American soap The Bold and the Beautiful renewed for seasons 34 and 35 that will take it to at least mid-2022.

by Thinus Ferreira

The longrunning American daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful has been renewed for another two seasons with seasons 34 and 35.

The two season renewal will take The Bold and the Beautiful, seen on on Vodacom Video Play and EVA (DStv 141), to at least mid-2022.

The soap's Los Angeles production is currently shut down but could restart production in June depending on Californian regulations.

"For over three decades, The Bold and the Beautiful has been a cornerstone of the CBS daytime lineup," says Amy Reisenbach, executive vice president for current programmes at CBS Entertainment, in a statement announcing the two-season renewal.

"The show has been a creative and ratings success due to the supremely talented cast, writers and producers that Brad Bell has assembled."

"Of course, none of this would have been possible without The Bold and the Beautiful's dedicated fans, whose passion for these characters and stories is unsurpassed. We are delighted to be able to continue to offer them a daily look into the romances and rivalries between the Forrester, Logan and Spencer families."

Bradley Bell, executive producer, says "I am thrilled to dive into years 34 and 35 of The Bold and the Beautiful. We are grateful to Amy Reisenbach and everyone at CBS for their incredible commitment to the series. Of course, many thanks to our loyal fans who motivate us every day with their unending passion and enthusiasm."

The Bold and the Beautiful remains the most-watched American produced daytime serialised drama in the world and is set in Los Angeles where it tells a story set inside the world of high fashion, glamour, romance, passion and family.

The Bold and the Beautiful's series' current cast includes Matthew Atkinson, Kiara Barnes, Katrina Bowden, Darin Brooks, Scott Clifton, Don Diamont, Jennifer Gareis, Courtney Hope, Thorsten Kaye, Katherine Kelly Lang, John McCook, Alley Mills, Annika Noelle, Denise Richards, Lawrence Saint-Victor, Henry Joseph Samiri, Rena Sofer, Aaron D. Spears, Heather Tom, Jeremy Ray Valdez and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood.

BREAKING. Brooke's back! The Bold and the Beautiful returns to South Africa - this time on Vodacom's Video Play streaming service.

The Bold and the Beautiful is blasting back to South Africa with the American weekday soap that has found a new home on Vodacom's Video Play streaming service since getting axed from the SABC in March.

Despite strong ratings until the end the cash-strapped SABC decided to abruptly end its decades-long contract with the Bell-Phillip Television Productions, that led to big viewer outrage and disappointment.

M-Net (DStv 101) looked at possibly acquiring The Bold and the Beautiful but said it's schedule is full with lifetime reality shows currently working well in its late-afternoon timeslot and with ratings up 120%, while e.tv has been unable to add another American soap after it already took over Days of Our Lives in September 2017 after SABC3 dropped that as well.

Now episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful will play from today on Vodacom's video-on-demand (SVOD) service, starting with brand-new episode from season 31, as well as a binge, catch-up catalogue of 50 episodes to span the "missing period". 

 The 50 Episodes will be loaded to binge for those customers that weren’t able to watch the Bold & Beautiful when it went off air in South Africa early this year. 

The ‘first new Episode – 7715 from Season 31 will form part of the new content that will be ingested as part of the 10 Episodes a week, this will launch on 9 October. 

 The episodes are free and a new episode is released daily. Vodacom Video Play customers will get access to The Bold and the Beautiful as part of a free subscription and don't have to pay for access.

Vodacom says viewers "will be able to stream the soap on their mobile devices, such as their smartphones, tablets, and laptops."

"We are extremely excited to be bringing back one of South Africa’s favourite international soap operas on our video on demand service, Video Play, along with the characters we’ve all grown to love, or love to hate," says Zunaid Mahomed, Vodacom group digital and fixed services officer. 

"This move forms part of our ongoing commitment to providing access to the content our customers want, in a format that allows them to watch it whenever they want and wherever they are."

Additionally, the synopsis of each new episode will be displayed so that viewers can discern exactly which episode they want to watch.

"Our South African viewers have been asking for The Bold and the Beautiful to come back. Now we’re very happy to announce the good news," says Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer. "Thank you for welcoming us back onto your screens."

Three Bold and the Beautiful stars to visit South Africa after viewership of the American soap has nosedived the past few months.

Three cast members of the American daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful will be visiting South Africa, with their visit coming as viewership of the soap has nosedived on the SABC's SABC3 channel the past few months.

The South African public broadcaster over the past year had nothing good to say about the American programming on its schedule, getting rid of sister American soap Days of Our Lives that jumped to e.tv, and constantly making disparaging remarks about foreign content and "American soaps".

The past few years in South Africa's parliament and in press conferences, the SABC also only spoke bad about The Bold and the Beautiful, with the highest ranking SABC executives and board members calling The Bold and the Beautiful "outdated" and saying the SABC can't get rid of it since the broadcaster is locked into a "forever contract".

Viewership of The Bold and the Beautiful in South Africa fell off a cliff the past few months with massive plunges in ratings, luring 495 287 viewers in September for its most-watched episode, 

It will be interesting to see to what degree the SABC and SABC3 heaps lavish and awkward praise on The Bold and the Beautiful when the soap's stars and publicists are in South Africa between 21 and 26 October as part of a global tour of the Bell-Phillip Television Production Inc. produced soap.

The Bold and the Beautiful soap stars visiting South Africa are Heather Tom (Katie Logan), Jacob Young (Rick Forrester) and Karla Mosley (Maya Avant Forrester) as part of the soap's global publicity tour to celebrate the 30-year anniversary.

The soap stars will visit Johannesburg and Cape Town. The visit also includes appearances at the Mall of Africa and Maponya Mall in Johannesburg and Table Mountain in Cape Town. The itinerary also includes a private event and a meet-and-greet with contest winners.

As part of the celebrations in South Africa, SABC3 will re-introduce the Saturday omnibus rebroadcast of  The Bold & The Beautiful from 14 October between 09:00 and 12:00.

"It gives us great pleasure to set the SABC3 stage for The Bold and the Beautiful cast in South Africa," says Aisha Mohamed, SABC3 channel head.

"We are happy to bring our content closer to our viewers, and in this case the fans of The Bold and the Beautiful who will get a chance to experience the cast while they are here. We welcome The Bold and the Beautiful cast and crew to South Africa and we look forward to the interaction with our viewers."

Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer of The Bold and the Beautiful says "I'm so thankful that after 30 years, our South African viewers and our broadcaster, SABC3, remain an integral part of our extended television family."

"To celebrate this occasion, we're sending Karla, Heather and Jacob in person to convey our warm greetings and gratitude to our fans."