the series is shown in over 100 countries. about 300 million people watch it every day. this makes "the bold and the beautiful" the most watched television series in the world. the first episode was shown on march 23, 1987 on the cbs network. the series was created by the soap opera writer william j. bell and his wife, lee phillip bell. it is the only american soap opera to have its daily episodes translated into spanish for the hispanic viewers in the united states.