US Daytime Soaps - Vintage Years - 1980s Bold And Beautiful

Michael Torrance

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There's probably not even a full years worth of episodes actually released as there are only 25 episodes per set. I think possibly just 4 sets. But that should be a fun little jaunt anyways.

Does it say which year they are from? 1987?
 

Alexis

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Does it say which year they are from? 1987?
Yes it's from the first year 1987. And I researched a little the DVDs were released in 2015. I don't think they went past the first 200 episodes, but the German ones may do. They also have compilation collections with weddings etc.
 

Alexis

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There now follows an incredibly long and rambling summery of the beginning of The Bold & The Beautiful.

Well the forum was down, I had a few days off work and my first three DVD sets of The Bold & The Beautiful How It All Began arrived. I also have had a bit of a cold. Of course I started watching the DVDs. I have watched the first 59 episodes! That seems like more of a feat than it actually is as the episodes are all well under 30 minutes. I think they may actually run 25 mins. Now I did watch the show in the late '90s, but the episodes I was watching were from about 1995 I think. It was all Taylor and Brooke fighting over Ridge then and the kids were actually really kids. They seemed to then at some point rapidly age and are my age now. Which isn't unusual for a soap I know. Anyways I watched then in the late '90s then Channel 5 dropped the show and Sunset Beach then I didn't see B&B again until maybe about 2010 or 2011 when I randomly came across it on Diva TV here. I don't know exactly when those episodes were from but I would think pretty close to when they were airing. They didn't look old. However the show just seemed way more stupid and dumb by then. I watched when I could, it was on evenings about 5pm and I worked shifts so it was hard to see it all the time. I recorded it on the skybox too but people invariably deleted it to record better stuff. Then Diva TV either stopped showing it or vanished I don't remember which. So I lost it again. Then I discovered about 3 or 4 years ago that it was being shown on YouTube daily and I tried to watch but it was boring, I didn't like the grown up kids who were leading the storylines. There wasn't really a fashion industry anymore, it was just a flimsy backdrop. It was boring. I didn't like the new Ridge. I hated what happened to Taylor and I don't just mean her face. She was a whiney drunk now? The show was claustrophobic, wildly incestuous to the point of absurdity! Like can they only sleep with their relations? And it all took place in 3 living rooms and an office.

So when I discovered that it was being released on DVD from the beginning I was excited. Well excited and dumbfounded as the show runs 5 days a week and had been going about 30 years at that point. How could it even be? Cut to a few years later and I bought a few sets. I think the German sets are still being released but are expensive.

So what I was most surprised by when I started to watch was that it was actually very good. It has very good production values for a Daytime show. The sets are gorgeous, the people are gorgeous and it has great background music. Now I know soaps are generally pretty people in pretty rooms doing bad things. But this show looks so good. It has been so great to see where it all began. To have blanks filled in and to have a better understanding of some of the feuds and fighting.

Susan Flannery is absolutely wonderful as Stephanie Douglas Forrester. Stephanie seems to have been the money behind Forrester Creations, the fashion house started by her husband Eric Forrester. Stephanie is old money, Eric it would seem was a young talented but struggling designer. Stephanie and Eric married young, straight out of college, when Stephanie was pregnant with Ridge. Their first Child. I had already known that Ridge wasn't Eric's child from my sporadic watching over the show over the years, but in 1987 when it all began everyone believes Ridge is Eric's son. Ridge is just the worst, he's a slut and a terrible actor and he always looks like he's either drunk or on the verge of orgasm. He's probably both, the big slut.

The Forresters also have 3 other children. Son Thorne and daughters Kristen and Felicia. The original Thorne in 1987 is the best looking man on the planet and I am not ashamed to say that I have fallen totally head over heels in love with him, but that's another thread altogether. Then there is Kristen who has an estranged relationship with her mother Stephanie and a very close bond with her father Eric. At this point in the story I haven't yet seen Felicia or know exactly what she's up to. Kristen wasn't living in California she was working in New York and had no plans to come home until she was asked by her brother Ridge's soon to be wife to be to come to their wedding.
Which brings us to Caroline Spencer who is to marry Ridge. Caroline is the daughter of business man Bill Spencer. Bill has recently lost his wife, Caroline's mother due to illness. Caroline and Ridge have been dating, but hadn't slept together. Ridge has been dating many woman, but you get the feeling he only proposed because Caroline was saving herself for marriage. That's the kind of vibe you get from dirty dog Ridge. Bill Spencer initially dislikes, and distrusts Ridge but later grows to accept him. However he had hired a private eye to track him and discover anything about him that could hurt his daughter. A week before Ridge and Caroline are to marry the private eye snaps Ridge in bed with another woman. Cos' ya know, Ridge is a whore. At the wedding at the Forrester mansion Bill informs Caroline and shows her the proof. She then faints walking down the isle and is rushed to hospital. When she comes around she leaves Ridge and the wedding is off! DRAMALICIOUS! Caroline runs away and gets an apartment and is befriended by Thorne who develops feelings for her. Unbeknownst to her. In this whole f**k up that was created by Ridge cheating on Caroline just before the wedding he is such a dick about it. He just thinks the sun shines out his asshole and any woman should be glad he even looks at them. He's not really apologetic about it to Caroline or to her father, he thinks he can just do what he wants and that they should just accept what he does and that's that. When they confront him with what he did he just glosses over it and goes on about what he wants.

