The Young and the Restless Watching The Young and the Restless

[Daniel Avery]

Awful, stomach-churning news from behind the scenes at Y&R: Jill Farren Phelps, the Typhoid Mary of Soap Producers, has been re-hired in a low-level producer role.

https://daytimeconfidential.com/2025/08/04/jill-farren-phelps-returns-to-the-young-and-the-restless-as-producer

We need to immediately form a human chain/shield around Traci Abbott. IYKYK

 

[Monzo]

Jill's return isn't exactly the change I would have wanted to see behind the scenes, but at least something's happening. And most importantly, can it get any worse? At least Y&R is back to where it was before the maze and no storyline bothers me anymore.

I actually think the maze were the worst weeks Y&R has ever had. There have certainly been worse storylines, like when Sheila's never-before-mentioned sister had surgery to transform her into Lauren, and at the same time, Patty looked like Emily—all of that was pretty bizarre, but at least there were other storylines back then. This summer, there was nothing but the maze. But thankfully, that's finally behind us.

I think Cole and Damian's deaths were handled appropriately, while Chance's was downplayed a bit. Chance's death should have been a huge issue, but instead, the grief was kept to a minimum.

I wonder if the budget was cut further. It's obvious that Amanda was traded for Summer budget-wise, but Chance, Cole, and Damian's salaries couldn't all have been used for Cane, could they? I suspect some of the money went towards the French set and Carter's short-term stint, but there should still be money left over with three actors fired. If Billy Flynn costs so much, I get why he took the job and why the writers give him so much material, since he's supposed to work for his money.

 

[Rove]

Jill's return isn't exactly the change I would have wanted to see

Has the character of Jill been gone for a while? I'd love to see Y&R turned on its head and have Brenda Dickson return as Jill. And the legacy character needs to be seen and heard.

 

[Monzo]

Has the character of Jill been gone for a while? I'd love to see Y&R turned on its head and have Brenda Dickson return as Jill. And the legacy character needs to be seen and heard.

By the name Jill, I meant producer Jill Farren Phelps, who's returning to Y&R, but as for the character Jill, I wonder why she's even brought back for cameos. Every time, she makes a big entrance with huge announcements, usually via FaceTime, it doesn't really lead to anything.

Without Chance, there's no police at all on the show anymore. I still remember when there was a whole set for the police with Paul as the chief, usually two detectives, and Kevin as the computer expert. It's strange that they decided to completely do away with the police; instead, there are only business deals. I think the Ashland story was pretty good, especially thanks to his chemistry with Victoria, while Tucker's deals and threats were getting boring, but they were still good compared to Cane's actions.

I have to admit, I never really understood when people say that Amelia Heinle is still no Victoria to them, but now I can relate, because I feel the same way about Billy. Jason Thompson has been around for years, but I still don't see him as Billy.

 

[Daniel Avery]

as for the character Jill, I wonder why she's even brought back for cameos. Every time, she makes a big entrance with huge announcements, usually via FaceTime, it doesn't really lead to anything.

With Jess Walton happily living far from California, I think this "facetime" Jill is the only Jill we will get. I think Y&R has done this thing with Walton as an experiment to see if they (and other soaps) might be able to build on it and expand their scope beyond the usual "actor on a set" production model. They may feel differently, but to me it lacks the depth and "watchability" that comes from actors being face to face and reacting to one another in a scene. Jill, one of the longest-running, complicated characters in soaps seems reduced to a talking head in a box.

 

[Monzo]

Now that the Emmys are over, how long will Josh Griffith keep his job? For weeks, Y&R has been behind B&B in the important women 18-49 ratings and overall is only in the middle of the pack among all daytime shows, currently in 8th place, up from 10th place the week before. It's not good that both later Today hours are now ahead of Y&R in the women 18-49 ratings.

Josh Griffith is doing everything wrong these days when it comes to introducing well-known soap faces. Tamara Braun and Matt Cohen feel like DOA because they're immediately overused. When lesser-known actors join, less effort is put into them, and after a few months, it actually works, as with Audra and Holden and you start to like these characters.

Getting upset about Cane's storyline is pointless, but I have to say that I didn't expect a completely bad AI storyline on top of everything else. Of course, Cane also plays into the man-pain cliché that Y&R likes to play on. Something I really don't like about Y&R is when wealthy, white, straight men of a certain age wallow in self-pity. We've seen this for years, and it seems it won't stop as long as Josh Griffith is in charge.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Until recently Josh Griffith had been sole Head Writer and Executive Producer, two jobs historically done by two separate people. About a month ago Y&R promoted Sally McDonald to co-Executive Producer, which hints that perhaps CBS wants someone else involved in day-to-day operations. Soap Fandom was rocked (horrified!) to learn that former EP and all-around "Dragon Lady" Jill Farren Phelps had also been hired months earlier in a lower-level producer role.

