Breaking News
TONIGHT: Michael Fairman 60th Birthday Livestream Featuring Daytime Drama Favorites To Benefit SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Covid-19 Relief Fund
Tonight beginning at 7PM PST/10PM EST, Michael Fairman will celebrate his 60th birthday with the help of his virtual “party” guests from your favorite soaps to benefit the SAG/AFTRA Foundation’s Covid-19 Relief fund. The event will be livestreamed on The Michael Fairman Channel on You Tube.
Scheduled to participate are: The Young and the Restless, Jason Thompson, Amelia Heinle, Sharon Case, Christian LeBlanc, and Jordi Vilasuso, General Hospital’s Laura Wright, Wes Ramsey, and Chloe Lanier, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Katherine Kelly Lang, Days of our Lives’ Rob Scott Wilson, Eric Martsolf, Galen Gering, Arianne Zucker, Shawn Christian and Stacy Haiduk, Santa Barbara favorite, A Martinez, and One Life to Live’s Kristen Alderson and Eddie Alderson, and more.
About the reason for tonight’s event: In early March of last year, COVID-19 closed down nearly all productions, forcing tens of thousands of SAG-AFTRA artists to lose their survival jobs as well, (including restaurant jobs and the like) causing distress and economic uncertainty in Los Angeles, New York and nationwide . On March 16, 2020, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation activated their COVID-19 Relief Fund for SAG-AFTRA artists in urgent need. Since March, they have given more than $6.2 million in emergency aid to over 6,500 SAG-AFTRA performers and their families facing hardship and uncertainty during this pandemic. Thousands of SAG-AFTRA artists found themselves in dire need of assistance to help pay their rent, buy groceries, cover health care premiums and other bills. There are many industry charities, but the SAG-AFTRA Foundation is the only organization that gives 100% of its relief funds to SAG-AFTRA performers.
Throughout Michael’s virtual birthday party livestream, a link will be available to enable viewers, if they wish, to make a donation to the SAG/AFTRA Foundation Covid-19 relief fund here.
Below are just some of the members of SAG-AFTRA who have been helped by the foundation.
We hope to see you tonight for the birthday celebration and bring your party hats!
Let us know if you will be watching tonight via the comment section.
Michael Fairman, Happy 60th! It seems like yesterday I was going to Manhattan clubs watching this long haired hunk named Michael Scott perform… This livestream should be a good time tonight. Thanks for hosting. Melissa Darling.
Happy Birthday Michael!!!!!!!
I hope it is a great party. Laura Wright just continues to get more beautiful every year. #girlcrush
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR! Stay safe and healthy. Thank you for your year round hard work keeping us informed.
Happy B-Day, Michael—-a million more!!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Fairman!
Remember: 60 is the new 40! (at least that’s what I keep telling myself…)
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.
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