The Young and The Restless Spoilers: Josh Griffith Fires All 5 Breakdown Writers – Vows To Do Their Writing Himself

The Young And The Restless spoilers indicate that Head Writer and Co-executive Producer, Josh Griffith has axed the five writers that made up the breakdown writing staff according to several sources. According to The Wrap, one insider says this is a cost-cutting move and Griffith says he will do it himself. Of course, this means mapping out storylines for several episodes. Is doing the work of six people more than Griffith can do?

A Connection To WGA Negotiations?

The Young and The Restless spoilers suggest that the insider says, “The timing of the firings is suspect given that WGA negotiations were coming up and the show is celebrating a major milestone with its 50th anniversary. Even more brutal is that four of the five writers of the breakdown staff are all women, one of them being African-American, who was hired with the intended purpose of expanding diversity behind the scenes per CBS’ directive.”

According to the same source, these firings follow Sony Picture Television’s firing of Griffith’s co-executive producer Anthony Morina. Both Sony and CBS declined to comment, and a representative for “The Young and The Restless” did not respond to “The Wrap” when asked for a comment as well.

A show insider says there was other restructuring as well. These changes were made to streamline creativity and mirror the structure of other soaps.

Y&R spoilers: Why Do Soaps Employ Breakdown Writers?

Prime-time dramas usually have a head writer, co-head writer, and scriptwriters. However, these shows only produce between 13-22 episodes a year. Daytime dramas produce a show five days a week for most of the year. Daytime dramas need breakdown writers because of their often grueling schedules compared to other genres.

Although these changes are happening at CBS, both ABC’s “General Hospital, and Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives still employ breakdown writers as well as scriptwriters. Ironically, these two soaps often give spoilers and sneak peeks for two weeks as opposed to the one week that is usually given by the two CBS soaps.

The Young And The Restless Spoilers: Cutting Cost Became Intense In The 1990s

Cutting costs is nothing new to network soap operas which were plentiful in the 1990s before the O.J. Simpson trial and the WGA strike in the 2000s. “The Young And The Restless” has been No. 1 in daytime drama for 35 of its 50 years. However, it is not immune to these cuts. “Days Of Our Lives” went to streaming only last year.

A writer from another soap opera calls these firings a slap in the face and points out that soap writers have always felt slighted by the WGA. This throws an interesting light on the 50th-anniversary celebration featuring fan favorites such as Michael Damian (Danny Romalotti), Patty Weaver (Gina Roma), Tricia Cast (Nina Webster), Barbara Crampton (Leanna Love), and Veronica Redd (Mamie Johnson). The anniversary is on March 26.Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Y&R right now. Come back here often for The Young And The Restless spoilers, news, and updates.