Eric Braeden on SHOCKING Y&R Departure: "This Exit was ALL Calculated!"
By Jamey Giddens on October 05, 2009
Eric Braeden doesn't buy Victor being transformed from a grouchy corporate raider into a depraived, sociopathic enabler being just a coinky dink with his tense contract negotiations any more than I do (Keep checking back for this week's CBS/DAYS podcast)! In the blockbuster soap interview of the year, the former Young and Restless frontman tells TV Guide Magazine's Michael Logan he believes it has all been calculated by a hardball playing Sony!
Eric Braeden doesn't buy Victor being transformed from a grouchy corporate raider into a depraived, sociopathic enabler being just a coinky dink with his tense contract negotiations any more than I do (Keep checking back for this week's CBS/DAYS podcast)! In the blockbuster soap interview of the year, the former Young and Restless frontman tells TV Guide Magazine's Michael Logan he believes it has all been calculated by a hardball playing Sony!
How is Victor written out after his heart transplant? He’s been painted into such a dark and irredeemable place. Was this done to scare you?
Victor and Nikki go to Europe somewhere, Belgium or whatever, to some rehabilitation clinic. When I watch the show I realize—boy, oh boy—this exit was all calculated! They have now painted Victor Newman so black. He’s now killed this Colleen girl. He is responsible for the demise of everything. What he did do is hire that girl [Patty] and give her plastic surgery to get even with Jack Abbott. They’ve totally forgotten that Adam was gaslighting Ashley—now Victor’s held responsible for it. Jack Abbott is totally relieved of any kind of responsibility. It’s all Victor! They have forgotten all the backstory in order to make a rush to judgment. What they wanted to do—I’m thoroughly convinced of it—is make Victor look so bad to the public that the public will say, “Let him die.” So, yes, this is orchestrated and it happened at a very propitious time when my 26-week cycle was up. This is totally calculated from the top. It infuriates me, the conscious intention behind it. It’s a very dramatic story, a very good story, but it certainly has the potential for a permanent departure.
Well, we've been wanting a big business storyline on Y&R, who knew it would have to take place behind-the-scenes?
Photo by PR Photos
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Comments
30 March 2009
4 hours 41 min
Very interesting interview. Didn't realize he had already taken a paycut before.
Wow EB isn't holding back, oh wait he never does. I am interested to see how this plays out...
4 May 2008
3 weeks 5 days
Victor and Nikki get the EXACT same exit as John and Marlena from Days, also owned by Sony.
Hmmmmmmm............
30 March 2009
4 hours 41 min
I don't believe Nikki will be gone forever. She signed another contract so they will have to make up some excuse for her to return without Victor.
9 September 2009
2 hours 46 min
Even though Y&R is number one in the ratings, think the ratings are bad now watch their ratings fall. If there doing this to Y&R, other soaps aren't going to last much longer. Let's Make a Deal starts today, they better hope it fails, or they are going to be replace by some crapy game show. I like Wayne Brady think I'll pass, trying to get into GH. Just hard to get into another soap when don't know their history.
20 December 2008
12 weeks 4 days
This just means Days Of Our Lives is heading for number 1 in the ratings by the begining of 2010 !!!!!!
3 July 2008
1 day 17 hours
Everyone knows Eric Braeden and everyone knows that he speaks freely how he thinks, but I don't know if this interview was a wise decision.
Don't get me wrong, EB is saying all the right things and I'm glad that someone from the business that has been a part of it for so long is speaking out about anything that should been said. But in his situation .... I just don't know if it will do him or US for that matter any good.
Some people in charge must be pretty pissed about that interview and make the way for EB to go back maybe even harder. So that I really think that we might see the last of EB as Victor Newman as of November 2.
Don't think that he has any regrets about this, but for me is departure is really turning into an exit.
21 November 2008
1 hour 18 min
It took him this long to figure out what was going on around him? Did he think they would just bow down to him?
Should've taken the paycut, EB! So long, old man...
14 February 2008
10 hours 29 min
Well, he's another one of over 15.1 million Americans out of a job. Welcome to the real world, Mr. Braeden.
And can Michael Logan rim Braeden any more? My goodness. I mean, really!
9 June 2009
3 min 10 sec
WOW great interview. I have a feeling this very well could be the last we see of Victor. That makes me quite sad and I will miss Eric and victor. Hopefully Y&R/Sony and Eric can work out an agreement.
3 March 2009
1 week 2 days
Why would anyone think Eric Braeden is going anywhere other than back to Y&R set? This is not shocking news, its just a stunt for contract negotiations and nothing else.
This whole interview sounds like a crock. Eric still has a job and he should be happy that he is still getting a check other than unemployment like most of us.