Of course it might be as simple as Griffith telling his bosses he needs someone else to help juggle all his duties, not the network or Sony ordering him to delegate major decisions to someone else. If they wanted to facilitate major changes to the show's direction, they would have forced a Co-Head Writer on him rather than a Co-EP.

 

[DallasFanForever]

With Jess Walton happily living far from California, I think this "facetime" Jill is the only Jill we will get. I think Y&R has done this thing with Walton as an experiment to see if they (and other soaps) might be able to build on it and expand their scope beyond the usual "actor on a set" production model. They may feel differently, but to me it lacks the depth and "watchability" that comes from actors being face to face and reacting to one another in a scene. Jill, one of the longest-running, complicated characters in soaps seems reduced to a talking head in a box.

It’s very odd to say the least and I have to agree. “Jill in the Box” just doesn’t work for me. The scenes lose something and ultimately don’t mean as much when the character isn’t present. I guess it’s going to become the norm now though moving forward. I can see it being used more as some of these actors get older.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Ironic that Jess Walton actually came to LA to tape 'in person' on Y&R after I wrote that post. Of course, they had to offer her a real storyline to lure her back, not some "holds Billy's hand and tells him he's not a big fat loser despite all evidence to the contrary" nonsense like she'd been doing.

 

[Monzo]

Ironic that Jess Walton actually came to LA to tape 'in person' on Y&R after I wrote that post. Of course, they had to offer her a real storyline to lure her back, not some "holds Billy's hand and tells him he's not a big fat loser despite all evidence to the contrary" nonsense like she'd been doing.

I didn't know that Jill would be making a personal appearance, so I was shocked that after seeing her via FaceTime as usual, we suddenly saw her sitting at her desk. This was a bigger surprise than some of the supposed to be great twists of the past few months. But Jill once again had nothing particularly interesting to do in town. Of course, it was about Billy, but it was really about Cane. It felt like she was only brought in so she could say again and again (and again) what a great person Cane is and that he had no part in Chance's death. I feel like the more effort the writers put into making the audience love Cane, the more it backfires because it's so transparent.

It's nice to have Sharon doing something again. Maybe the Noah story will be more interesting than expected, because my expectations for Y&R are lower than for any other soap right now.

 

[Monzo]

Is it brave or stupid for Y&R to bring four new actors into the show within just a few weeks, and was any of them really necessary? That a nuNoah would eventually appear is understandable, but does he really have to have sex with the woman who played his mother on Days on Our Lives not too long ago?

The fact that in 2023 Cameron returned from the dead to terrorize Sharon was a cool psycho story, mainly because the OG Cameron was back. What worked well once (Sharon has a stalker) is being repeated, and this time with a recast. I don't really like Roger Howarth as nuMatt. The only good thing in this plot is, unlike the introduction for nuCane, the veterans don't seem clueless and look bad because of it; right now they know exactly what's going on and are smart (for soap standards).

I'm not a fan of Tamara Braun, but she really does her best to make a new character, whose only ties are to two brand-new recasts, not seem completely uninteresting.

Otherwise, Christine and Danny's wedding was beautiful, but that sex scene between Phyllis and Cane was anything but beautiful to watch.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Y&R can't help but repeat itself once in a while, but in this case they're copying a plotline from Knots Landing.

Once upon a time in Knots Landing, there was a millionaire/power broker named Greg Sumner. When Greg inherited his father's shady corporation, he discovered one of the secret projects was a satellite eavesdropping lab built underneath the nearby Empire Valley housing project. The lab was able to intercept satellite transmissions across the globe, essentially listening in on all business and government conversations. With a few keystrokes he could also change what was transmitted if the mood struck him. He explained to his wife Laura that if he wanted to destroy Gary or Abby Ewing, all he had to do was tamper with a few banking transactions and make their credit rating plummet. In essence, the Empire Valley project was his tool to control the world.

Fast forward to 2025 and Victor Newman on Y&R is crowing about this shady AI program he acquired through shady means. Apparently it can be fed into computers of any business Victor wants to weaken or destroy using only a few keystrokes on a computer. In this case it's Jack Abbott and his family's company that Victor wants to destroy just because he can...and the program is apparently undetectable in any computer system it infects. This AI program is being touted as Victor's tool to control the world. Sound familiar?

On KL, it was up to two people to stop Greg's effort at controlling the world. Greg's wife Laura normally handwaved Greg's business maneuvers but became upset and leaves Greg when it appears that Greg is planning to destroy her friend Gary's business by "cheating". Gary discovers Greg's "Electronic Disneyland" and blows it up before it is completed. Laura returns to console Greg over the loss of his "plaything" despite her being dead-set against his having it, but Greg continues to pout over the loss as his rivalry with Gary continued unabated.

