The Buzz - BuzzWorthy Radio

Y&R's DOUG DAVIDSON!

Doug Davidson, who plays the role of Paul Williams on CBS Daytime's The Young and the Restless, will be making his first appearance on BuzzWorthy Radio!

Doug Davidson first made his appearance as Paul, no last name at the time, in 1978. A man who started off as a boy who was rough around the edges, developed into a hero as time progressed. Unlucky in love, Paul still manages to find his ground as private investigator in Genoa City.

Davidson is not only a veteran of Y&R, he is also a game show veteran. He would be leader of the Y&R team on Family Feud when playing for charity, as well as hosting a syndicated version of The Price is Right.

Listen as we delve into the past of Paul Williams with some of our favorite storylines, as well as what is possibly to come with the character.

Duration:: 1h 11m
Broadcast on:: 29 Jan 2010
Audio Format:: other

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Buzzworthy. Buzz, now! Hey, this is Michael Grazaday. You're listening to Buzzworthy Radio. And if you're not, you should be. You should be, indeed. Hey everybody, welcome to a new episode of Buzzworthy Radio tonight. It is Thursday, January 28th, 2010. It's 10-30pm Eastern Standard Time, 7-30pm Pacific Time here on our show here at Buzzworthy Radio. I'm your host, Nivelle, Jaylee. How you guys doing? It's about time we've actually had a show in a while, a first show in a while with a soap guest. Let me back it up. Let me back that up, our first show with a soap guest of the New Year. You know, it's been a long time since we had one of those folks. And I am so excited that we're actually going to be having on Doug Davidson on our show tonight. I cannot believe we're going to be having him on tonight. I'm like, this was something that we've been trying to have. Oh gosh, I'm putting myself on the spot here. I've been trying to get this guy on the show for over a year, over a year. And somehow, I've never, ever been able to do it. And something either I can get ahold of him or something else happens, something else happens, blah, blah, blah. But we wound up finally getting it done. Hopefully he got my message because he wound up, let me give you a rundown, folks. He called in, it's 10 million hours, he called in at six o'clock for the show, folks. Six o'clock, granted, that's over four hours ago. And I have no issues busting his balls on the air, but let's put it this way. There's been a few times in various chats where it seemed like I basically had to bleach the blond in his air. That's how that's how that's how bad it is. That was how funny, not bad in a bad way, bad in a good way, in a good funny way. So as soon as you get here, everybody, I see everybody coming into the chat room right now. Whole tight, whole tight. We'll get you, we'll get you on here with all your questions. I see people getting onto the phone lines now. And if you want to call in yourselves, we want to ask a big man on campus, any questions that you have. The phone number is dialed in at 646-595-4228. Again, we have the chat room running up right now. So all you guys, stay tight, stay put, we'll be getting the interview done very, very shortly. We're just waiting for him to show up. Again, his message was, "He hopes that he's not missing his own show now." But I said, "No, we still have a few hours up to go before you have to actually show up here." So hopefully he has seen it, but hopefully he did get the correct time like he was supposed to and he will be making his appearance here on the show. But anyway, again, hey guys, I'm doing, I cannot believe it is almost the end of January. We're about to start the month of February. Some things that are right now in the works. I am going to be doing a buzz with me on location episode, so it's going to be taken off the podcast that is going to be on to a YouTube video set, I guess you can say. If it's not going to be uploaded on YouTube, it will be uploaded on the Facebook fan page. I will be in New York on February 16th, remember to that date. I shall have some video clips, probably not on that day, but sometime in that week. So after President's Day weekend, I will be readily available for all clips here and there. So definitely check that out. I can't really tell you why I'm going to be in New York as of yet. I was told not to, but I was told that I will be in New York on that day doing something very major to make sure you guys check that out. But yeah, that is what's coming up. As far as next shows are going, I have no idea. We are working on some things, hopefully we are going to be having some people come on within the next several weeks and know that they have been trying to get from me, Melissa Archer, from When I Live for quite some time. They want to get her on before the start of the February Sweep storyline. I'm going to play on When I Live so we can talk about that. So we are trying to work on that. I'm trying to get that done for you guys. I know I've been saying that she's going to be coming here, but we've been trying on a desperate way to definitely get her here on a set day in time for you guys to make sure you guys check out that interview. But I haven't heard anything back as of yet. So hopefully it will be happening to cross your fingers for that. And as of right now, I believe that's it. As far as I know of, I know that other shows have been having on some people. For instance, Dan Crowell shows tomorrow who will be having on Aidan Turner and Tyler Christopher on Soap Central Live. You can listen to his shows. It goes to voiceamerican.com. Look for Soap Central Live and you'll be able to live stream this show every Friday night at 6 p.m. each night. So make sure you guys check out his show. I've checked it out. It's a great, it's a great listen. And of course, like this one, you can always call in and ask, you can pose your questions to their guests. So it is no