Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Alley Mills Gets Busted on The Bold and the Beautiful
Add The Bold and the Beautiful's Pam Douglas to the list of the nation's unemployed. The bipolar spinster, played with hilarity and heartbreak by veteran actress Alley Mills, will finally get caught at her latest scheme — stealing designs from her sister Stephanie's fashion house, Forrester Creations, and giving them to the competition. Their must-see confrontation (airing Jan. 30-31) ends with Pam, the receptionist at Forrester, being fired by Stephanie and escorted from the building. TV Guide Magazine spoke with Mills to ask the big question: Now what?
Add The Bold and the Beautiful'sPam Douglas to the list of the nation's unemployed. The bipolar spinster, played with hilarity and heartbreak by veteran actress Alley Mills, will finally get caught at her latest scheme — stealing designs from her sister Stephanie's fashion house, Forrester Creations, and giving them to the competition. Their must-see confrontation (airing Jan. 30-31) ends with Pam, the receptionist at Forrester, being fired by Stephanie and escorted from the building. TV Guide Magazine spoke with Mills to ask the big question: Now what?
TV Guide Magazine: What's going to happen to poor, pathetic Pam once she gets busted?
Mills: This could take her to a very dark place. It never occurred to her that she'd get caught. She doesn't have anybody left in her life. No friends. No men. This is bad. The shocking thing is that Stephanie doesn't blow when she finds out Pam's the thief. She's disappointed and really hurt, and for someone as fragile as Pam that's devastating. [Laughs] At least Stephanie doesn't throw Pam off a balcony. She's been known to handle problems that way!
TV Guide Magazine: None of this would have happened if Pam hadn't gotten mad at Stephanie for ignoring her relationship with Stephen.
Mills: Pam feels totally justified in stealing those designs. All she wanted was to be validated by Stephanie. Pam finally found a man and her sister wouldn't give him the time of day. She never gave Pam any support. She never invited them over for dinner. Nothing.
TV Guide Magazine: Hell-oooo! Stephen was Stephanie's arch enemy. What the heck did Pam expect? I love your soap-opera amnesia.
Mills: Stephanie should have tried harder to accept Stephen. Finally that rare man came along who could love her sister and she didn't care. That's all I'm saying. Stephen and Pam had a serious relationship going. They were talking about taking a romantic trip to Fuji or something. [Laughs] They even had the pamphlets.
TV Guide Magazine: I guess it counts for something that Pam didn't sell the designs. She just gave them away to Jackie and Nick.
Mills: Though she did get paid in other ways. She got a couple of really good kisses from Nick. And that's a lot for Pam! She doesn't need cash. Betty White left her with loads of money!
TV Guide Magazine: Well, if it's any consolation, Pam's crime will be forgotten, probably sooner than later. Nothing lasts forever on B&B.
Mills: It's true. Betty White told me they've asked her to return to the show even though her character is dead. I don't know how they can do that. She'll probably be haunting Pam in the mirror.
TV Guide Magazine: I love how Pam's all pissed at Steph but doesn't seem to mind that she was being used by Nick, who suddenly started coming on to her as some sort of sick reward for the theft.
Mills: Nobody was using anybody there. The great thing about Pam is that she knows exactly what Nick's all about. Their flirtation was a lark. She was just having fun. And he actually had fun with her! He wasn't rolling his eyes and going, "Ugh! I have to kiss Pam." He actually liked it. Pam is a hoot to hang out with, so it wasn't like the worst thing that ever happened to him. And what made the whole thing work on-screen is that Jack Wagner wasn't rolling his eyes because he had to kiss me. He had fun, too! And Pam likes Jackie because Jackie doesn't treat Pam like an idiot, which is what everyone at Forrester does. She's kind of a joke over there.
TV Guide Magazine: You don't think it's really creepy of Nick to be play-acting with someone who's manic-depressive?
Mills: No! It's terrible that I can relate to this. [Laughs] I guess I'm that desperate sometimes! Hey, if you had a crush on someone and you knew it could never work out, the two of you might still have a fling anyway if you provided some sort of service to the other person — like if you wrote about them in TV Guide.
TV Guide Magazine: What? You mean people will have sex with you if you write about them in TV Guide? News to me. And, by the way, what kind of slut do you think I am?
Mills: I'm just saying you can justify arrangements like this! Pam was never the victim. She has several times said, "I'm no fool" when it comes to Nick. She knew what she was getting into.
TV Guide Magazine: Well, in the end, I guess her punishment could have been worse. What she did was illegal, no?
Mills: Well, you can't arrest her! [Laughs] Haven't you ever heard of forgiveness? It just seems so unfair even to fire her.
TV Guide Magazine: There isn't a company in America that wouldn't oust her ass for stealing like that.
Mills: There could certainly have been a better solution than termination.
TV Guide Magazine: Such as...?
Mills: Stephanie could have put Pam on probation. [Laughs] Or she could have put her down in the basement with Thorne!