Anthony Morina and Josh Griffith Taking Over at 'The Young and the Restless'

Longtime soap opera director turned producer Anthony Morina is taking over the executive producer role at The Young and the Restless, while Josh Griffith will return for another stint as head writer. This follows the news earlier today that Mal Young is exiting his role as both executive producer and head writer.

Morina's daytime soap opera credits include directing at Santa Barbara, Generations, Sunset Beach, Guiding Light, Port Charles, General Hospital, All My Children and The Young and the Restless. He has been a producer at Y&R since 2007, and in the supervising producer role since 2008. He also produced and directed MTV's Spyder Games.

Griffith has been moving around from soap to soap since 1988. He has had two previous head writing stints at Y&R that were, like Young's, a mixed bag. If Morina and Griffith share a common vision for the iconic daytime drama, they have a chance to succeed. If not, more chaos and backstage turmoil will ensue. Stay tuned!

Sony's Steve Kent praised Griffith when he hired him as Y&R's head writer in 2012 (Griffith left a year later).

“We are happy to welcome Josh back to The Young and the Restless and are looking forward to his creative input and ideas.”

Josh Griffith Joins 'The Young and the Restless' Production Team

Josh Griffith has been in and out of The Young and the Restless multiple times over the years. He is now back IN as the former executive producer and head writer has joined the production team of the top-rated daytime drama.

Griffith is author of the suspense thrillers "This Secret Town," "This Lonely Town," "The Lost Man" and "The Forgotten Place." He co-authored the novel "The Killing Club" with Michael Malone. His other credits include associate producer on the Francis Ford Coppola film Twixt, executive producer for the television series Angeles and Reyes & Rey, co-executive producer/head writer for Hollywood Heights, and co-creator of the Aaron Spelling soap opera Sunset Beach. He has served as executive producer and head writer on One Life To Live, The Young and The Restless and Days of our Lives. His work garnered him five Emmy Awards and four Writers Guild Awards.

Click here to read the numerous Josh Griffith headlines at We Love Soaps over the past 11 years.

Josh Griffith Out as 'Days of our Lives'! Ryan Quan Is New Co-Head Writer with Dena Higley

Josh Griffith joined NBC soap opera Days of our Lives in 2015 as part of a co-head writing team with Dena Higley. As of today, Griffith is out, according to Soap Opera Digest. He will be replaced by promoted 38-year-old staff writer Ryan Quan.

Quan graduated from UCLA in 1999 and started off his soap career by winning Procter & Gamble's writing contest for college students. Quan was the writers' assistant for Passions from 1999-2005 and served as the show's website coordinator from 2005-2007.

Quan joined Days as a writers' assistant in 2007 and wrote his first trial script for the show in September 2008. He joined the writing staff full-time in late 2009.

Did Days dump the right co-head writer? Do you think Higley and Quan will make a successful team? Weigh in below in our Comments section.

NEWS: Josh Griffith, Max Ehrich, Serayah, Betty White, Nicholas Brendon, Smelly Cat and More

Days of our Lives head writer Josh Griffith previews what he Dena Higley have planned for Salem
“What we wanted to see was a show that was very heavy on romance, mystery, suspense and action, which I think is what is iconic about Days,” Griffith says. “It’s been a show that really could do mystery, action and love stories better than anybody else. We really wanted to make it an incredibly exciting, suspenseful, romantic place to be for an hour a day.”

The Young and the Restless moving from 4 p.m. to 11 a.m. in St. Louis
Y&R changes time slots in St. Louis on Monday, September 14, to make way for a new early evening newscast.

The Young and the Restless and Under the Dome star Max Ehrich part of "it" couple with Veronica Dunne
"He’s been so passionate, even sometimes more passionate about stuff like the show," Dunne says of Ehrich, who recurs as Fen on Y&R. "He’ll be like, ‘Do you know what I’m doing tonight? Do you know what I’m doing this weekend?’ and I’m like, ‘what?’ and he’s like, ‘Watching K.C. Undercover!'"

Empire promotes Serayah to series regular for Season 2
The actress, who also is a singer and dancer, plays Tiana Brown, an R&B-pop artist signed to Empire Entertainment, who is managed by Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson). Tiana began a relationship with Hakeem Lyon (Bryshere Y. Gray) though the two later broke up after discovering that she had an affair with another woman.

The Carol Burnett Show’s lost episodes are finally available on DVD
A new DVD set comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Burnett herself.

Roots remake recruits Malachi Kirby for Kunta Kinte role
The special event series will follow the story of Kinte and his family as they struggle over several generations to survive as African slaves in the United States. Roots will be a remake of the novel-based series which first aired on ABC in 1977; it later earned 37 Emmy nominations and nine wins.

10 years later: How fictional TV shows tackled post-Katrina New Orleans
HBO’s Tremé did the best to capture life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but many shows based in The Big Easy have failed to focus on the underlying issues that were uncovered from the 2005 tragedy.

