What to Expect From ‘Y&R’ in 2025: Life or Death for Sharon & Phyllis, Kyle’s Love Triangle, and More
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As 2024 comes to a close, The Young and the Restless executive producer and head writer Josh Griffith previews what’s ahead and looks back on the highlights from the year that was.
“I feel really good about the fact that we were able to reestablish the Phyllis [Summers, Michelle Stafford]/Sharon [Newman, Sharon Case] battle dynamic and rekindle the friendship between Nikki [Newman, Melody Thomas Scott] and Jack [Abbott, Peter Bergman] over her alcoholism,” Griffith reflects. “Him helping her out, especially that wonderful two-hander episode that we did in the in the hotel room [in May] with Peter and Melody, just knocked it out of the park.”
Heather Stevens’ [Vail Bloom] murder, which took place in September, had a ripple effect through the town, but especially on Sharon, and was a story driver. “With the whole arc of Heather’s murder and Sharon’s belief that she was guilty and all the people that were affected, I felt like I got to tell my Hitchcock movie finally,” Griffith muses. “The momentum kept going and I just kept finding new directions and new twists to spiral out, with just a killer performance by Sharon Case. Bringing back Linden [Ashby] as Cameron [Kirsten] as sort of her vision and muse yielded much more story and much more excitement than I even thought it would. I was excited about it going in, but I wasn’t prepared for how well I think it spun out. And the return of Ray Wise [Ian Ward] and Colleen Zenk [Jordan Howard] was a real plus for me.”
Sonja Flemming/CBS
There was one storyline that hit close to home for the scribe. “I was very proud of the Connor Newman [Judah Mackey] OCD story because that’s a very personal story for me,” Griffith reveals. “A couple of years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with OCD. The journey that my wife and I went through with her, learning how severe and debilitating it is, and how so many people are unaware of it, made me feel it was important to tell that story. I was really proud of the story and really proud of how Missy [Claire Egan, Chelsea Lawson] and Mark [Grossman, Adam Newman] and Judah handled it.”
Another absorbing tale was Ashley Abbott’s (Eileen Davidson) journey through Dissociative identity disorder. “I loved the Ashley DID storyline,” Griffith says. “I thought she just knocked that out of the park. I thought it was engrossing, it was exciting, and it was wonderful to watch her dig into the material, so I was really happy about that.”
Griffith also got to pen the show’s 13,000th episode on November 13 which included a rebuild of the Newman ranch that burned down in 2012. “Bringing back the Newman ranch has been a long time in the works,” Griffith says. “And I’m thrilled that finally we could pull it off for Nikki and Victor [Newman, Eric Braeden] and for Mel and Eric to have that back. I want to give special kudos to our art department, who just did an amazing job of recreating the old ranch even grander and more opulent.”
Griffith says he is well aware that it was not the most popular decision all those years ago. “I was part of the regime that burned it down and it got us a good Adam/Sharon story, but let’s just say all has been rectified,” he notes.
As for what to expect in 2025, Griffith declares, “It will be even better than 2024. It will be a whirlpool of romance, suspense, and family conflict.”
© Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Sharon Newman, Nick Newman, Phyllis Summers, Mariah Copeland, and Tessa Porter
“This story is going to explode over the next month or two in a major way, with a lot of surprising reveals as to what really happened over the course of the last six months. It will shake up Mariah [Copeland, Camryn Grimes] in a huge way and affect her relationship with Tessa [Porter, Cait Fairbanks], and it will bring Sharon and Nick closer than ever. He is the one who’s determined to find out what happened to her. He’s leading the charge, so it’s going to be very exciting and very suspenseful. Sharon and Phyllis will be thrown into a life-or-death situation where they’re both going to have to reevaluate their relationship.”
