Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

[easttxtv]

Looks like things are uglier on Beverly Blvd. than in Genoa City....Braeden has been with Y&R almost 30 years.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ...g.restless/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail
http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/soaps/exclusive-eric-braeden-speaks-out-about-his-yr-exi-2680.html
http://www.soapoperadigest.com/digesttoc/ (latest Soap Opera Digest cover, dated 10-20)

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

Lord, could this be the beginning of the end for "Y&R"? (And no,
I don't mean to imply it will be canceled soon.) Braeden is such a
strong actor, and Victor such a strong character, that he'll be as
hard to replace as Michael Zaslow (Roger on "GL") was. And Zaslow's
death, while it couldn't be helped, was one of many things that
helped kill that venerable show.

All I can say is that the actor who takes over as Victor (if the character
isn't killed off) had best come in loaded for bear, or the other actors take
up the slack.

 

[imhomerjay]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

Too bad the "Cla'ance pdate' isn't still going strong, Brad Sanders's take on "Sweet Vic Willy" was hysterical.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

Geez, he might even have to change his name back to Hans Gudegast. <grin>

 

[stdjsb25]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiat

And I was going to put my money on ATWT being next on the chopping block....but now this takes the cake.

 

[imhomerjay]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

ATWT or Days are next up. Y&R isn't next on the 'chopping block' because one actor left.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

It just was renewed by CBS for two years.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

No, CBS isn't going to cancel the number-one
soap (or B&B either, since it's number two), but Braeden's
departure isn't going to do Y&R any good either. I feel
pretty confident that ATWT will be the next soap to get the
axe.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

Braeden is such a strong actor, and Victor such a strong character, that he'll be as
hard to replace as Michael Zaslow (Roger on "GL") was.

Although not quite as central a character as "Victor"....I think you could safely say the same for Jeanne Cooper's portrayal of "Kay Chancellor" on "The Young & The Restless".

The re-casting of a "core" character is always a tricky situation for a soap...with varying degrees of success. In the case of "The Gudidng Light", Michael Zazlow was never sucessfully re-cast as "Roger Thorpe", while Ron Raines was somewhat successful as a re-cast "Alan Spauling".

 

[imhomerjay]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

So you don't recast him..you let him ride off into the sunset for now, and if the sides cool off and reach a settlement, he can come back.

 

[brian4]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

...Michael Zaslow (Roger on "GL") ... And Zaslow's
death, while it couldn't be helped, was one of many things that
helped kill that venerable show.

Michael Zaslow was incredible as Roger Thorpe. He started on Guiding Light before I watched but I do remember the Holly rape scene, kidnapping Rita, and of course his 'death.'

GL was in a tough situation: Have Zaslow on TV or try a short-term recast in order to write Roger out? I admit I was shocked when Zaslow was fired(?) and didn't like the new Roger. ALS is a terrible disease. It would have been interesting if Roger came down with it. How would Springfield react?

Most people, of course, point to Maureen dying as the start of GL's demise.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

...Michael Zaslow (Roger on "GL") ... And Zaslow's
death, while it couldn't be helped, was one of many things that
helped kill that venerable show.

Michael Zaslow was incredible as Roger Thorpe. He started on Guiding Light before I watched but I do remember the Holly rape scene, kidnapping Rita, and of course his 'death.'

GL was in a tough situation: Have Zaslow on TV or try a short-term recast in order to write Roger out? I admit I was shocked when Zaslow was fired(?) and didn't like the new Roger. ALS is a terrible disease. It would have been interesting if Roger came down with it. How would Springfield react?

Most people, of course, point to Maureen dying as the start of GL's demise.

True about that last part; it was the point where I started losing interest in the show. But it was sixteen years between that and GL's cancellation; as homerjay says, losing one character isn't going to automatically kill a show. What I'm afraid of, is that Y&R might start getting rid of other actors/characters to cut costs, and two years or so down the road its future becomes more doubtful as a result.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

So you don't recast him..you let him ride off into the sunset for now, and if the sides cool off and reach a settlement, he can come back.

