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Lauralee Bell and Michael Damian returning to The Young and the Restless for May Sweeps!

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: Lesley Bohm

Photo Credit: Lesley Bohm

Yesterday, we reported that Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) had mentioned over the weekend at Joyce Becker’s Soap Opera Festival that Michael Damian was returning to Y&R to reprise the role of Danny Romalotti.   Then last evening, TV Guide confirmed that not only is Damian set for a return, but so is Lauralee Bell!

TV Guide reports, that the set-up of their return has to do with something that the show has decided to dig up from its glorious past!   “When bat-crap crazy Phyllis attempted to kill Cricket in a hit-and-run.  No one ever found out who did the dirty deed and Phyllis’ days as a sociopath are long behind her.  Will she get busted after all this time?”

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

It should be interesting to see Christine’s reaction when she finally learns the truth, and should give Michelle Stafford some material to sink her teeth into.   Bell arrives back in Genoa City on May 17th and Damian arrives on the 18th!

What do you think soapers? Does this story being revisited hold interest for you?  Let us know!

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well finally after all these years the truth will finally come out. paul williams was hurt and christine blair. what will happen will phyllis finally go to jail. lets see what the writers do to phyllis. lets hope the writers do this properly and soap fans and me are satisfied with the storyline. is angelina gone for good. or is she coming back. please let me know michael fairman. angelina has really grown on me. in the beginning when diana degarmo came to the young and the restless i did not like her role. now i love her. great singer and actress. the soap magazines did not say she was leaving. so whats with her leaving. please michael fairman let us know. she angelina gone for good. because that brought carmine her ex boyfriend yesterday on the young and the restless. love your interviews michael fairman. i am a great fan of yours. keep up the good work michael. we all love you in my family. hugs to you michael.

Because of Maria Arena Bell’s lack or creativity, she resorts to going back to the past storylines created by her brilliant father-in-law Bill Bell. Must I remind those of you out there regarding the .000 batting average this woman and her co-hacks have in regards to dregging up past characters and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with them?!? MAB killed Liz Foster in order to make Jill a Fenmore – REALLY?!? Patti Williams is brought to Genoa City by Victor, given a facelift to look like her psychiatrist Emily Peterson, kills Colleen and causes assorted troubles for others, escapes and comes back to shoot Jack Abbott AGAIN – REALLY?!? Diane Jenkins returns 20 years younger, makes enemies with everyone is murdered and the audience is stuck with a boring-as-all-hell convoluted murder mystery that went on for close to 6 months – REALLY?!?

Do we really need the triumvirate of Maria Arena Bell, Hogan Sheffer & Scott Hamner to go back to the show’s glory days AGAIN in order for them to attempt, and undoubtedly fail to ,build on its’ rich history? Along with the SORAS’ing of Kyle, this just smells of desperation – with any luck, all three of these hacks will be out once the viewership hits below 4K (and its on its way!)

Bart, I agree completely with your comment. It sounds like you and I have similar opinions of this once-great show.

Other historical nuggets that MAB unsuccessfully mined: (1) The unresolved story about Nina’s son that was sold by Rose Deville. His whereabouts remained a mystery for 20 years until MAB introduced us to Ronan BUT didn’t even bother to focus on the relationship between Nina and Ronan!!!!! Frankly, I would have preferred if the potential for a great plot was still out there versus what MAB did with it; and (2) MAB jumped through MASSIVE plot holes and convulted twists to reveal to us that Phillip Chancellor III was alive and had faked his “death scene” (which I vividly remember). Once Kay and Jill learn that he is still alive and he inanely trots back to Australia after reuniting with everyone, the women seem to forget about him even though they mourned his death for over 20 years! Honestly, poor Phillip was more loved and remembered when everyone thought he was dead!!

