Jill Farren Phelps Fires Longtime Bill Bell Hand-Picked ‘Y&R’ Team And Hires Cronies, The Scrooge Who Stole Christmas, Highlight Hollywood News
Just months ago, Jill Farren Phelps, known by many-a-soap star as Jill Firing Phelps, made a promise. She was going to use a scalpel not a hatchet to clean up the loose ends at CBS’s number-one-rated drama “The Young and the Restless.” So, why fix what isn’t broken, many insiders ask. Our editors learned at the time, that Phelps and newly installed Head Writer Josh Griffith both lobbied Sony for the top spot, when Maria Arena Bell’s contract was coming up for renewal. Truth be told, Maria was planning to leave, sources tell us in the months to come, but that didn’t stop Phelps and Griffith from leaving their “Hollywood Heights” posts, and heading over to CBS TV City, where Genoa City comes to life every day. Perhaps there were changes to be made, but promises, “Genie (Frances) is not going anywhere,” were broken, and quickly Phelps began paring down the cast as quickly as she could possibly do.
Promising fans, nothing drastic would happen. Phelps quickly shed Genoa City of the nostalgic Newman Ranch and promised a penthouse for Victor and 
Nikki. Fine, some “Y&R” fans thought it was time for a change. But we soon learned the Newman penthouse was a cheap set left over from Phelps’s last gig, “Hollywood Heights.” No rebuilding of a new mansion for Victor and Nikki, as this woman plans to shuttle them both off to a nursing home and off the screen if she gets her way. “Y&R” had no shortage of hunks; Joshua Morrow, Daniel Goddard, you name it. But now we have a lot of “General Hospital” rejects and “Hollywood Heights,” James Franco doppelgangers. But worry not folks, more changes are on the way.
Nikki. Fine, some “Y&R” fans thought it was time for a change. But we soon learned the Newman penthouse was a cheap set left over from Phelps’s last gig, “Hollywood Heights.” No rebuilding of a new mansion for Victor and Nikki, as this woman plans to shuttle them both off to a nursing home and off the screen if she gets her way. “Y&R” had no shortage of hunks; Joshua Morrow, Daniel Goddard, you name it. But now we have a lot of “General Hospital” rejects and “Hollywood Heights,” James Franco doppelgangers. But worry not folks, more changes are on the way.Stephen Nichols is reportedly out, but no official confirmation to date. Maybe Jill Farren Phelps is learning fans are unhappy with her firings. Oh, she let Marcy Rylan (Abby), one of TV’s best actresses hit the road, and now she’s returning. Guess Jill was so busy planning on her FOB’s (Friends of Jill’s), all male, by the way, to bring on to her show, including Mark Pinter, while she ditches Stephen Nichols’s Tucker for her favorite “Another World” and “General Hospital” hunk, par for the course for this woman. Fans are becoming a bit disenchanted, and not soon enough it seems.
While TV sets are shutting down, going dark for the holiday season, Jill Farren Phelps made sure that many of the “Y&R” stalwarts, who were handpicked by the legendary William J. Bell, who co-created “The Young and the Restless” with his beautiful wife, Lee Phillip Bell got their walking papers today. That’s right, no goodies in their stockings, the Grinch, AKA: Jill Farren Phelps gave them all a lump of coal, and a pink slip.
“This woman knew that fans had their attention focused on Maria Bell, so while they were chomping at the bit, being as cruel to one woman, as they were to Maria, Jill was plotting to install her cronies, and so much for a little scalpel work, she’s using a chainsaw to get all of her team in place, people like her, fail up. No matter how many shows go down the drain after this woman takes the reigns, you can always bet she’ll always land on her back, I mean her feet, and she will come after someone’s job. She’s a great lobbyist, she should be working for the tobacco industry or gun industry in Washington. She can sell ice to Eskimos, but what she’s done this time is unconscionable. These are career people Bill brought in, and have won many, many Emmys over the years, and did not deserve to be fired, and all behind the scenes, away from the media. She [Jill Farren Phelps] didn’t even have the decency to thank them for their years of service, she sits up in her office as if she’s the Queen of England and has her underlings to the dirty work. But, no one is fooled anymore by her, and hopefully the fans won’t be blinded by her propaganda much longer,” said a “Y&R” actress who has been on the show for years.
