It’s been a month since I began covering THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL for Weekly (click here for a large version of the cast photo at right). Growing up as an ABC Daytime diehard, I never taken a good, long look at B&B until now. So far, I’m loving it. I now know why a former editor used to refer to B&B time as “the magic hour,” even if it is only 30 minutes long. Time truly does fly when you’re having fun, watching Brooke and Steph mix it up, or the clash of the fraternal egos with Ridge and Thorne, or pulling the last Kleenex out of the box when Nick loses yet another child. So here are my top observations as a newly minted B&B’er — along with some interesting facts I picked up as I went along….
11. B&B really stands for Baritone & Bass. What’s with all of these men singing, composing and playing music to their beloveds? We’ve got Jack Wagner’s songs all the time, (corresponding with whichever woman Nick is making out with), Ronn Moss’ songs are scoring Ridge’s romantic interludes, and don’t forget Eric tickling the ivories at Forrester family functions. Will we soon see Hector belting out a tune while putting out fires? (“Torch” songs, perhaps?)
10. All roads lead to Brooke’s bed. My, oh, my. To say “This girl gets around” would be quite the understatement. If the B&B men ever kept score of their sexual conquests with a Bingo card, Brooke would definitely be everyone’s Free Space.
DID YOU KNOW? Ridge called Brooke “Logan” because when they first met she was catering a party at the Forresters, and when he asked her name she replied, “Logan, Brooke Logan,” and Ridge took her literally.
9. Stephanie is the Sonny Corinthos of Los Angeles. If you need something done, look no further than Steph. This woman warrior stops at nothing to get what she wants, and usually succeeds. Don’t get in her way — or come between her and Ridge — or you’ll be very, very sorry.
DID YOU KNOW? Susan Flannery, who plays Stephanie, is one of only four original cast members still with the show? The others are John McCook (Eric), Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke) and Ronn Moss (Ridge).
8. Big Ben, The Eiffel Tower and…Dante? It seems sooner or later everyone who travels to Europe crosses paths with this Casanova.
DID YOU KNOW? B&B is watched by almost one-sixth of the world’s population? In many countries, like Italy (where it is known simply as BEAUTIFUL), it’s the top-rated prime-time show.
7. This town ain’t big enough for the 16 of us. The second-largest city in the United States, L.A. is a surprisingly small town for our B&B friends, who traffic in extremely tight circles.
DID YOU KNOW? The population of L.A. is 3.85 million, with a total of over 10 million in the county of Los Angeles).
6. No Valentine’s Day cards among this crowd. It’s no surprise that soap weddings don’t last, but usually a marriage is for love. Not on this show, which is all about arranged, engineered and otherwise finagled nuptials.
5. If you ever need to borrow a cup of sugar, visit Bridget, the sickeningly sweetest girl on the planet. Who else would give up her husband so he could be with her own mother? Sainthood, here she comes.
DID YOU KNOW? Including babies and children, Ashley Jones is the 12th actress to portray Bridget.
4. If you ever need to borrow a cup of gin, visit Taylor, who has inspired her own drinking game. Every time Taylor takes a drink, you take a drink. Just don’t ask her to drive you home.
DID YOU KNOW? The good doc was once a bigamist; she married Omar while still wedded to Ridge.
3. Who’s your daddy? Just because she says it’s his, doesn’t mean it is. Just ask Bridget, whose name is a combination of Brooke and Ridge, while her genetic combo turned out to be Brooke and Eric. Then there’s Felicia’s Baby Dino (neé Dominick Jr.), who was named after Nick before Dante figured out he was the real poppa. And Little RJ (aka Ridge Jr.)? He might have been the one named Dominick Jr. had the truth come out any later. Paternity is as fluid as one of Taylor’s cocktails on this show, so give it another year and who knows — Ridge may learn that RJ isn’t his, but Bridget is (which would explain why their affair never went beyond a kiss).
2. Do you deliver? Are these people a bunch of agoraphobics? Weddings, funerals, memorial services, back-from-the-dead-encounters, Scrabble tournaments — they do everything? at home. Are they too tight with their money to spring for a banquet room or fire hall? (Maybe Hector could get them a discount).
1. You miss a minute, you really miss a lot. Unlike many soaps that move at a snail’s pace, B&B moves at lightning speed. One day I stepped away to refill my cup at the water cooler just as Felicia was taking a turn for the worse, and by the time I came back she had already “died” and come back, and Stephanie was under the knife to donate her liver. At this rate I project that by year’s end it will be 2046 in B&B time, and Ridge will have to decide whether to stay on Earth with Brooke or follow Taylor to her new retirement home in the Mars colonies.
DID YOU KNOW? When the series first premiered in 1987, John McCook (Eric) had to dye his hair gray to look old enough for the part!
