‘The Young and the Restless’: Eric Braeden Gives His Two Cents on When the Show Could Resume Filming
Many fans have been excited to tune in to The Young and The Restless‘ themed rerun weeks. The show has been airing old episodes due to production being suspended amind the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In a recent interview, longtime star, Eric Braeden, talked about the show being on hiatus and when the show could come back.
CBS soaps are airing rerun-themed weeks while filming is suspended
The CBS soaps are currently airing rerun-themed weeks as their productions as all of Hollywood, is currently hold. A report from Deadline earlier in May revealed the fact that The Young and the Restless’ sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful, could return earlier than expected. The report said that production may resume in June. However, nothing has been stated yet about the show returning.
The report reads;
I hear the soap’s cast and crew this week received a new memo, informing them that The Bold and the Beautiful production company is currently getting ready to resume production in June. Sources stressed that this is just a projected start date and, while the producers are making preparations, the situation remains fluid.”
Even if the show would be able to resume filming, safety protocols would have to be in place by Television City, Los Angeles, and the state of California. These protocols would also have to be signed off and cleared by all of the Hollywood unions.
Eric Braden talks about returning to production
Talking to Soap Opera Digest for a long-ranging interview Braeden dished about what
He explained, “It would be very irresponsible on my part to say, ‘Oh, we’ll do this when we got back to work,’ because we don’t know enough about the ways of this virus. I mean, it’s a vicious son of a b***h. I think I will be willing to go back to work if some provisions are met, serious provisions are met. You have the crew with masks on, you have people in the booth with masks on but somebody always wiping things down, you have continuous tests…I think it can be done. You have distancing of the actors when they perform.”
“I’m willing to risk it, no question,” he continued. “And then you have to obviously sign a release to corresponding studios or whatever that you will not sue them if you fall victim to the coronavirus. So, given the proper provisions, yeah, I’m willing to come back.”
The actor talks about television’s role during the pandemic
He was also asked about entertainment and television being a form of escapism for a lot of people during the pandemic. A lot of people are turning to television to step away from reality.
“I think the role of entertainment is becoming more apparently important now than ever before,” said Braden. “What do people do at home? They watch shows, they watch old shows, they watch reruns, they watch old sports shows. I think the need for entertainment is even greater now. I mean, what do people do otherwise? It’s an escape, let’s be very honest. The need for entertainment is very strong. I don’t think there is going to be any diminishing of that when we rebound and when we start producing again. Look at the success of Netflix right now. It’s extraordinary. The need for entertainment will always be there. These are moments when people suspend their own self-reflection, their own self-criticism for a moment and they just watch someone else. That will always be there. What form of production it takes, that’s a different story.”
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.