Phelps and Griffith, described as melting down on his job recently, will definitely have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. but, not some of “Y&R’s” famed behind the scenes heroes, who have been with “Y&R” since the 1980s, and crafted Bill Bell’s vision to becoming the world’s most popular daytime drama until Bell created “The Bold and the Beautiful.” “Everyone is frightened, who is next? We expect more heads to roll come January when we are back to work,” said a production staff member of “The Young and the Restless.” “They just fired Jennifer Johns, who is a longtime Emmy Award-winning costume designer of the show since the ’80s,” the “Y&R” source tells Highlight Hollywood. Adding, “And fans may not care, but it’s having a chilling effect on the cast as well. These are family members, to us,” said one of the show’s actors. “Not only did Jennifer (Johns) get the ax for her Christmas bonus, but one of the things we always enjoyed about the show, was it’s genuine and classic look and sound. Well, look for that to change, not just Victor and Nikki’s pad, but Jill Farren Phelps wasn’t finished with her Christmas bonus firings quite yet. Firing Phelps let go the (ENTIRE) music department of ‘Y&R’ today. These were handpicked composers by Bill Bell, Sr., who every regime kept in place, including Lynn Marie Latham and Maria Bell. Yes, if fans wanted change, they are about to get it, but they are not going to get what they want. This woman (Phelps) has no respect for the class of the show, or the fans,” concluded a “Y&R” production staff member.
Farren Phelps and Griffith’s changes are not done quite yet. There have been firings of longtime writers, that will affect the show’s continuity, and although the actors are frightened, many are not speaking out because they feel it’s only matter of time before the show is gone, if this regime remains in power. “Jill will be on to something else, Josh (Griffith) who knows, he’s a total mess. He is talentless, and Sony needs to look at what they have done, and that hack-producer Jill Farren Phelps, who is hacking a great cast to pieces in order to make room for her former ‘General Hospital’ stars and hunks, you know the drill, she doesn’t give a darn about the show. She’s brought all these guys in, who take off their shirts for lunch, breakfast and dinner, but they can’t act. At least the hunks we had on the show over the years, are great actor,” said Karen, a fan in Michigan. “It’s no longer the ‘Y&R’ we love.”
“The ratings are tanking right now,” a CBS insider tells Highlight Hollywood. “They need to look in the mirror, when we see Jill in the hallways, she’s floating on air, she can’t even see her own failures, which is the beginning of the end of a show, when someone is out of touch with what works and what doesn’t. She’s out of touch, and every day people here ask, when will the powers-that-be, wake up at CBS and realize they were sold a bill of goods by Sony? Jill is being protected, because Sony doesn’t care about this show. And Josh is a terrible writer, and not a gracious human being eitehr. Did you read his pious and very phony interview in TV Guide? He never credits anyone for where he is today. We’ve seen him rise high before, only to crash and burn, he can’t handle pressure, and pretty soon, Jill Farren Phelps will replace him. She’s already been in contact with her friend, that horrible writer Megan McTavish, who helped almost crush every show she’s ever been with,” concluded a CBS Studios insider.
Marion in Seattle says, “I’ve been a longtime ‘Y&R’ viewer, and although over the decades I was unhappy at times. There was always a desire to stick it out, knowing it would improve, or a storyline I didn’t like would end. But this woman, Jill what’s her name. She’s definitely my very least favorite show runner. In fact, she’s one of my least favorite people, and I am glad you are telling the fans what she’s doing behind-the-scenes, Tommy. She doesn’t care about any of us fans. We don’t matter to her. This show we have watched for generations. My daughters are named Jill and Katherine. You know where those names come from. I won’t be watching it in the new year as long as this woman is in charge. Though I doubt it’ll be on long enough to worry about much longer.”So while you celebrate your holiday season, please remember all the people whose Christmas season was ruined by the Grinch that stole Christmas, and handed out pink slips just days before our Savior’s birthday.
