The Bold and the Beautiful (often referred to as B&B) is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera The Young and the Restless; several characters from each of the two shows have crossed over to the other since the early 1990s. Set in Los Angeles, California, the show centers upon the Forrester family and their haute couture business.

The program features an ensemble cast, headed by its longest-serving actors John McCook as Eric Forrester and Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke Logan. Since its premiere, the show has become the most-watched soap in the world, with an audience of an estimated 26.2 million viewers. As of 2010, it continued to hold on to the second-place position in weekly Nielsen Ratings for daytime dramas. The Bold and the Beautiful has also won 77 Daytime Emmy Awards, including three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

On September 7, 2011, the series switched to high-definition television, making it the second-to-last American soap to make the switch, at the time. B&B was the last American soap opera to make the transition due to the cancellation of ABC's One Life to Live before it returned along with All My Children on April 29, 2013. The series celebrated its thirtieth anniversary on March 23, 2017. The serial aired its 9,000th episode on April 18, 2023. On June 20, 2017, CBS announced its decision to renew the serial through the 2017–18 television season. On April 20, 2020, CBS announced plans to begin airing a week of vintage episodes, following the soap's shutdown, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. On May 20, 2020, it was announced that CBS had renewed the soap through 2022. On June 15, 2020, TVLine reported the series would be the first to resume production on June 17 as the first scripted series on American soil to get back up and running following Hollywood's three-month, coronavirus-imposed shutdown with a representative telling the website: "The health and safety of our cast and crew are of foremost importance to us, We will be following all protocols set forth by the State, City, Television City, and the various guilds."

On March 2, 2022, it was announced that CBS had renewed the soap through 2024; an optional third year was included in the renewal, with the option picked up in February 2024. In April 2025, it was announced the serial had been renewed for three additional seasons, through the 2027–2028 television season. That October, Casey Kasprzyk was named co-executive producer of the serial. His appointment makes him the first non-Bell family member in the serial's history to hold the position.

Taping

Since its inception, production has been shot at Stage 31 at Television City in Los Angeles for its entire run so far. The show typically uses the traditional soap opera look, featuring constructed sets such as the Forrester Mansion, the Shady Marlin and the Forrester Creations offices. Like other soap operas, B&B is usually taped three to four weeks in advance. In recent times, the show has increased shooting on location, in the way fellow CBS soap Guiding Light did in its final two network years. Many of the characters have taken trips to the fictional "Bikini Beach", which is actually a nearby California beach, and there have been scenes around the Forrester Creations building which appear to be shot somewhere on the lot or inside of CBS Television City. On June 5, 2025, it was announced production would leave Stage 31 at Television City, following a multi-year expansion and renovation plan for the studio spaces. Production relocated to Sunset Las Palmas Studios in Hollywood, California, when production resumed on August 19, following the serial's annual summer break. Subsequent reports claimed the move came at the conclusion of their current lease at Television City.

Theme song and title sequence

right|thumb|Pre-launch logo for The Bold and the Beautiful, used in promos

"High Upon This Love", the theme song of The Bold and the Beautiful, was written by David Kurtz and Jack Allocco and features a prominent saxophone sample played by Eric Marienthal. From November 1998 to July 1999 in the United States, a vocal version of the theme song performed by Dionne Warwick was played during the end credits.

Some international versions, most notably in Italy and France, have different opening and ending credits. In Italy, the opening and closing theme was composed by Roberto Colombo. The opening theme (Tutti Beautiful) was used since his Italian premiere until 2011, while the closing theme (Beautiful Caroline) was used until 2017.

For the 30th anniversary season in 2017, the show rolled out a title sequence based on the original used in one form or another from 1987 to 2004. At the same time, it also introduced an instrumentation of "High Upon This Love" based on the original.

Cast and crew

Cast

John McCook (Eric Forrester) and Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan) are the only two cast members who have remained on the show since it first aired on March 23, 1987. During the show's first 25 years, McCook and Lang were part of the "core four" original cast members, the other two being Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester) and Ronn Moss (Ridge Forrester). When Moss announced that he was leaving the show in August 2012, the role of Ridge was eventually recast more than a year later. When Flannery also announced her departure later that year, it was decided to have Stephanie's character die after losing her battle with cancer. Two other original characters currently appear on the show, Donna Logan and Katie Logan, but both have been recast since the show's premiere.

