The Bold and the Beautiful

The Bold and the Beautiful is a CBS network soap opera created by William J. Bell & Lee Phillip Bell which premiered on March 23, 1987 and as of 2017, it has aired for 6886 episodes.

Since its premiere, the show has become the most-watched soap in the world with an audience of an estimated 26.2 million viewers and as of 2010, it continues to hold on to the second-placed position in weekly Nielsen Ratings for daytime dramas.

Plot
Set in Los Angeles, California, the series centers around the Forrester family and their fashion house business Forrester Creations.

Stephanie Douglas, a strong-willed woman and the daughter of wealthy Chicago businessman John Douglas, met her husband-to-be Eric Forrester, who aspired to become a fashion designer while they both studied at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

The young lovers hurried to get married after Stephanie became pregnant. They moved to Los Angeles, California where they established Forrester Creations, designing and producing upscale men and women's fashion, based on Eric's designing talent and Stephanie's financial funding.

While winning international recognition, fame, and wealth with their work, the couple managed to raise four children in a happy and caring environment including the elder and favorite son Ridge, brother Thorne and younger sisters Kristen & Felicia. It was discovered years later when the children were all adults that Stephanie's elder son, Ridge was actually fathered by Massimo Marone.

Like many soap operas, "The Bold and the Beautiful" looks into the lives of wealthy families and how love affairs, scandals and betrayals affect each of the family members and their relationships with each other.

Beginning of the Series

The pilot episodes of the show focuses on the preparations of the wedding of the Forrester's eldest son, Ridge, to Caroline Spencer Forrester, the daughter of the media mogul Bill Spencer. At this time, Ridge has already become a fashion designer and vice president of Forrester Creations.

Many media outlets throughout the world, from the big television networks to the most honorable newspapers, to the last gossip newspapers publicize their wedding, declaring it "the wedding of the year in the fashion world". Thousands of women see the pictures of Ridge and speculate on the identity of the woman who has won the heart of the man who has, until recently, been a playboy, and who has refused to settle for one woman.

One of these women is a chemistry student named Brooke Logan, who comes from a working-class family and who lives with her single mother Beth, her siblings Storm, Donna and Katie in a typical American home in the San Fernando Valley in the city of Los Angeles.

In an ironic twist of fate, Beth was Eric's college girlfriend before he married Stephanie. Brooke's life soon becomes a key element in the series. Originally from a middle-class background, her love affair with Ridge sets up much of the story-line, beginning in the first year.

Every so often, Ridge and Brooke reunite only to break up due to various circumstances, and Ridge invariably finds comfort (in most cases, this would lead to marriage) with another love of his life Dr. Taylor Hayes. In addition, the rivalry between Ridge's mother Stephanie and Brooke plays a key role in the drama.

Following one of her breakups with Ridge, Brooke marries his father Eric, who divorces Stephanie to do so. Brooke gives birth to two of Eric's children. They eventually divorce and Eric reconciles with Stephanie. Likewise, Brooke and Ridge resume their pattern of an on-again-off-again relationship, between Brooke's relationships with other men and Forrester family members, and Ridge's multiple reunions with Taylor.

Eric eventually marries Brook's sister, Donna Logan and legally adopts her son Marcus. They later divorce due to their family's bitter history. Felicia and Kristen Forrester choose to follow their own paths, leaving the family company to be run by Ridge, Thorne, Rick, Marcus, and their families.

Subplotting

For many years, Spectra Fashions was Forrester's main rival, headed by Sally Spectra. Sally, a larger-than-life character with outrageous clothes and a sizable red coiffure, is a key element in both comedic and dramatic story-lines with the help of ditzy receptionist Darla Einstein and fashion designer Clarke Garrison, who fathered CJ Garrison, Sally's son. Though, at first, Sally and Stephanie Forrester are bitter enemies, in later years, they develop a friendship; Sally even ends up working at Forrester Creations after she finally makes the decision to shut down her own company.

Sally's daughter Macy Alexander, a singer, undergoes many traumas, most notably alcoholism. She and Thorne Forrester are involved in an on-again-off-again marriage. After she eventually loses Thorne to Brooke, Macy goes abroad and into hiding with her father, Adam. After being discovered in Italy, Macy returns to Los Angeles where she reunites with Thorne Forrester before developing an interest in fellow recovering alcoholic, Deacon Sharpe, whom she marries.

Weeks later, Macy is gravely injured at a nightclub where she is headlining as a singer. She enters a coma and it is implied that her family pulls the plug off-camera.

The Spectra family and friends are supplanted by the introduction of Massimo Marone and his entourage. Marone, a billionaire shipping magnate, was a childhood friend of Stephanie and dated her in college.

They slept together once just before Stephanie began dating Eric Forrester, and after forty-something years, a medical crisis reveals that Massimo is Ridge's biological father. Shortly thereafter, Jacqueline Payne, a former lover of Massimo, arrives on the scene and announces that her son, Dominick "Nick" Payne, a captain at Marone Industries, was also fathered by Massimo. Unlike Ridge, Nick wasn't a businessman and took the surname Marone.

In recent years, the Spencer family and their media conglomerate Spencer Publications have been part of the show's focus. Original character Bill Spencer's children, Karen Spencer and Bill Spencer, Jr., along with Karen's daughter Caroline Spencer and Bill's sons Wyatt Spencer, Liam Spencer, and Will Spencer make up the Spencer family.

Ratings
Upon its debut as the replacement of former soap opera "Capitol" in the CBS Daytime lineup, "The Bold and the Beautiful" ended eighth in the final year ratings. Initially CBS' lowest-rated soap, its numbers were still respectable and began to climb.

By 1992, after a successful crossover involving villain Sheila Carter from The Young and the Restless, it had climbed to third. By the mid-to-late 1990s, following yet another crossover, it moved up to second and has consistently remained there since.

Throughout the 2000s, the show and all the other remaining network daytime dramas have witnessed a steady erosion of viewers, mainly due to vastly altered viewing habits induced by cable networks and alternative genres such as reality, court shows, and talk shows on minor network affiliates.

Accolades
"The Bold and the Beautiful" has been nominated for over two hundred prizes and accolades since its debut. It has also won several awards over the years, including the Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Drama Series" in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The writing team also won the Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team" in 2010 and 2013.

Susan Flannery has personally won a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" on three separate occasions.