Last fall, fans and the cast of The Young and the Restlesswere thrilled to have writers Sally Sussman and Kay Alden back on board to take the soap back to its roots. Just nine months later, Y&R is singing a different tune by having executive producer Mal Young do double duty as producer and head writer.
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According to Daytime Confidential, both Sussman and Alden are retiring on their own accord. “Sally has had great success with her career as a documentary filmmaker and wants to focus her time and energy there,” a source told Daytime Confidential.
Other soap sites are hinting that the female writing duo may have been pushed out the door. Michael Fairman reported that Young pitched his ideas to CBS and Sony about the future of Y&R, which brought the focus back to the legacy characters. Young posted a cryptic Twitter message on Monday night.
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Standing on the shoulders of giants. Exciting times. #YR
— mal young (@malyoung) August 1, 2017
Sony Pictures Television later confirmed the news about Young’s promotion.
“Adding to his current responsibilities as executive producer, Mal Young will be stepping into the role of head writer of The Young and the Restless,” said Sony Pictures Television in a statement. ”He has made incredible contributions to the show since joining the team of daytime television’s #1 drama.”
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CBS needed to make a move since the show has lost over 300,000 viewers since Sussman took over last fall. The network does have long-term confidence in the show, though, because they renewed Y&R for three seasons back in June. To keep that confidence strong, the network knew the direction of the storylines had to change.
Fans agreed with the writer changes because the show had lost its luster.
Thank god. Sally Sussman did a lot of damage to the show.
— Graham Pudek (@GrahamPudek) August 1, 2017
When Sally Sussman brushed aside the importance of the Adam character from day 1, I knew she was wrong for the show. Glad she's gone 😁#YR
— Modesty Personified (@Modstpursonifyd) August 1, 2017
Everyone hyped Sally Sussman up too much like she was the second coming of Bill Bell #YRpic.twitter.com/Kne508RYiH
— ilina (@ilina_lovestv) August 1, 2017
Viewers will see Young’s work on Y&R beginning in October.
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