HOLLYWOOD—This week’s leading ladies gold standard goes to two venerable actresses, one who is bold and beautiful, the other quite young and restless. Eileen Davidson, who portrays long suffering Ashley Abbott on CBS’s “The Young and the Restless,” had a week of challenges both as an actress and as her character Ashley. However, the beauty managed to rise to the occasion making “Y&R” more exciting than ever. While Katherine Kelly Lang should be tired of playing the sexiest woman in the world on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” yet she managed to catch her breath and leave us all panting with anticipation for more. “B&B’s” Bradley P. Bell, the Emmy-winning writer and producer for 2010 doesn’t let up, thankfully for fans, we can’t get enough. As for Maria Arena Bell, who helms sister soap “The Young and the Restless,” she gives Ashley everything she needs and then some. While giving viewers everything they deserve.
Eileen Davidson has been known throughout the industry for the past three decades as one of the most solid and well prepared actors in the industry. She’s been a daytime TV staple thankfully for almost as long. This week Ashley started out by finding a video of her daughter Abby on the Internet, which was a soft and mild sex tape. Abby’s desperate to become the new Paris Hilton of Genoa City, and she has all the attributes to become a reality TV star. She’s from a very wealthy family, her mother is an Abbott, her father is billionaire Victor Newman, she has trust funds that she can’t access due to her bad behavior, she has a TV producer who specializes in sleaze reality and she’s buying his very expensive gifts to keep him at her beck and call.
Davidson’s performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson’s beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn’t give a damn. Ashley is desperate for love, but Tucker may not be the man she needs. She needs a man who has experience raising a hard-headed daughter like Abby. Isn’t that Neil? Whatever Maria Bell decides, I’m on for the ride. She hasn’t failed viewers yet.
Now to this year’s best show “The Bold and the Beautiful” as well as this year’s best writer Bradley P. Bell. Just when we thought Ridge and Brooke would be happy, in comes a young man on the scene, dating Brooke’s teenage daughter Hope, then there’s a party with masks and Daddy Yankee’s hip urban beat. Didn’t we all know Brooke would find Hope’s boyfriend irresistible? Has Brooke Logan, known as the sexiest woman in the world by her suitors and the whore of Beverly Hills by her meddling mother-in-law ever done the right thing?
This week Brooke attempted to do something right. Being blackmailed by stepdaughter Steffy, Brooke decided to leave Forrester Creations, to pack up her daughter Hope and send her back east to a university in Boston, only to land herself in more trouble. Brooke thought it was all behind her, then she made a shocking announcement during a press conference for Forrester Creations. Bradley Bell made damn sure viewers and characters were left with more questions than we had before. Great job, Brad! Kelly Lang is superb as Brooke. She actually makes viewers empathize with her actions—the actions of a deranged nymph who simply doesn’t know when to say no. That says a lot about Kelly’s brilliant talents. Be sure to watch “B&B” next week.
“B&B” and “Y&R” both air weekdays on CBS.
