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Fred Willard To Appear On The Bold and the Beautiful As Eric Forrester's Bro!

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

Will this be another comedic guest stint on The Bold and the Beautiful or something more dramatic?

Comedian Fred Willard is set to guest star in a four episode arc on the CBS soap opera as Eric Forrester’s (John McCook) younger brother, John Forrester!  And as we know, John is the father of Ivy Forrester played by Ashleigh Brewer!

According to TV Guide:  “Willard’s character is a traveling salesman-inventor and quite the party boy.  He contacts Ivy while he’s in the states and decides to come visit her in Los Angeles and reconnect with Eric.

There is no word yet if Willard’s character is comic relief or serious trouble for the Forrester fam!  Willard begins work at B&B this week on August 27th with his episodes set to air the first week of October.

So do you hope John Forrester  is a bad guy, a funny guy, or don’t care?  Let us know!

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I hope funny—-

I hope funny!

Younger brother? He looks more older Eric! An another arc-story for Steffy 2: “Ivy” and Liammmm! Bradley Bell should focus on Rick, Felicia, Kristen, Bridget and Thorne… The stories are stupid and characters annoying (Hope, Wyatt, Ivy, Liam, Maya, Carter, Oliver,… )
I don’t understand this show has a great success with public: same stories, same characters day by day! Jacob Young deserves a real story without Brooke or Hope! Where are Amber, little Deacon?

I completely agree about Jacob Young, he hasn’t had much in terms of his own story since he returned and it’s kind of disappointing considering how great he is.

And I think it was a huge mistake getting rid of Adrienne Frantz, she was fantastic! Now that Deacon is back in town, I really hope Amber comes back soon too, imagine Amber and Quinn in scenes together! That would be amazing!

They need to ax Carter and Maya and bring back Amber with an aged Rosey and Lil Eric in tow!!! He must be a teenager by now!!! Amber going up against Quinn would be classic soap!!!!!!

Maybe a new love interest for Pam…

Forget to add…so they could do another love triangle…lol

Actually I always thought it must be Brad Bell’s dream to somehow have every couple on the show in a love triangle and the same time— this could be the next step in this master plan. LOL.

I personally think there’s enough comic relief with Pam and that nutty security guard boyfriend of hers…

Add that to the fact that they sit in on board meetings with some of the others is just lazy writing…and completely irrational.

I don’t find any of these characters the least bit funny…I and the scene coming up with Bob Barker in a fist fight with Wyatt is beyond silly.

LMAO..Seriously beyond ridiculous. Of all people and backgrounds for Eric’s brother..A traveling salesman..and Los Angeles being a mecca of industry he just so happened to never use his brothers connections? No..because he’ll be a bumbling salesman with a heart of gold….ZZZZZZZZZZ….oh dear…sorry..I FELL ASLEEP!!

While I hope he remains a character (in terms of humor), I hope to get more of a back story of the two Forrester brothers. But this is why B&B is the lead in its casting; they always do such a superb job picking out actors and actresses to play parts that really connect with the audience. Excellent casting!

Sucks that Brad Bell doesn’t embrace the history of the show by mentioning Maggie or Jessica Forrester. He’s only been writing for the show for almost it’s entire run while a show like GH who has had dozens of head writers brings up characters from the show’s rich history constantly.

The only thing Brad Bell embraces is the money that foreign dignitaries line his pockets with. It’s time for the IRS to take a closer look at B&B!

Jessica? Msggie? Refresh my memory please.

Jessica Forrester was introduced in 1994 as Eric’s niece and John Forrester’s daughter. John’s ex-wife (Maggie’s mother) arrived soon after played by Barbara Crampton. After being interested in the same man as her daughter, she soon fell for Dr. James Warwick and married him. That was short-lived because Sheila constantly interfered. Both Maggie & Jessica left town around 1997-98.

Meant to say John’s ex wife is Maggie. She is Jessica’s mother. Don’t know about Ivy.

