14 DAY TRIAL // “Young & the Restless” fans still hoping Michael Muhney would come back one day to the show, reprising his role as Adam Newman, still have good reason to keep hoping. Reports online note that the soap opera’s much-maligned producer Jill Farren Phelps has approached Muhney to beg him to return.
Michael Muhney was fired from the show at the end of last year, with his final episode as Adam Newman airing in January. Muhney was the one who broke the news to fans, apparently taking some share of the blame for the reason that led to the decision.
He never said though a word about the reason. This left fans in the dark, frustrated and upset and the various TV and gossip publications scrambling for bits and pieces that might shed some light on the mystery.
The generally accepted but totally unofficial story is that Muhney was fired because he harassed younger co-star Hunter King, groping her breasts on at least 2 occasions. She never filed a police report but, when she thought she could stand it no more, she went to the brass and asked for Muhney’s head on a silver platter, as the saying goes.
Apparently, she had backing from one of the series’ veterans, Eric Braeden (Victor Newman himself) so she convinced CBS bosses and, presumably, Phelps that Muhney needed to go or she would raise hell.
The downside of this lack of transparency in the way Muhney’s departure was handled was that it left fans very upset. They were never told why Adam had to be killed off and, when word got out that he might not be dead (and that he could return with another actor playing him), they were even more outraged.
Sometime between January and last week, as ratings continued to drop because of Muhney’s departure and the other casting choices Phelps made, the producer realized she could fix it by getting Muhney back on board.
This sounds like excellent news but it’s not: Highlight Hollywood claims to have it on good authority that Muhney was approached and “begged” to come back but Phelps’ “arrogance is the size of the Grand Canyon, and she made a terrible offer, and not only was she quickly rebuffed, but she was told that it is her incompetence in producing the show and bad writing and bad treatment of the show’s actor, for the reason the show is now losing millions of viewers.”
According to the same report, she is now in danger of losing her own job because CBS brass also noted these things that Muhney told her. Whether that’s any real consolation for fans, especially for those still asking for Muhney’s return, remains to be seen.
Celebrity Dirty Laundry confirms the fact that Phelps reached out to one of the fan-favorite actors she had fired this year, but says that it could be either Muhney or Billy Miller, who played Billy Abott and has since been replaced with David Tom.
Whichever it was, one thing is sure: it’s not completely irrational to still hope to see Muhney back as Adam Newman, wouldn’t you say?