So we've seen Nikki threaten to leave Victor in the same way (and for the same reason) that Laura left Greg. Jack Abbott is Gary in this scenario, and Jack seemed willing to de-construct Jabot ("blow it up") in order to keep Victor's AI program from ruining the company. So if Nikki leaves Victor, will he lose enthusiasm for using his "plaything" in the same way Greg did when Laura left him? In other words, is it all worth it if you lose your wife in the bargain? And will it be up to Jack Abbott to find a way to destroy the AI program in order to remove the threat to the world? If Jack blows up the AI program, will it cause toxic waste to leak into the Genoa City water supply?

 

[Monzo]

I wasn't aware of this connection between Y&R and KL before, but now I see how much Y&R was "influenced" by KL—and I see the difference between daytime and primetime. I don't remember the KL storyline as bad, but I find everything about it on Y&R bad. Perhaps the AI storyline wouldn't be so bad in a primetime show, but in daytime, the repetitive dialogue and lack of action make it all tiresome.

2025 is the year Y&R went from being a show that never annoyed me to one that constantly annoys me. Nevertheless, there are still bright spots. Danny and Christine's romantic reunion was nice, culminating in their wedding. I also don't mind Daniel and Tessa, as long as they're not on screen too often. I enjoy watching Claire and Holden together, although I still expect Claire to snap again at some point. But I expected the same thing from Diane a few years ago, and nothing happened. Now I'm even glad that Diane has become so tame. I like her and Jack as a couple and even hope they stay together, something I never would have wanted when she returned. This just goes to show that if you give daytime viewers time to get used to characters and plots instead of rushing things, anything is possible.

 

[Monzo]

For me, the only good addition to the cast in recent months is Lucas Adams. His initial storyline as Noah is pretty weak, but I think he has potential. It certainly hasn't hurt him as an actor that he had a heroic father in Steven on Days, just as Nick is his heroic father on Y&R. I like that he's the first Noah who looks more like Sharon than Nick, because it seemed to be a priority in the past that a Noah recast had to look particularly like Nick. The chemistry between Noah and Audra during their brief run-in was promising, and I hope the writers will go there when it comes to Noah's lovelife.

As for Roger Howarth, it seems to me that the director's instructions to him were "How to play a daytime psycho with every possible cliché." He does what he's supposed to, but it's actually uninteresting.

I thought Tamara Braun's run would be just as limited as Roger Howarth's, but why give Sienna and Tessa a shared past if they don't have bigger plans for her? I like that Tamara Braun really gives her all as Sienna, and I see a Daytime Emmy nomination for her, but I'm not sure if I want to see her on Y&R much longer—and if so, certainly not with Noah, but with whom else? Nick, Adam, or Billy don't sound exciting as romantic partners either.

I wonder if it was worth it for Michelle Stafford to leave General Hospital (with so much different material for her as an actress there) to return to Y&R. The only memorable storyline since her return was Phyllis faking her own death, and that wasn't even a very good storyline.

There was a scene on Y&R recently that made me think about how different the daily soap markets around the globe are. In that scene, Cane tried to convince Lily that she should return to him, even though she had just seen him making out with Phyllis and he hadn't demanded any of her requests (reconciliation with the twins, destruction of the AI program). He told her she should get over all of that because he knew she loved him. If this scene had played out in a daily soap of my home country Germany, the woman would either have ended things for good, because she wouldn't be so easily manipulated and deserved better, or it would have turned into a stalker storyline. In a US soap, the whole plot is apparently meant to come across as romantic and evoke understanding from the viewer, which is why Cane seeks solace with Phyllis after Lily's incomprehensible rejection.

 

[Monzo]

Due to the upcoming big crossover, Soap Opera Digest has compiled a list of ten Y&R characters who have already appeared in other soaps:

10 Times The Young and the Restless Characters Crossed Over to Other Soap Operas

Young and Restless characters have been crossing over to other soaps for years! Here are 10 times Genoa City dwellers traversed the daytime dial.

www.soapoperadigest.com

I knew about all of their visits (or even runs), except for Michael. I had no idea he was on ATWT. Of the actual runs, I liked Sheila on B&B (although her current one is a bit disappointing), Lauren was okay, but I think she's better on Y&R, but I didn't like Ashley at all on B&B, whereas she's one of my favorites on Y&R. Since Sheila now has plenty of experience waiting tables, it would be nice if she could fill in for Esther while she's on vacation. Sheila's return would fit right in with the current theme of bringing back psychos for weird runs: an unnecessary Matt recast, Ian once more, and soon Patty, but why do they always need a psycho on the show? And if they really do, why isn't Sheila finally brought back? She could really clean the house, and there are a few characters she could gladly kill as collateral damage to her actual goal, Cane first and foremost, and Serena too.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The show's over-reliance on psychos to push story (especially psychos from the show's past) looks like a sign the writers have run out of ideas. Drawing from a show's history can be a wonderful thing when used sparingly to create a new story, but like you say there appears to just be a parade of past psycho villains doing the same things over and over. The Newmans seem to be bearing the brunt of the parade---Ian Ward, Auntie Jordan, Cameron Kirsten, now Matt Clark. I'm going to assume Victor will insert Wacky Patty into the Abbotts' lives to make it seem like the writers aren't repeating themselves...even if they are.

