Thanks, I miss having them 3 soaps to watch back to back from 9pm - 12am

Thats my favourite US show

Despite being created by the same team, The Young and the Restless is owned by Sony whereas The Bold and the Beautiful is owned by Bell Phillip Productions.

If this is a success, maybe YouTube channels will be the way to go for US soaps in the UK in the future. It'll put an end to the constant stop\start that fans have had to put up with over the years when the soaps were airing on broadcast channels. Does the UK Netflix carry any soaps at the moment?

I think where they have chosen to pick the show up, was a good choice.

For older fans, it's like we are coming back with Ridge.

I would say to people that wouldn't mind giving it another go or soap fans that fancy something a bit different that where they have started on youtube is an easy place to get into the show.

A good old soap wedding, complete with a traditional soap love triangle; classic soap viewing.

Give this weeks eps a watch. I can kinda see me sticking with it for now. I can say one thing for sure Glad it's two episodes a day Diva TV style as I dunno how people can cope with 1 episode a day normally so, so slow the storylines and dragged out.

In fact I dunno how people would stick with the likes of Y&R that drag slow storylines out at an hour a day! (Ok about 38 minutes)

Yeah I agree, if it wasn't two episodes a day, it would be soooo long

When the show was on Diva, the BOLD thread was more active, not as much as any of the other soaps, but it would pop up on the first page a bit. Do all the old Diva Fans know of its online resurrection?

Some things never change in the show; Brooke is still a tramp!

KKL & Jennifer Gareis botox overload since the 2009 eps!

Question: how good/so bad its good is this soap? I've vaguely heard of it but I'm looking for a new soap and this looks as good as any.

When B&B is good, it's on fire. When it's bad, it's repetitive and annoying. Tone wise, it's not for everyone.

It's a lot more "serious" than other US soaps, has a smaller cast, and can rely on love triangles a little too much; it excelles at the fashion/business based stories, as they provide the show with a lot of drama. Production wise, it looks great.

The pacing is really strange sometimes, as an episode a day, and it can all feel really slow, but there are some storylines that are over before they've really begun. They have a good cast right now.

Basically, give it ago. It's the world's most watched soap, so it must be doing something right... right?

Thanks Deschanel! I'll try and watch a few episodes this weekend. Can't argue with the world's most watched soap, I guess

Kinda highlighted at the moment with the wedding - it's kinda been run through all the drama's here quite quickly but then you can have another occasion where one conversation/situation with some sort of 'big reveal' can have the arse dragged out of it for virtually a week by lot's of lazy stalling in the script/characters.

How is everyone finding the series a month or two in?

The old flash backs to 2006ish in current storylines with the old 4:3 pictures make them look years older - to get away with the SORASing look - ha!

Classic BATB breakneck speed though

Have you passed the part where Aly came at Taylor with an axe? Sorry if that's a spoiler. Just trying to work out where you're up to now.

I love the usa soaps

Yes. This past week or so. Within two episodes all hugs after months and 'years' of hatred.

That won't be the last scenes they'll share. But, yeah, it was extremely rushed. I think the show has problems with pacing, and the 20 minute run time of each episode is very constricting.

What do you think of NuRidge? How do you find Quinn? Do you think it feels more like the 90s golden era? IMO, I think the show has moved away from the awful 2003-2012 period, which was when the show lost its way.

20 minutes have their advantage in terms of keeping on top of the episodes! Although they can't drag it out for too much with the short episodes other was 'one day' of events could run over two weeks of episodes! Although as i've mentioned before sometimes things/conversations are dragged the arse out of for 3-4 days with so much stalling in dialogue. Then you get flick of switch thing that can happen.

Not overly keen on the new Ridge, it's hard to adjust. Still trying to repress the SORASing too. Quinn for me (i've kinda mentioned but now witnessing) does have some Stephanie tendacies. Unhealthy child obssesion. More plastic faced Brooke is incredibly annoying. Always found Brooke flawed but likable. Also extra botox'ed Donna sadly seems to be have been 'Thorne'd' to the sidelines. Thorne deserves to be in the show properly.

I LOVE CAROLINE though.

I'll be honest I've only ever seen clips of the 90s. Too young to see it. I only picked it up from Diva days. I enjoyed the 2003-07/8ish era. The fake heart attack, Brooke's rape story and the like. I've done the leap from 2009-14 since it's came back on. Knew some of the stories but didn't delve since leaving Diva.

Other things so far too. The jazzy modern incediental music i'm not keen, like the old stuff! It does look like they have fractionally improved on their CGI/outdoor/car scenery stuff though since late 2000's.

All it's faults - storylines are hooking me and still watching.

They don't seem to be able to use the 20 minute time frame to their best advantage. Like you said: some things are rushed through, while conversations stall a lot.

Ridge 2.0 took a lot to get used to, and honestly, I only ever started to see him as Ridge from Oct 2014, and that's simply b/c they start utilizing history. Now, I've accepted him as Ridge. He's a better actor than Ronn Moss on most things, but I feel his whole appearance is very un-Ridge. I don't look at TK and think this is a man playing an internationally renowed fashion designer.

I've never really thought of Quinn being like Stephanie, but now you mention it, I can see it. They lost Brooke's flawed likeability when they had her sleep with Bill; they've struggled to get it back ever since. At least KKL hasn't done a Hunter Tylo and changed her face completely!

