Bold & Beautiful is about to ring in more than a new year, it’s poised to ring in a whole new show. Whether Ridge manages to keep control of Forrester Creations or loses it by insisting that Carter dump Hope, something’s gotta give — and it sounds like we’ll find out what the week of December 2.

In Friday’s episode, Carter reaches the point of no return — and keeps right on going. Sounds to us like he’ll be forced to go through with his plot to take over Forrester Creations. If he does that, the writing’s on the wall for Ridge and Steffy; it will be their turn to be escorted to the elevator by Charlie.

But what about Brooke? After betraying Hope by ratting her and Carter out to Ridge, would Forrester Creations’ new bosses want to keep her around? Or would they be compelled to because Brooke’s Bedroom is so successful? Maybe out of spite, Carter and Hope will keep the line but give the heave-ho to the model after whom it is named. (Carter does have a thing about Hope in lingerie after all and would be only too happy to have her replace her mother.)

Would Carter and Hope have the nerve to ask Eric to stick around as a figurehead, if only to reassure the models who walk around the offices pretending they’ve ever eaten a bite of cake? Since Katie defended her niece to Steffy, would Hope give her a pass and keep her around in charge of PR?

TBD. The most fun aspect of this story could well turn out to be watching Ridge, Steffy and Brooke be forced to start over. None of them has ever had to build a company from scratch. Could they do it? Are Ridge’s designs modern enough to attract attention? Is Steffy’s vision too myopic to create something that can stand the test of time? Does Brooke have another wrinkle-free fabric formula in her?

For that matter, would Steffy just say “To hell with it!” and enjoy being gorgeous and rich for a while? She could take Finn on a trip around the world and get Kelly and Hayes started learning foreign languages. She could get Bill to hire her as the new editor of Eye on Fashion. She could get under cousin Ivy’s skin by launching her own line of brooches dedicated to her late grandmother!