The Bold and the Beautiful Watching The Bold and the Beautiful

[Monzo]

Yesterday, I saw a clip on Instagram of Taylor and Morgan's balcony argument scene from 2000 and it got me wondering what happened with Sarah Buxton's 2005 return to the show? Do any old school B&B fans remember why she left so abruptly?

Soap Central wrote about it back then:

Buxton's B&B run cut short

A soapcentral.com section devoted to The Bold and the Beautiful, featuring daily recaps dating back to 1996, scoops and spoilers, Two Scoops commentary, character and actor biographies, message boards, contests, games, and the latest news from Los Angeles, plus much more.

www.soapcentral.com

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Soap Central wrote about it back then:

Buxton's B&B run cut short

A soapcentral.com section devoted to The Bold and the Beautiful, featuring daily recaps dating back to 1996, scoops and spoilers, Two Scoops commentary, character and actor biographies, message boards, contests, games, and the latest news from Los Angeles, plus much more.

www.soapcentral.com

Thanks. I did a quick search & couldn't find anything. The fan reaction must've been pretty strong for them to ditch her one month into a one year contract!

 

[Alexis]

Thanks. I did a quick search & couldn't find anything. The fan reaction must've been pretty strong for them to ditch her one month into a one year contract!

I still think that's a really weird thing to do though. Especially in daytime where I would imagine storylines may be more flexible. They could have kept her on but changed her story or the direction of her character? Instead of having her break up Ridge and Brooke have her do something else?

 

[DallasFanForever]

I always wondered why she was gone so quickly as well cause I was watching at the time and I honestly don’t remember there being that much backlash over her character splitting up Ridge and Brooke. Unless I’m misremembering this of course. But if that was the case, then like was mentioned in the previous post, why not just change the direction of her character? I know this show has only half the airtime as the other soaps but I would think they could’ve found something for her to do.

 

[Monzo]

I didn't even know Sarah Buxton was on contract in 2005. I thought she just made an awful visit for a few weeks. As far as I remember Morgan kidnapped Ridge in Italy to make him impregnent her. Right? Anyway if this was her entrance for a long(er) return it was just awful. She should have come back to LA and played nice for awhile like Sheila did a few years ago.

People say Hope / Liam / Steffy are Brooke / Ridge / Taylor 2.0 - I agree, but the original triangle was never getting on my nerves as the current one, even though I couldn't stand neither Brooke nor Ridge at that time. I remember they had different storylines, not just romance, also business, but I'm not sure about the lengths of scenes. Anybody remember if scenes were shorter during 90's and early 00's?

 

[Daniel Avery]

It's a good rule of thumb that scenes have just been getting shorter and shorter since the late-1990s when producers realized such a narrative structure could be much easier/quicker to tape, and a lot can be said without any real plot progression. In many cases you can't even refer to the segments in current soaps as "scenes". It's more of a system where one long scene is written, but broken up into segments that they show a few lines at a time throughout the hour. It's a great way to stretch out a plotline, and lord knows B&B can stretch out a plotline like no one else. The only time we get satisfying scenes of any length is when they make a conscious decision to advance the plot. But even then, a modern "substantial scene" might be three or four minutes, even in an hour-long soap.

The irony is that most soaps expanded to the hour-long format just so they could have longer, more in-depth and dramatic scenes. Another World (the first soap to expand) regularly featured nine-minute long scenes after the expansion, often with just two or three actors interacting for the entire period between commercial breaks--no cutting to "B" plots or mixing in several smaller scenes. Critics likened the format to watching a play rather than a TV show. They eventually gave in to the shorter scenes like everyone else, though. I can imagine the actors were not as enamored, however, since it meant memorizing a ton of lines regularly. The current, choppy format is probably very actor-friendly in that regard. And if your actor is not very...ahem, strong it would be much easier to hide it with frequent stopping and starting.

 

[DallasFanForever]

That all makes sense to me @Daniel Avery. But I sure do miss the longer scenes we used to get. It just doesn’t feel the same now. The shorter scenes make it harder for me to get vested in the characters. I feel like I’m watching a conversation between strangers standing next to me in the store as opposed to watching people I know talk.

 

[Daniel Avery]

People tend to recall favorite characters, not plotlines. Old soaps used to devote lots of time and effort to creating characters and easing them into the fabric of the show, making viewers come to like the character before they were thrust into major stories. That has been basically tossed out the window. Now they create a new character with the express purpose of being central to a plotline. Characters don't have a "getting to know you" period, which is why a lot of the new additions don't catch on with viewers and get ditched once that first plotline is finished.