Meanwhile we also meet the not so glamorous Logan family. Mom Beth, and daughters Brooke, Donna and Katie as well their brother the unlikely named Storm! The Logan family have been struggling financially since Beth's husband Steven ran off and left them some years ago. What I have been amazed by at this point is how nice Brooke is! As far as I can remember Brooke was always the cause of major annoyance for me. I hated her. She was always sleeping with everyone. And marrying them! She was always crying and blaming everyone for her unhappiness. Here she's so nice and caring and lovely and beautiful and innocent and wide eyed and... Yea. You get the point. She is fascinated by the rich Forrester family and their glamorous magazine lifestyles. I am intrigued to see what the hell happens that turns her into what she becomes. Donna is played by someone who looks like they went on to better things but I keep forgetting to look her up. Katie's whole storyline is acne. I swear. It is.
Storm is studying to be a lawyer. In fact he and Brooke just graduated in one of the last episodes I watched. I don't know what Brooke graduated in yet? Probably Social Climbing. So far Beth Logan has been played by two actresses. She was played by a lovely blonde woman for about 55 episodes then she came into the living room with dark hair and a voice over announcement that she was going to be played by another actress. I have to say, I really preferred the first actress. She was gorgeous and a good actress and she seemed more right for the role. I was thinking this because she was blonde, but really Brooke is the only blonde Logan child. So that's not accurate. The new Beth isn't terrible or even bad, I just preferred the first.

Anyways Beth went to college with Eric Forrester and Stephanie. In fact she was dating Eric before he got serious with Stephanie and she got pregnant with Ridge. We have had flashbacks to Beth and Eric dating and talking about the future. Beth now works as a caterer to provide for her family and was asked to work a party at the Forrester mansion. She was initially nervous to do so but she needed the money badly. While there Stephanie has no idea about Beth's past with Eric and is snooty to Beth but comes to respect her and like her work, asking her to return to work other parties. However Eric recognises Beth, but he isn't sure. It cant be? Beth seems hurt that Eric didn't recognise her.

Meanwhile Stephanie has been suspicious of her husbands wondering eye. She suspects he is having an affair with his protégé designer Margo. She overhears a conversation between Margo and Eric when she tries to call Eric via an office intercom. In the conversation Margo confesses that she does love Eric. Eric however rejects her advances. He doesn't see her that way, but he doesn't want to loose a great designer. Initially Margo cries and decides she must leave in shame. Then Eric convinces her to stay. While Stephanie was listening, Thorne entered the room and heard the conversation also. Now Margo and Stephanie have a rivalry and all the while Beth Logan is who Stephanie should be worried about.

Most of the acting on the show is very good. Susan Flannery is a stand out though, as is Joanna Johnson who plays Caroline. She is really, really terrific and so very likable.
The worst actor is Ron Moss who plays Ridge. He doesn't really improve at all from what I gather but he is incredibly good looking so I guess he stayed for that reason. In scenes when he and Thorne, Clayton Norcross are by or in the pool it's awfully distracting. They are so good looking. However Thorne has the edge for me.

I am glad I bought these DVDs but I just don't see how they can keep on being released. There are over 8000 episodes as of January 2019. I am on episode 59....
 
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Alexis

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So now Brooke has catered a party at the Forrester mansion along with her mother. There she befriends Caroline who she had met previously, when she was at the hospital after the non-wedding. Caroline gives Brooke her number so that they can have lunch. At the same party Eric finally realises who Beth is and at the same time Brooke meets for the first time and becomes infatuated with Ridge. Is this how it starts for Brooke. Is this how she becomes that monster?She befriends Caroline so she can steal away Ridge? I guess I will have to wait and see. What am I gonna do when I run out of available episodes? Cold turkey B&B.

