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Why late William J. Bell left DAYS for Young & Restless
Some of you might not know, but besides Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful, there was once a time when Willian J Bell was the head writer for Days as well. And you don’t want to miss out on why he left Days for Y & R. So, let’s get into it right away.
William J Bell was a soap pioneer
Soap opera writers today just don’t have the same magic touch as the legendary William J Bell. He was like the maestro of drama, pulling our heartstrings and keeping us hooked. Bell wasn’t just a writer; he was a puppet master of our emotions. Nowadays, the daytime TV scene is missing that spark he brought. Bell turned actors like Susan Flannery, Eric Braeden, and Katherine Kelly Lang into household names. He kicked off his soap journey learning from the best, Irna Phillips, and later created a primetime spinoff.
Bell started his own show, back in 1972, under the name of Innocent Years, and just the next year, it had an official debut, which turned out to be one of the best shows in Soap history, Young and the Restless. But there were times at the beginning, when he felt like ending the show, but nope, CBS believed in him which totally paid off at the end.
In 1988, Y & R came to the top holding the number 1 rating. But Bell’s creativity didn’t just stick to Genoa City because back in 1987, CBS debuted another show Bold and the Beautiful, which is, you know, the most watched soap in the world. But hold on, there is more to the story!
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Why Bell left Days for Young and Restless
Before Y & R and B & B, Bell was actually working on Days. Bell started his career with the soaps like Guiding Lights, and As the World Turns, learning from the best, Irna Phillips, and later created a primetime spinoff. Then, his reputation started preceding him, and in 1966, he was called over to the Days of Our Lives.
When Days of Our Lives was struggling, Bell was the perfect choice to sprinkle some of his storytelling gold. That man knew how to turn sand dropping in an hourglass into captivating television! People started loving it, and it made a comeback like never before. But sadly, NBC had other priorities set.
Bell is a firm believer of the 30 minute episode format, and he was totally opposite to the 1 hour long episode. In an Interview With On Writing magazine, he said, “I thought the half-hour was such a perfect form.”
So when he was a headwriter in DAYS, he stopped NBC from expanding the time. He was like, “You go to an hour, you’re going without me.” And well, he left the show in 1975, and later NBC moved along with their 1 hour plan. But there were some issues between NBC and Bell too.
He intended to leave the show around 1972, when he began creating his own show The Young and the Restless, but the owners of the show sued him, and he agreed to write long-term story projections for them. He remained as head writer until 1975.
So that’s how his journey started with Y & R, but it came to an end in 2005, after he passed away from complications of Alzheimer disease. Wasn’t Bell just a legend in his days, creating some of the iconic soaps and stars. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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