Josh Griffith, head writer and executive producer of The Young and the Restless, is optimistic about where the show stands in 2025 — and credits a return to core characters and classic storytelling for its momentum.
“I’m thrilled and I couldn’t be happier,” says Griffith. “I think that this year, especially, we’ve been able to really home in on the core legacy characters and have them front and center, driving story. We’re really playing to the show’s strengths of family and power and romance and mystery.”
There will be no shortage of drama in Genoa City this fall, thanks to the comeback of Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn). “Cane’s return has created tension, energy, concern, and action. It’s got everybody percolating, waiting to see what he’s going to do and how it’s going to impact their families and their businesses.”
Griffith is pleased by what he’s seen so far from Flynn. “I’ve actually been wanting to get Billy over here forever,” reveals Griffith, who crossed paths with the actor when they were both at Days. “I just so loved working with him at Days, and he’s just such a formidable actor and just a great person. The stars aligned in this situation where he was ending his contract at Days, and I wanted to reinvent Cane, and I just thought Billy would be perfect. And thank goodness the timing was right.”
With the stakes so high, and the emotional twists only getting deeper as the season changes, fans should brace for “a nuclear bomb of emotion and suspense,” teases Griffith.
Big Casting News
Roger Howarth (ex-Franco Baldwin, General Hospital et al) has been hired to play a mystery role; Tamara Braun (ex-Ava Jerome, Days of our Lives et al) will play Sienna Bacall; Lucas Adams (ex-Tripp Dalton, Days) will portray Noah Newman; and Matt Cohen (ex-Griffin Munro, GH) will join the cast as Detective Burrow. “I could not be happier that the stars aligned, and we were able to get all four of them,” says Griffith, who is quick to add that these newbies will serve to enhance the stories of the characters viewers love. “We’ve got these wonderful new characters coming in with these fantastic actors playing them that will be integrally mixed with our core characters,” he notes. “It will always be the core characters who are driving the story. They’re here to propel story for our legacy characters.”
Jill Johnson/Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
As for what they’ll be doing, Griffith explains, “They’re all tied into the same story, which is this major L.A noir story that I’m telling that has Nick (Newman, Joshua Morrow) and Sharon (Newman, Sharon Case) right at the center of it as they try to save Noah from a very dangerous situation that will involve Tamara and Roger’s characters.”
Look for Noah to have changed in his time away. “He’s a little edgier,” previews Griffith. “He’s a little more independent of being a Newman now, which is going to create some conflict with his dad.”
Noah’s return will energize Nick and Sharon’s story. “We’ve slowly started moving them closer together again as a not ready for a couple yet, but I think their connection has been energized, so I wanted a really dramatic way to thrust them into this new story,” Griffith adds. “I felt, ‘OK, this is the time for us to bring Noah back. This is the time for Noah to be at the center of their concern and their need to solve the mystery that we’re setting in place.’”
In Memoriam
Griffith is touched that the show was able to have the late Tristan Rogers reprise the role of Colin Atkinson for what turned out to be his last TV appearance prior to his death on August 15. “Well, that was bittersweet, but at the same time, I’m glad that he was able to continue working right up to near the end,” offers Griffith. “I had the Cane story in place, and I wanted to do these flashbacks with Colin, so we reached out to see if he was available, and we learned of his situation, but that he still wanted to work. He came in, and it was beautiful to see him get to act even as he was facing this challenge.”
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Exciting Storylines Ahead
Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), and Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters)
Nikki, Victor, Jack, and Diane will be forced to deal with the potential wrecking ball that is Cane to a point where Jack and Victor may find that they need to set aside their hatred of each other and work together to fight him off. That said, we all know that it can’t last, and will they end up trying to undermine each other anyway? So, the Cane return will, in many ways, inflame the decades-long battle between Victor and Jack.
Cane Ashby, Lily Winters (Christel Khalil), and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford)
I feel like we’ve got the opportunity here for a massively entertaining and interesting triangle with Phyllis on one side and Lily on the other. The way I kind of look at it is that Phyllis is attracted to [Cane’s alias, Aristotle] Dumas, and Lily is in love with Cane. And the battle will be which of those two personas that Cane represents will win out. Phyllis wants everything that Phyllis has ever wanted, to be wealthy and successful, and who cares who gets hurt in the process, and Lily is the heart and soul of Cane, that he’s kind of lost in this journey. Cane is targeting various companies and families, but is he willing to give up this plan if it means he can be back together with Lily? His love for Lily has never died — it’s still driving him — but he kind of got lost inside the persona of Dumas and the power of Dumas. The question going into the fall is, can Lily break through that and bring back the man she loved?
