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The Bold and the Beautiful is a fun soap opera. It has good characters played by even better actors; a strong, yet accessible sense of history; and entertaining, soapy storylines. Better yet, B&B is a half-hour show, meaning it has less storylines and characters you have to follow than the average soap. If you’re in love with certain characters, you have a good chance of seeing them every day.
Head Writer/Executive Producer Bradley Bell seems to be equally skilled at both of his jobs. (In stark contrast to others who have tried to do both.) This is not terribly surprising, since Bradley Bell is the son of Bill Bell. That's Bill Bell, creator and executive producer of top-rated soap opera, The Young and the Restless, and all around soap legend. It fits then that B&B which follows Y&R in most markets, is a strong number 2 in the ratings.
Bradley Bell has shown a willingness to try newthings. He took a huge risk by writing off popular villainess Sheila a couple of years back. (And while the way he chose to do so was, to be blunt, awful, I applaud the move. Sheila had run her course.) He put an end to the long-running Brooke/Ridge/Taylor triangle, without forgetting that a triangle ever took place. In fact, he’s used elements of it to create new story. He brought in a teen storyline that could interest both teen and adult viewers. On the flipside, Bell is also able to end storylines that clearly aren’t working, such as the one with the strange personal motivator guy that was involved with Taylor awhile back.
In short, Bradley Bell has made use of history while trying new ideas, and has brought many great dramatic scenes, as well as many (gloriously) campy ones.
“Where’s the but, Snark?", you say?
But, I answer, I do wonder just where the show is going lately. There are two main plots right now. Let’s examine one of them.
What follows is some history behind the plot revolving around B&B’s teen characters, namely Rick, Amber, Becky, C.J. and Kimberly. Rick and Kimberly were the couple that are destined to be together. Unfortunately, Rick knocked up Amber, and had to marry her so he could be with his child. What Rick didn’t know was that Amber had a one-night stand with Raymond, an African-American male, and the child could’ve been his. When this was exposed, Rick was understandably upset. Amber fled L.A. to return home to her trailer trash mother, Tawny (played delightfully by Andrea Evans, ex-Tina, OLTL). Amber delivered the child, and, lo and behold, it was white! (Or, at least, it looked that way at birth.) The child must be Rick’s! He must be the newest heir to the Forrester fortune! However, within minutes of his birth, the child stopped breathing, and quickly died. All was not lost for Amber and her even more greedy mother! Also staying with Tawny was Amber’s cousin, Becky. Becky was also very pregnant no visible means of support, and the child’s father nowhere in sight. In fact, Becky was planning to give the child up for adoption. So, as any two soap tricksters would do, Amber and Tawny tricked Becky into believing she was giving the child up for adoption, while they were actually going to pass it off as Rick and Amber’s.
After nearly a year of continued lies, deceit, and treachery (you know, all the things that help make good soap), Becky finally reclaimed her child and forced an already wavering Amber to admit the truth to Rick, as well as the rest of the Forresters, including Rick’s "grandmother" (in quotes, cause of some straaaange family history), Stephanie, who was defending Amber. The revelation scenes were brutal. Rick was horrified. Stephanie was devastated. And Amber was torn to shreds, finally having to pay for her deceit. That Amber had constantly felt guilt and horror over how low she was sinking only added to thepay off of her downfall.
Unfortunately, it’s been all downhill since then. The first misstep was having Becky decide that Amber was merely making a mistake when she decided to keep the baby from Becky, and later guilted Becky into letting her keep the child even longer. After all, Becky was going to give it up for adoption, and Amber was in this bind, and she’s paying for it now...so, now, Becky and Amber live together. Amber takes care of the baby during the day while Becky’s at work, and waits tables at night. Meanwhile, ever-generous Becky also realizes that it would be horrible for her son to be cut off from the only father he’s ever known, so she allows Rick to see the child as often as possible. This gives Rick plenty of opportunity to see Amber, and notice that Amber really is turning her life around and trying to be a good person. Not that he really forgives Amber, mind you. He’s just realized that he can share the same breathing space with her.