Eric confronts Beth and he thinks she is now a happily married woman, he tried to explain what happened between them back then but Stephanie appeared and Beth slipped away. Now he cant stop thinking about her. I expect that the Forrester's are going to be throwing a whole lot more catered parties now. Nobody will fit into their tiny dresses!

Brooke's little sister Donna is moving out and moving in with her boyfriend Mark Malloy who sounds like he was on Dark Shadows, but he wasn't. He's like a better looking, taller Tom Cruise but with an incredibly deep voice. So not like Tom Cruise at all really, but he's hot. I'd move in with him. Mrs Logan and granny and the girls aren't pleased at her moving out but they let her go as she's 18. Granny Logan has moved into the Logan house as she was mugged in her apartment. She's Steven Logan's mother. Remember Steven? He deserted his family. Anyways, I don't know where Granny Logan is gonna go though as the house is pretty small. All three Logan girls share a bedroom so I guess it's only the 3 bedrooms? Granny will be sleeping on the couch?

Incredibly good looking Thorne is in love with Caroline still, but you know she's going to marry Ridge.
Poor Thorne.... I can be a shoulder to cry on.
 
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Michael Torrance

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Well, your posts bring back so many memories. B&B was the first US daytime soap to air in Greece, and they were airing two episodes a day, and it was such a fan pandemonium all around. I actually remember those episodes well, and you are right that the production values, especially of fashion shows, were top notch back then.

Brooke's little sister Donna is moving out and moving in with her boyfriend Mark Malloy who sounds like he was on Dark Shadows, but he wasn't. He's like a better looking, taller Tom Cruise but with an incredibly deep voice. So not like Tom Cruise at all really, but he's hot. I'd move in with him.

I don't know why I did not get more obsessed with him then (I must have liked them a decade older), but I do remember him as the hottest male on the cast. Or TV. Or the world. Michael Phillip is still quite hot, but when I recall him (and that voice) from back then, oh boy!

Here he is today (he has done some other gigs since)



BTW, B&B has the sad record of having wasted the biggest number of hot men (and women) on daytime, hiring them with great fanfare and dropping them unceremoniously a few months or a year later. So unless this is Eric or Ridge, do not get attached to anyone. I mean, there have been four Thornes--just saying.

What I have been amazed by at this point is how nice Brooke is! As far as I can remember Brooke was always the cause of major annoyance for me. I hated her. She was always sleeping with everyone. And marrying them! She was always crying and blaming everyone for her unhappiness. Here she's so nice and caring and lovely and beautiful and innocent and wide eyed and... Yea. You get the point.

Brooke in the 1987-1993 period is Bill Bell's Brooke, the heroine of the show. She is flawed, but also all the things you mentioned. When his son Bradley Bell takes over, he turns her into this serial seductress/sex addict. Brooke when the show first started was a virgin and having sex with Ridge while just engaged was a huge issue.
 
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Ray&Donna

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I was a huge fan of B&B for years--never missed an episode--but eventually Brad Bell retconned the entire history of the show and made Stephanie and Brooke "besties". Without Susan Flannery, the show isn't worth watching. Also, Bill Bell clearly realized the Logans were a dead end, as most of them had been dispatched by the third season.

I saw Clayton Norcross in a JAG episode, but without his blonde hair he was unrecognizable.
 

Alexis

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I was a huge fan of B&B for years--never missed an episode--but eventually Brad Bell retconned the entire history of the show and made Stephanie and Brooke "besties". Without Susan Flannery, the show isn't worth watching. Also, Bill Bell clearly realized the Logans were a dead end, as most of them had been dispatched by the third season.

I saw Clayton Norcross in a JAG episode, but without his blonde hair he was unrecognizable.
I cant really put my finger on it. But there is something missing from the show now. There is no gravity to it, it has nothing grounding it or making it seem like anything really matters. It seems to be just people going along from person to person. Without really showing why anything is that important to anyone. And how can they make the likes of Brooke into what Stephanie was. After all the stupid shit that they have had her do. So the show will continue to be ungrounded and pointless as there isn't anyone there to be a voice of reason and say hold up! Enough is enough!
 

Alexis

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Well, your posts bring back so many memories. B&B was the first US daytime soap to air in Greece, and they were airing two episodes a day, and it was such a fan pandemonium all around. I actually remember those episodes well, and you are right that the production values, especially of fashion shows, were top notch back then.



I don't know why I did not get more obsessed with him then (I must have liked them a decade older), but I do remember him as the hottest male on the cast. Or TV. Or the world. Michael Phillip is still quite hot, but when I recall him (and that voice) from back then, oh boy!

