My earliest memory is sitting under an ironing board as my mother pressed my father's shirts and watched The Guiding Light. I felt safe in my tent watching Ed and Mike Bauer. My mother was hooked on that soap opera and unwittingly addicted me to the medium as well.

For more than 30 years I have always followed the soaps. I watched The Young and the Restless when my hip teenage neighbor talked about how cool it was in 1973. I got caught in the Luke and Laura hysteria of General Hospital in my college dorm. I cried, really cried, when Mike Roy died with Erica at his bedside on All My Children (although we now know that he really didn't die).

I have watched The Bold and the Beautiful for eight years. It is my favorite soap. The half-hour format allows fewer characters to learn and care about. The background for the show is the fashion industry. What could be more escapist and glamorous? And the acting and writing is superb while maintaining a good camp appeal and fun quality. It is in the spirit of entertainment that I recount each day's episode. I may poke fun at a lack of continuity or laugh at a seemingly serious line of dialog, but it is out of love for the show and admiration for daytime drama that I watch and review it daily.

-- David Martin (MrSmartyPants)