Jack Abbott and Victor Newman
“For the longest time, they seemed to have reached a détente. But one of the things that I loved about how Nikki’s alcoholism and Jack’s involvement in that spun out was that I was able to reignite, in a very organic and dramatic way, the rivalry and the hatred between Victor and Jack. That’s going to continue, and in true Jack/Victor battle history, just as one thinks they bested the other, the other one comes up with another strategy. So, the war is going to escalate. Victor’s going to go after Jack where it hurts, which is [his company] Jabot, and unfortunately, in a big Romeo and Juliet type story that we’re going to tell, Claire [Grace, Hayley Erin] and Kyle [Abbott, Michael Mealor] will be caught right in the middle.”
Claire Grace, Kyle Abbott, and Summer Newman
“Claire and Kyle are going to have to fight the fact that Victor doesn’t want them together and Jack is worried that they shouldn’t be together because of what Victor might pull. Summer [Allison Lanier], in true ‘I’m Phyllis’s daughter’ fashion, will A, feel a pull back to Kyle and B, sense an opening, so if Victor and Jack weren’t enough for Kyle and Claire to have to worry about, Summer’s decision of, ‘Maybe I want Kyle back,’ is going to throw another wrench into that. We’re going to see Summer sort of return to her Phyllis attitude.”
The Newmans
“As we build this powerful Romeo and Juliet story, they will all be affected — Nikki, Victoria [Newman, Amelia Heinle], Victor — and Nick will be heavily involved in the next arc of this Ian fallout for Sharon.”
© Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Billy Abbott, Sally Spectra, and Phyllis Summers
“I’m really intrigued by this. They’re coming together off this mutual sense of betrayal by Adam and by Chelsea and it puts them in a very interesting and romantic situation. I think Sally [Spectra, Courtney Hope] is going to be a very good influence for Billy [Abbott, Jason Thompson], and as we slowly introduce Phyllis into that mix, Phyllis becomes the sort of darker angel on one shoulder of Billy’s while Sally is the lighter one on the other.”
Chelsea Lawson and Adam Newman
“They really emotionally rebonded as parents as they dealt with Connor’s OCD. They had that one night in Baltimore, and they’re going to find it harder to isolate that night as just a one-time thing that came out of fear and grief, and realize that there’s more to their relationship that still exists beyond being parents.”
The Winters Family
“[New hire] Nathan Owens, who’s fantastic, is just the first step in a major, evolving mystery for the entire Winters family. It will have major impact on Nate [Hastings, Sean Dominic], on Devon [Winters, Bryton James], and especially on Lily [Winters, Christel Khalil], but we’re going to find out that maybe Audra [Charles, Zuleyka Silver] has some more skeletons in the closet as well as we get into this mystery.”
Sonja Flemming/CBS
Daniel Romalotti
“Daniel [Romalotti, Michael Graziadei] has to find a way to get full closure from the death of Heather, find a way to totally forgive Sharon, and set himself off on a new path with a potentially, I don’t want to say romance, but a but a bit of a walk on the on the emotional wild side.”
Ian Ward and Jordan Howard
“We’re headed for a wild ride and a massive showdown between this diabolical duo and the Newmans. Look for major showdowns between Nikki and Jordan and Victor and Ian.”
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Summer and Chance have more chemistry than Skyle ever had. Skyle behave more as sibling's and aren't a super couple. Now they're putting us through with two dry triangles that no one ask for. Griffith thinks he's doing a great job well in messing it even more.
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Maybe he should think less about himself and more about what makes sense to the characters, their history, and the story at large. Me, me, me isn't a good look.
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Phyllis is so annoying! Summer omg! Chance is adorable but she can’t stand Kyle with anyone else.. I guess they need a younger Phyllis.
Wow this writer thinks he’s doing a great job?? The storyline is ridiculous! The best thing is bringing back the Newman ranch. Seriously the background scenery looks like wallpaper for the outside scenes. GH has beautiful home interiors. The Genoa city homes are humble for millionaires. I’m taking a break for awhile getting to be as silly as BB with Carter & Hope🙄🙄🙄
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Y&R is the worst soap for numerous reasons for me anyway. I find it so boring when I try to watch it that I can't watch it. The sets are awful, tacky mansions, dining places are outdated, teeny tables. GH has amazing sets, some better stories too.
