Monday, August 20, 2012

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #10 Bo & Hope From DAYS OF OUR LIVES

COUPLE: Bo Brady & Hope Williams
SHOW: DAYS OF OUR LIVES
RANK: 10
PLAYED BY:
Bo: Peter Reckell, Robert Kelker-Kelly
Hope: Kristian Alfonso
YEARS: 1983-1987; 1990; 1994-present

STORY:
Motorcycle-riding rebel Bo Brady spotted high school student Hope Williams at Shenanigans bar and was immediately smitten.  He took her for a ride on his bike and it wasn't until later the two of them realized they knew each other as children.   Bo and Hope fell in love over the next several months and just as they were about to make love on Hope's 18th birthday, her father, Doug, burst in and had a heart attack.  Bo then had to go undercover to help clear his brother, Roman's, name.  Because of the danger involved, he convinced Hope he didn't care about her.  This led Hope to fall into a bad relationship with Larry Welch and the two of them became engaged.  On their wedding day, Bo kidnapped Hope from the church leaving Howie Hoffstetter to walk down the aisle as Hope.

Hope ended up marrying Larry anyway but they soon divorced.  Bo and Hope were eventually married and had a son, Shawn Douglas.  They sailed away from Salem  on their boat, the Fancy Face, in 1987.  They returned in 1990 but Hope was killed in an electrical explosion.  Bo found comfort in the arms of Carly and Billie until Hope turned up alive in 1994.  Bo and Hope reunited a year later but life remained as complicated as ever.  Over the past 17 years they had two more children, faced horrific tragedy when they lost one (Zack), dealt with Hope's crisis of identity (Princess Gina), and battled outside forces and drama at every turn.  In 2012 they are still together and their love was as strong as it's ever been.

IMPACT:
Bo and Hope are one of the most well-known and memorable couples in soap opera history.  They became an instant favorite with DAYS OF OUR LIVES fans who have remained loyal for the past 29 years.

Between them Reckell and Alfonso have won eight Soap Opera Digest Awards including Favorite Couple in 2001.  Both have been nominated for a Daytime Emmy for their work.  They also won a Special Fan Award at the 2002 Daytime Emmys as America's Favorite Couple.  In 2005 they were nominated for another Special Fan Award as favorite Irresistable Combination.

CLASSIC CLIPS:
Bo and Hope Early Years including Howie Hoffstetter (1983/1984) 
Bo and Hope's wedding (1985)
Hope "dies" (1990)
Zack's death (2006)

Share your thoughts on Bo and Hope in our Comments section below or on our message board.

RELATED:
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actors: The Complete List
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actresses: The Complete List
- THE COMPLETE LIST: 25 Biggest Blunders In Daytime Soap Opera History

11 comments:

  1. Top ten time!! Your list has been surprising me. There are some couples I thought would be higher/lower and some I'd totally forgotten about. Great job so far.

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  2. I still remember Bo kidnapping Hope from her wedding to Larry.

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  3. Super surprised they are 10! Thought they would be number 2 for sure... Now I really can't wait to see the rest of the couples!

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  4. Recently, I've been thinking that Bo and Hope were defined by opposition. However, with the combination of changing writers, the loss of the characters of their parents, and becoming cops they lost their edge.

    They've obviously grown up but I miss the parts of their characters that drove them - Hope was a bratty daddy's girl seeking approval & Bo was the second son who was always contrasted with his heroic older brother.

    Now, they're good parents and good detectives but nothing seems to drive them forward character-wise which seems to be reasonable effect of being the leads in plot-driven stories as opposed to character-driven drama.

    Where are the stories about Bo trying to forge a relationship with both Roman and John? Why is Hope satisfied with being a cop's wife after running a cosmetics empire? How would Hope deal with Sierra if she rebelled like Hope did? I'm far more interested in these questions after thirty years than whether they're going to solve the mystery of Alice's safety deposit box.

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  5. I was going to forgive how clumsy this list has been compiled because I assumed Bo & Hope would have been #2 on a list of the 50 Greatest Soap Couples, only being bested by GH's Luke & Laura. What in the world were the "panelists" thinking?! Bo & Hope is more iconic and more important to the genre than 48 of the couples on this list. In fact, DAYS in the '80's made the term supercouple possible! I argue that the top 10 should have been heavily composed of DAYS couples and that Jack & Jennifer, Marlena & John, Patch & Kayla are WAY too low on this list. Will Shane & Kimberly even chart on this list?! Absurd! Bo & Hope being so low on this list invalidates the entire list.

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  7. Bo & Hope always be in my top 10, great job guys.

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  8. I agree with Joshua, it is WELL-KNOWN that DAYS coined the SUPERCOUPLE, but unfortunately this list is for the 50 Greatest Soap Opera Couples, not Supercouples! I think Bo & Hope would have easily made it to #1.

    Bo & Hope deserved to be closer to # 1. I hope that Luke & Laura DON'T make it to #1...are they even still together on the show? I hope that Mr. & Mrs. Horton make the list! They were great together...they are ICONS! I am a diehard DAYS fan so any DAYS couple on this list makes me happy!

    I think they should make another list, the Best Soap Villain...I think Stefano (Joseph Mascolo) would win hands down! He has died and risen so many times and never quits!!!...LOL

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