CBS
Ready to Celebrate: (From l.) Chene’ Lawson (Harmony), Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki), Eric Braeden (Victor) and Joshua Morrow (Nick) in a scene from Y&R’s upcoming 13,000th episode.
In advance of Young and Restless celebrating it’s 13,000th episode on Wednesday, November 13,, the show has launched a new YouTube Channel, Y&R INSIDER. The channel will soon be bursting with all kinds of new content, but it has been given a soft launch before next week so fans can check it out early. Videos there so far includes “Game Night,” pairing up various Y&R stars answering fun questions while playing Jenga, the preview for this week’s episodes and a fun short showing the behind-the-scenes process of Paxton Mishkind’s (Johnny) spiked hairdo for Halloween and one that celebrates the 13,000th episode.
Go Behind The Scenes
The 13,000th episode vignette takes fans backstage as the Y&R cast shoots the milestone episode, with Abby and Devon’s wedding serving as the backdrop. It includes interviews with actors like Peter Bergman (Jack), who notes, “13,000 — you don’t see those big round numbers very often so it’s a big deal.” Fans will be able to see which actors were on set and there are a couple who should please everyone, including longtime veterans Jess Walton (Jill) and Eileen Davidson (Ashley).
“That’s an incredible amount of television that’s been out, 13,000 — I mean, that’s insane,” remarked Davidson, looking positively stunning in the off-one-shoulder gown she’s costumed in for Ashley’s daughter’s big day.
Other actors who were interviewed include Kate Linder (Esther), Christel Khalil (Lily), Sean Dominic (Nate), Cait Fairbanks (Tessa) and Bryton James (Devon). “It a huge deal,” shared James. “It’s the 13,000th episode and Devon and Abby are getting married!”
Weddings are one of the few times a huge majority of the cast will be working at the same time and while the shooting day can be long and challenging, seeing co-stars you haven’t seen in ages usually makes up for it. “You know, it’s exciting for us because as actors, we don’t always get to see each other so now, basically today, it’s a social party,” explained Michael Mealor (Kyle).
“It’s glorious being here, I’m really, really enjoying it,” beamed Jess Walton. Her TV son, Jason Thompson (Billy,) said, “I love when we do these kind of episodes because you get everybody together. We’re not in the same room very often.”
Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki) noted how difficult it was to process that the show had reached 13,000 episodes. “You know, it’s really hard to even fathom because we don’t even think in terms of seasons,” she pointed out. “It’s continuous all year, no hiatus, we’re a moving train! They can’t stop us,” she smiled.
There’s even more that you can see for yourself, including more actor interviews, how actors felt about burning down the Newman Ranch, how the history of it all makes them feel, and sharing their love for their co-stars and the show — all by watching the entire featurette here.