Wait, it gets better. One day, Becky has a physical. Some time later, Amber gets a call from a doctor with the results of the physical. Deciding that Becky wouldn’t mind if Amber got the results of Becky’s physical to share with her later, Amber pretends to be Becky over the phone. Surprise! Becky has pancreatic cancer. If she lives six months, it’ll be a miracle. Amber learns there are some drug therapies that can improve Becky’s health, but they won’t work very long. Amber, the newly unselfish heroine, is devastated for her cousin. Becky finally has her child, a job, and a loving boyfriend, C.J. How can Amber tell her cousin she’s dying? She can’t. So, she doesn’t. Continuing to pose as Becky, Amber gets prescriptions filled for the drugs Becky should be taking, and mixes them into Becky’s drinks.
As time progresses, virtually every character on the show learns that Becky is dying--except Becky. Everybody agrees Becky should be told;no one has the guts. When the torch gets passed to C.J., he proposes to Becky instead of telling her the truth. Now, Becky and C.J. are engaged. Recently, Becky’s parents have come to town. They think Becky and C.J. are too young to get married, and suspect Becky’s pregnant (again.) Ten to one they learn of their daughter’s imminent demise before she does. (And I don’t even gamble!)
This current storyline is a laugh riot. It’s the sort of camp B&B does so well. In fact, B&B, which I assume is supposed to be taken fairly seriously, has a better handle on satirizing the genre than Passions, which desperately wants to be a soap and a parody of a soap, only to fail on both measures. The downfall is that this story is headed towards one resolution: One day, way down the road, Becky WILL learn she’s dying. Becky will make arrangements for her son‘s future, and she will decide to leave her son in Amber’s care. Becky will die. And Rick and Amber will be constantly thrown together because of the child, will become an odd set of surrogate parents for the child, and one thing will lead to another...
In order to keep Amber viable and on the canvas, she needs to stay connected to the Forresters, since they are THE family on the show. This is not easy, since Amber has angered every member of the family. Already, we’re seeing Amber change, and become “a goodperson.” That by itself won’t be enough, especially if Amber is to be connected to Rick. The Forresters would accept that Amber has changed her wicked ways, and would say, “Aw, that’s nice.” But, no way would they let her have the place in their lives she used to have. But, give Amber the baby, and that really gives her and Rick something to bond over. And all the Forresters clan loves the baby, especially matriarch Stephanie.
UGH. I can’t believe I’m saying this about the man who had the guts to get rid of Sheila Carter, but Bradley Bell needs to let Amber go. Change or no change, baby or no baby, the Forrester clan would never be so welcoming of Amber. No one would, especially Rick. Amber came, she served her purpose, and now she should disappear. Why is Bell jumping through hoops to keep her around?
Is it the actress herself? Adrienne Frantz, while certainly well cast as Amber, is not, I repeat N-O-T the second coming of Bette Davis. I don’t care what the soap press or the academy says. I don’t care how many rivers Franz can flow on cue. She’s not worth the writing gymnastics Bell is putting himself through.
Is the undeniable chemistry between Franz and Justin Torkildsen, the actor who plays Rick. Oh, they have a lot of chemistry when they’re angry at each other, or when they’re trying to make their marriage work. Sort of a comedic, Married...with Children chemistry. But, as a root-for romantic pair, they don’t even begin to cut it. Is it the incredible lack of chemistry between Torkildsen and Ashley Lyn Cafagna, the actress who plays Kimberly? Yes, Rick and Kimberly are absolutely boring, and have zero sparks. Nothing that can’t be corrected with a little personality injection into Kimberly. If that fails, perhaps Cafagna can be recast, or the character written out all together. Bring in a new love interest, if necessary. But, putting Rick and Amber together is a big mistake. And having Rick torn between the two women, a la Brooke/Ridge/Taylor is a huge mistake.
