Acclaimed British soap opera producer Mal Young is now acting as both the executive producer and head writer of The Young and the Restless, and he's taking his dual role very seriously. In a recent interview with Soap Opera Digest, the exec revealed that he has tackled the pace of the CBS series and plans to deliver drama on a much quicker basis from here on out. But that's not the only noticeable change Young has brought to Genoa City.
As fans may have already started noticing in his episodes (which began airing on October 25), the Liverpool native is working on making GC shenanigans seem like they're happening in real time.
"My style is very much each episode is a new day, so things move on. Now, occasionally I will break that rule and we will do what we call a direct pickup where we finish on a big hook and we pick up on that in that next episode if it's a big cliffhanger. But generally, if it's a Monday at home, it's a Monday in Genoa City. If it's a Friday, it's a Friday in Genoa City, so it feels like it's moving in real time," he explains. "I had to really get the writers inside my head about how to do that and to stop some old habits and create new ones. But right away they grabbed it and ran with it and loved it because it's actually quite liberating for a writer, and it's actually quite thrilling for a director and the crew and the actors to think of new ways to tell stories, because if we don't keep up and make the show contemporary, it just feels dated."
That being said, he promises that the overall look and feel of the show will very much remain in tune with the Y&R that fans know. After all, the soap has remained in the number one ratings position for the last 30 years due to execs with exactly his kind of forward thinking. And he wants viewers to know that every decision he makes is for the good of the show and its future relevance and longevity.
"I want [the fans] to know that I care about the show, and there's nothing cynical here at all about passionately believing in doing the best possible show for them. That's what we are here to do," he says. "The viewers who are loyal to us, I want them to think this is in good hands and that this is going forward, and that we are respectful to the legacy and the past, but we're also looking to the future. I want them to know that as long as I'm running the show, I want this to be the number one show. I want it to go on long after I've gone. I know CBS agrees with me that this is far from the end. This is the beginning of the next phase in the life of these shows as long we make them good."
For more from Young on how he's managing as both EP and head writer of Y&R, check out SOD's full interview here.
What do you think about the changes Mal Young is bringing to Y&R? How are you feeling about his material, which began airing on October 25? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
