When I had my thoughts on what would be the first production to resume shooting in the U.S. once they got the go ahead in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I certainly didn’t expect it to be a soap opera. Their willingness to do so is in its name so major kudos should go to long-running soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful for being the first production, daytime, primetime or otherwise, to resume shooting in the U.S. Executive producer Bradley Bells gave details on how the CBS soap will be ready to get back to work starting today.
Coming just five days after the state of California and Los Angeles County lifted restrictions on film and TV production, The Bold and the Beautiful making this move is likely to be one to watch for the remaining three soap operas on air and even primetime series that are looking to get get back to telling their stories. The Bold and the Beautiful halted production is mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic led to stay at home orders for nonessential businesses. Like most soap operas, the show was well ahead in production of what fans were seeing on air, but since production has been shuttered for over 3 months, the soap eventually ran out of pre-taped episodes and CBS began airing themed weeks of repeats for about eight weeks.
Bell has a lot of plans in place to ensure a safe working environment as well as reworking scripts to get the show back on the air with new episodes in a few weeks. They will be installing dividers in the control booth at Television City and they will even have real-life partners of the performers acting as “love scene doubles.” Bell said that they have been preparing for a return for over the last month and half so they’re prepared to essentially pick up where they left off.
All of the actors have been tested ahead of the return and all have tested positive. They will also have to be tested at least once a week moving forward and that could even turn into multiple times a week if necessary. Other production personnel will be tested on Mondays and they’ll shoot the show Tuesday-Friday.
As far as if everyone was eager to get back to work, Bell said the entire cast and crew has been ready awhile. Now that the world is opening up a bit again, there was an eagerness from their team to get things rolling. Bell said usually there is a month and half window between tape and air but that likely won’t be the case for a bit. They want to move quickly and get new episodes on as soon as possible.
The Bold and the Beautiful was recently renewed through 2022 and it’s one of the four soap operas that remain on air. Days of Our Lives on NBC shoots at an accelerated pace and has new episodes until October set to air while CBS’ The Young and the Restless stopped airing new episodes around the same time as The Bold and the Beautiful. Lastly, General Hospital on ABC shuttered in mid-March as well but was able to air new episodes until mid-May. There is speculation that they’re looking to get back to shooting in July or August.