The worst part is that in order to keep Amber onscreen, and in-story, the more naturally viable character of Becky is being tossed out the window. Not only does Becky have a genuine, healthy connection to the Forresters through the baby, her relationship with C.J., son of Sally Spectra, connects her to B&B’s other core group of characters. Plus, there is actual chemistry between the actors who play Becky and C.J. Dare I say, if B&B were to let their relationship develop, they could have an actual supercouple on their hands. Yet, it appears all this is being sacrificed to keep Amber, a character who has long run her course, on-screen. Strange and disappointing to see Bradley Bell apparently ignoring natural story opportunities and inventing artificial ones.
Next week, I’ll touch on B&B’s other major storyline, the Brooke/Thorne/Macy triangle.
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One of those is Soapnet, the 24 hour cable channel which carries classic soaps during the day, and rebroadcasts current episodes of ABC soaps at night. As part of the "settlement", Soapnet will be available to just under half of Time Warner customers by the year 2008. I’ve got to say, that Soapnet got the weaker end of the deal. By the year 2008, a new ESPN spinoff will be available to all of TW’s customers, and a channel devoted to Disney cartoons will be available to nearly two-thirds of them. Well, I guess that’s better than the five people who get Soapnet right now. You can bet I’ll be talking about Soapnet in future columns.
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Snark, great column on this new site I just got to today! You are very correct in your opinion that the whole Daytime Emmy idea needs a serious revamp. I have watched AMC, OLTL and GH since the inceptions. {Well,I was only 10 when GH started, on the same week I had a serious case of the hard measles and stayed home nearly 3 weeks} I saw nurse Jesse, Dr. Steve and their very first storyline with Angie. I was hooked. I lived from then on for sick days and vacations. To this day I tape and watch each show, and usually look forward to the Emmys [what a total farce this year]. I could not believe that Genie Francis was left out. She is consistently a good actress, and last year she had the meaty storyline, and she was awesome! [No one can cry like she can]. I heard its because her "peers" don’t like her. Could they just be jealous of the BIG part she has played in daytime since 1980? There was a lot of unfairness [I agree Sarah Brown was a LEAD player] Is there any thing we can do to change the forum? Let kids compete against kids [say under 15] then 16-25 for young lead, so on and whatever? Where do we write? Where can we vote? We are the mighty masses and the audience. We should have a BIG say in this!!
Long live ABC soaps
ScentSational_£ady a/k/a ƒalicee
Dear falicee,
Thanks for writing. You've inspired me to do a little research about this. Here's what I've come up with.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences(or NATAS) is primarily responsible for the Daytime Emmys. You can write them at:
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
111 West 57th Street Suite 1050
New York, NY 10019
Or call at: 212-586-8424
NATAS also prints a magazine called Television Quarterly. You can write to Television Quarterly in care of the snail-mail address above, or e-mail fritzj91@aol.com.
NATAS has a website at http://www.internetgroup.com/natas/
And, it never hurts to make your voice heard to the soap press, many members of whom have criticized the process.
You can e-mail Soap Opera Digest's Sound Off page at SODsound@aol.com.
Soap Opera Weekly has various e-mail addresses:
The Editor SPWChief@primediamags.com
Public Opinion SPWPubop@primdiamags.com
Views SPWViews@primediamags.com
You can also e-mail SOW columnist Marlena DeLacroix at: marlena@interport.net
Finally, you can reach TV Guide's online soaps columnist Jonathan Reiner at asksoaps@tvguide.com.
Thanks for writing. BTW, I think Francis was robbed of a nomination too.
That’s all for this week. Remember that you too can have your own letter answered by me, if you write to: snarkieposter@yahoo.com. I promise to respond, and it may end up in a future column. And unlike the folks who answer the mail at ABC Daytime, if you write me concerning the direction of One Life to Live, I won’t respond with a postcard about All My Children.