News
Michael Graziadei Gone From The Young And the Restless!
Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins
Well, we all knew this day was coming! But according to Soap Opera Digest today, Michael Graziadei finished his run as Daniel Romalotti on November 3oth when he taped his final scenes at The Young and the Restless!
The cast gathered for a good-bye party on set, with Michelle Stafford (Phyllis), Joshua Morrow (Nick) and Peter Bergman (Jack) offering parting words. “Another scene with my Grazzzzz # reallycrying,” tweeted Stafford that day. Michael first joined the cast in 2004.
As many are aware, Graziadei has been eager to continue to spread his wings and add to his burgeoning resume doing more roles in primetime television and motion pictures! This departure will provide him with the opportunity to do so. We wish Michael all the best in his new endeavors!
What was your favorite moment of Graziadei’s as Daniel? Are you sad about his departure from Genoa City? Let us know!
Figures. But it’s the right move for him.
Best of luck in his future endeavours.
Graz is too good for soaps. He needs to keep climbing. The show misued him from the get go, never gave him anything good to show his talents. Good for him! U go, Graz, I will still be behind you, Eileen, Tom P’s friend and urs.
Michael hasn’t had much to do on the show lately anyway – the whole Daisy thing made me sick and I never got into Daniel and Heather as a couple….personally I think the best of his work was in his relationship with Phyllis (Michelle Stafford).
Sad, but he hadn’t had much good story lately.
Graz was one of the best young actors ever in Y&R. it’s a pity they let him go because he was so talented but for his carrier i think it was a wise mood. We sure are gonna see more of Graz.
I must have missed something. I never really thought he was that great, but good luck to him. Maybe he’ll do better with good writers/directors.
Never did like his character.
Michael is a terrific actor. If Daniel had a meaningful story or not, he was a welcome face on screen. Good luck to Michael.
As per your question- my favorite story line involving Daniel was the whole aftermath after Cassie death. I thought the character best romance was with Lily before Cane came onto the scene. As for MG, well he isn’t the first soap actor nor the last who believes they can make it in the “big leagues.” And truth was the show was not using his talents fully, so sometimes they need to walk away- but Daniel is an important character, I suspect the show will eventually recast or MG will come back one day, if prime time or movies don’t pan out.
Mary SF hit the nail on the head! The aftermath of Cassie’s death was perhaps Michael Graz’s best storyline in his entire 8 year run on Y&R.
I have really enjoyed this actor for the last several years. He was a good son to Phyl. I wish him great success.
He is a talented guy – Best of luck!
I wish Michael Graziadei the best of luck. He was great on Y&R. I only wish he had gotten a haircut in his last year. Part of the reason I liked the old opening to Y&R so much was his scene with the short hair. Oh well. It’s HIS hair. Ha! Ha!
My favorite things to do with Daniel on Y&R had to do with his relationships with Phyllis, Lily, Kevin, Amber, Lucy (especially when he gave her to Billy & Victoria and then when he realized he loved her), and I was starting to like Jennifer Landon as Heather. I also really liked the work he did during Cassie’s infatuation with him/death/being on the run with Lily in California.
*But if this is the way characters are being taken off the canvas, I guess the next time Billy Miller’s character of Billy Abbott goes to Los Angeles or leaves Genoa City then we will know that Billy Miller (as long rumored) has left the building too.
MG… made Phyllis “normal”… a real chemistry bloomed with his onscreen mother…. props to that….
last i saw him…. he was featured in a 3-4 episode turn as Jessica Lange’s boy toy…. on American Horror Story.
This is in Michael’s best decision and the character’s; this time away will give both time to be given a much needed growth. Michael is a far talented actor, and the character of Daniel is much under-used. I hope he comes back down the line, with or without Michael!
his talent was truly wasted on y&r – i have seen him on prime time shows and he was awesome – i really wish him the very best & i believe with his talent he will go far in prime time & hopefully the big screen…………
Hope he gets “cleaned up.”. Couldn’t stand the grunge look.
