They’re just dropping like flies over there on the set of the Young and the Restless, and David Tom is the latest to join the actor casualty list. According to reports, Tom has been fired and sent packing, a few months after he took over the role of Billy Abbott from Billy Miller, and Burgess Jenkins will replace him in the role.
Miller had initially just wanted some time off from playing Billy Abbott to go do another role, but his request was denied and Jill Farren Phelps ended up replacing him with David Tom. And despite outraged fan responses, Phelps stuck to the casting. Of course, Tom didn’t last last long either, with Daytime Confidential reporting that he left the show because of a ‘change in storyline’ for the character of Billy. Um, Billy Abbott is a fan favorite role, so I have a hard time believing that Tom left the role willingly. It’s likely that Phelps and the network executives decided they were going in a ‘different direction’ for the role, and honestly, it makes sense because they’ve been trying everything under the sun to correct their free falling ratings.
The show has suffered a lot over recent months, largely because of casting mishaps and firings like this. Michael Muhney‘s exit from the show was just the beginning of some major cast shakeups, and it’s made most fans angry and disappointed. And can you blame angry and disappointed fans from refusing to watch their former favorite television show?
Plus, it’s obvious that Tom was fired because the show’s already found someone to replace him in the role of Billy Abbott: Nashville and Army Wives actor Burgess Jenkins. Jenkins will reportedly start appearing on the show in late June, but at that point, fans might have given up on any sense of continuity from the show. Yes, it’s a soap opera and cast replacements are common, but we’re getting one almost every other week – and if the trend continues, the fans are going to end up with an entirely new cast within the year, which is bad news for the show’s image. But then again, the show’s image has been in the crapper for so long that they probably don’t even care anymore.