Besides, how many producers are lining up to use him? Or worst can he play anything other than Victor Newman.
Oh Pleeeeze call me when he has real suffering like the rest of us.
30 March 2009
3 days 10 hours
I have no use for Braeden's crying and painting himself as a victim in all of this. I think it would be hysterically funny if the ratings SKYROCKETED the week after Victor left for Europe.
I hope he's gone for good. Thirty years of his pompous ass on this show is long enough. Victor's ACTUAL DEATH would bring about tons of storyline potential, and free up some much needed cash for the show.
Have Nikki return from Europe ALONE, saying that the old goat had a massive heart attack and his ashes were thrown over the English Channel. Have TPTB FIRE Braeden and have Victor REALLY be dead.
1 April 2009
2 days 12 hours
I won't miss him, I'm just a girl (fan) who loves her Y&R but needs a break from Victor and that girl (Nicki)...I feel that if you are going to whine and cry about like a girl (baby) than you can just take your vacation. I would like to think Y&R is a great 'gig' to have.... and it's job security if you're potraying Victor Newman!
I'm bummed about that girl (Colleen) got the axe, but as Team Abbott, again, I won't be crying over Victor's Haitus.
YOU GOT THAT!!!???
Seriously. Could stand to use the break....
11 December 2008
16 min 4 sec
Maybe this frees up some money to bring back Victoria Rowell. Lemons into lemonade, people!
25 December 2008
11 hours 10 min
I actually don't think the ratings will suffer with EB leaving. This will be Drake and Deidre all over again and DOOL managed just fine.
I do think he has a point in saying that 30 years should count for something but at the same time I wouldn't mind a change, not only behind the cameras but in front of the cameras as well. Having Victor be the same person he was 30 years with women throwing themselves at him isn't cutting it anymore when he is 60 years old.
27 March 2009
2 weeks 1 day
I cannot stand this praise for Maria Arena Bell. She is the one who wrote Victor into a corner and could have easily written a less damaging exit story for the character. Y&R has become a plot driven mess that insults the intelligence of its audience. The show is filled with nonsensical storylines, degrading writing for female characters, and damn right insulting writing for minority characters (if they're even on once a month or so). Y&R is in dire need of new writers & producers.
Braeden should be so lucky to walk away from the mess Y&R is.
16 September 2009
18 weeks 1 day
So I gather by this interview EB is not coming back? Reading between the lines of this interview he is really angry and I can just imagine what was said off the record!
As for replacing the actor with someone new it has been done before with the other cast members. With the exception of Traci, every member of the Abbott family has been played by different actors. Jack, Ashley, Jill,Billy,Colleen even Jerry Douglas was not the first to play John Abbott. Looking at the Newman family taking into account when they "age" a character, there has been only two times where a actor was replaced. Heather Tom was replaced by the current actress and when the actor playing Adam originally quit.
When Terry Lester left the role of Jack and was replaced by Peter Bergman some said he would not be a good replacement. Well PB has been in the role for over 20 years now and won some Emmys so he must be doing something right!
Maybe the suits at the Y&R are going about the wrong way and EB has some valid points. I do not think we will be hearing the last of this
18 August 2008
5 days 4 hours
From a character perspective it is interesting that he mentioned everything that happened to Colleen, but I feel Victor's cruelest moment was asking for Nikki just as Ashley was going nuts with pseudocyesis.
Ashley gave up a life in Paris boffing cute younger guys like Rick Forrester to help Victor. She was rewarded by having to move into his old mansion with no maids, and his adult kids tormenting her.
That Ashley Abbott Lassiter Bladeson Howard Carlton Newman is one nutty chemist, and I hope she is always central to the show, but I also hope she finds some relief soon.
4 May 2008
3 weeks 5 days
"I actually don't think the ratings will suffer with EB leaving. This will be Drake and Deidre all over again and DOOL managed just fine."
The ratings may not have suffered, but Days took a huuuuge nosedive in quality when Dee and Drake were fired. Now it's not fit to flush down my toilet.
14 February 2008
10 hours 29 min
30 years being employed at the same place no longer carries the same weight in this economy. Employer loyalty no longer exists and employees who expect that in this current climate are delusional. Everyone is fungible, even the almighty Eric Braeden. Y&R can go on without Victor Newman even if it eventually leads to cancellation.
And ditto on the moolah being channeled to bring Victorial Rowell back, her detractors be damned.
15 December 2008
2 days 8 hours
In post #16, Westcoaster mentioned that some people said that Peter Bergman would not be a good replacement (for Terry Lester as Jack) and yet he's remained on the show for 20 years, garnered Emmys and therefore must be doing something right.
