There is sepia-tinged cloud lining to the coronavirus-caused production stoppage at CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”
The network’s major soap operas are filling the schedule with nostalgia, airing classic episodes and characters with themed weeks beginning April 27, going back as far as 1990.
The top-watched daytime drama “The Young and the Restless,” now in its 47th season, will bring back “Katherine the Great,” Genoa City’s formidable matriarch Katherine Chancellor (memorably played by the late Jeanne Cooper).
The episodes will feature early performances from show legends Eric Braeden (Victor Newman), Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman), Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott), Tracey Bregman (Lauren Fenmore), Doug Davidson (Paul Williams), Jess Walton (Jill Abbott) and the late Kristoff St. John (Neil Winters), among others.
The 33-year-old “The Bold and the Beautiful” will return to the “Escape to Monte Carlo” dramatic saga, featuring the episodes filmed on the Mediterranean location — with stars such as Darin Brooks (Wyatt Spencer), Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer), Don Diamont (Bill Spencer, Jr.), Courtney Hope (Sally Spectra) and Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan).
As part of the themed week, CBS will air two documentary-style “making of” episodes, filmed on location in Monaco (airing April 27 and 28). The two “Becoming Bold and Beautiful” episodes feature behind-the-scenes footage of cast and crew (including executive producer Bradley Bell) during the shoot throughout the mountainside country.
The return to the episodes offers fans “a fun opportunity to look back at such memorable moments from Y&R and B&B,” Amy Reisenbach, vice president, current programs of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement
To kick off the theme week, on April 24, “B&B” will air the Monte Carlo-themed episode in which Forrester Creations and Spectra Fashions face off for a fashion showdown benefiting charity.
The stars of “Y&R and B&B” will provide bonus content with fresh commentary at the beginning and end of many episodes. Additional “theme weeks” of both series will be announced in the near future, the network says.
Contributing: Kelly Lawler