Executive producers and head writers

Executive producers

{| class="wikitable"

|+ The Bold and the Beautiful executive producers

! Name !! Years

|-

| William J. Bell || March 23, 1987 – June 6, 1988

|-

| William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell || June 7, 1988 – February 14, 1996

|-

| Bradley Bell || February 15, 1996 – November 13, 2025

|-

| Casey Kasprzyk || since November 14, 2025

|}

Head writers

{| class="wikitable"

|+ The Bold and the Beautiful head writers

! Name || Duration

|-

| William J. Bell || March 27, 1987 – May 4, 1993

|-

| Bradley Bell || May 5, 1993 – January 28, 2008

|-

| Co-head writer John F. Smith || May 5 – 19, 1993

|-

| No head writer listed || January 29, 2008 – February 4, 2008

|-

| Kay Alden (WGA strike)|| February 5, 2008 – April 15, 2008

|-

| Bradley Bell || April 16, 2008 – July 3, 2023

|-

| Co-head writer Kay Alden || January 2, 2009 – October 2, 2013

|-

| Co-head writer Michael Minnis || January 2, 2009 – July 3, 2023

|-

| Michael Minnis (WGA strike)|| July 5, 2023 – November 7, 2023

|-

| Bradley Bell and Michael Minnis || November 8, 2023 – present

|}

Awards and nominations

thumb|right|The cast and crew of The Bold and the Beautiful at the 2010 Daytime Emmy Awards

Nominated for over two hundred prizes and accolades since its debut, the series has won several awards over the years, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

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's 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 Bold and the Beautiful and all the other remaining network daytime dramas 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, along with consistent breaking news pre-emptions that often unexpectedly broke viewing momentum.

Distribution

Broadcast

Since the cancellation of Port Charles, it is currently the only American soap opera with a running time of 30 minutes (including commercials) and was the last remaining American soap broadcasting in the fullscreen standard-definition television picture format, until the show upgraded to 16:9 aspect ratio high-definition television in September 2011. Episodes airing in the United States air for approximately 19 minutes, while international broadcasts air to a runtime of approximately 21 minutes.

International broadcast

The series has aired in Italy since 1990 under the dub title Beautiful. The series first aired on Rai Due from June 4, 1990 to April 3, 1994, airing up until episode 1502, which on Rai were reassembled as 902 episodes of varying length. From April 5, 1994, episode 1503 aired on Canale 5, with reruns of recent seasons airing on sister channels over time. Since June 2024, Mediaset Extra airs repeats of episodes starting from season 23.

The Flemish broadcast started in 1990 on TV1; at its peak, the ratings surpassed one million viewers. The rights were handed over to VTM in 1999 and then to Vijf TV in 2006 - each time the rights moved to another network, the ratings declined. In May 2015, VIJF ceased airing the series due to declining ratings.

In 1995, Canal 1 in Portugal broadcast the series as . Only a package of 240 episodes aired.

South African channel SABC 3 aired the soap between September 1997 and March 4, 2019, when it was removed from the schedule due to cost issues. The series returned to African television on the now-defunct pan-African channel Eva on DStv, with the English and Portuguese feeds airing episodes from 2019 starting in May 2020.

In Latvia, the series aired on LTV1 from January 4, 1995 to July 20, 2010. showed Latvijas Televīzija. Initially a package of 200 episodes was scheduled to air (starting from episode 170), but this has since increased to more than 6000 episodes broadcast at the time LTV ended the series. The voice-over translation was provided by Harijs Spanovskis, who made his last recording of the series on July 8. Interest in the series decreased over time; by the mid-2000s, the series had left circulation in Estonia and Lithuania; LTV1 stopped airing the series due to declining ratings. The series returned to TVN's Player.pl VOD service on April 1, 2015.

In the United Arab Emirates, the series aired on Dubai 33 until its closure in 2004. Due to complaints from viewers, the series returned on Dubai One.

Home media

The earliest DVD releases of The Bold and the Beautiful came in 2008 and 2009, when "Fan Favourites Collection" and "Best of Weddings" were released in Europe and Australia. These DVD sets contained a random selection of 21 and 25 episodes, respectively, from 1987 up until that point in time. These sets sold well and from 2010 to 2011, Beyond Home Entertainment in Australia released another 3 sets containing a random selection of 25 episodes each. These sets, however, only contained episodes from 2003 onwards, frustrating some long-term fans, as a large proportion of the show was left out. One of these sets, entitled "Most Shocking Moments", was also released in the US on July 23, 2012, on the Amazon Video service, but only contained 15 episodes. Sweden (November 23, 2011), the United States (November 6, 2012) and Australia (December 3, 2012). All DVD sets contain 25 episodes, with the exception of the US release only containing 16. The German releases have sold well, with distributor Fernsehjuwelen having released box 2 later in 2011 and boxes 3-7 throughout 2012. Boxes 8, 9 and 10 are set for release in late 2014 through 2015.