Something is NOT working at Y&R. I have watched this show for over 30 years. I am watching fewer and fewer episodes these days and, rather than loving the show, following it seems like a chore. I can’t believe Y&R remains the top rated soap. For the frist time ever, I honestly think B&B, the ‘trashy, campy sister” show, has surpassed Y&R in quality.

Something desparately needs to be done about this show quickly!!!! Trotting out Cricket and Danny for a “guest appearance” to revisit the hit and run storyline isn’t the type of thing that will save Y&R, particularly when the impact of this incident will be forgotten by Phyllis and friends 2 weeks afterwards.

Two more “could-have-been-great” stories that were botched completely and needed mentioning – thank you, Barbara. =c)

I’ve been a faithful viewer since August 1981 – now I turn it on due to habit, not loyalty. Sure Bill Bell and his team had their misfires here and there, but IT WAS HIS SHOW, HIS CREATION, HIS VISION. MAB’s track record with her ‘vision’ is a resounding ZERO! None of her one-note characters work, her pre-occupancy with current pop culture (that horrid Angelina, turning Restless Style into a TMZ-like show) is ludicrous, and she seems hell-bent on doing more damage coming up by screwing with the past.

While I will still never forgive former EP/Head Writer Lynn Marie Latham for killing John Abbott, creating the horrible characters of Cane and Jana, and two horribly botched murder plots (Carmen Mesta & Ji-Min Kim), it seems as though MAB wants to continue doing even MORE damage. The show is over-bloated, yet super-terrific new characters are getting all the attention in horribly-written plot-driven slurry. I am also tired of out-of-work soap actors coming over to this show pushing popular characters to the background.

I don’t know about you, but I still have a hard time buying Daisy & Ryder as the demon spawn of Sheila Carter & Tom Fisher, since they didn’t know one another when Sheila came back to town in 2005. I also don’t buy 49 y o Genie Francis as the mother of 40 y o Daniel Goddard. All I know is we are in for a bumpy ride as the shizz will no doubt continue.

I CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS STORY TO UNFOLD! I hope Phyllis becomes a scheming sociopath again…. so much more interesting to watch than her chasing after Nick again and again!! As an unhinged fangirl in the 90’s, she was absolutely riveting to watch. Hope they have lots of flashbacks to her bat shit crazy antics! 🙂 I hope she squashes that bug FOR GOOD this time!! 🙂

I agree with all the posts MAB & cohorts have ruined this show it is unwatchable? What is on MAB’s resume other then being married to a Bell, and did Hogan Scheffer write pretty bad for ATWT or did I dream that anyway I can tell you I am frustrated with her and have been for years, this could be a good story but she will botch it!!!

U haters of MAB and Y&R are WHACK! WTH? It’s NUMBER ONE for a reason! You may not agree with the direction of the show, but it’s hard to argue with numbers and statistics. Just sayin.

this is crazy, I’m tired of seeing characters get into legal trouble. They could do a lot with L Bell comming back. Danny coule come back and help his son on the custody battle. Dragging an old storyline up is not what I’d want to see. M. Stafford’s character has do been redeemed by the life she is living why bring it up. Get Jack up with Avery. Play off of Sarge being in recovery along with Harmony and Nikki. Bring Adriane Franz back to help Daniel. That would be some good stuff to do. Have Christine investigate Louren for shooting Daisey? There is so many good things that can be done. No need to bring up a long since gone storyline.

Honestly, I’m tired of Y&R constantly reliving the past. How many times has Victor and Nikki gotten back together only to break up again? And then do it all over again! I’m sick of Phyllis and Nick and then Sharon and Nick, blah, blah, blah. It’s no wonder soaps are being cancelled, because Y&R isn’t the only soap doing this, but they seem to rely on the same storylines all the time. And personally, I say leave Cricket out of the show. It’s tired and old.

I am thrilled that michael damian and laura lee bell are coming back……the young and the restless is and has been the best soap on television……the story lines always keep the fans sitting on the edge of our seats……something is always brewing in genoa city.

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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