Bones recruits Betty White as a squintern
White will guest as Dr. Beth Mayer, who will assist in a fantasy football-related murder.

BBC greenlights Motown musical miniseries Stop! In the Name of Love
Berry Gordy Jr.’s record label will be incorporated into this six-part limited series about six 30-something contemporary women in England.

Steve McQueen’s upcoming BBC miniseries is set in a West Indian community in London
The 12 Years a Slave director is helming a project that he’s calling “passionate, personal and unique. They are testimony to the truth of real lives and urgently need to be told.”

Report: Terrence Howard’s Empire role is being scaled back due to his real-life divorce drama
A source tells Page Six: "They have him locked up so you won’t be seeing him in as many scenes. But they are bringing in so many, and I mean so many, guest stars and cameos that the average viewer won’t realize it because there is so much going on.”

Kurt Sutter is developing a Sons of Anarchy Mayans spinoff
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "it’s still early in the development process,” but the Sons of Anarchy spinoff would be made for FX, focusing on the Mayans Motorcycle Club.

Hemlock Grove’s final season drops on October 10
The Eli Roth Netflix gothic horror series is going out with its third season.

Buffy’s Nicholas Brendon walks off Dr. Phil
Brendon explains how uncomfortable he felt on the Dr. Phil show’s hot seat: “When I was in that seat, I felt that Dr. Phil went for the jugular, talking about some of my recent mistakes, with no build up. I felt that he wanted me to lay the darkest parts of myself on national TV right from the start, and I’m not willing to do that.”

The Daily Show Gets Ready to Go Viral
Comedy Central announced on Thursday that it has hired Baratunde Thurston, the author (“How to Be Black”), humorist and social activist, as a supervising producer at The Daily Show to oversee the digital content it will create under the incoming host Trevor Noah. “There’s more to what The Daily Show can make than what people have seen,” Thurston said. “This is a 21-and-a-half-minute show that airs on a box in your house, and it can also be a great experience on these other platforms.”

American Horror Story mulling 2 seasons in 1 year
Ryan Murphy says there’s talk of a season in the fall and another in the spring.

Homeland releases its official Season 5 trailer
Can Carrie Mathison successfully leave the CIA behind?

Watch below:

'Days of our Lives' Head Writer Switch: Tomlin & Whitesell Out, Higley & Griffith In

Days of our Lives has replaced the show's head writing team, according to Soap Opera Digest.

Head Writers Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell are out and Dena Higley and Josh Griffith will be replacing them, effective February 16.

Griffith's writing credits include General Hospital, As the World Turns, One Life to Live, Santa Barbara, One Life to Live and, most recently, The Young and the Restless from 2012-2013.

Higley previously served as head writer at Days in 2003, and again from 2008-2011.

Based on social media buzz of late, Days needed a shot in the arm but is bringing Dena Higley back the right move? Weigh in below in our Comments section.

Shake-Up Behind The Scenes At THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Josh Griffith Out As Head Writer. Shelly Altman & Jean Passanante Co-Head Writers (Updated)

According to Highlight Hollywood, after days of posting cryptic messages on his Facebook page, friends of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS head writer Josh Griffith say that he's really disillusioned and wants to move on to more fulfilling things.

That would mean getting away from Jill Farren Phelps, who he hailed as Y&R’s savior when the two landed in their top perches at CBS TV City, after being such great allies at Sony’s HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS.

“Josh [Griffith] was very uncaring and tacky when he did his interview with TV Guide soon after his former boss’s contract was not renewed, now it’s funny, he’s facing the same fate, and at the hands of the same woman, Jill Firing Phelps. He did not see it coming!

“Even though Josh is at work in the building today, he’s just a wreck. He’s previously had his door locked, and seemed as though he was having a breakdown, and Jill has been so uncaring, and telling everyone, she doesn't time to coddle people, and she is pressuring Sony execs to fire Griffith.”

Highlight Hollywood spoke with a Sony insider on Friday who reported Griffith "has less than 15-days left on his contract. He’s starting vacation with his family next week, and Sony would ideally like to let it look like his decision after a vacation that he’s ready to move on. They are in talks with several writers right now, because after he returns from his vacation, there are only 6 days left on his contract,” the Sony Pictures insider said.

NEWS: Josh Griffith on Losing Y&R's Katherine Chancellor; Jeff Kwatinetz on First Seasons Of AMC/OLTL; Eileen Davidson On Why She Left DAYS

Y&R's exiting head writer Josh Griffith, previews the emotional on-air death of the late Jeanne Cooper's alter ego, Katherine Chancellor, in Soap Opera Digest
“It’s very overwhelming,” says Griffith. “Katherine is, in so many ways, the heart and soul of Genoa City. To learn that she’s gone is as devastating to them as it was to us when we lost Jeanne.”