I think the character was important to keep Phyllis grounded but who could blame him for jumping this ship??
I for one can’t blame him for jumping ship. Not since the aftermath of Cassie’s death, his marriage to Amber, the Daisy/Lucy/Billy/Victoria storyline’s has Michael Graz had any decent work. I think he wanted out so that he could pursue work outside of the daytime medium. He’s got a very good shot at being successful in prime-time and major motion pictures. His departure was not unexpected and was rumored to be happening before MAB was fired from Y&R as well as Billy Miller’s.
Too bad but not unexpected. I’m not sure if it was due to the writing, the actor, or the character but, in the scene’s with Phyllis, Graziadei’s Daniel was the only character who seemed to bring out the “real” Phyllis.
Phyllis is a character most viewers love to hate and she does some really bad or dumb (take your pick) things. The one positive thing about Phyllis that I firmly believe is that she tries to be a good mother. (Not always doing the smartest thing but her basic intentions are always based on her love for her children). You only really saw this when Phyllis and Daniel had a heart-to-heart discussion.
When the part of Daniel is recast, it will be interesting to see if this dynamic still exists between Phyllis and her son.
Sad news, but it doesn’t come as a complete shock. Michael is an extremely talented actor who made the character of Daniel his own as soon as he set foot on the show in 2004. He had a definite style and was often times very funny and equally intense. I enjoyed his scenes with Michelle so much. They had great chemistry. Wishing The Graz the best and hope to see him on the screen again!
I hate to see him leave the show, i think Michae l is a very good actor he will truly be missed
News
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)
In an ironic twist of fate, and only in the soaps, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom’s (Katie Logan) on-screen son is played by Crew Morrow (Will Spencer), the now 21-year-old son of her former TV brother on The Young and the Restless, Joshua Morrow (Nick Newman).
For those who have followed the six-time Daytime Emmy-winning actress’ career, Tom began on Y&R back in 1990 as Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Victor’s (Eric Braeden) daughter Victoria Newman. She played the role until 2003. Four years later, she joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful and has been there ever since.
Next month, at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Heather might add two gold statuettes to her collection with nominations for Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (which would be her record-breaking 7th for an actress), and one for being a part of B&B’s writing team.
Photo: JPI
WHICH MORROW IS IN THE ROOM?
In a new livestream conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Heather recalled her reaction to seeing Crew Morrow on set when he started on B&B over two years ago, and pointed out the uncanny similarities between her TV son and her former TV brother.
“I just can’t even tell you how genetics is weird,” explained Tom. “Because it’s like they are the same person; the cadence and his voice and the way he laughs. When Crew was on the shows for the first couple of months, it would take me out of the scene. I would be like, ‘Oh, my God! It’s Joshua.’ It’s crazy. It’s so wonderful to have him. I love having him there. We’re so lucky to have Crew. I think he’s a wonderful addition to the Spencer family. I love that Bill (Don Diamont) and Katie’s son is on the canvas in a real way.”
In recent weeks, fans of The Bold and the Beautiful have seen a different side of Katie in regards to her son, Will. She simply does not approve, and does not trust Melissa Dylan (Sydney Bullock) as far as she can throw her. That puts a wrinkle in the mother/son relationship.
Photo: JPI
HEATHER TOM IS THRILLED THE CHARACTER OF WILL SPENCER IS ALL GROWN-UP
“Honestly, I’ve been waiting for this story since Will was born,” exclaimed Heather “To be like the overprotective, overbearing mother, momma bear, I love it!”
As for Katie’s attitude. which many feel may need an “attitude adjustment,” Tom has it all figured out on just how she is tackling her scenes! “I have all kinds of justifications for it,” reveals the multi-talented star.
Photo: JPI
KATIE SEES ALL SORTS OF RED FLAGS WITH DYLAN
“So. it’s not just Katie being the b-word,” proclaims Tom. “It’s that Will, her son, whom she loves and supports so much, has been constantly saying about Electra (Laneya Grace), ‘This is the love of my life. She’s broken my heart. I love her. All I want to do is get her back.'”