Here he is today (he has done some other gigs since)



BTW, B&B has the sad record of having wasted the biggest number of hot men (and women) on daytime, hiring them with great fanfare and dropping them unceremoniously a few months or a year later. So unless this is Eric or Ridge, do not get attached to anyone. I mean, there have been four Thornes--just saying.



Brooke in the 1987-1993 period is Bill Bell's Brooke, the heroine of the show. She is flawed, but also all the things you mentioned. When his son Bradley Bell takes over, he turns her into this serial seductress/sex addict. Brooke when the show first started was a virgin and having sex with Ridge while just engaged was a huge issue.
I was clearing out my wardrobes last night and blitzed threw the last disc in the process. I have done 75 episodes and I have really enjoyed them.
I will probably buy the last Australian boxset next month then move on to the German releases after that. I don't see why they only put 5 episodes on a disc. Surely you could get way more than that if they are only about 25 minute episodes. And the show used video tape not film so you'd imagine that would make it easier to get more episodes on disc. There wouldn't be long conversion processes, restoration or transfer problems.

I will maybe post a bit more over the weekend about what happened in the last episodes I watched.
 

Ray&Donna

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Of course the writers are basically reusing the Brooke-Ridge-Taylor triangle for Hope-Liam-Steffy, which limits the storytelling. How many times can Ridge and Brooke split up and remarry? Even Erica Kane found a different man every few years.
 

Michael Torrance

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Of course the writers are basically reusing the Brooke-Ridge-Taylor triangle for Hope-Liam-Steffy, which limits the storytelling. How many times can Ridge and Brooke split up and remarry?

I hated the Brooke-Ridge-Taylor triangle because I found Ridge and Taylor not appealing at all because of those who played them, and Brooke was turned into a sex kitten in it. In the original Hope-Liam-Steffy triangle, I liked all three actors. I think Scott Clifton is 100 times the actor Ronn Moss is. I still like the triangle, though I am not as fond of the current Hope as the original one, who had a Joanna Johnson quality.

BTW, Joanna Johnson's Caroline proved that it is not JUST the person portraying a role, it is the role as well. While she was magnetic as Caroline, she was never even half as mesmerizing as Karen.
 

Alexis

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I hated the Brooke-Ridge-Taylor triangle because I found Ridge and Taylor not appealing at all because of those who played them, and Brooke was turned into a sex kitten in it. In the original Hope-Liam-Steffy triangle, I liked all three actors. I think Scott Clifton is 100 times the actor Ronn Moss is. I still like the triangle, though I am not as fond of the current Hope as the original one, who had a Joanna Johnson quality.

BTW, Joanna Johnson's Caroline proved that it is not JUST the person portraying a role, it is the role as well. While she was magnetic as Caroline, she was never even half as mesmerizing as Karen.
I really liked Hunter Tylo as an actress when I watched in the '90s and in clips I watched recently from the period, she was great. I think what they did to Brooke over the course of the show is horrible. I mean from what she was at the shows inception to how she went pretty quickly. Ronn Moss was a woeful actor. I guess he clocked in early and knew all his lines. How he wasn't recast earlier I will never know.
But I guess casting like that works when people become attached and invested in a show early. He just was Ridge. Ridge was more or less an asshole. so Ronn Moss being a bad actor just added to him being a self conceited asshole. The new Ridge is a better actor but I couldn't take him seriously as Ridge as the whole character was reimagined.
 

Willie Oleson

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I still remember how it was advertised in the TV guide as a fabulous new soap series, but I thought it was going to be like Dallas and Dynasty.
Watching daytime soap for the first time is...something else!

I applaud B&B for creating the legendary, dirtiest soap slut eva: Brooke Logan.
 

Alexis

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Can someone answer me a question about Stephanie? Does anyone know if she had a career or ever worked? I seem to have a memory of her being a lawyer but that doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe I imagined it. But it would seem that she did something. She's much too smart and fabulous to have just been a socialite housewife.
 

Michael Torrance

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Can someone answer me a question about Stephanie? Does anyone know if she had a career or ever worked? I seem to have a memory of her being a lawyer but that doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe I imagined it. But it would seem that she did something. She's much too smart and fabulous to have just been a socialite housewife.

She was in charge of events promotion at Forrester, and used her upper society collections to establish a clientele early on and then keep them. That is why she actually had an office at Forrester, from which Brooke ousted her when she took over the company (my favourite storyline ever).

There are actually a lot more clips about the BeLieF formula takeover.

 
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Michael Torrance

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I loved it when Stephanie would refer to Brooke as "that slut from the valley".

That from a woman who slept with someone else's fiancee, got pregnant with ANOTHER man's baby, and still broke Eric and Beth up and passed Ridge as Eric's.
 
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