 

[Emelee]

Yesterday, I saw a clip on Instagram of Taylor and Morgan's balcony argument scene from 2000 and it got me wondering what happened with Sarah Buxton's 2005 return to the show? Do any old school B&B fans remember why she left so abruptly? Wikipedia states "After returning to The Bold and the Beautiful in March 2005 and signing a year-long contract, Buxton's run ended abruptly after just one month". I am a fan of Sarah Buxton's from her Sunset Beach days and wish she'd appeared in more TV after her initial B&B stint in 2000-01 but she has done very little.

I know. It was because they brought Hunter Tylo back as not dead afterall Taylor. They decided not to go with a Morgan story, but rather return to Brooke/Ridge/Taylor. So they let Sarah go = fired her.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I know. It was because they brought Hunter Tylo back as not dead afterall Taylor. They decided not to go with a Morgan story, but rather return to Brooke/Ridge/Taylor. So they let Sarah go = fired her.

This one makes sense as Hunter Tylo's return was hot on the heels of Sarah's departure, so she obviously struck a deal after they'd signed Sarah and in the reshuffle, Sarah lost out. Again, it's a shame that they couldn't find something else for Morgan to do on the show but I'm guessing budget wise & story wise, someone was always going to miss out.

 

[Monzo]

Quietly Italy has become B&B's biggest market in recent months. Here are January ratings so far:

2: 2,94
3: 2,42
4: 3,09
5: 3,12
7: 3,00
8: 2,79
9: 3,22
10: 2,53
11: 2,84
12: 2,93

In the US no episode has reached 3 million mark in months. By the way Italy's population is 60 million, not even 20 percent of US population.

Does anybody know how important international sales are? Among 16 million viewers are watching B&B worldwide and 6 millions are from the US and Italy, so I'm pretty sure CBS knows how awesome B&B is doing in Italy and that Canale 5 wants to continue airing the show. Do you think Italy has to pay more than other countries where it doesn't matter if B&B is cancelled or not?

 

[Emelee]

Does anybody know how important international sales are? Among 16 million viewers are watching B&B worldwide and 6 millions are from the US and Italy, so I'm pretty sure CBS knows how awesome B&B is doing in Italy and that Canale 5 wants to continue airing the show. Do you think Italy has to pay more than other countries where it doesn't matter if B&B is cancelled or not?

Sadly, it does not matter at all. CBS get next to nothing. US ratings = money from the commercial breaks.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Quietly Italy has become B&B's biggest market in recent months. Here are January ratings so far:

2: 2,94
3: 2,42
4: 3,09
5: 3,12
7: 3,00
8: 2,79
9: 3,22
10: 2,53
11: 2,84
12: 2,93

In the US no episode has reached 3 million mark in months. By the way Italy's population is 60 million, not even 20 percent of US population.

Does anybody know how important international sales are? Among 16 million viewers are watching B&B worldwide and 6 millions are from the US and Italy, so I'm pretty sure CBS knows how awesome B&B is doing in Italy and that Canale 5 wants to continue airing the show. Do you think Italy has to pay more than other countries where it doesn't matter if B&B is cancelled or not?

Sadly, it does not matter at all. CBS get next to nothing. US ratings = money from the commercial breaks.

I'd love to see what the rates are for each country that buys the show. Because I'm guessing it varies wildly depending on the show's popularity there. As you've mentioned, it's very popular in Italy and I know it's quite popular in Australia too. However, at one stage in the UK they were airing it for free on an official YouTube channel because it never really took off on any linear broadcast channel. It's now being aired on a very minor Freeview channel in the UK called CCXTV and I imagine they're not paying a great deal for it given how minor the channel is.

 

[Monzo]

I'd love to see what the rates are for each country that buys the show. Because I'm guessing it varies wildly depending on the show's popularity there. As you've mentioned, it's very popular in Italy and I know it's quite popular in Australia too.

In Australia it airs at 4:30 pm on Ten. B&B never makes it into published daily top 20 in Australia, so viewership has to be less than 200,000 - that doesn't have to be bad in Australia. I guess it's doing alright or Ten would have moved it to a more unpopular timeslot.

