Good news for soap fans and for common sense.
Doug Davidson, who’s played Paul Williams for 40 years, is back on “The Young and the Restless” after months of being taken off contract.
Davidson, a gentleman, announced last fall that the show had no plans for him after 4 decades. He’s won Emmy Awards, and been the captain of the team, so to speak, through a lot of good times and bad.
Now ex-producer Mal Young started writing out the show’s veterans last year, and swept Davidson out. Also gone were Eileen Davidson (no relation), and several others. The show’s ratings tanked. Young was ultimately fired. It’s hoped that Young’s victims will all return if they haven’t been killed off.
An interesting aspect of this was how it all happened. Apparently, the show’s nominal star, Eric Braeden, took off around Labor Day and didn’t return. He became very vocal on social media. There must have been some real great backstage wrangling on his part. Braeden at one point admitted that Young was trying to get rid of him, too.
Braeden was like a deposed leader of a banana republic. Now he’s back, and so are his minions. Congrats to him!
The sad part is that the show was writing out Kristoff St. John, only adding to his depression about his deceased son. St. John took his own life, a terrible turn of events.
There’s something weird about the insular world of soap operas. The actors usually don’t speak out, thinking they will risk being fired or blackballed. New executive producers come in, convinced they will re-invent the wheel. It never works. Just watch “SoapDish” or “Tootsie.”
He’s back!! pic.twitter.com/v2FeTiTxhv
— Eric Braeden (@EBraeden) February 15, 2019
I want to thank @stevekentsony from SONY, JOSH GRIFFITH and TONY MORINA, for turning the ship around!!! Steve made an executive decision a few months ago and we want to thank him for it! pic.twitter.com/CbBzzJV3R9
— Eric Braeden (@EBraeden) February 16, 2019
PS If the show really wanted to be clever they’d bring on songwriter Paul Williams for a cameo.