Written By: Tommy Lightfoot Garrett
Photographs are Courtesy: AP, CBS/Sony and Universal Studios
Follow us on Twitter @HighlightHwd or @LightfootinHwd
THANK YOU for telling us fans this I myself had feelings the show is going down with the writing that they are putting out there and now I see the Back stage is a Hot Mess as well .
Those People who where let go made this show feel like home for us fans and what help kept Y&R at #1 for so long .
This was not the change we Fans wanted for Y&R we wanted to get back to GOOD STORY LINES FOR THE WHOLE CAST, Family Story lines , Love ,Romance , business Story lines and Have a lot of character development This New Team has shown us day in and day out that they are NOT ABLE to do any of that .
These Back stage crew Should be Rehired to the Show and this team should be shown the door Y&R can work just not with JPF ,JG and HS and there Tag -a -longs .
I’ve watched Y&R since the beginning and think the show is much better. Jill and Katherine are my favorites too and they are having their first story in years so I’m really happy.
I’m not upset Tucker is going, he hasn’t added anything to Jill and Kay. For the last three years it been all about if Kay and Tucker like/love each other, it’s been very boring, and Devon is boring too. I would rather see Brock back. Maybe have Chance and Mac return? I don’t know who Mark Pinter is but maybe he would be a good match for Jill, I don’t think Tucker is.
Oh come on. She isn’t that bad. She got rid of so many useless characters for us! No more horrible Heather or garbage Genevieve. If Tucker is gone too then I should step away to go do a happy dance. JFP seems to recognize talent. I don’t think I’ve seen this much of Lauren in ages and she is correcting her mistake and bringing Abby back. If only she would can this version of Victoria and bring back Heather Tom – also, kill Billy off so that Ryan could come back from the dead.
All I want for Christmas is for her to can Victor & Nikki next!! Enough of the ancients. It’s YOUNG & the Restless. Not Geriatric & the Restless. As for the class of the show? The last HW had Victor push a woman out of an ambulance. I’m sorry but a man who abuses women the way Victor does deserves to be killed off of the show. It’s time! Get rid of the man who eats the show.
This is horrible news. I have watched Y&r since the beginning. And you are on target she is destroying this show. I was concerned that we wouldn’t be on the air much longer after I saw the first epis by the new regime. Now I am totally discouraged. How can Sony or CBS let this happen? As a business person I understand the importance of customer satisfaction. If they continue to loose fans the ratings and the $$ we spend on the products shown during this dhow by advertisers they will loose big time. Even if they don’t care about fans I would think money would be. This is a sad day for daytime. Wow! Continue to write this info. Shout it from the rooftops if you have to We can’t Loose Y&R.
Oh god……………….
DAYTIME IS DEAD ANYWAY………….
Quit bashing Y&R. The music???? Yes, I don’t like the music being played atm!
It’s a shame people are out of work. But Y&R was a slow, boring mess when JFP arrived. It’s better now than it has been in ages: smart, fresh, compelling, though still imperfect. Who cares where the penthouse came from? Studios re-use sets all the time. The music was atrocious but now sounds almost (gasp) contemporary. JFP has excellent taste in actors, and I don’t care if or where she worked with them before as long as they’re good. (Who are these “James Franco lookalikes” anyway? They’re not on my screen.) Point is, given the choice between more of the same old, boring Y&R and this regime, I will take JFP’s show any day.
Hey Jasonsb89, That’s great to hear, that you LOVE the music. It is the regime Ms. JFP fired that has been doing it. Amazing, and they will be heartened that you LOVED it so much these past weeks and months. They just got fired on Thursday (yes, that’s TWO days ago), so the new regime hasn’t even started, and won’t until January 7. Merry Christmas to you and your family! Happy New Year!