different than us. It's just a different link. As well as Stardust Radio, she is going to be having on again, got Clifton for one like to live on the 1st of February at 9 p.m. each time. The similarities between all three of these actors are they are going to be on Rock the Soap, the 2nd voyage coming up in April. So they're going to be talking about that as well. Clifton has joined the ranks of being a part of Rock the Soap 2. He actually, what did he get put on the roster? I think not too long ago. It was fairly recent. And there are going to be on those two shows talking about that as well. It's another thing, but I know a majority of it is going to delve in with the Rock the Soap discussion. My switchboard actually just froze on me so I actually cannot see anything on my screen at the moment. So I'm just waiting for it to come back up. I can't even get into the chat room and see what's going on in the chat room. So I'm just waiting for my browser to kick back up into high gear again and see what's exactly going on. But I do, from when it froze, I thought to people in the line. And I don't know if any more joined into the ranks is that online as well as in the chat room. But let's take this call right here. My switchboard finally came up. You are on the line, caller. How are you? I can't see your number. It's blocked. But I didn't mean- Are you talking to me? I am talking to you. Oh, well then, good. It's Doug. See folks? I had this wonderful speech prepared for him and it wound up turning out to be him, folks. It's customary though to tell me when we're going to have an interview. Listen, listen, listen, folks. I want you to back me up here. All right. First up, I emailed him saying that it was going to be a session at night. He emailed me saying it was seven in the morning. Friday, you said. Friday, it said Friday. If you want me to copy and send it back to you, I will. Oh no. No, no, no. See, now you, no. See, I can't look like an astronaut because then he's going to prove that he's right. It's the truth will come out. It's like on a soap. Yeah. All right. All right, folks. It's true. I did say Friday. I did. I did. But I did not say seven in the morning. No, that's true. That is true. That was my- but I fessed up to that early. I said, "You're right." And then I said, "Well, what time? Let's touch base on Thursday." And then some sweet person on Facebook sent me a link saying there was something going on tonight. And if it hadn't been for them, I would have no idea. But here we are. Here we are. Talking away. So I haven't seen you since the Y&R fan dango. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Would you have a good time? I had a great time. I had a blast. Great seeing everybody that's been on this show that I have not met in person. And then after those couple of times I talked to you and finally meet you. It was like a blessing. Yeah. Because I talked to you twice on another blog talk, you know, Olivia's. Yeah. And then I met you for the first time at the Y&R anniversary gala. Is that what they call it? Gala? It's some kind of big, fancy word. Team Dig is what I call it, you know. Yeah. It's not a shindig. They don't call it a shindig. Hey, we had a lot of people there though, huh? Yeah. Like all 3,000 members of our cast were there. You had the longest line now. Ladies. Oh, well, I don't know about that, but it was. Ladies. I mean, because I chat to you. His line was one of the longest I've ever seen at this event. He had, he had swarm of ladies. I'm talking to you. I'm always off him. Hey, I had, I had more than ladies. Everybody, it was, it was, it was an equal opportunity line. Okay. Okay. Because I was in the line, right? Well, no, you wouldn't. Everybody was, you know, I mean, everybody. It was not, it was not just ladies. I think the ladies think that thing is passed. You know, get to a certain age. Then you, you get everybody in your line. You, you, you, listen, I actually had so many emails. Well, not really emails. I had a lot of Facebook while posting, basically saying, "Done doesn't age. It doesn't age." Oh, that's not true. It's just because I haven't left. If I were to go away and come back, then, then you'd see that I've aged. I, look, I've seen your face. You realize, I got so close to the face, I'm looking and going, where are the wrinkles? Seriously. Where are they? You haven't... Well, you know, I, you know, I, I can't. They're there. I'm removing all the mirrors in the house. The, the aging thing is, I think, it's mostly genetic. You know, you can't either, either have good chains or you got something else. Yeah. So I really, I appreciate the compliment, though. Of course. I mean, of course. I might have to go ahead above the ranks of getting both hogs, but I don't see them at all. Yeah. I'm not going to do that either. I think, I think you're better off just, just aging, basically. Yeah. Absolutely. So you had, you had, you had a good time. We had, what do we do it every other year now? It's every other year. Yeah. Every other year. Which side? I live, I don't live in LA, so I don't always make it. I live in the Forbidden City in China. Oh, okay. I'm trying to, I'm trying to town, maybe. Oh, man. I can't believe it's every other year, though. As soon as they said they do it, like every other year, I was looking forward to doing it this year at the end of the, at the end of the summer, five I got. So at the end of the year, let's see all you guys again. And then I got crushed in it when they said it won't be until 2011. Now, did you, what was your first soap? You got hooked on. What was my first soap I got hooked on? Uh-huh. It was, which is going off the air this year. As the world turns? As the world turns was my first soap I got hooked on. And what? Can you give us about the, the time you first started watching it? Oh, absolutely. I was in preschool. I'm sorry? I was in preschool. I was, I'm not kidding. I was