Mal Young Being Replaced at 'The Young and the Restless' (Updated)

According to an online report, The Young and the Restless head writer and executive producer Mal Young has been fired and replaced by Josh Griffith.

Young, best known for his work on British soap opera EastEnders, had a mixed record at Y&R. Despite some wonderful moments and episodes, Young's Y&R was never consistently entertaining, and he often repeated mistakes made by producers of many past canceled soaps. The addition of the rather boring Rosales family this year made some fans complain they were replacing beloved vets like Doug Davidson, who was taken off contract after decades of playing Paul Williams.

Longtime star Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) got dragged into the discussion after speaking out. He tweeted the following on Sunday: "To those who are dying to start shit with me, go for it!! But don’t you dare accuse me of 'racist' attitude when I have spent my lifetime going against that evil, looong before it was 'politically correct!' I am, however, against arbitrary intros of characters!!"

While some of Young's intentions seem good, the execution has been mediocre at best.

Despite all this, Y&R just celebrated 30 years as the top-rated daytime soap opera. To be fair, that milestone was a tribute to the legacy creator William J. Bell established than anything Young produced.

Young's exit has not yet been confirmed by CBS or production company Sony.

UPDATE:
Mal Young confirmed his exit as Y&R's executive producer/head writer to Showbiz411's Roger Friedman. In the statement at showbiz411.com, Young said, "Just arrived in London for the holidays. I felt like it was a good time to move on. Never a good idea to get too settled on a long running soap and I achieved all that I and CBS set out to do: improved scripts and production values. I have a project of my own that I’ve been developing and want to pursue that now. Plus running a show like this is all consuming and want to get a bit of my life back – and see my family occasionally!"

Friedman weighed in with his own strong opinion: "Fans should not put all the blame for what’s happened at this show on Young. He had to report to people who dictated quite a bit to him. The real failure still lies with Head of Daytime Angelica McDaniel."

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