B&B air date – Coffea Break

CBS has announced that the long running half-hour soap-opera “The Bold and the Beautiful,” will be returning with new original episodes very soon, on Monday, July 20, 2020.

The network also added that the two of the first five episodes that will be aired on Tuesday, July 21 and Wednesday, July 22, were actually shot before the Hollywood’s months-long COVID-19 shutdown.

The very first original episode scheduled to air on Monday, July 20, is said to have been shot post-shutdown, with all the new industry-mandated safety protocols in line.

“The Bold and the Beautiful” was the first series in the United States, to have resumed production, following the three-month shutdown, on June 17. However, within just a day of shooting, the production was halted temporarily, due to the large volume of testing. After several other hiccups, the show is back in production.

Here are the mild spoilers for the first five new episodes to be aired from Monday, July 20 to Friday, July 24, as reported by TV Line.

Monday, July 20: Katie fills in Carter on how Quinn sabotaged Brooke and Ridge’s reunion party. Then, Zoe and Carter discuss her whirlwind romance with Thomas, how he was exposed for his manipulations and lies at their wedding, and how Hope and Liam were able to overcome everything and reunite. Finally, Zoe and Carter learn about Sally’s illness and what Wyatt and Flo did when they found out.

Tuesday, July 21 (Filmed Before Shutdown): Wyatt walks into the beach house and is dismayed by what he sees. Meanwhile, Bill tells Katie he will accept any consequence from his actions, except losing Katie and their family. Also, Sally and Dr. Escobar haul the unconscious Flo to Sally’s apartment where they tie her to the radiator. When Flo realizes she has been kidnapped, she is appalled by Sally’s actions.

Wednesday, July 22 (Filmed Before Shutdown): Dr. Escobar and Flo are shocked by Sally’s pregnancy plan and plead with her not to proceed. Also, Steffy heads out on her motorcycle for some quality “me” time and is involved in an accident.

Thursday, July 23: Bill is shocked when he realizes he hit Steffy with his car while she was out riding her motorcycle. He frantically calls 9-1-1, and Steffy is rushed to the ER. Also, Flo prays her secret message gets through to Wyatt, and as Sally starts seducing Wyatt, he finally sees the message from Flo.

Friday, July 24: Wyatt demands Sally tell him where Flo is and begins to search for her. Meanwhile, Bill is with Steffy in her hospital room, guilt-ridden and apologetic. He calls Ridge to let him know Steffy was in an accident. Brooke and Ridge rush to the hospital, fighting back emotions when they see her.

The B&B’s final episode was aired on April 23, 2020, and has been airing themed week reruns, since then. As for the new episodes, the writers have been trying to maintain the story-line, while keeping up with the pandemic safety protocols. They also had plans for having the actor’s spouses stand in as body doubles, for romantic scenes, and use blow-up dolls for sec scenes.

Fellow CBS show “The Young and the Restless” which was supposed to get back on the sets on July 6, is to resume shooting from July 13. ABC’s “General Hospital” will resume production on July 20, while NBC’s “Days of Our Lives,” the only series to still run new episodes, is looking at an early September date to start production.

“The Bold and the Beautiful,” one of the first US series to have started production, after the COVID-19 pandemic, has reported halted the production again, after just one day of shooting.

The show, which returned to production in Television City Studios, has paused the shooting for a short break, to accommodate the large volumes of COVID-19 testing at the locations.

“We have paused very briefly to modify our testing protocol to better accommodate the large volume of testing needed. Safety remains our top priority as we continue to move forward with the production of the Bold and the Beautiful,” as per a spokesperson for the show’s producer Bell-Phillip Television, Variety reported.

The statement also included that the cast and crew had filmed successfully today, very first day back at work, while maintaining the safety protocols. It was also added that the shooting of “B&B” will resume from Tuesday, June 23, 2020.

There has been no mention of what modifications are being made to the protocols. The CBS drama has been following the protocols set by LOs Angeles County, which were approved by the Hollywood guilds and the City of Los Angeles and Television City’s owner Hackman Capital Partners.

According to the protocols, the entire cast and crew have to undergo regular testing, shorter working days, wearing masks at all times (except when filming a scene). “B&B” has also hired a COVID-19 coordinator, to ensure the safety guidelines are followed.

“The Bold and the Beautiful” cast and crew were tested for COVID-19 on Monday, in the pre-production stage. The filmmakers are also coming up with different ways to keep up the safety protocols, while maintaining the story-line, like filming sex scenes with blow-up dolls.

“When we were reviewing the scripts we started taking out all the romantic scenes and [the scripts] just fell flat,” the show’s executive producer/head writer Bradley Bell said in an interview with New York Post. “We put our heads together trying to figure out a way to make these scenes work without breaking the eight-foot [distancing] rule…and we brought out a doll we used years ago as a corpse.”

They have also planned to have the spouses of some of the show’s actors to stand in as body doubles, for tight embraces and kissing scenes. Bell has assured that everyone will be tested and safety will be the first priority, while also trying to have the same kind of actions that the viewers loved. He also went on to add that the writers might eventually mention the pandemic in the story-line, but will not delve deep into it, as everybody have lived through it already.

As per the production schedule, it is possible that new episodes of “B&B” Season 34 will start airing from July. The show aired its final episode on April 23, although the filming was shut down in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, “The Bold and the Beautiful” has been airing reruns. As of now, there is no specific air date.