Remember When: The Bold and the Beautiful's 38th anniversary (Part Two: 1992-1996)

In the '90s, The Bold and the Beautiful was indeed big enough for two divas

Yesterday was The Bold and the Beautiful's 38th anniversary – and it's enough to merit an all-week celebration with a deep dive into what stood out on the soap year by year. While B&B got off to a good start with its 1987 debut, it blew up in the '90s, a period still considered its heyday. Genoa City refugee Sheila inflicted herself on the Forresters, Spectra Fashions rose up like a sequined phoenix to become legit competition for Forrester Creations, and who could forget the ever-sharpening triangle of Brooke, Ridge, and Taylor? It's true you had to be there, but if you weren't, here's a look at the highlights from the mid-'90s in the Forrester-Logan-Spencer version of Los Angeles!

1992: Oh! Oh, Sheila

It was one of the most successful soap secrets in history. (It helped that the Internet wasn't totally a thing yet.) Naughty nurse Sheila had held mama Molly and nemesis Lauren hostage at a farmhouse in Michigan, which ultimately went up in flames. (Good one, Lauren, for knocking Sheila into a table in an oil lamp on it.) Everyone in Genoa City thought Sheila had burned, but she'd only U-Hauled it to Los Angeles and got herself hired at Forrester Creations. She romanced an unsuspecting Eric and got herself installed as Rick's nanny – by arranging for the original caregiver to have an accident. Sheila felt like she'd hit the lottery when Eric asked her to model his wedding gown showstopper...at least until Lauren arrived and exposed her past to Eric and the public. But psych! It was only a bad dream Sheila had following a fender bender. The suspense was as gorgeous as Sheila's gown, and the not-reveal let the intrigue simmer for even longer.

1993: Playing the percentages

In all the current hoo-ha over Carter taking over Forrester Creations (and giving it back), it's never come up that Brooke was the first to do so, and she had far more reason than Carter ever did. Brooke had created BeLieF (from the acronym for “Brooke Logan Forrester”), a formula that kept fabrics from developing wrinkles. But the Forresters discovered an oversight that would have allowed Brooke to claim full ownership of BeLieF's patent, so they tried to maneuver her into signing a contract giving away that right. When Brooke caught on, all hell broke loose — starting with a slapfest between Brooke and Stephanie. By the time the dust settled, Brooke had wrangled 51% ownership and become FC's CEO, lording her power over Eric, Stephanie, and Ridge yet making them serious cash by creating the Forrester men's line. It was quite the jump for the simple Valley Girl, and it embroiled her in a Forrester family feud the likes of which hasn't been seen since.

1994: Snakes and a plane

Marrieds Taylor and Ridge had their problems, between Ridge refusing to stop working with Brooke and Taylor devirginizing her shrink mentor, James Warwick, while freezing in earthquake rubble. Taylor hopped overseas for a simple medical conference, but the plane Taylor had been on went down, and the Forresters mourned her at her funeral. Little did they know Taylor had disembarked during a stopover in the Middle East and been mugged in the airport lavatory, leaving her unconscious and in the care of Morocco's Prince Omar, who nursed her back to health. The memory-impaired Taylor spent months thinking she was Laila; once total recall hit, she saw how happy visiting honeymooners Ridge and Brooke were, so Taylor reluctantly married Omar and soon performed a snake dance for him and his guests at his palace. Hey! At least it wasn't the Macarena. Taylor eventually returned to L.A. and revealed herself to Ridge, but wouldn't Steffy and Thomas be shocked to know that their mom used to be a legit princess!

1995: The power of goodbye

It would take three delicious years and several even more delicious back-and-forth crossovers with Y&R's Lauren before Sheila's baby-switched past was revealed, but in that time, Sheila married Eric, became the first to truly be able to go up against Stephanie, and found herself in therapy with James. When Lauren was finally ready to fink to the Forresters, Sheila attempted to shut Lauren's mouth by filling it with water while submerging her in a hot tub – except Lauren got away and blabbed to James. Just happening to live in a house with a dungeon built by escape artist Harry Houdini, Sheila kidnapped James and held them there, only considering letting him go after James convinced her he'd fallen in love with her...which included an S&M romp amongst the torture devices. (It takes all kinds.) Sheila went on the lam after discovering James' ruse, though she figured she'd pop James, Lauren, Eric, Stephanie, Ridge, and collateral damage bestie Brooke before skipping town. However, Lauren talked Sheila down, and Sheila downed poison in a suicide attempt. It was meant to be Kimberlin Brown's final scene, but there was not to worry – Sheila resurfaced in a prison for the criminally insane mere months later. Sheila's long-awaited downfall was a humdinger of a denouement.

1996: Valley girl of the dolls

Bridget Forrester just couldn't catch a break. As a newborn, Sheila tried to fix her paternity test to name Ridge as Bridget's father, but security guard Mike caught Sheila and mixed up the test tubes to the point neither of them knew for sure who could claim Bridget as their daughter. Ridge emerged the winner, but a few years later a letter surfaced implying Brooke had paid off her doctor. We never found out who sent it, although it did inspire a new test — and this time, Eric was proven to be Bridget's pop. Because Ridge couldn't say he thought Brooke was innocent of the accusation, Brooke took off but went missing...in Barbados, where, suffering from a condition called brief reactive psychosis, Brooke thought a couple of dolls were kids, Rick and Bridget. Ridge eventually found Brooke in the tropics, and her psychosis cleared up, but whatever happened to the dolls? They must have ended up with severe abandonment issues.

You've just Remembered When with the mid-'90s renown of The Bold and the Beautiful! Tomorrow, we'll take the show into the new millennium by revisiting the years 1997 through 2001. Fire up your 56k modems, and join us!

Watch The Bold and the Beautiful weekdays on CBS or stream the show on Paramount Plus.