Wow! That’s some surprise casting. Willard is a great, underrated actor. I thought he could pull off funny/sleazy/bad all at once.

Ummmm this is horrible casting!!! They finally bring John Forrester on and they cast this guy?? He’s not attractive in the least and he’s suppose to be a comic relief?? Uggh they couldve really done a big story and she’d some light on the Forresters…….he looks old as dirt, they should’ve cast the. J Peterman guy from Seinfeld, or someone a little more attractive at least!!!! What a letdown!!!!

It makes my skin crawl that Brad Bell would hire this actor who was arrested in 2012 for lewd sexual behavior in a adult theater. What’s next Pee Wee Herman?

Pee Wee Herman would more than likely end up on G.H. and at next years nurses ball as Richard Simmons escort…lol

Well, isn’t B&B about lewd sexual behavior?

OMG that’s even worse, but he looks like a pervert, yet he’s suppose to be the dad of glamorous Ivy??? Could anyone see Maggie married to that guy?!?!?!? GROSS!!!!

k/kay…oh, I agree!!!!! What was Bradley Bell EVEN THINKING?!?!? Appalling.

Richard…dude…yep, horrible casting PERIOD!!!!! And HELL YEAH…John O’Hurley (J. Peterman from the Seinfeld days) would have been a B-E-T-T-E-R casting choice!!!!! To me, John O’Hurley is WAY MORE ATTRACTIVE than that Fred Willard!!!!! Back in the day, I remember John O’Hurley from the LOVING days (where he played the dual role of Jonathan/Keith aka Good Twin/Evil Twin). Yep. Bottom Line Here: The casting department of B&B (or whoever) really screwed up this time!!!!! WHAT A LETDOWN ALTOGETHER!!!!!

This is a little disappointing because it’s only for a 4-episode arc. It would have been nice for the show to hire someone on-contract as Eric’s brother, and explore the history of the Forrester brothers. That said, Fred Willard is a good actor – I thought he was hilarious on Everybody Loves Raymond back a decade ago. But, does he really look like he could be Eric’s younger brother? He looks older than John McCook.

In fact, if the show had plans to cast this role, I was hoping they would hire Jerry VerDorn from OLTL as John Forrester, imagine that! I think he and John McCook would be great together as brothers! Plus, Jerry is a great actor and I’m sure he would light up the screen on B&B, maybe take some of the focus away from the Liam/Hope/Wyatt/Ivy mess.

Jerry and John do look like they would be brothers…Fred looks more like he’d be related to Pams boyfriend…lol

OMG, Jerry verDorn would be perfect as John Forrester, either him or Kale Brown(ex-Sam, OLTL)…..what are the execs thinking???? SMH

Or even Perry King(ex-Richard, TITANS, ex-Hayley, MP)….that would’ve been GOLD!!!!!

Ron Raines ex GL is another i wouldv’e considered…

Ron Raines is doing Broadway I think, although speaking of GL, Grant Alexander would’ve been a killer Ridge(JMO), but Could u imagine Perry King paired with Donna, Quinn, or Brooke?? Or even a comeback Taylor?? Uggh so frustrating!!!!!!

One more idiot to add in the boardroom, and this is a successful mult- million dollar corporation…. maybe if we are really lucky, he too, will share that ridiculous “knight in shining armour” storyline! Can hardly wait in anticipation!

Sorry for the negative commentary, but these stories are insulting to us and I simply cannot believe that we are supposed to be entertained by this rubbish!

I actually embrace your commentary and agree with you completely. I am so sick of B&B and it’s stunt casting (and yes Bell….don’t worry, I turned the channel because I hate what you’ve done to your father’s legacy). God Forbid the show focus on original Forresters…no offence to Willard but come on….a travelling salesman????

You have got to be kidding me..Fred Willard as Erics brother?.no class..no manners..thats it..i’m done with the show. i cannot believe it…now I can’t believe I ever watched it…so I won’t.

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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