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Federal Judge Rejects Hallmark Channel Owner’s Effort To Dismiss Former ‘Home & Family’ Host, Mark Steines’ Lawsuit

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

It was a good legal day for Mark Steines. The former co-host of Home & Family, who was suddenly dumped from the popular morning series on the Hallmark Channel, scored a victory against his former employer.

According to Deadline: District Court Judge Cormac Carney definitively wrote on Tuesday that ‘Defendants’ motion to dismiss is denied, and ‘Defendants’ motion to strike is denied, and that Crown Media lost every part of the motion they filed back on November 11th to halt Steines’ retaliation and wrongful termination lawsuit.  A copy of the court documents can be found here.

The back-story: this past May, Steines was all of a sudden let-go from the morning show. Later, Steines went public with the behind the scenes intel at Home & Family where he had his pay cut, and was eventually let go for sticking up for women who had been allegedly harassed by now former series EP, Woody Fraser.

Subsequently, Fraser was removed by Crown Media after female executives and staffers took their term claims to attorney Lisa Bloom (who is repping Steines) and Steines complained to the powers-that-be.  It appeared that Steines’ move did not go over well with the company and he was soon after given his walking papers.

“There is no merit to the legal claims Mr. Steines is asserting against Crown Media,” the Hallmark Channel owner said in September in response to their former host’s lawsuit. “Crown Media is also surprised that Lisa Bloom is representing Mr. Steines in this matter since she has a consulting agreement with Crown Media.”

Bloom said,  “We look forward to proving our case at trial, where we are confident we will prevail.”

So, what do you think about what went down to terminate Mark Steines from Home & Family? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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This looks shady as all hell on Hallmark’s part. And, no offense, but, being a network that primarily targets women and families, this is disappointing on their behalf. Hope Mark wins big and is able to find a new platform; whenever I’d catch moments of Home & Family, I always loved to see Mark as host!

Sorry to hear about the drama. I did like Mark Steines on Home & Family. Let’s hope for justice, whoever is right in the case.

– I – HOPE – Mark Steines WINS his legalese

and takes them for a bank roll ride

Cameron Mathison is no where near .. no where … in the same league as Mark Stein

Cameron 15 minutes has long gone… do your entertainment tonight reporting.. AND stay put

you have an affable enough persona… however that does not equate to good enough acting

Wow! Who knew? MeToo has shaken the bushes–ensnared Woody Fraser. Some hypocrisy underfoot when the EP of a show called “Home and Family:?!! Will be interesting to see the outcome of this lawsuit.

Get ’em Mark Steines! Glad he called out Hallmark Channel, they look really bad now. I hope he wins this lawsuit against them.

Kudos to Mark Steines. That took a lot of courage to stand up to corporate bullies, maybe more than anyone knows. I enjoyed the working relationship Mark had with his previous co-host Christina and Mark was one of the reasons I continued to watch HH&F after Christina was let go. I haven’t watched since. I also have other issues with the programming and stale story lines of the Hallmark movies, but grasp why they are so popular. I wish Mark profound success with this mission. I hope it leaves a …wait for iiit…”mark” on Hallmark.

I think what they did to him and why was wrong. I also didn’t like what they did to Christina. I enjoyed the show daily. I do not watch the show at all anymore. I hope Mark wins his lawsuit.

Too bad Mark didnt go to bat for Cristina when she was let go. You reap what you sow.

I hope Mark strikes wins his lawsuit

I think it terrible. Look how hallmark treats there staff. This is kind of the same exit they gave lori and The garage sale mystery staff

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George Cheeks, CBS President & CEO, on Timeline to Launch New Daytime Drama, ‘The Gates’: “We’re So Focused on Getting it Right”

March 2024 will be remembered in the TV and soap world when the news broke that CBS is prepping a brand new daytime drama. Many had thought a major network would never bring a new daytime soap into the world, given that the last time it was attempted was 25 years ago when the now defunct Passions bowed on NBC.

However, The Gates is definitely in development and moving forward with some major players associated with it including: Michele Val Jean as The Gates writer, showrunner and one of its executive producers, and Sheila Ducksworth from NAACP Venture

Now, for the first time since its announcement, George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS and chief content officer for news and sports at Paramount+, spoke on the project that will feature a Black family as its central focus who live in a wealthy gated community.

Photo: NAACP

Speaking with Vulture, and when asked if The Gates is really something that truly has a chance of getting on the air, Cheeks clarified, “It’s super real. And just to give you a little bit of the backstory,  when we hired Sheila Ducksworth to run the NAACP Venture, she and I had multiple meetings talking about what different genres she was going to lean into, and we talked a lot about daytime.”

