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Former CBS Daytime On-Air Promo Director, Susan Banks, Joins the Writing Team of The Young and the Restless

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: SBFacebook

There is a new writer in Genoa City with word today from former Executive Producer & Executive in Charge of Production, CBS and former CBS Daytime On-Air Promo Director, Susan Banks.

Banks, who most recently was an executive producer at TV One, is now back with a show that she knows and loves, The Young and the Restless.

In a message via her social media, Susan shared her first script on the number one daytime drama airs tomorrow.

Susan expressed in her announcement:  “I am so excited to announce that my first script for The Young and the Restless airs on Monday, March 1, 2021.  Writing for the show is a thrilling ride that challenges my creative juices every week.   Bill and Lee Bell are icons of the television industry whose love, mentorship and support I have always cherished. It is an honor to be a part of their soap family and the legacy that has continued for almost 48 years. What a delight to return home to work with the amazing cast and characters of one of the greatest, never-ending stories ever told.  The drama, rich with passion, intrigue, mystery and romance has captivated the hearts of many through the years.  I hope you, too, will share the magic and tune in to see my opening credit on my premiere episode. Who knows…you might even get hooked!  Thanks for your loving support…”

The latest addition to the writing staff, Susan was previously at CBS from 1993 to 2003 before exiting for other TV opportunities including her time with TV One in the mid 2000’s.

So, intrigued to know Banks, who has knowledge of the history of Y&R, is on board the scribe team? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Congratulations and a long overdue addition to the writing team.

Susan Banks? Isn’t she in prison in Salem having switched places with Kristen? And now she’s writing for Y&R! You go girl!

LOL

I got a feeling Susan Banks has been hired to eventually replace Josh Griffith as the show’s head writer. I hope so.

Let’s hope so; it’ll be nice to have a FEMALE head writer at this soap again, especially one of colour.

Great that someone will help revive the show. The writing and storytelling is horrible.

ummm, her writing experience is minimal, at best. Coins for Love, Second Sight, Fear Files, the Flight Night Files? When did she work under Bill Bell? I dont see that on her resume. No joy over this one.

Hmmm, this is interesting news. Normally I look at the credits at the beginning of the show but I didn’t see that on Monday. I guess time will tell how well she does.

I’m not sure if the response is “Great News!” or “Here we go again.” On the one hand, no one can dispute that Y&R is in lousy shape and desperately needs improved writing. Banks could be exactly what is needed.

On the other hand, Y&R has been sub-par for 15 years. During that time, we’ve seen a parade of writers and executive producers, who when their employment was announced where trumpeted as being the saviors the show needed. Instead, the new additions often were worse than their predecessors — bringing poorly written and poorly cast new characters (Cane, Dylan, Lola, Rey….) to the forefront of the show; destroying existing characters (Jill, Kevin, Chloe) or ditching them (Paul, Brad, Colleen); and giving us plots not worthy of a fifth-grade writing contest (Brad and “Nazi artwork”; Sheila’s sister and the annoying twins; Kay Chancellor’s “music box”). Banks could just be another one of these individuals — lots of promises made, nothing delivered.

Time will tell what we get from Banks. One thing is certain: Y&R needs some major help if it plans on remaining on the air. I don’t know how many more years it can hobble along the way it has for the past 15.

I worked with Susan Banks when she was the head of on-air promotion at CBS Daytime. She’s a creative powerhouse with an innate understanding of storyline. As part of the ad agency team that supported CBS Daytime I saw first-hand how it all came together. Susan ran the show.

Darren, you seem to hold Susan in high esteem & I want to be hopeful but it’s been almost a year now since her hiring and I literally see no change in the writing of Y&R. It’s still just a show full of fluff ‘filler’ conversations, little true drama, no suspense, no villains, no major traumatic events, no real life issues, little storyline development. Y&R is a shell of it’s former self. This show needs desperate help and fast!

Beyond the Gates

RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

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Beyond the Gates and General Hospital

The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.

According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.

Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.

Photo: CBS

MORE BY THE NUMBERS

In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .

BEYOND THE GATES

Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:

Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).

Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.

Photo: ABC

GENERAL HOSPITAL

Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:

Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.

Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.

Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.

Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a  benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.

However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.

So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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General Hospital

Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

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Antonio Sabato Jr.

Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.

Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU  Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.

The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”

Jack Sabato

Photo: NBC

Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”

He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”

The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”

Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.

Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.

This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.

So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.

 

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A post shared by Antonio Sabato Jr (@antoniosabatojr)

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Breaking News

‘Days of our Lives’ Veteran James Reynolds Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis

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James Reynolds

Days of our Lives long-running cast member James Reynolds revealed on the November 10 edition of Entertainment Tonight that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and his character of Abe Carver will now be going through an on-screen Parkinson’s battle as well.

Speaking with ET’s Nischelle Turner, the 80-year-old actor and Daytime Emmy winner shared how he attempted to hide the warning signs dating back to 15-20 years ago when he would have, “What they call the hallucinations. My wife (Lissa) would say, ‘You were hitting me last night in bed,’ and I would say, ‘What?!’ I was having these really horrible dreams.” Reynolds also added that he realized falling out of bed was an early symptom of Parkinson’s too.

Discussing the on-going tremors that have become more noticeable over time especially in hands, James shared that when he finally told the Days of our Lives cast they were nothing but “extraordinarily helpful and supportive.”

Photo: ET

SCREEN LIFE TO MIRROR REAL LIFE

Now with DAYS about to launch into Abe’s Parkinson’s storyline, Reynolds hopes that he can turn his experience into something positive by encouraging others facing the disease to keep fighting. During the sit-down, Reynolds co-star Jackée Harry (Paulina Price) recalls her reaction to learning of Reynolds’ real-life diagnosis and how she has continued to search for new treatments to inform James about.

Although Parkinson’s disease currently has no cure, there are medications and treatments can help those manage symptoms and improve quality of life. The condition progresses at a different pace from individual to individual.

As discussed in his conversation with ET, Reynolds cited Michael J. Fox and Alan Alda as two high-profile celebrities who have brought awareness to the disease.

Abe

Photo: JPI

In story on DAYS, Abe in recent weeks had been experiencing tremors which led to seek help and a diagnosis Dr. Kayla Johnson (Mary Beth Evans). Soon Abe and others will find out of his battle with Parkinson’s. Although on the promo for this week’s DAYS, Abe is seen telling Kayla, that he will do something, “when the time is right.”

James Reynolds is one of the most prolific performers, being the longest-running Black Actor in a role on a television series, not to mention his aforementioned Lead Actor Daytime Emmy win in 2018, and being inducted in 2025 into the Daytime Emmy Gold and Silver Society of honorees.

You can check out James’ in-depth conversation on his Parkinson’s diagnosis below.

Share your thoughts for James after learning of his health battle, and what do you think of Days of our Lives incorporating the disease into Abe Carver’s Salem storyline? Let us know in the comment section.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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