CBS Bought Y&R from the Bell Legacy!

Young and the Restless spoilers reveal the Bell family no longer controls Y&R‘s destiny. Mal Young might, in fact, have free rein to continue shutting out legacy characters, bringing in new throwaways, and frustrating fans. Soap Dirt dug into the ownership of Young and the Restless and turned up some startling facts that reveal that CBS became the sole owner of the show last year. Check out the evidence below on the transfer of power at the CBS soap and what this means for the Bell’s crumbling legacy.

Bell Family Out of Power at Young and the Restless

Y&R spoilers indicate 2017 was the year of the big power shift and as fans know, things have gone steadily downhill since then. She Knows confirmed Mal Young was promoted to head writer as well as EP in late 2017. From 2017-2018, Young and the Restless booked a huge drop in ratings, close to 18%. All four soaps lost some audience, but Y&R took the biggest hit with Mal Young at the helm. Now we’ve got the proof that also in 2017, that CBS bought the rights to the show, according to info from IMDB Pro.

If the Bell are out of power, as it seems by the evidence we unearthed, that explains a lot about what’s happening at the soap. Legacy families are in ruins including the Abbots in tatters. Mal Young is adding newbies left and right. Meanwhile, some vets jump ship or the writers kill them off.
There’s Arturo (Jason Canela), Rey (Jordi Vilasuso) and Lola Rosales (Sasha Calle) along with Alice Hunter (Kerry Jones). Many fans complain they don’t even recognize their cherished show any longer. The word fast forward is trending among angry Y&R watchers.

Will Lauralee Bell Be The Next Y&R Casualty?

Doug Davidson personally confirmed to Soap Dirt he’d been written off, so we wonder what’s next? Mal Young jostled Paul Williams out at the GCPD and now Rey seems to be in charge. Will Christine Williams (Lauralee Bell) be the next out the door? Would Mal Young push the co-creators’ daughter out the door?
Mal Young wrote out Davidson after four decades. In support, soap legend Stephen Nichols posted, “This is an absolute travesty. What is going on over there? This man has not only acted his a** off at #YR… for 40 years but is a man of the utmost integrity. I am saddened by this news. Much love, Doug!” Young and the Restless spoilers showed Eric Braeden wasn’t happy either and re-tweeted Doug’s messages.

One final note is that if you watch Y&R without fast forwarding (many don’t), you’ll notice that the Bell Dramatic Serial card still plays right before the Sony logo (Sony and CBS are one and the same). That doesn’t mean the Bells still produce because it’s clear they do not. However, it might have been a condition of the sale to keep displaying that card to preserve the sense of legacy.