Devon Winters (Bryton James)
Well, Devon is going to be very concerned about Lily. He doesn’t trust this new persona of Cane at all, and he tries to be the voice of reason with Lily. And then there will be some events which will tie into the Mariah (Copeland, Camryn Grimes), Tessa Porter (Cait Fairbanks) and Daniel (Romalotti, Michael Graziadei) story that will throw Devon into his own challenge and threat to his family.
Daniel Romalotti, Tessa Porter, and Mariah Copeland
Mariah is dealing with this trauma. We will finally learn what happened, and it’s pretty devastating. It’s going to send Mariah on a journey of soul searching, and the guilt of what she’s done will put up a wall, which she thinks she’s doing to protect Tessa, but is actually pushing Tessa away. Daniel, as a good friend, can’t help but find himself falling in love with Tessa, though he knows it’s impossible because of the situation, and we’ll see if that explodes.
Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic) and Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver)
She wants another chance, but it’s going to be really hard for Nate to ever be able to trust her, because even when he gave her every opportunity to come clean, she kept lying about it until he finally forced her into telling the truth, which leaves Audra out on her own and scrappy and hungry. She’s only going to feel sorry for herself for a second, and then she’s going to say, “Okay, I have to look the other way.” And then, of course, you’ve got Noah coming back to town, and they do have a history.
Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) and Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope)
Billy will fight the temptation that Cane keeps dangling in front of him of getting Chancellor back, but it will become so obsessive to him that it threatens the relationship with Sally, to the point where Sally is going to have to draw a line in the sand.
Jill Abbott (Jess Walton)
The way we last left Billy and Jill was he said, “If you take Chancellor away from me, there’s no coming back for me.” She’s going to come back to town trying to repair that anger and pain that Billy’s feeling, and that’s going to be multiplied by the fact that she sort of sees Cane as the surrogate son that Billy could never be. She has seen that Cane has done what she’s always wanted Billy to do, and he’s been unable, so that’s just going to feed into Billy’s own insecurity and anger.
Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor), Claire Newman (Hayley Erin), and Holden Novak (Nathan Owens)
Claire, who grew up in such a sheltered, horrible, controlled life with Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk), now has started this new life. At first, she felt, “Okay, I’m falling in love with Kyle,” but Holden offers her a wilder, more edgy adventure — something she’s never had before. Will that temptation destroy her relationship with Kyle?
Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle)
Victoria cares about her daughter’s happiness, and when she sees Holden may be leading Claire down the wrong path, Victoria is going to be very concerned. Victoria is still dealing with the loss of Cole (Howard, J. Eddie Peck) after his coming back into her life, and Nate is dealing with the loss of Audra. There’s some history there [between Victoria and Nate]. Will their friendship possibly lead to a reigniting of their romance?
Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) and Sharon Newman (Sharon Case)
Nick and Sharon are going to be thrust into this massive mystery that takes them to Los Angeles as they try to save Noah from going down a dangerous, dangerous path that will involve Roger Howarth’s character and Tamara Braun’s character [Sienna Bacall] and Matt Cohen’s character [Detective Burrow].
Adam Newman (Mark Grossman) and Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan)
Adam and Chelsea will be right at the heart of Cane’s planned attack on the Newman empire. Their relationship has really strengthened, and they’ve come back together, probably stronger than they ever have been. But as they face this threat from Cane, we’ll see that the side of Chelsea that is more like Adam than maybe she even knew starting to come out. So it won’t be, “I can’t let you do these kinds of things, Adam.” It’ll be like, “Sign me up. What do we need to do together?”
Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) and Christine Blair (Lauralee Bell)
They’re heading towards this beautiful, big wedding, which we will see near the end of November. It will be a two-day standalone event. But there’s always a threat. Phyllis has a new agenda, but she can multitask, and she still can’t help herself. What kind of spoiler will she end up being?
Lauren Fenmore (Tracey Bregman) and Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc)
Michael will soon receive a job offer from Cane. He’s supposedly retired, and it’s caused quite a rift between Michael and Victor. In the offer from Cane, Michael will see a possibility to maybe repair things by getting involved with Cane and then passing along information to Victor. And Lauren will go crazy over it, because she felt she finally got Michael out of that whole gray area of working for Victor, and as she sees he’s pulled back in, she’ll pull out all the stops to keep it from happening.
The Young and the Restless, Weekdays, CBS, Check Local Listings
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