I don't know why they bother having Thorne in the opening credits, b/c the guy makes one guest appearance a year. They lost interest in Thorne 5-6 years ago, despite the fact he should be mixing it up with Ridge and co. Donna was sidelined a few years ago, too; expect to see her even less, now she's no longer contracted to the show.

Caroline is awesome. She reminds a bit of Amber in a lot of ways.

The incidental music isn't as good as it originally was, but it is an marked improvement on the 2010-2012 pop-disco beat stuff they were churning out. I wonder if the change from the old school music is down to budget reasons? There is one piece of old music that will randomly pop up towards the end of 2014 episodes - you'll know it when you hear it!

They film on location a lot more now, and utilize the CBS studios to their advantage well; they also have the full use of the Bell estate for the exteriors of the Forrester Mansion and Brooke's house. Technology has really improved B&B's look, and I think that has a lot to do with Brad Bell managing the budget well. B&B is the best looking soap on US TV.

For many long time viewers, 2003 marked a departure from what B&B used to be about, and that's something they have struggled to fix. The difference from the 90s to 2015 is the pacing, but if you watch some old episodes on YT, you'll see how they had multiple stories in play, with great character development. Episodes can be hard to find, but their are some posted under:

I spoiler tagged it b/c CBS remove a lot of old episodes for some reason.

Hate to be that one but this isn't even a soap, correct me if i'm wrong. This should be in the TV section

Sorry but I can't think of a soap that is more 'soap' than B&B - it most definitely belongs in this section

Re: Donna - Jennifer Gareis seemed to go through a few weight issues after a couple of late-life pregnancies, and the character of Donna was rather unceremoniously sidelined around the same time. Shame as throughout the whole Brooke/Bill/Katie chapter she put in some really powerful dramatic performances whenever called for. I would love to see Donna back with Eric one day....should Bill Bell decide to write for the 'older' set again.

When Jennifer popped up in Y&R again as Grace Turner last year, it really highlighted how talented she is - there is no trace of Donna in Grace as there is no trace of Grace in Donna, other than that they are portrayed by the same actress.

As Nathan said: it's a soap. It airs 5 days a week in the US, and used to do the same here, too. It's the very definition of the words soap opera. It may now only air on YouTube in the UK, but that doesn't make it any less of a soap. If B&B isn't a soap, then neither is EE.


That's a shame, as she's in great shape now. I wonder if it was the second pregnancy that "sealed her fate"? Brad Bell is quite ADD with his writing, and having to write out Donna twice may have made him lose interest in the character.

I realized last year how great Donna was in a supporting role to Brooke and Katie. I think she should really be the main Forrester secretary, and they should get rid of Pam, as Pam is not really needed now Stephanie is gone. I don't think pairing Donna back with Eric would help her air time, as John McCook does less these days. The structure of Forrester now, means there are few characters Donna can interact with.

I read someone suggest the other day that they should put a little bit of Grace into Donna's character, to make her more interesting. Having never seen Grace, I have no idea what she's like as a character.

Looks wise Ridge looks similar but the characteristics it's hard. A bit like with the different Rick Forrester's. Justin Torkildsen seemed likeabale but Lowder and the current one has a darker side/hatred for Ridge.

Maybe with the more fresher approach to exterior etc the Incidental music got the revamp in grand scheme of things probably needed, I Just liked some of the old stuff ha! I got clips of it saved. Wish they'd release the old stuff on CD like they did with some of the music used in the show! This is a classic old incidental tag.

I think asthetically the show seems to have moved away from a little of the 'Daytime' conventions, more of the conversations are face to face rather than the old turn 90 degrees and turn away malarky.

I can see what you mean - there is very little focus on probably half the cast. I know likes of Maya has a big storyline in States just now but 3-4 months of eps in it's like I still know very little about her, Carlton, Justin, Oliver etc. Is Eric on less because he is 'getting on' or because John McCook wanted to be on less? Him and Donna would be good - I was almost under the impression they were kinda an item as they are always hugging etc. Pam always annoyed me, never really liked her.

Jacob Young is the original SORAS'd Rick. He took over the role in 1997 when Amber was introduced. I guess for those that didn't see him, he will be quite different to JT's Rick. He is Rick, though. Kyle Lowder's version was a step away from that of JY's or JT's portrayal, and in a lot of ways wasn't really Rick for me - that's when the character became unlikeable, especially with him sleeping with Phoebe, Steffy and Taylor - which is when the animosity for Ridge came about, and JY's Rick has had to take that on - I guess it does make sense from a character perspective.

I liked a lot of old music, too, and maybe some of that has to do with how it was recorded back then, before digital became the norm. I find a lot of the digitally produced music lacks variety and depth (unless the show has a good music budget). That's one of the old pieces I liked too. The sad theme that was used for grief scenes is uploaded to YT in full: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqUoFfAuinU

The show looks good. It's definitely a lot slicker and more modern. That whole talking over the other person's shoulder while they also face the camera was theatrical direction, and while it looked dramatic, was very unrealistic looking. They also have less flashbacks now.

I think maybe it was a mixture of John McCook wanting to do less, and the show not having anything for Eric to do substantially without Stephanie. There are a lot of characters who don't really get much development, and I felt the same about Oliver, Carter, Justin and Maya. I know that Oliver used to have story with Hope and Brooke, and that Justin once married Donna, but none of these things made a lasting impression on either character; the less said about Othello the better, as he's one random character who seems rather pointless. I feel like Pam doesn't need to be there at all.

Mother's Plea is on the B&B CD, also 'Tear Drops' which is another one used on sad scenes such as Darla's death.