The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless (often abbreviated as Y&R) is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictionalized version of Genoa City, Wisconsin. First broadcast on March 26, 1973, "The Young and the Restless" was originally broadcast as half-hour episodes, five times a week. The show expanded to one-hour episodes on February 4, 1980. In 2006, the series began airing encore episodes weeknights on SOAPnet until 2013, when it moved to TVGN (now Pop). As of July 1, 2013, Pop still airs the encore episodes on weeknights. The series is also syndicated internationally.
Eileen Davidson
After a year-long vacation from acting, she returned to her role on "The Young and the Restless" in March 1999. After a successful return as Ashley Abbott, which included Davidson's second Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, Davidson was fired from the show. In December 2006, Davidson told "TV Guide" that she was fired from "The Young and the Restless" due to lack of storyline. Her last airdate as Ashley was January 11, 2007. According to co-star Melody Thomas Scott, the firing was protested behind the scenes of "The Young and the Restless" and was seen as unfair. Scott said: "That was so heartbreaking. We're still upset about that. That was a blow. Terrible. Eileen Davidson was such a part of the core of the show and such a brilliant actress; beautiful and always prepared. It was crazy. I'm not the only one who feels that way." In a surprise move a few months later, Davidson signed a three-year contract with "The Young and the Restless"'s sister soap "The Bold and the Beautiful" to once again play her "The Young and the Restless" character Ashley Abbott at the request of "The Bold and the Beautiful" executive producer Bradley Bell. She first aired on March 9, 2007. Ken Corday called Davidson about a week before she was fired from "The Young and the Restless" to get permission to use a picture of her on "Days of Our Lives". The picture, which featured Davidson as Susan, was shown in December 2006.