I have accepted Peter Bergman as Jack and "recognize" him as that character. HOWEVER, if I had my choice (and it were even possible--which it isn't), I'd take Terry Lester back as Jack in a heartbeat. Where Terry played Jack as a devil-may-care playboy with an endless libido...but who cared about his sisters and father, Peter Bergman has played him more as this posturing diva. No one can play the tender, caring side of Jack Abbott better than Peter Bergman, but... that's not all Jack should be!
If Terry Lester hadn't gotten fed up with what he perceived as Y&R becoming "The Lauralee Bell Show" (which it really didn't become until the a few years into the '90s after his departure) and decided to leave AND he didn't die (RIP), I would love to be seeing Terry Lester's Jack go up against Victor AND deal with the return of Stacy Haiduk's Patty. Can't have all that, I know (death sure makes some actor returns pretty permanent *joke*), but... man, I prefer Terry Lester in the role.
Oh! And just because an actor wins Emmy awards, doesn't mean they were truly worthy in the eyes of every one of their peers AND the audience. There have been actors all over daytime who have been overlooked for Emmys and others who get them like an annual magazine subscription renewal in the mail--whether or not their performances really merited it.
3 April 2009
1 week 1 day
Troy McClure, I liked what you said: "Having Victor be the same person he was 30 years with women throwing themselves at him isn't cutting it anymore when he is 60 years old."
This can be said about a lot of legacy characters on various soap operas - especially with the character of Erica Kane.
DanMan I loved your statement regarding P. Bergman's portrayal of Jack Abbott: "Peter Bergman has played him more as this posturing diva." It totally summed up my impression of Peter Bergman through out the years. There just seems to be something about him that isn't right.
15 October 2008
2 days 10 hours
Loved this. They need to come up w/better ways to handle this contract business w/o it getting ugly. The last resort isn't cutting your vets who made this show what it is. Sign of the times and I fully support Eric's decision to stand by his guns even though he may be jobless for awhile.
15 December 2008
2 days 8 hours
To Llanview76: Hey, they don't call him "Aunt Jack" for nothing.
14 April 2009
3 weeks 4 days
I hope Eric stays with Y&R - hopefully this will play out like Melody Thomas Scotts did (she returned!) earlier this month. It's sad that at one time there were so many wonderful soaps...Edge of Night, Santa Barbara, Search For Tomorrow, Another World, Ryan's Hope, Texas, and on and on...It makes me sad that we have so few now and the quality is really not what it use to be.
17 June 2009
6 hours 30 min
dear Eric, this isn't the 80's & early 90's anymore!!! Your show doesn't get over 7 million viewers a week! It's lucky it gets over 3!
stop being a crybaby and do what your peers do and cut back or get fired!!!!
25 February 2009
7 hours 34 min
Intersting article ! I don't watch Y&R but I am aware of Eric Braeden and his role on the show. I'm thinking that I would rather watch the Eric Braeden Show than Y&R..He's good! Maybe a sitcom where he plays an aging Soap Star who grants interviews here and there , goes through contract negotiations, fights with the headwriter (played by Kirstie Alley) etc. etc. I could totally see Valerie Bertinelli playing his Agent.
Sweet.
2 March 2009
13 weeks 5 days
From what I understand, it isn't that these actors won't take paycuts. It's that they are being offered these cuts outside of the negotiation periods. And I'm not sure it that's what's going on with Eric, but if it is, I don't blame him.
I do think this is the end of the big name stars on soaps. No longer will one star be held as the prize of a soap. Good for the other actors, bad for those who'd like a larger check.
11 April 2009
7 hours 59 min
Do some of you people lack basic reading comprehension? Braeden is willing to take a pay cut but he's being forced to void his contract to do so.
When the Chris Engen crap was taking place in the summer, plenty of you were decrying Engen for violating his contract. Guess what? Sony is shredding Braeden's contract. If Sony isn't willing to honor this agreed upon salary, what makes you think they will honor any negotiated salary?
So, Braeden takes another cut in salary. He signs another 3 year deal. Then boom, 6 months later Sony shreds that contract.
Contracts become worthless.
11 April 2009
7 hours 59 min
P.S.
Company loyalty is dead. Employees should not expect loyalty from their employers. Everyone is a widget to be replaced. Only CEOs with golden parachutes need not worry.
21 November 2008
1 hour 18 min
Company loyalty isn't dead, it's a myth. No company is loyal to employees and why should they be? People work for a paycheck, not because they love the company.
EB is between a rock and a hard place just like the rest of 'em and, anyway, he's old enough to retire and probably has more than enough money to do it right.
The future is here, people! These soaps are dropping like flies because no one besides we few give a shit about them. And why should they? What does a soap have to offer a non-viewer?
Unfortunately, not much...