CBS Daytime’s “The Bold and the Beautiful” received 15 Daytime Emmy Award nominations this year, and the show’s executive producer and headwriter, Bradley P. Bell, couldn’t be more thrilled. “We’re determined to redefine the genre with our look, with our pacing, with our stories, with our location shoots,” he says of how the show’s entire team is to thank for the Emmy considerations. “We really want to make it a daily drama, and we’re not looking back. We’re only looking forward, and I think that strategy has paid off for us.”
Of course, there’s no harm in looking back when it comes to choosing which episodes to submit for the Emmy voting process, and Bell admits that he couldn’t resist selecting both Stephanie Forrester’s celebration of her life as well as her goodbye when portrayer Susan Flannery departed the show. “I thought they were really touching, and I thought they were unique,” he says of the episodes. “Everyone in the room was amazing and so connected.”
A large part of the scenes’ success is due to Flannery’s emotional performances, which Bell is quick to point out. “Susan was stellar, as always,” he says, adding that her Outstanding Leading Actress nomination means a great deal to the former matriarch. “It’s so significant. It’s the end of her time at ‘The Bold and the Beautiful,’ which is the biggest chapter of her life… so this means a lot, and I hope she wins.”
But he’s also rooting for Katherine Kelly Lang, who is celebrating her very first Emmy nomination (as Outstanding Supporting Actress) for her work as Brooke Logan! “She’s so thrilled,” Bell says. “She’s really the most popular soap character in the world, and to never have recognition, a nomination from the Academy, it’s time, and she’s probably never been better. Her work with Susan was sensational. Everything she does is right on the money. She is Brooke Logan. And she deserves this.”
And the way everything is playing out this year storyline wise (with the fall out of Brooke getting mixed up with Don Diamont’s Bill Spencer), Lang may be in the running for an Emmy next year, as well! “It had been awhile since we’d seen Brooke in a romantic story,” he explains of Brooke’s new direction. “She was part of the payoff of Ridge and Brooke, to make them a couple, let them be happy for awhile. And when Ronn [Moss, Ridge Forrester] left, an opening that I hadn’t planned on showed itself, and she and Don have great chemistry, so were drawn to each other.”
Speaking of exits, Bell admits that though he was sorry to see Moss and Flannery go, their departures have actually created a renewed sense of enjoyment when it comes to penning the show. “Two people I never would have let go are now no longer with us, so being able to bring in new stories… feels very good,” he reveals. “It’s really much easier to write the show now than it used to be. We have told so many stories over the years, and both Ronn and Susan were front and center through the whole thing. So it’s fun. I’m enjoying this time.”
To find out whether or not “B&B” takes home the coveted Emmy awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, be sure to tune in to the 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards airing on HLN on June 16.