Could be. If I were a producer on that show, I'd be keeping an eye on viewer reaction to Braeden's absence.

 

[imhomerjay]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

What I'm afraid of, is that Y&R might start getting rid of other actors/characters to cut costs, and two years or so down the road its future becomes more doubtful as a result.

From what I read, they have. They've killed off two other characters--Brad and Colleen, in the past year. But let's keep the big picture in mind there--CBS renewed the show, yes, but with a hefty license fee cut. That doesn't leave much room but to make some tough calls. Every character being someone's favorite, perhaps even a "I'll stop watching if they write them off" character, you can't keep doing what you did with less income. At least it looks like, in this case, the door isn't closed on a return.

 

[brian4]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

First of all, I appreciate a place where we can have intelligent conversations and trade facts and ideas. So far this, and the GL discussions, have been great threads.

What I'm afraid of, is that Y&R might start getting rid of other actors/characters to cut costs, and two years or so down the road its future becomes more doubtful as a result.

From what I read, they have. They've killed off two other characters--Brad and Colleen, in the past year. But let's keep the big picture in mind there--CBS renewed the show, yes, but with a hefty license fee cut. That doesn't leave much room but to make some tough calls. Every character being someone's favorite, perhaps even a "I'll stop watching if they write them off" character, you can't keep doing what you did with less income. At least it looks like, in this case, the door isn't closed on a return.

Even though I've never express it that way, I 100% agree that every person/character on every TV show is someones favorite and would be the reason why they would stop watching if that person/character left. I remember reading several years ago that Doug Davidson who plays Paul was the most liked person in TV and had a high "Q" rating. Even though Paul has shifted between having major storylines to being on the back burner for months, if Paul would die, would that cause people to stop watching Y&R? What if they recast Davidson? My sister loves Y&R and even though it's been 4 years she still doesn't like Amelia Heinle playing Victoria.

So will we look at the Braeden-contract problem as the start of the demise of Y&R?

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

We won't know until Y&R is gone. This could be a one-shot
thing; maybe nobody else gets fired. But if Y&R writes out
too many fan favorites, or gets into too many unpopular
storylines (as GL did with Reva's time travel, San Christobel,
etc.), and the ratings decline as a result, then maybe we
can point to Braeden's firing as the beginning of the end.

It's pretty much accepted among GL viewers that Maureen's
death was the beginning of the end of that show, but that
was sixteen years ago; no one would have said that in 1993.
Same with Eric Braeden now. And there's always the possibility
of his coming back. All Y&R fans can do is keep watching and
keep an eye on the ratings.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

So will we look at the Braeden-contract problem as the start of the demise of Y&R?

For a drama to be successful you have to have a strong antagonist and character and a strong protagonist. If you lack one part of the equation you don't have good drama that is "must see TV."

 

[imhomerjay]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

Not my line quoted, but that's ok.

More importantly, to be successful you need to take in more money that you shell out. If your budget is reduced, you have to figure out something to balance the books.

 

[brian4]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

...gets into too many unpopular storylines (as GL did with Reva's time travel, San Christobel, etc.)...

My 'favorite' etc. would be Reva Cloning era. Note that the common person in those 3 storylines is Reva. I think that Reva Shayne is one of the greatest characters in Soap history. For someone who originally was introduced as Billy Lewis ex-wife who Alan Spaulding brought into town to break up Billy and Vanessa Chamberlin and was the (self-proclaimed) Slut of Springfield, Reva came a long way.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Eric Braeden (Young & the Restless) out after breakdown in contract negotiations

I think a lot of die-hard GL viewers felt that sci-fi was out
of place on a show that was built around relationships (intra-
and interfamily), that sci-fi was OK on "Days Of Our Lives" but
it wasn't the stuff of GL. But I 100% agree that Reva was one
of the great soap characters and she's going to be missed. And
since this thread is actually about Eric Braeden, I'd say the same
about Victor Newman, although I hope we haven't seen the last
of him.