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Les Moonves on Future of CBS Soaps: "We Believe They Will Be On For a Long, Long Time!"

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

Today at the TCA’s (Television Critics Association) press tour session for CBS, the network boss, Les Moonves spoke on the future, and his thoughts, on the two current daytime drama properties that air on the network … The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless!

Moonves related: “They’re doing well. They’re profitable. They were able, a few years back, to do the shows a bit more economically. Our daytime (soaps) have gone way up this year, and their profitability has gone way up.  We believe those two soaps will be on for a long, long time.  We don’t think the form is dead.  Obviously, there are a lot less than there used to be, but we’re very pleased with what they’re doing.”

Doug Davidson (Paul, Y&R) jumped on his Twitter account to acknowledge  Moonves statements to the press, stating, “Les Moonves is Da Man. He’s supported #yr #bb for all of his years @CBS. I know! I was there! #Straight shooter #great leader. @CBSDaytime”

So are you enthusiastic over Les Moonves support of Y&R and B&B? Do you think they will continue to thrive for a years to come on the network?  Share your thoughts!

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As long as the shows are making them money and there isn’t something else available that might make them more money than those shows– then yes they will be on. But if either of those two things changes, it will be bye bye. Because in the end all the matters to the networks is the bottom line. The key words in his statement is profitability.

Was he at the helm when Guiding Light and As the World Turns were taken off the air?

Yes. He axed ATWT so his wife could have The Talk. I do’nt watch
anything with Julie Chen!!! YawneR is worse than the soaps he and
his wife destroyed. If it was on the up and up, why have her host TT?

Yes, he was in charge. Funny that you would mention that. I vividly remember his comment when ATWT was cancelled: “Only the ‘special’ soaps will survive.” It came back to me as I read this quote from him. (BTW: I still don’t know what he meant by “special soaps” but clearly the group didn’t include the Oakdale folks).

I’ve always liked Doug Davidson and appreciate what he has done for Y&R over the years. However, I’m having a hard time becoming as supportive of Moonves as he did in his quote. Two years ago, it looked CBS would toss all of its soaps off the air. Now, Moonves and Angelica McDaniel gush on and on about how fantastic they are doing.

The ratings for the shows have improved but they are far below what they used to be. Moreover, from a creative angle, Y&R and B&B are barely watchable.

I’m not trying to be the voice of doom about this. I WANT these shows to survive but I just don’t see the improvements that Moonves and his crew keep fawning about. Moreover, I don’t really trust that Moonves is that supportive of these shows. They clearly have cut costs further (evident in the quality of what we see on the screen these days) and the shows must work somehow from a profit angle. However, I wouldn’t say they have made some HUGE comeback like his comment suggests.

Sorry, I just don’t put a lot of weight into these glowing remarks. I remember the hatch job done on ATWT and GL to well to do that.

I thought ATWT & GL were through Proctor & Gamble!!

Yes, P&G produced the soaps and CBS aired them on their network. P&G owns all copyrighted material connected to those two soaps. So when CBS decided to no longer air them on their network, P&G could have sold them to another network. But P&G wanted to get out the soap opera production end of things so they didn’t bother.

Thank you! I’m looking forward to another 40 years of the Young and the Restless!

…and at least 25 more years of B&B!!

I don’t care if it’s profitability! As long as they stay on!!! Of course, they have to make a profit….it is a business after all…everyone says that like its a bad thing!

Yes, nothing wrong with making money- and entertainment is a business. But supporting them as long as they make a profit, isn’t the same thing as supporting them through investment.
If this network was truly supporting the genre, they would invest the money in hiring the best writers, producers, directors, actors, and trades people they could. They would invest in high production values and promotions. They would be interested in developing new soaps— that is supporting the genre.
But just be willingly to air a Sony and Bell produced product as long as it makes money for you, and something else better doesn’t come along– is not IMO supporting the genre.
And trust me, there is a way to do invest in the genre and make money, but no network is willing to go there anymore. They will air what they have until they find a good reason not to.
So I don’t object to them wanting to make a profit– I object to them saying they are supporting the product when in fact they are not. They are profiting from it, not supporting it. Big difference.

Well said.

No, I don’t agree with Les at all. Onbothera shows they are breaking up marriages and turning teens into scrumbags. Nobody really work..The scripts look like what William Bell wrote and baby Brad picked up off the floor to use over and over. And getting rid of Hunter Tylo and her family, the only characters that can act.

Any business must remain profitable to ensure it’s future and it is no different in soaps. In addition to this, you must have good story lines or the actor/actresses are enticed to walk. Let’s hope the soaps do survive for years to come- long live the soaps!

HE CANCELLED ATWT’S. BRING IT BACK!!!!!! I don’t watch the talk and never will.

I wish he’d kept ATWT on the air…i miss Lilly, Holden, Lucinda, Luke,…i miss them all!!!

Don’t forget Barbara and Emily! I still miss my show!

They were great too…especially Barbara and when they did that Upstairs Downstairs Christmas special…i taped that and watch it every Christmas season.

Good news to hear!

GL and ATWT were much better soaps than Y&R. I have never watched TT and don’t intend to.

I do’nt care how people spin this: The fact is that he killed ATWT and gave his
wife a show that took the place of it. All of the doubters may change thei minds
when there is talk of a spinoff of The Talk. The best way to save the soaps is to
not support the other crap.

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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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