Eric Braeden blasts Mal Young for almost firing him from the Young and the Restless
Eric Braeden has shocked fans with the information that he was almost fired from the Young and the Restless. In his latest interview with Soap Opera digest, the Daytime Emmy award winning actor revealed that former Y&R head writer Mal Young tried to get rid of him when he was running the show. Let’s take a look at the details!
Mal Young sidelined many legacy characters
You’ll agree that Mal Young has to be the least liked head writer in the history of the Young and the Restless. Young had joined Y&R as an executive producer in 2016, replacing Jill Farren Phelps at the time. A year later, Young became the sole head writer on the show. After taking the reins on Y&R, he made major changes with the story and cast that did not sit right with its loyal audience.
His direction angered many fans who felt like he was getting rid of the show’s legacy. Long time player Doug Davidson was fired under Mal Young’s rule after almost 40 years on the show! “They are doing away with history,” wrote Doug on Twitter at the time.
In addition to Davidson, Young dismissed several of William J. Bell’s characters and viewers felt that the introduction of the Rosales family in the fold put many legendary characters on the sidelines.
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Earlier this year in February, Eric Braeden celebrated his 42nd anniversary on the Young and the Restless. Now that’s an incredible achievement for an actor in daytime or any other television show, for that matter.
For 42 years, viewers have been watching Braeden portray the enigmatic Victor Newman on the CBS daytime. You could say that Eric Braeden is synonymous with the Young and the Restless. So it’s hard to imagine Y&R without the legendary actor.
Eric Braeden was almost let go from the Young and the Restless
Fans might even say that there is no Young and the Restless without its supercouple Victor and Nikki but they almost left the show, thanks to Mal Young. Expressing his dislike for Young’s storylines, Eric Braden told Soap Opera Digest in March, “The last regime introduced things that no one gave a damn about, okay? Let’s call a spade a spade. No one gave a damn about some of those storylines, no one, because they were not part of the host of that show!”
But what shocked us was Braden revealing that the Young and the Restless almost lost its Victor Newman. He candidly said, “ I hate to say it, but obviously, the Newman empire is one of the main cornerstones of the show. What the last regime really wanted, to be frank with you, was to get rid of me and get rid of Melody [Thomas Scott, Nikki], if you want to know the truth.”
He went on to drag the people who come on the show as new executive producers saying that they have their own egos and think they can rewrite and redo the history of the show. Braeden seemed to be nostalgic of the good old days when Y&R creator William Bell was in charge as he was quoted saying, “What they don’t understand is that [Co-Creator/Former Head Writer] Bill Bell was a brilliant man who laid a very sound foundation, and if you want to veer away from that foundation, it will begin to flounder.”
Eric Braeden appreciates the Y&R crew
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Braeden may have been frustrated with the show at times but he has enormous respect for people who write, producer, direct and work on the Young and the Restless. He talked about stepping back and taking into consideration that after the actors are done with their dialogues, there are so many people working on set to make the show what it is.
To quote the actor himself, “you realize that some people drive two hours to get to work, they get up at 4 in the morning. I mean, it almost makes you come to tears when you think about it. And the people who work their asses off don’t make that much money, and have a family to balance, and all the difficulties that a normal person goes through — kids going to school, the pandemic, and on and on and on. So, it’s a much-misunderstood industry, it really is.”
Talking about the ongoing storyline with Victor and his daughter, Braeden said that he thinks it’s one of the best storylines he’s had in years. Safe to say that he prefers the current head writer Josh Griffith over Mal Young any day. Let us know in the comments what you think of Eric Braeden’s shocking confession.