Breaking News
Lee Phillip Bell, Legendary Co-Creator Of Y&R and B&B, Passes Away
The entire soap world and daytime community is saddened today with the news of the passing of a true icon and TV pioneer, Lee Phillip Bell.
According to her children, William James Bell, Brad Bell (EP and head writer, B&B) and Lauralee Bell Martin (Christine, Y&R), Lee passed away on February 25th at the age of 91.
They shared: “Our mother was a loving and supportive wife, mother and grandmother. Gracious and kind, she enriched the lives of all who knew her. We will miss her tremendously.”
Born in Chicago, Illinois on June 9, 1928, Bell was co-creator, along with her late husband William J. Bell, of two of daytime television’s most successful dramas: The Young and the Restless (Y&R), and The Bold and the Beautiful (B&B).
Bell’s career as a broadcast journalist began in Chicago, where she hosted and produced her own show, The Lee Phillip Show, for CBS TV for over 30 years. A pioneer in the evolution of the afternoon talk show format, Bell was a trailblazer in the exploration of timely social issues and concerns. Additionally she produced and narrated numerous award-winning specials and documentaries covering social concerns such as foster children, the subject of rape, children and divorce, and babies born to women in prison, to name a few.. Bell interviewed heads of state such as Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Regan; film actors Judy Garland, Clint Eastwood and Jerry Lewis; musicians such as The Rolling Stones and The Beatles; television and stage stars such as Lucille Ball, Jack Benny and Oprah Winfrey; and many other politicians, authors, journalists, fashion designers and rock stars.
She was awarded 16 regional (Chicago) Emmy awards and numerous Golden Mike awards. Bell is also the recipient of the Alfred I. Dupont/Columbia University Award for the special The Rape of Paulette, the first program in Chicago to explore the issue. In 1977, she was the first woman to receive the coveted Governors Award from the Chicago chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In 1980, she was named “Person of the Year” by the Broadcast Advertising Club of Chicago and the “Outstanding Woman in Communications” by the Chicago YMCA. She also received the Salvation Army’s William Booth Award for her distinguished career in communications and social service. Bell won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series as co-creator of The Young and the Restless in 1975 and was recipient of the Daytime Emmys’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
In addition to her children, Lee Phillip Bell is survived by her daughters-in-law Maria Arena Bell and Ambassador Colleen Bell, her son-in-law Scott Martin and eight grandchildren.
Since the news of Lee’s death, many stars from daytime have been sharing their remembrances and condolences of this great woman and what she meant to them. We will share more on this story later today.
For now, share your condolences for the Bell family and your thoughts on the passing of this icon, Lee Phillip Bell in the comment section below.
The Bells were great/…MR Bell had written Days Of Our Lives best stories and the show ended up on the cover of Time Magazine-with BIll Hayes and Susan Seaforth…daytime will never see that greatest ever again!!!
No they won’t it’s very sad they knew how to write relationships then ! When I was in college we would schedule our classes around the soaps so we could run to the dorm and get our fix ! Now days I run to the door screaming how awful how cheesy ! Thank you gracious lady you will be missed but now you are with your man at peace!
They also become dark and gloomy…British soaps too
She lived a full and beautiful life. May she RIP.
Well, Colleen Bell is no longer an ambassador.
Condolences to her family. Her legacy lives on.
How wonderful that she was able to do so many wonderful things during her life and we are all the better for it. Rest in Peace.
The last of the great ones! RIP
As a mother of two young children, we loved watching her Lee Phillip Show back in the 60’s when living in the Chicago area. Condolences to the family, so much talent there.
Breaking News
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.
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?”
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.
Breaking News
Robyn Bernard, ‘General Hospital’s’ Terry Brock, Dead at 64
Breaking News
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.
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.
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.
-
General HospitalMarch 23, 2024
Mansion Where The Menéndez Brothers Murdered Their Parents Sold, While Netflix Series Featuring GH’s Nicholas Chavez In Production
-
General HospitalMarch 21, 2024
General Hospital’s Josh Kelly Shooting Role in New Film
-
General HospitalMarch 20, 2024
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Is Danny Becoming a Mini-Jason?
-
NewsMarch 22, 2024
The Young and the Restless Recasts the Role of Harrison Abbott
-
General HospitalMarch 23, 2024
Who Should Be the Love Interest for ‘General Hospital’s’ Carly Now That She Split from Drew?
-
NewsMarch 24, 2024
Henry Joseph Samiri Returns to The Bold and the Beautiful