scenes instead of boring scenes.