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Maybe you should stick with Cjackson and watch GH instead of trashing Y&R!!!
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Go watch GH then
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The Newman ranch looks dated, overdecorated and tacky.
25 2
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Maybe you should just stick to watching GH instead of trashing Y&R???
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Gh get fire n it y&r just sucks
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I totally dislike putting Chadam back together. He had finally found someone that understoʻodd him & loved him . . .SALLY!
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C
Courtney is too good for soaps. She should be in action films, before she gets any older.
8 3
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C
She and JT were by far the best part of that terrible quadrangle. The other two were just whiny and awful. At least the two more interesting characters are being paired together. The other two can be paired together, siloed and fast forwarded.
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"Intriguing" is not a word I would ever use for any of the current Y&R storylines. Someone's living in a fantasy world or they have surrounded themselves with a pathetic bunch of sycophants who tell him he's really good at his job. 🤣
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Please don’t let the Newmans always come out on top! I love Jack! Let him win every now and again. Sick of Vicotrs attitude!
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Omg Victor has to win!!! He is tough and the best .
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OMG, it all sounds so terrible. I won't be watching. Too bad cause the show has really good actors but they're stuck with this bozo.
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Can't watch the two that look and behave like siblings, Adam and Chelsea. No.
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Josh Griffith is a terrible writer. But the show doesn't care, so I'll continue NOT tuning in.
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Let me know when Victoria actually gets something to do. Where the heck is Amelia Heinle?
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Only wish they left Jordan and Ian out. Sick of them already. Bring back Daisy and Ryder Carter to shake things up.
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I think Sharon shouldn't get off on her mental illness and please how can anyone mess with Sharon's meds ?Only "Aunt Jordan can get away with leaving prison and no one knows she's gone,messing with Sharon's meds,killing Heather,sneaking around town & no one she's her,makes Phyllis's car crash on Victor Newman's property & no one saw her,and made Sharon's van crash and no one saw that at all.Chance is a lousy cop let's see more of Christine& Danny they belong together.Let Nate's half brother be one of Audra's ex's that she left behind "high n dry" shall we say .Nick should pay more attention to his son Christian whom we haven't see or heard from for yrs.None of the kids seem to come home on Christmas break .Noah didn't come home or jacks grand daughter Reed seems to have been lost in the shuffle.
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Jordan coming back again put the nail in the coffin for me. I'm done recording and watching. How they commit murder and aren't in jail is unrealistic. Jordan getting out of a maximum security prison is truly reaching.
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This legit sound awful. No reason to tune in. Looking forward to trying out BTG.
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That's the ONE I'm waiting for
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Good dont it watch
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C
Thank you Josh Griffith for given that 2025 preview. Looks like I will have an extra hour each weekday after reading this summary of complete garbage.
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👏👏👏well done writer,O no wait no it's not.U think ùr doin a great job well ur not u thinking of u not the fans.How u can make the Newman family look like they walk water n everybody else not
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SICK OF THE SHARON STORYLINE END IT ALREADY
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Is Danny and Cricket part of that plan for 2025? 🤬
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Let me know when Adam's running the Newman empire. Following hos father's footsteps as it should be!
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C
Josh Griffith should be in charge of Disney. His ego and self congratulatory persona is epic. He let Missy Egan break up the couples. He has let Victor destroy half the cast by getting Chancellor. He has written Lily into a corner. Sally and Billy have Zero chemistry. Adam and Chelsea are friends not lovers. Claire and Kyle are boring. The best couple on the show that isn't married is Summer and Daniel and they are siblings. Josh Griffin has done an "AMAZING" job. Cheers to 2025!
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