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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!

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Susan Flannery and Ian Buchanan Visit the Set of ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’; Daytime Emmy Winners Reflect on Show Then and Now

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Susan Flannery and Ian Buchanan

The one and only Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie Forrester) dropped in to see her former co-stars on The Bold and the Beautiful at their Sunset Las Palmas Studio in Hollywood, along with her good friend and another B&B co-star Ian Buchanan (ex-James Warwick) on Tuesday October 20.

It was the first time in a very long time that The four-time Daytime Emmy winning actress was reunited with Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke), Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy), executive producer and head writer, Brad Bell, Jennifer Gareis and even her TV sister, Alley Mills (Pam, B&B now Heather, GH) showed up for the day too!

Flannery played the Forrester matriarch from 1987 until 2012. It was then that after playing the part of Stephanie for 25 years that Susan made the decision to retire from acting and in one of the most heartbreaking sendoffs, passes away from lung cancer in Brooke’s arms in November of 2012. During her B&B tenure, Flannery won 3 of her 4 Daytime Emmys, the other being for her first soap role as Laura Horton on Days of our Lives back in 1975.

Susan and Kelly

Photo: Bell-Phillip TV

As for Ian Buchanan, he played Dr. Warwick, psychiatrist, from 1993 to 1999.  He returned for other runs in 2014 and 2017.  Buchanan took home his Daytime Emmy in 1997 for his work as James. Soap fans also remember, Ian as mobster Duke Lavery on General Hospital, and Dr. Greg Madden on All My Children,

Both Susan and Ian shared their thoughts on coming back to The Bold and the Beautiful, for Susan 14 years later since he exited and for Ian close to 9 years since his last appearance below.

Susan said, “It’s definitely like coming home in a way, even though it’s not the same studio. It’s really lovely to see old faces and old faces with new faces. It takes you back mentally. You start remembering what it was like back then, even things like how much your feet would ache at the end of the day from wearing six-inch heels. It was just lovely to be back and see everybody.”

Susan Flannery and cast

Photo: Bell-Phillip TV

Ian expressed, “It’s a mind trip, you know. When I was sitting looking at the big Forrester set, it was like stepping back in time, almost. It takes you back mentally, and you start remembering what it was like when you were here before.”

“It’s lovely to see all these people again, even if you don’t know everybody,” explained soap vet Buchanan. “There’s something really special about coming back and seeing the show and the people who have been part of it for so long.”

So, happy to see Susan and Ian with some of their former castmates? Do you think Stephanie and Brooke is one of the greatest frenemy stories in daytime history? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Beyond the Gates

Tabitha Brown and Kandi Burruss Guest Star on ‘Beyond the Gates’ for Dani’s ‘Welcome to Your Life’ TV Special; What Could Go Wrong?

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Kandi Burress, Tabitha Brown, Karla Mosley

As previously announced, Beyond the Gates is bringing chef, author and actress Tabitha Brown and Grammy Award-winning songwriter, singer and actress Kandi Burruss to Fairmont Crest in a special episode of the CBS daytime drama airing Thursday, October 22.

In the episode, Dani’s (Karla Mosley) best friend Pamela Curtis (Cady McClain), arranges a “Welcome to Your Life” television special for her. As it turns out, Brown will play the show’s host, Tia Allen, while Burruss takes on the role of Dani’s first modeling agent, Kalista Kilroy, who turns the celebration of her life into a bad trip down memory lane.

Dani’s parents Anita and Vernon (Tamara Tunie, Clifton Davis), sister Nicole (Daphnee Duplaix), and daughters Chelsea (RhonniRose Mantilla) and Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) all join the show to celebrate and support her but also witness how things so south. Also appearing in the episode are Molly Figueroa as Tatum Stewart and fan-favorite Anita Williams (Tunie) impersonator Jackie Tyree!

Beyond the Gates

PhotoL JPI

THE 411 ON TIA AND KALISTA

Speaking with TV Insider, about their soapy experience in Fairmont Crest, Tabitha Brown previewed about her host with the most, “Tia is very professional, but she’s a girl’s girl. She is a protector of women and wants to tell their stories in a beautiful way, but she also wants to make sure they’re seen in a very good light.”

However, Burruss previews that Kalista arrives with a score to settle. “She’s spicy,” shared the recording artist. “I always love playing somebody that has come to start trouble. It’s always fun to play a villain of sorts, but Kalista feels like she’s been done wrong and she’s hurt by what she feels has been done to her. So Kalista is stirring up trouble, but she feels justified putting Dani on blast. Kalista is ready for some payback.”

Beyond the Gates is produced by CBS Studios, as part of the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble. Created by head writer Michele Val Jean, executive producers include Val Jean, Sheila Ducksworth, Julie Carruthers, Tracey Thomson, Leon W. Russell, Derrick Johnson, Anna Saalfeld and Lela Coffey.

Beyond the Gates is broadcast weekdays on CBS (2:00-3:00 PM, ET/1:00-2:00 PM, PT) and is available to stream on Paramount+**.

So, looking forward to this special episode of Beyond the Gates when Dani is put on a blast during a blast from her past and Welcome to Your Life TV special? Share your thoughts via the comment section.

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Days Of Our Lives

‘Days of our Lives’ Reveals Kyle Pryor Cast as Dominic Marino

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Kyle Pryor

For months now, Days of our Lives has teased the character of Dominic Marino. In recent weeks, viewers learned that Marino is on the down low working with Sami Brady’s (Alison Sweeney) apparent fiancé ‘Dante Vitali (Franco LoPresti), and that he is the never-before-heard-of child of Stefano DiMera (the late Joseph Mascolo) and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall)!

Up until now, the Peacock streaming soap opera has never revealed his face, but that all seemed to change on the Tuesday, October 2o episode of DAYS. In story, Dante met Sami’s parents for the first time, Roman (Josh Taylor) and Marlena.

He shows them a photo of Dominic, which he happened to have on his own phone and even commented he kind of looked like he could be Marlena’s son. The photo, which has quickly made it around Soap Twitter/X, revealed that British-born actor Kyle Pryor is the man in the photo and eagle-eyed viewers actually located said photo on Pryor’s Instagram.

Dominix

Photo: Peacock

Deadline revealed Pryor started taping at the end of 2025 and will first be seen in the role, on air Monday, November 2.  In addition, Days will celebrate its 61st Anniversary with two special episodes featuring Dominic’s arrival, as well the returns of Tony and Anna DiMera, played respectively by Thaao Penghlis and Leann Hunley, on Friday, November 6 and Monday, November 9.

Those in the know, are are that Pryor previously held series regular roles on Australia’s Home and Away, and the UK’s Hollyoaks and guest starred on Emmerdale. In an ironic twist, Pryor appeared in the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand which is the same action series his apparent TV brother, Dan Feuerriegel (EJ DiMera), once appeared in before coming to DAYS.

So excited to see Kyle Pryor take on the role of Dominic Marino as Days of our Lives sets its anniversary story to kick-off with is arrival in Salem? Share your thoughts in the comment section. And in case you missed our latest conversation with Conner Floyd (Chad DiMera) he weighs-in on how Dominic’s appearance will shake things up in Salem. You can check that out below.

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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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