In March of 2026, a streaming service was released that included every episode from the first thirty-seven seasons as well as specials and behind the scenes content to celebrate the shows 39th anniversary.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Home media releases

! rowspan="2"|DVD title !! rowspan="2"|Number of episodes !! colspan="3"|Release date

|-

! Region 2 (EU) !! Region 4 (AU) !! Region 1 (US)

|-

|Fan Favorites Collection || style="text-align:center;"|21 || September 3, 2008 || November 19, 2008 || April 1, 2009 || July 23, 2012 ||

|-

|Best of Brooke, Ridge & Taylor || style="text-align:center;"|25 || || March 2, 2011 ||

|-

|How It All Began [Box 1] || style="text-align:center;"|25 / 16 (US)|| April 29, 2011 || November 6, 2012 || May 1, 2013 ||

|-

|How It All Began [Box 3] || style="text-align:center;"|25 || February 17, 2012 ||

|-

|How It All Began [Box 4] || style="text-align:center;"|25 || April 27, 2012 ||

|-

|How It All Began [Box 5] || style="text-align:center;"|25 || August 3, 2012

  • The Young and the Restless: In May Oliver Jones (Zack Conroy) crossed over for two episodes. (May 21, 2013)

2014

  • The Young and the Restless: In April Rick Forrester (Jacob Young) and Caroline Spencer (Linsey Godfrey) crossed over for two episodes. (April 14, 2014)
  • The Bold and the Beautiful: Gloria Abbott Bardwell appeared in November for a fashion show at Forrester Creations. (November 20, 2014)

2015

  • The Young and the Restless: The Forresters were mentioned by Devon Hamilton while planning for his wedding to Hilary Curtis.

2020

  • The Young and the Restless: Courtney Hope (Sally Spectra) crossed over in November 2020 on a full-time basis.

Possible connection

  • Robert Clary played Pierre Roulland on The Young and the Restless from 1973 to 1974, before playing Pierre Jourdan on The Bold and the Beautiful from 1990 to 1992.

CBS Daytime game shows—The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal

  • 2002
  • The Bold and the Beautiful: Host Bob Barker and the Models of The Price Is Right appeared to discuss the new fashion line by Amber Moore.
  • 2008
  • The Price Is Right: Bridget Forrester (Ashley Jones) makes an appearance during the Showcase to offer a contestant a spot as an extra for a segment. The contestant won the Showcase.
  • Immediately after the contestant won, she was whisked away to Studio 31 for hair, makeup, and wardrobe before taping her segment. The segment was later posted on the Web site for the two shows.
  • 2009
  • The Price Is Right: Dominick Marone (Jack Wagner) interrupts taping of Price (which is taped in the Studio 33; The Bold and the Beautiful is taped next door in Studio 31) on March 6. Wagner talks to Carey about soap appearances and "crashes" the taping. At the end of the show, a Marone-themed Showcase is presented.
  • The Bold and the Beautiful: Donna Logan (Jennifer Gareis) and Pam Douglas (Alley Mills) take a trip to The Price is Right in June, and to their surprise Donna becomes a contestant, ultimately winning both showcases.
  • The Price Is Right: Dominick Marone (Jack Wagner) and Bridget Forrester (Ashley Jones) appear together on June 19 to model wedding attire during a special "Ultimate Wedding Shower" edition of The Price is Right.
  • 2010
  • The Price Is Right and The Young and the Restless: Stephen Logan (Patrick Duffy) and Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) appear in a war of words in a One Bid, then each present their own themed Showcase at the end of the show.
  • 2011
  • The Price Is Right: A contestant on the March 2011 Ultimate Spring Break episode wins a walk-on role as an extra; that episode airs April 19 and is linked to the Web site of the show.
  • The Price Is Right: Thomas Forrester (Adam Gregory) models wedding attire for the Ultimate Wedding Shower episode along with show model Rachel Reynolds. The wedding attire is a prize on this episode.
  • 2012
  • The Bold and the Beautiful: Tiffany Coyne meets the Forresters and Pam Douglas (Alley Mills), asking Pam and Nick to appear on Let's Make a Deal. Dominick Marone (as a lobster) and Pam Douglas (as a fisherman) appear in a deal.
  • Let's Make a Deal: Wagner appears to offer a contestant a walk-on role on the show, a common practice now with both CBS Daytime game shows with this show.
  • 2013
  • The Price Is Right: Starting with Season 42, guest models often appear on the show. B&B stars Karla Mosley and Lawrence Saint-Victor appear as models after this practice begins, which continues into Season 43 (2014–15).
  • The Bold and the Beautiful: Former Executive Producer for both CBS Daytime game shows Mike Richards, and models Rachel Reynolds (Price) and Danielle Demski (Deal; substitute model for most of 2013–14) are employees of Forrester Creations, meeting with Thorne (Winsor Harmon) and Ally (Ashlyn Pearce).

Big Brother houseguest appearances

Numerous former Big Brother houseguests have guest starred, occasionally making references to their time in the house.

See also

  • List of The Bold and the Beautiful cast members
  • List of The Bold and the Beautiful characters
  • CBS Daytime

References

  • The Bold and the Beautiful at CBS.com
  • The Bold and the Beautiful (index) at TVGN via the Internet Archive