Cheeks added, “One of the things that the data made very clear to both of us is that daytime soap operas over index with Black women, and yet when you look at soap operas, it’s usually sort of a white-led family with supporting characters that reflect more of our society. So we just thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to flip that and make the core anchor family a Black family, and then make the other characters reflect more the broader scope of society?”

Photo: JPI

The CEO gave props to Michele Val Jean,  and how Ducksworth came to the table with the former B&B and GH writer. “She found this great writer, Michele Val Jean, who’s been in the soap opera space for 30 years. She came up with a pitch, and we loved it,” shares Cheeks. “We brought Procter & Gamble into it as well, because if there were going to be (product) integrations, we could do it more holistically and organically. All of that is to say, we did a lot of work on the front end to put this together. So while yes, it’s development, it’s accelerated development.”

When prodded on the timeline of when The Gates could come to full fruition, Gates related, “The actual timeline and when we’re going to do it is still uncertain, because we want to get this right. I mean, there hasn’t been a new soap opera launch since I can’t even begin to tell you when. But we have great success with Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless, and so we think we’re the right folks to be launching a new soap. I wish I could tell you more about exact timing, but we’re so focused on getting it right, and that will dictate when we’re ready to launch it.”

The CBS exec also shared that whether The Gates will wind up an hour soap or half-hour is not yet determined, but that it is being developed as an hour show.

So, after reading what George Cheeks, the CBS President & CEO had to say about ‘The Gates’, are you even more excited for what looks to the first new network soap in 25 years? Comment below.

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Robyn Bernard, ‘General Hospital’s’ Terry Brock, Dead at 64

Former General Hospital star, Robyn Bernard, who played aspiring singer Terry Brock has died. She was 64-years-old.

Bernard’s body was found Tuesday in San Jacinto, California. A Riverside County Coroner told TMZ they identified the actress’ body using her fingerprints after deputies responded to a death investigation call on Tuesday March 12th.

Sources told the outlet that Bernard’s body was found in the wee hours of the morning. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Photo: ABC

Bernard joined General Hospital back in 1984 as Terry Brock, the daughter of the abusive D.L. Brock (played by David Groh). Robyn remained on the ABC soap opera for six years before making her exit in 1990. At one point, Terry’s stepmother would become Bobbie Spencer (the late Jackie Zeman) when the nurse married her father.

Terry was involved in the Laurelton Murders storyline and after first setting her sights on Frisco Jones, wound up with killer Kevin O’Connor. Later, Terry was blamed for several murders and in the end killed Kevin in self-defense. In addition, Terry had a relationship with Dusty Walker played by none other than Shaun Cassidy.  She eventually left Port Charles after landing her own recording contract.

Photo: ABC

The last time GH Fans may have seen Bernard was in 2014, when she appeared at the GH Fan Club Weekend Past Cast event. Robyn is pictured below with the late Susan Brown (ex-Gail) at the fan gathering. She has been out of the limelight for several years.

Photo: JPI

In addition to her role on GH, Bernard was featured throughout her TV career on primetime’s Simon & Simon, Tour of Duty and The Facts of Life.

Share your remembrances and condolences for GH alum Robyn Bernard and her loved ones via the comment section below.

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51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Announce Broadcast Date on CBS

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) revealed on Tuesday, that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Friday night, June 7th (8 – 10 PM, ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+*.

This year will mark the 18th time CBS has broadcast the Daytime Emmy Awards, which is more than any other network.

The 2024 Daytime Emmys will take place at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles. Back in December of 2023, the delayed 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were also held at that venue. The June 7th date for the upcoming ceremony will be the first time in several years that the event is scheduled a few weeks earlier than normal; excluding last year’s revised date to the actors and writers strikes.

Photo: NATAS

Lifetime Achievement honoree, nominations, host, and additional information will be announced in the coming weeks.

In a statement, Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS noted, “We eagerly anticipate our return in June as we once again partner with CBS to recognize the exceptional and talented individuals who make daytime television great. We’re thrilled to kick off our second half-century of the Daytime Emmys.”

The Daytime Emmy Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of categories, including daytime dramas, talk shows, instructional programming, hosting, culinary, and legal/courtroom programs. In 2021, NATAS and the Television Academy jointly announced plans to realign the Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards to be organized by content genre, as opposed to program airtime.

Photo: JPI

The 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will once again be produced by NATAS and Associated Television International (ATI), which produced Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies on The CW in 2009 and on CBS in 2010, 2011, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Adam Sharp and Lisa Armstrong are executive producers from NATAS, while David McKenzie is executive producer from ATI.

So, glad to know that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards honoring performance and shows in the 2023 calendar year, will be held in early June this year, and once again broadcast on CBS? Comment below.

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