The Young and the Restless (Y&R) spoilers reveal that there’s some big news shaking up the world of daytime television. According to Deadline, Angelica McDaniel has been fired as Executive Vice President of CBS Daytime Programs. McDaniel’s position was cut as part of a plan to streamline and restructure, so she won’t be replaced.
Instead, the daytime team is becoming one with the Current Programming department, which Amy Reisenbach is in charge. McDaniel’s departure has brought mixed feelings on social media. Although McDaniel was head of more than just soaps, daytime dramas are what we want to focus on here – particularly The Young and the Restless and the impact this firing will have.
Some soap fans have voiced their displeasure over the decision to eliminate McDaniel and her role. She’s always been a big supporter of soaps, so a champion of the genre has been lost. Now that there’s not a specific daytime division at CBS, there may not be someone to fight for Y&R and B&B moving forward.
However, there are plenty of others who disagreed with McDaniel’s decisions and those fans aren’t exactly upset over the news. For what it’s worth, we’ve heard major buzz about McDaniel’s love for the Rosales family and Lola Rosales – now Lola Abbott (Sasha Calle) – in particular. Word has it she’s been pulling the strings somewhat on Lola and Kyle Abbott’s (Michael Mealor) front-and-center status as Y&R ratings have dipped to record lows.
That makes sense considering nearly everything else about Head Writer and Co-Executive Producer Josh Griffith’s run has been about recapturing the past. He reverted Adam Newman (Mark Grossman) to his old conniving ways. Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) has gone back to his darkest days of Delia Abbott (Sophie Pollono) grief. Faces from the past like Chelsea Newman (Melissa Claire Egan), Chloe Mitchell (Elizabeth Hendrickson) and Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart) have rejoined the action.
The Young and the Restless Executive Producer Anthony Morina was instrumental in bringing Michelle Stafford back to the role of Phyllis Summers, so we’ll mention that, too. There’s always been this big push to make the show feel how it used to feel, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your point of view.
The focus on Kyle and Lola seems inconsistent with that vision, which signals that there may have indeed been some intervention. It’s not that Lola and Kyle are a bad couple. They’re cute, and many people like them well enough. The problem has simply been overexposure. Almost everything about the younger bracket of characters centers around “Kola,” so there’s not really any balance.
They’ve spent airtime on Kyle putting together a bookcase and helping Lola paint an accent wall. Their air conditioner’s breaking. The power’s going out. The freezer’s kaput. Oops, there goes the shower. Those gosh darn kids!
Instead of getting a real story of their own, Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) and Tessa Porter (Cait Fairbanks) have been helping Lola shoot cooking videos, planning a pre-wedding “Kola” bash, dishing out advice to the couple, etc. Theo Vanderway (Tyler Johnson) and Summer Newman (Hunter King) are also pretty much entirely connected to “Kola’s” storyline. It can seem a little excessive at times.
Without McDaniel’s alleged interference, does that mean more balance is ahead? Time will tell, but Griffith seems to like Summer – as evidenced by how he immediately softened the character upon taking over. He might like the idea of a Kyle and Summer reunion better, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Of course, we also have to wonder if other changes could be in the works. The ratings haven’t been up to par, so McDaniel’s departure could serve as a catalyst for some other shifts behind the scenes. Are other jobs in jeopardy? It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Fortunately, The Young and the Restless spoilers say there’s much more drama ahead in Genoa City no matter what. We’ll give you updates as other Y&R details emerge. Stay tuned to the CBS soap and don’t forget to check CDL often for the latest Young and the Restless spoilers, updates and news.