in preschool and they actually had brought out the TV into the, into the, into the room. And they were clicking through channels and I see this as a little turned logo on the screen. And that's really my first thing was I saw a graphic. And, and then, and then the graphic as a little kid, you get hooked on a graphic. Right. And, and, and that's pretty much what I remembered of as well terms of the first time because I love the graphic at the time. Because then you get older and then you get hooked on things that are graphic. Yeah. You then get hooked onto things that are graphic-esque in the show. Yeah. So, uh, what, what year was that about? Um, 90. It was in 1990. And then I, when I had days off from school, I then got to see all the CDS stuff. So then I got hooked on everything else. And my sister would always, whenever she was taking home from school, she always told me what went on, on as little turns in the bowl of people. But she, she was a huge fan of YR. So she, pretty much from what she had to say about YR, she was pretty much all into YR. She was a huge fan of the Sheila stuff. Which was when Carolyn Brown first started within that year. The what? The, the. A huge fan of what stuff? The Sheila Carter stuff. Oh, the Sheila Carter stuff. Okay. The Sheila Carter stuff. So she was telling me all about that. Which then got me hooked on this Sheila Lauren robbery. Which of course you were somewhat a part of. The Sheila Carter stuff? Yeah. Yeah. And so then I got invested in the YR. And so I fell in love with the young arrests, and I got invested in everything that was going on in YR. Even though I couldn't watch it because I thought that's cool. So that's obviously before they, they ran it on the internet. So it was either TV or nothing, huh? Yeah. So yeah, they had a tape before me, of course. You know, that's a, that's a good question. Someone in the chat room said, did I see the old, cynical picture that they have posted of dozens of photos on there once admitted at the playgirl? I think it was in it. It was what? I did see it. I was what? One year old at the time? That was on. I did see it. Oh, God. I don't believe you remember anything at one. And if you remember that, I'm, I apologize. Don't you love the, don't you love the value of Facebook where everybody just comes up and just like posts like everything from back then in the day? Well, I do get, you know, I do get some of those, they send me clips and the two clips that have stuck in my mind and they both came up in the last couple of weeks. One was the, I played a role in "I'll Take Manhattan" and I think that was 1987. And then was, the other one was Lauren's 21st birthday. And I looked at it and I went amazing. Amazing. Bill, Bill had a talent of creating an event and then he had like 17 subplots running through the event and they weren't, you didn't have to verbalize the subplots. They were expressed through looks or shots over the shoulder or. Yeah. I mean, it wasn't like, I don't want to say that. But it was more of what's to come. And he was the champion of lining it up so you want to know what happens next. And I think that is the secret to brilliant soap opera, or storytelling even. It doesn't even have to be soap opera. Right. You know what I mean? You just see things and you go, hmm, what's that about? The question marks pop out. And the "I'll Take Manhattan" thing was just like, I can't believe I was 34 when I did that. Really? Yeah. Well, you can search on I2 if it's on there somewhere. It's just amazing. I would say my perspective. Maybe not anybody else. But the girl that plays my sister, in quotes, was my then wife and now wife, Cindy. So that was pretty interesting for all involved. And we shot it in Toronto. One of my favorite cities. Yeah. Valerie Bertinelli and who else? A bunch of the big time TV stars at the time did the Judith Krantz mini series because it was prestigious. Oh. As the world turns. I got to say that has been one of my favorites. We were sandwiched for a few years by search for tomorrow. And as the world turns. And I was a fan of both those shows. I get so frustrated when they start canceling these things because storytelling is as old as time. And they don't go out of fashion. So the only thing that's making them go out of fashion is the way they do them or the way the bean counters approach them. And it is truly one of the great shows. It's had great actors on it. But who do you write? Nobody listens. You know, for tomorrow it was a great show too. We say that. But then everybody says that they do listen. But if they listen, we see what we asked them to see. Think about it. If we wanted to see, oh, I don't know, Paul in a romantic relationship with a woman. That does not fail. Well, they don't write it. So it's hard to say that it doesn't succeed or fail if you don't write it. So I don't know how they go about deciding. I think it comes down to in the broader sense when you create something on your own like Bill did or his mentor. And I think she even created as the world turns. And Agnes Nixon. The list goes on and on. So when you have those people running their own shows, they're operating from their own creativity. And you get people that haven't created anything making decisions. They're following focus groups and polls and you can't do it that way. And I think Anthony Geary said that the audience has an opinion, but they're not always right. And sometimes that the surprise of what they don't want happens, and that creates magic. And if you go back to the Lucan Laura storyline, there's no way that the audience would have approved of that and suggested that in a focus group. But what came out of it was wonderful storytelling. Exactly. You would not expect to see something like that, but then with them running with it, look what came out of it. Yeah. That was one of the most popular. And the talents of the two performers involved. And I was