Maiden season of Internet soap operas ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE yields vital lessons, says company co-founder Jeffrey Kwatinetz
“We have tackled more business, creative and logistical challenges than most shows experience in a lifetime of production,” said Prospect Park co-founder Jeffrey Kwatinetz.

Final Goodbye to Katherine Chancellor Begins August 16 on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (Video)

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS is about to deal with the death of Katherine Chancellor, played for nearly 40 years by legendary actress Jeanne Cooper, who passed away in May.

[SPOILER ALERT]

NEWS ROUNDUP: Valentini on JaSam versus Liaison; Violent TV Disrupts Kids' Sleep; Plus, Josh Griffith, TV's Highest Paid Stars, Jody Latham

Frank Valentini and Steve Burton on Jason with Elizabeth versus Sam (and Sam with Jason versus John)
"Yes, we're obviously exploring that... Becky and Steve are just magnetic," Valentini told AccessHollywood.com. "And it's a different kind of love, it's a friendship love, it's an eternal love. It has so many prongs to it that's interesting for the writers to write. And also, on the flip side, Jason and Sam have the same kind of thing -- their love is a little bit more on fire."

SHAKE-UP: Sony Names Jill Farren Phelps Executive Producer & Josh Griffith Head Writer Of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; Wishes Maria Bell Well

Jill Farren Phelps has been named Executive Producer of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, and Josh Griffith joins the series as Head Writer, it was announced today by Steve Kent, Senior Executive Vice President, U.S. Programming at Sony Pictures Television.

“We are excited to have such a talented daytime veteran leading our team at Y&R, Jill has a stellar record of success in the daytime genre,” said Kent. “We are also happy to welcome Josh back to THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and are looking forward to his creative input and ideas.”

“On behalf of everyone at Y&R we extend our sincere thanks to Emmy® Award-winning Maria Bell for her contributions to the show over the last five years. We wish her the best of luck and continued success,” he added.

Nick at Nite To Premiere HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS On June 18, Weeknights At 9 p.m. ET/PT

Nick at Nite adds sizzle to summer weeknights with the debut of the original primetime drama Hollywood Heights on Monday, June 18, at 9p.m. (ET/PT). Adapted for a U.S. audience from the wildly popular Mexican telenovela ALCANZAR UNA ESTRELLA, HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS follows the journey of a teenage girl whose life changes drastically when she becomes a star and wins the love of her rock and roll idol, and both are tested by setbacks, heartbreak and deception. The first season of the 80-episode series, co-produced with Televisa in association with Sony Pictures Television, will air weeknights at 9p.m. through October 2012.

Paul Rauch Named Executive Producer Of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

Michael Logan is reporting in the new TV Guide (Sept. 15-21) that Paul Rauch has officially replaced Josh Griffith as the Executive Producer of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.

Rauch has previous served as Executive Producer at ANOTHER WORLD, GUIDING LIGHT, SANTA BARBARA and ONE LIFE TO LIVE, and was the Co-Creator of TEXAS, LOVERS AND FRIENDS and FOR RICHER/FOR POORER.

He has been credited as a consultant for the improved Y&R this year.

Rauch has had some amazing successes in daytime (his early years on AW were some of the best in soap history) and some huge flops (who can forget the sad last year of SANTA BARBARA and the final shot of Rauch stomping out his cigarette to end the show).

'The Young and the Restless': Josh Griffith: Out, In, Now On His Way Out Again!

Sara A. Bibel has written a new blog about the Josh Griffith situation at THE YOUNG AND THE RESTELSS: "Apparently, Griffith voiced his displeasure with head writer Maria Bell’s stories to TPTB including the man who cuts his paycheck, Bill Bell Jr. At one point he wanted to quit, but then he reconsidered. It didn't make for a harmonious workplace. Finally, Bell Jr. decided to put everyone out of their misery by letting Griffith go. He has been informed and is still on the job until his contract expires in early September. The WGA did phone the show about the allegations that he was rewriting scripts, but that was not a major factor in his dismissal."

Previous stories:
Josh Griffith Not Out At Y&R?
OUT: Y&R's Josh Griffith

Josh Griffith Not Out at 'The Young and the Restless'?

SoapOperaDigest.com is reporting the following:

"Don't believe those rumors and Internet postings that Josh Griffith has been fired as Y&R's executive producer. According to a rep for the show, 'He's still here and still the executive producer.'"

Griffith was previously reported to have been fired from Y&R after rewriting Maria Arena Bell scripts.

Josh Griffith News Archive

OUT: Y&R's Josh Griffith

Nelson Branco has updated the latest TV Guide Canada "Suds Report" with the news of Ed Scott's dismissal from DAYS OF OUR LIVES and Josh Griffith being let go from THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.

Check out the scoop here.