Totally disagree,Genevieve(GF)& Tucker(SN) have brought alot to the show and their characters are multilayered and interesting. They had tons of chemistry too between them and are much more talented actors and a heck of alot more entertaining then the boring Cane/Lily/Neil and new characters the shows brought on. Stephen Nichols and Genie Francis can act themselves out of a paperbag with the garbage the writers have written for them and I for one have loved the relationship between Tucker and his mother Katherine and the potential of the mother/son relationship of Genie and Daniel. It’s the writers and new regime that are at fault here and they could of given both characters a heck of alot more attention then ruining their characters! Disgusting!
“Why fix what isn’t broken?” Are you SERIOUS? This show was in desperate need of a complete makeover. Thank goodness someone finally took action. As a longtime viewer, I’ve been very happy with the direction the show has taken with the new regime.
Dear Rebecca, Merry Christmas, Happy New year! Please NOTE quotes are not my quotes, they are other people’s quotes. And as for loving the new direction, that wasn’t the point of this article. No one deserves to be fired on their first day of Christmas break. And if you like the new direction, that’s great. The ratings are falling each week. So you definitely are in the minority. Bless you this Holiday season!
I am done watching Y&R forever. I was getting bored with old writers. but I can’t stand that the show now seems to focus on things like crazy Sharon I’m really sick of that storyline. I can’t believe she is still living on Newman property after burning down the ranch. I don’t like the new storylines either. Paul and Christine come on not again with those two..yawn boring as all get out. Others words they been there and done that but yes they almost got killed last time. Phyllis how can one person get away with so much, darn she is lucky except when it come to keeping a relationship going I wish she would have stuck with Ronan. I do not like any of the new young actors and actresses they r not that good, except the new Noah is good. Summer is a spoiled brat, Fen is worse if I was his father I would knock him down the way he talks to his parents. Lets see who else the Jamie person I notice last week was getting better. Please get rid of Kyle darnit he can’t act worth a sh!t. I miss Daniel and Heather they were pretty hot together. I’m finding Neil,Devon, Lilly, Cane and the new chick boring as all get out. Even Billy and Victoria are getting boring. Maybe I’ve just been watching it to long over 30 yrs now. that all the storylines are basically the same. Everybody sleeps with everyone on this show. Is Jill Phelps just going to drop storylines like Daisy and Ricky’s death Edens confusion that night so I guess Paul never goes to court. I didn’t watch any last week and the sad part about it is I didn’t miss it. I hate the fact that she fired alot of people that have been with Y&R family for generations. The one character she is bring back (Abby) I can’t stand. I love and have always loved Nikki and Victor together. I want to see the new Ranch house that is the only thing I look forward to seeing. I know it’s just a soap but it’s been part of my life for 30 yrs. I don’t see Y&R on much longer maybe a year more. Anyway good luck to all that has gotten fired. Jill Phelps I hope you do a better job in the future with it but what I’ve seen so far sucks!!
Geez did no one learn from what she did to General Hospital and other shows? As soon as I heard she was hired on to Y&R, I knew the show would be torn apart and only her buttlickers would get any screentime or storylines, forget any viable character to the show. She destroyed GH, be thankful Frons and Guza aren’t with her this time.
So that is what happened to the Y&R. I stopped watching OLTL when she took over, stopped watching GH when she took over, and now have lost interest in Y&R. I had started watching it again but now have lost interest. So Loving GH right now. It’s the best it’s been in years. She must be dong something right to someone to keep getting these jobs.
Yes, Sandy, My sentiments EXACTLY! ON ALL of it! And yes, General Hospital is REALLY entertaining right now, and the new regime respects people, fans, actors, actresses! Keep supporting GH!!!!!! You cannot go wrong! Happy Holidays!