In France Amour, Gloire et Beauté airs at 9:30 am. It got around 400,000 viewers which is good. There have been a few days B&B beat Y&R in viewers which is great because Feux de l’Amour was the biggest US daytime soap in France for decades - since Santa Barbara was cancelled, but Y&R is doing worse each year getting shipped earlier in the day, but nothing helps to save it.

I got no idea how daytime soaps are sold worldwide. Does Sweden where B&B is subbed has to pay the same for it like Italy where it's dubbed? In Germany B&B was cancelled when ratings dropped, but a big problem was that unlike other US primetime shows you couldn't use B&B in repeats and you had to pay voice actors for 250 episodes a year instead the usual 22 episodes for a primetime show.

 

[Alexis Colby Carrington]

It used to be shown in the U.K. on channel 5 I think but I’m not sure any channel shows it now.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

It used to be shown in the U.K. on channel 5 I think but I’m not sure any channel shows it now.

CCXTV are currently showing it on Freeview in the UK. It's had a patchy enough record in the UK where it's aired sporadically since it began. In addition to Channel 5, it aired on Sky One, Wire TV, Living and Hallmark. I think it's longest stretch was three years on C5 before they dropped it although it may have had a similar stint on Sky One in the late 80's/early 90's.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Brad Bell and his production company produces the show, then "licenses" it to whomever is the highest bidder. CBS obviously licenses it to air in the US, and they likely pay a licensing fee to Bell which is large enough to finance the entire operation, or at least a large portion of it. Bell then licenses the reruns to overseas broadcasters to make even more money. Once Bell licenses the reruns to a network, the producers typically don't get any other financial benefits; that network keeps all the revenue from commercials aired during the reruns. The amount of the licensing fee is going to be geared toward how much commercial ad revenue that network expects to pull in--in other words, if it's expected to be a big hit, they will negotiate a larger licensing fee, and if it's just something to fill the slot, it might not have a large fee. But after Bell gets the lump sum/fee, he doesn't benefit financially from what that network does with the show. After the show becomes a hit, they can obviously renegotiate that fee upward, but they will never get a "piece of the action" in ad sales or anything like that.

Keep in mind that if the network owns or co-owns the production company, then all this changes.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Brad Bell and his production company produces the show, then "licenses" it to whomever is the highest bidder. CBS obviously licenses it to air in the US, and they likely pay a licensing fee to Bell which is large enough to finance the entire operation, or at least a large portion of it. Bell then licenses the reruns to overseas broadcasters to make even more money. Once Bell licenses the reruns to a network, the producers typically don't get any other financial benefits; that network keeps all the revenue from commercials aired during the reruns. The amount of the licensing fee is going to be geared toward how much commercial ad revenue that network expects to pull in--in other words, if it's expected to be a big hit, they will negotiate a larger licensing fee, and if it's just something to fill the slot, it might not have a large fee. But after Bell gets the lump sum/fee, he doesn't benefit financially from what that network does with the show. After the show becomes a hit, they can obviously renegotiate that fee upward, but they will never get a "piece of the action" in ad sales or anything like that.

Keep in mind that if the network owns or co-owns the production company, then all this changes.

Slightly off the B&B topic but on the subject of international sales, I see that Days of Our Lives has been dumped from UK TV schedules again. The Sony Channel were airing it up until Christmas but now have no plans for it to return. Which is unsurprising seeing as they dumped it in a 6am slot for the latter part of it's run.

 

[Seaviewer]

I know it's quite popular in Australia too.

In Australia it airs at 4:30 pm on Ten. B&B never makes it into published daily top 20 in Australia, so viewership has to be less than 200,000 - that doesn't have to be bad in Australia. I guess it's doing alright or Ten would have moved it to a more unpopular timeslot.

I understand that Network Ten has a deal for B&B as long as it continues - something I've never heard of before. Of course, Ten is now owned by CBS which may have something to do with it.

 

[Rove]

I caught an episode of B&B today while preparing the evening meal. Listening in I realized it's become all about Liam...again. Gawd the character and actor bore me to death. And what a stupid story. Steffy is pregnant? Shock! I'm shocked that in 2021 despite educating people to death about practicing safe sex, Steffy finds herself pregnant. Does she not take the pill? Does Liam not wear a condom? Are they not well educated young adults? Just a stupid story that's been done to death.

I've also noted how Covid-19 can impact a series. The weird social distancing, using blow-up dolls or real life partners is taking a horrid toll on some series. As best as the actors try there is something off.