“So I think Katie could be like, ‘Okay, well, Electra’s a little flighty, but my son loves her, so I’m going to try to support that relationship,” explains Heather. “In addition, Will has never told his mother, ‘I love Dylan,’ at all. I think Katie is thinking of telling Will, ‘You should run, not walk, from this girl who seems somewhat obsessed!’ I don’t know where they’re going with the Electra/Will/Dylan triangle, but I think Katie’s very focused on Dylan for a multitude of reasons.”
So, do you like seeing Heather Tom as Katie going into overprotective momma bear-mode, now that the series has a major young triangle between Electra/Will/Dylan? What do you think about the fact that Heather has been a long-running scene partner with father/son across two different soaps in Joshua Morrow and Crew Morrow? Let us know in the comment section, and in case you missed it, check out our full conversation with Heather below.
There was never any doubt that in watching the riveting and emotional scenes on General Hospital which featured Finola Hughes as a PTSD-driven and mentally tortured Anna Devane, that when the climatic moments in Anna’s story aired, that we would not be singing the praises of Hughes. Once again, Finola showcased why she is one of the soap opera genres greatest assets and actresses.
In the key scenes, Anna has had a complete breakdown as she has lured and cornered Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) on Mount Emerson, and even thought through how she would kill her and cover it up, all thanks to hearing the voice and seeing a dead man, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). It’s visions of Peter that keeps egging Anna on to pull the trigger on Britt while in her delusional state.
Before Britt realizes that Anna trapped her in meeting her in Mount Emerson, she is very confused as to why she was all the way out in the boondocks to talk about what happened to her brother, Cassius Faison. However, Britt soon learned that what Anna was about to do is personal, and not professional, as she pulls the gun on her.
Courtesy/ABC
ANNA FIRES HER GUN IN GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
When Jason (Steve Burton) shows up to save the say, he tries to talk Anna off the ledge, begging her to not shoot Britt and make one of the greatest mistakes of his life. When Jason figured out Anna felt she needed to kill anyone related to Cesar Faison, he made her think twice, because that would mean, she also would need to end the lives of two of Maxie’s children, James and Bailey Lu.
Anna can’t stop seeing hallucinations of Peter pushing her to shoot Britt. Suddenly and completely overcome, Anna fires bullets straight in the direction of where she sees Peter as she declares this all must end tonight.
After the shots are fired, Anna realized what she had done and just sobbed and shook. It was a devastating and heartbreaking moment for longtime General Hospital fans to see the beloved Anna Devane, super spy, so lost. Anna explained to Jason, after he was able to disarm her, how she was being pushed to kill Britt by her visions of Peter.
EMMY-WORTHY SCENES FOR 2027
In another hankie-inducing moment, Anna just grabs Jason and breaks down in his arms. If these weren’t Emmy-worthy scenes, we don’t know what is, and it must be remembered by Hughes, General Hospital, and hopefully the voting body of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) when Emmy submissions and voting get underway in 2027 for the 54th annual Daytime Emmys.
From everything we noted above, to the sheer brilliance of her work, Michael Fairman TV names Finola Hughes, this week’s Power Performance of the Week.
Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Finola? Were you moved to tears during the gut-wrenching scenes? Should Finola include these scenes in an Emmy submission in 2027, should she decide to compete for Lead Actress gold? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.
According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.
Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.
The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.
Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.
In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.
Photo: JPI
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.
The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.
In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!
Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.
In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.
The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026
So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Preview: Kyle and Victoria, Stephanie and Nate, Sally and Billy: Do Any Couples Have a Chance at Lasting Happiness?
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)
‘General Hospital’s’ Finola Hughes Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
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THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Steffy Tells Carter She’s Pregnant, But He Has a Way ‘Out of This Situation For All of Us’
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