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Has former Daytime Emmy winning scribe Josh Griffith returned to his old Genoa City stomping grounds at CBS’ The Young and the Restless? TV Source Magazine is hearing that may be the case, and if so, in what capacity?
Word is that former Y&R head writer Josh Griffith is back at the CBS soap after being unceremoniously forced out five short years ago. Griffith first joined the show in 2006 as a consultant, who then became apart of the writing team before finally replacing Maria Arena Bell as head writer in 2012. Griffith then went on to become the co-head writer of Days of our Lives in 2015 alongside Dena Higley before leaving just one year later.
In the never ending revolving door that is daytime drama, it looks like Griffith’s door has swung back to Genoa City but this time as a producer, according to sources. What does this mean for current executive producer and head writer Mal Young? That has yet to be determined. But we have a feeling this won’t be the only shake up at Television City.
We have reached out to reps for The Young and the Restless for comment. Stay tuned to TV Source Magazine as more news becomes available.
Update 6:58 PM EST: A spokesperson from Y&R tells TV Source Magazine, “Yes, I can confirm that Josh has joined our producing team.”
Hopefully this may give us hope that he will bring back Adam Newman (Michael Muhney” I think Mel was a good writer but when he dropped Doug Davidson all the mouthy vets got upset. I liked Doug as well but he can just do so much at his age as a chief of police. Most C.O.P. retire early. They needed a younger man in their to continue the story. Some that left was because of lousy contracts & some didn’t like sitting around all day waiting to go on. To hear the vet’s talk they want a show with Victor Newman/Nikki Newman/Paul Williams/Christine Williams/Neil Winters/ etc. Some of us would like to see What happens in Fen’s career,Lola & Kyle, Sharon &Ray and will Devon ever be able to get on with his life without Hillary.Could we see Hillary come back maybe as a twin sister? Vicky & Billy back 2getter? We love the vet’s too but enough of Victor & Nikki 4 awhile!
Mal is a terrible EP. He’s removed Y&R’s classic score. The scenes are now completely devoid of background music. He’s gone overboard with handheld cameras. He’s awful. I’d love to have Ed Scott and David Shaughnessy back as EPs.
As for head writer, I’m thinking Robert Guza Jr (since soaps only recycle head writers these days). I can’t think of any former writers who would be good. Sally and Kay were perfect but they were recently let go, so I doubt they’ll be back anytime soon. I wouldn’t mind if Maria Arena Bell came back. I enjoyed her writing for Nina and the Chancellor family.
Ideally, I’ve always said that an executive producer should not be a head writer at the same time; it’s a messy position to be put into. Mal’s tenure as head writer is not horrific. Are there rough spots? Yes, but all regimes have rough spots. Out of the past few regimes, he’s been my favourite. I’d rather see Young stay on as executive producer — that’s ultimately where his strengths lay. In truth, Josh Griffith is not a horrible head writer. But, the fact that he’s struggled with people changing his stories is problematic. And it worries me that he’s back on that set in some kind of capacity that could push him back into a writing power.
If Young is being replaced in any role, I’d rather it be as head writer, because he’s done incredible work as EP. Should Griffith replace Young? No, he shouldn’t. I’d rather either see Kay Alden be lured back, or someone else in the position. What about Hogan Sheffer? Or someone completely new?
This is terrible news! Josh Griffith is the reason I stopped watching Y&R. He wrote out Tricia Cast (my fave), which was awful because the show was on the right track with Nina/Paul and Danny/Cricket as couples.
I blame him for the dismantling of the Chancellor family. He wrote out Nina and Ronan, didn’t bring Phillip back for either of Katherine’s memorials, and never recast Chance (the show is in desperate need of non-Newman, non-Abbott young people). Several regimes later, and the Chancellor family is still in tatters. With him back, there goes any chance of ever seeing Nina Webster on this show again. :-/