What will they do when they run out of psychos to cause trouble?

 

[Rove]

I'm going to assume Victor will insert Wacky Patty into the Abbotts' lives to make it seem like the writers aren't repeating themselves...even if they are.

I think Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) is Y&R's Achilles heel. Am I meant to take this all powerful man seriously when he is unable to remove himself from an armchair?

I don't wish Eric ill health but surely the producers will have to consider writing the character off for good. And what happens if something unexpected happens? Who would replace him? Nicholas? I don't see Y&R being around too much longer if the producers are not prepared to take some risk.

 

[Monzo]

Ever since Jack rescued Nikki from her alcoholism, Victor has been utterly unbearable, and I'm starting to wonder if the writers are deliberately creating this so that eventually even the most devoted Victors fans will be glad once Victor is gone. At times, Victor comes across as ridiculous, like when he beat up Matt, which, of course, was only shown in glimpses. The only thing I found interesting about Matt's return was Victor's dynamic with Nick. I actually thought he would let his son handle things himself, but then, as always, Victor took over.

It seems to me that the writers are already building up a successor for Victor, and it's neither Nick nor Adam, but Cane. Everything points to it: Cane is just as ruthless as Victor, but has a soft spot for his family, whom we never see, Jill, Maddie, Charlie are all MIA and now even Lily, or should I call her the new Nikki? I'm curious to see if the plan to build Cane into the new Victor will work or not.

 

[Daniel Avery]

If you need any additional evidence of just how far Y&R is today from its Bill Bell-era roots, one only has to watch this episode from 1974.

As the title suggests, Jill's world is about to get rocked. Given what occurs later (like, for the next forty-plus years!) this is quite a pivotal moment in her life (and Kay's, though she certainly had no idea).

I admit I had no idea John Considine had once played Phillip; I assumed Donnelley Rhodes was the only actor to play the role.

 

[Monzo]

The old Y&R clip from YouTube reminds me that ever since I started looking at what other fans are saying about those soaps I watch, I feel like everyone's always saying Y&R is worse than ever—and that's probably been going on for 20 years. I always wonder why some people stay loyal to a soap for so long if it's gotten so bad. Is it because the stories were once so good, and the characters and cast are still good, and they just need a better script?

Y&R could really use a better script right now. I think it's a very smart move that Phyllis is the one who got "everything", because even though she's a character I don't particularly like, she's good for the show and drives the storylines. Nevertheless, I don't feel Phyllis's triumph at all. Perhaps it's because so many people have run this or that company in recent years that I don't care who's in charge now—or perhaps it's because we all know Victor always wins. It's nice that the writers play with this idea and have characters mention that Victor will get his empire back anyway, but it's not exactly thrilling.

What I did appreciate about Patty's return is that the action didn't waste much time. I was worried that Patty would spend weeks trying to convince Jack on the boat that she was a changed woman, but instead, she quickly drugged and raped him. Incidentally, I was surprised that Peter Bergman, at his age, was willing to show so much skin and got naked. But back to the drama on the boat: I don't like it when soap characters are suddenly completely clueless. Diane, Kyle, and Billy burst into the bedroom and find Patty and a confused Jack in bed, yet no one considers that Patty might have drugged him. The exact same thing happened to Billy (Chelsea raped him and Johnny was conceived), but still he doesn't realize what's going on with Jack. And Diane, who has committed so many crimes, doesn't see that Jack is a victim and leaves him instead? Incidentally, did Kyle ever find out how he was conceived?

What always bothers me, whenever things get particularly dramatic between Victor and Jack, is that it's never mentioned that an Abbott heart beats in Victor's chest. We saw Traci worried when Jack was kidnapped, but why doesn't she go to Victor and ask him to release Jack because Colleen's heart beats in his and he owes her a debt of gratitude? Why do the writers consistently ignore this major conflict?

I've occasionally seen Michael Graziadei as a guest on primetime shows, and it happened again recently. This reminded me how good an actor he actually is and how lucky Y&R is to have him. Daniel gets some dramatic material, like Heather's death, but I always feel like he's underutilized. It's striking how little he has to do to be a powerful actor. There was a scene with Cane (about Daniel giving Phyllis another chance), and Cane kept widening his blue eyes. When I looked at Daniel, I noticed for the first time that he also has blue eyes, but he doesn't have to pull faces to act; he's just naturally good.

Seeing Michael with a mustache is funny, but there can only really be one real mustache on Y&R.