I knew something wasn’t right when they fired ABBY NEWMAN!!! She was my absolute FAVE!!! I was like WTH!!! Are they not tuning into the show,
it’s getting boring and Abby is funny as heck! It’s so dry! Now I do love the Sharon/Adam/Chelsea triangle, but even that isn’t going anywhere. Nick use to be my fave but they made him boring to watch. I like him and Avery but yeah, I’m sorry they need someone to interfere to make you turn away from watching the paint dry on the wall. So if Steven Burton is going to be the man to do it, I’m game. The ratings are dropping but they know that Steve B has such a huge follower of fans so I’m upset that he left GH. I’m also upset to know that he stated that he wanted to spend time with his family and now he’s heading to Y&R after denying the runors that he was given an offer by Jill. But at this point I’m just happy to have a chance to watch him on anything. Oh P.S. I liked Harmony but I will be honest, when I saw that Debbi Morgan was coming to the show I was happy but when I saw who
she would be playing, I was a bit disappointed. Even down to those terrible wigs! I’m sorry but even as a crackhead making a better life, I feel that they should have had someone else play that role while Debbi could have been a stronger character for the show. And yes, I wanted to see the triangle with Neal and Sarge but we were jipped out of that because of the poor writing and the wigs made her unlikable by many. I feel that this show didn’t do her justice. Her hair was
always fly on AMC! Oh and Poor Gene! I loved Genevieve!
Kia, Some bit of good news in the whole cloud of haze that is now Y&R, thanks to JFP and JG! They have brought Abby back, albeit on-recurring. They couldn’t admit their horrible deed of firing Marcy Rylan, by putting her back on contract, but at least she’ll be back. Happy Holidays to you!
Where to even begin…Jill Phelps is heartless…totally sucks that she let go the music team of the show. They understood the show and crafted the best underscoring tracks of any show in daytime. Y&R’s music has always been best in class and you could identify with those long-lasting themes. There were background cues being played that extended back as far as the 80s for sure, and it was brilliant, familiar and every bit a part of the show like a character itself. This lost of that music character is sad beyond words. It illustrates that Phelps doesn’t have any regard for history. The new characters entering at break-neck speed also confirms that she is a liar and a hack. She went on record earlier that she wouldn’t be doing such changes, but here we are with her friends populating the canvas…and what is forecasted to be GH on CBS with her mob shit stories.
I have given up on daytime soaps. This great genre has just been decimated by folks like Jill and others. Let them quickly go to their death and spare us from further indignation.
You are spot on Tommy about JFP! She is a vile woman and talentless show killing producer. Yes, her best work is done on her back with her band of hunks that fawn all over her.I had the unpleasure of working with her. She is two faced and will stab you in the back and watch you bleed. It is a shame is going to take such a classy show like Y&R down. Let’s hope someone notices and breaks her glass bubble.
The shoe is much better than it has been in years. The wardrobe is 1,000 times better than when Maria Arena Bell was in charge, The lighting is better, the music is better, the storylines are better, the dialogue between characters are better. The only thing that’s not better is the fact that Victor Newman, Victoria Newman, Nikki Newman and Katherine Chancellor are still on the show. I could do without Tyler Michaelson too. These people need to go. They are all either deadly boring or way past retirement. The name of the show is The Young and the Restless not The Old and the Useless.
Stop the Y&R and Jill Farren Phelps bashing. She’s doing a great jod.
The show has gotten a lot worse since Jill Farren Phelps has been brought on. There has been too many changes, too many cast changes. I know some things could have been improved but characters that very good for the show have been let go. It is no longer classy. There was a history of the 40 years. They have been number one since 1988. Not many soaps left to compete with now. There are too many cheap, tawdry scenes that smack of soft porn fantasy type scenarios. Then, to find out she put the axe to behind the scenes people that have been there a long time as well. Fans deserve better. Veteran actors deserve better. I do like some of the songs that are played during some scenes but that is the only improvement I have seen. Listen to the fans before it is too late!!!