The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 created by William J. Bell

William J. Bell

William J. Bell was the creator and executive producer of the soap operas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.-Personal life:...

 and Lee Phillip Bell

Lee Phillip Bell

Lee Phillip Bell is a former talk show host and soap opera creator.Lee Phillip Bell is one of the most notable graduates from what is now known as Riverside-Brookfield High School in Riverside, Illinois. Ms. Bell received a degree in microbiology from Northwestern University...

 for CBS Daytime

CBS Daytime

CBS Daytime is a television programming block on CBS. It's the branding for the CBS Television Network's late morning and early afternoon programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows, and talk shows...

. It premiered on March 23, 1987.

Set in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, the show centers upon the Forrester family

Forrester family

The Forrester Family is a family in the CBS Daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. This is a list of all known members of the Forrester family, both past and present, deceased and living.-First generation:...

 and their fashion house

Haute couture

Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...

 business Forrester Creations

Forrester Creations

Forrester Creations is a fictional fashion house from the CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful. It is located on fictional S. Haragate Avenue in Los Angeles.-History:...

. The program features an ensemble cast

Ensemble cast

An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...

, headed by its longest-serving actors Susan Flannery

Susan Flannery

Susan Flannery is an American soap opera actress. She is known for her role Stephanie Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful and for her role as Dr. Laura Spencer Horton on Days of our Lives ....

 as Stephanie Forrester

Stephanie Douglas Forrester

Stephanie Forrester is a fictional character on the American soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. She is known for her on-again, off-again marriages to the famed fashion designer, Eric Forrester, and for her rivalry with Brooke Logan, who has been involved with Eric and her sons, Ridge and Thorne...

, John McCook

John McCook

John McCook is an American actor best known for his roles on daytime soap operas.-Career:Since 1987, he has played the role of Eric Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful. From 1976 to February 1980, he portrayed the character of Lance Prentiss on The Young and the Restless. In addition, he has...

 as Eric Forrester

Eric Forrester

Eric Forrester is a fictional character on the CBS Daytime soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. He has been portrayed by John McCook since the show's debut in 1987...

, Katherine Kelly Lang

Katherine Kelly Lang

Katherine Kelly Lang is an American actress. She is known for her role as Brooke Logan Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful .-Personal life:...

 as Brooke Logan

Brooke Logan

Brooke Logan Forrester is a fictional character from the CBS Daytime soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. She has been portrayed by Katherine Kelly Lang since the series debuted in March 1987, although Catherine Hickland and Sandra Ferguson briefly filled in on two occasions when Lang was on...

, Ronn Moss

Ronn Moss

Ronald Montague "Ronn" Moss is an American actor, musician and singer/songwriter, a member of the band Player, and best known for portraying Ridge Forrester, the dynamic fashion magnate on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful since 1987.- Early life and music career :Ronn Moss was born...

 as Ridge Forrester

Ridge Forrester

Ridge Forrester is a fictional character from the CBS daytime soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. The character was introduced in the series premiere on March 23, 1987 and has been a regular fixture ever since...

 also known as the core four. The Bold and the Beautiful is also a sister show

Sister show

Sister shows are two or more television shows which exist in the same fictional universe and which may have crossovers. They differ to a degree from spin-offs in that shows may air simultaneously, rather than being derived from, and replacing, another. The popularity of most shows is limited to a...

 to the Bells' other soap opera The Young and the Restless

The Young and the Restless

The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...

, as several characters from each of the two shows have crossed over

Fictional crossover

A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...

 to the other since the early 1990s, and its title derived from Y&R.

Since its premiere on March 23, 1987, the show has become the most-watched soap in the world, with an audience of an estimated 26.2 million viewers.