Football Benches Four Soaps: ABC and CBS Preempt Thanksgiving Lineups

Four daytime soaps — General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and Beyond the Gates — will vanish from ABC and CBS on November 26 and 27 as football takes over the networks' schedules. Only Days of Our Lives, which streams exclusively on Peacock, will keep new episodes running all week.

The preemptions hit Thursday and Friday, the traditional Thanksgiving and Black Friday slots. Here's how each show is affected, according to Soap Opera Daily.

What happens to General Hospital?

ABC will preempt General Hospital on Thursday, November 26, and Friday, November 27, with college football filling the network's entire afternoon lineup both days. New episodes still air Monday through Wednesday, with storylines building toward the annual Quartermaine Thanksgiving dinner — the family feast that "usually ends in chaos, insults, and a desperate pizza run." Port Charles returns with fresh episodes on Monday, November 30.

Which CBS games replace the soaps?

The Young and the Restless loses its Thursday and Friday slots on CBS. Thursday's culprit is the NFL matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions, kicking off at 1 p.m. ET — right in the heart of soap time. Friday goes to college football.

The Bold and the Beautiful follows the same plan. Thursday is preempted for Bears-Lions; on Friday, Nebraska faces Iowa in a college rivalry game at noon ET. That means two full days without a single Forrester showdown.

Both CBS soaps air three new episodes Monday through Wednesday. The Young and the Restless returns Monday, November 30, with the Newmans, Abbotts and Winters picking up wherever Wednesday's cliffhanger leaves off. The Bold and the Beautiful also resumes November 30, and every episode can be streamed on Paramount+ for viewers traveling over the holiday.

Why is Beyond the Gates different?

Beyond the Gates has the most unusual lineup of the four. Only two new episodes air, on Monday, November 23, and Tuesday, November 24. Then CBS digs into the vault: the two-part Articulettes Reunion musical event, first broadcast on August 1 and August 4, 2025, gets an encore on Wednesday and Thursday. The episodes reunite Anita Dupree, Sharon Winger and Tracy Tyler's former girl group onstage. Friday, November 27, is a full preemption for CBS Sports coverage, with new episodes expected back at Fairmont Crest on Monday, November 30.

Why does Days of Our Lives escape?

Days of Our Lives streams exclusively on Peacock, so it has no network time slot for football to claim. New episodes drop early on both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday as usual, making Salem the only soap town with fresh drama all week. Canadian viewers can keep watching on the Women's Network.

What does this change for viewers? Anyone relying on broadcast needs to catch up Monday through Wednesday or pivot to streaming — Peacock for Salem, Paramount+ for the CBS soaps. Soap Opera Daily notes that local listings may still be adjusted by affiliates, so a quick check before the holiday is smart.