standing, Chaney Francis at the time, and she told me that the day of the rape, that Anthony Geary sent her roses and was so kind. As a human being, I know it's going to be a tough day. I just want you to know that I'm here for you. And that's how we set it up. And that's why I think magic is made. You get performers that trust each other. You've got a producer that connects with the performers, and suddenly you've got one of the highest-rated storylines in daytime history. And I picked that one because I've got nothing invested in it. I could do the same thing for young wrestlers, but they could say I'm pumping my own show. But the truth is that's where the magic lay, and they've got to get back to that. They've got to get back to the creatives running the show. It's entertainment. It is show business, but the business part is making it unwatchable. And you turn it over, I mean, it took right now, Maria Bells is the head writer of our show. She's going back to what her father-in-law did, bringing back history, family ties, older characters. I mean, and that's what connects one to the other. I mean, sure, I've got my opinions on how it could be improved, but it has improved since she's taken the helm. There's a consistency of solidity, a heartbeat to the stories. And I don't know how much input the network has, or Sony has, or any of the other entities, but it really has to come from the creative mind of the writers. And if they're not given the freedom, and they have to check off boxes, it's going to limit their creativity. And I think that is what kills it. Exactly. You can't just do what everybody wants. You've got to go out on your own limb and write what your soul tells you to write. Let me ask you this. Since we are dealing with what you just said about Maria Bell, we're going to go back into what her father-in-law used to do on the show, delving into the history of the show. Do you feel right now with the show that we're seeing on the air right now? Do you feel like this is what why not was, this is why not used to be, this is what why not should be with what they're doing? No, I would say no, simply because we are under such constraints now. I mean, everything is in one take. It's bare bones. I mean, this is, in my opinion, when you've got the Chancellor living room with 150 people in it, it's not as effective as a two person scene. And it's not even, I don't even think it's economically justifiable. When you can tell a story, you put two people in a room with an issue. That's all it takes. I mean, when I started the show, you couldn't even see the sets. It was so dark. The close up was, you'd be lucky if my eyebrows and my bottom lip are in it. That's how tight it was. So I mean, that was, it was that human element. That's all you need. Right. And then somewhere in the '80s, when the budgets were high, we started going with these grandiose sets. And, you know, all the frills and really, all you need is the basics. Boy meets girl. I mean, just like in an opera. That's lily barking. Oh. You can hear that. Yes, I can. So anyway, that's, and I think with all the constraints and all the limitations that we have now, we're doing the best we can. Yeah. I mean, it's just in terms of simple production to be able to get three cameramen, a booth, switchers, lighting, all in the boat for one take is amazing. I mean, so I, I applaud what we're doing. I'm just not quite sure why we're forced to do it that way. Exactly. Exactly. Another thing I wanted to be frank about with you, I mean, I did say this to you previously before, and I know if you haven't heard me say that I'm going to say this again. Obviously, you're one of the greatest actors on the show. Well, I don't know about that, but we've got, we have a lot of great actors, I think. Maybe, maybe that's my bias kicking in, but I'm allowed to have it a little bit. That's a little bit. Yeah, no, you can't, though. And you've been playing this part since 1978, and I said this when I first saw, they paired you off with, with Nikki back in the summer, played by Melody Thomas, got wonderful acting, by the way. And the first thing I said was they finally gave Doug meaty material to play off of, and of course, it continued with the whole Patti Williams storyline progressing in the climax of it. Right. It was a wonderful, and I mean, they finally gave you something to play off of because you haven't had anything to play off of in so long. Yeah, nothing. I mean, it made me realize that it was, it was, it was Bill that understood. The character, and I think that just the style has changed. In 1997, when he stepped down, I think I had one week off that I didn't ask for. And so he had a, he had a technique of keeping all his players on the canvas. Even if you weren't on a, in a front burner storyline, that you were still there so when he rotated it, that people don't forget who, the family's on the show. And I think that's invaluable. The other thing that I, I think was a grievous mistake was, they didn't realize how people get attached to a soap opera. Yeah. And we alienated our long time audience to reach for a younger demographic. That's a business decision. But in that line, at the, the Gala, everybody would say, "Oh, my grandmother, my aunt, my, you know, we had to be quiet around, you know, 12 to one o'clock or whatever their particular time slot was, because that was their show and they didn't want to be disturbed." And that's how I got started watching it. So at some point in this, in the disruption of Bill stepping down, they forgot how the lineage progressed. And I, I don't know, in preschool, I mean, if a graphic hooked you, I, I'm certain that that would be in the minority. I think most people started because some relative was watching it and they were around. Yeah. You know, my mother started, my, you know, whatever it was. And the inability to realize that people can watch it on other devices, the television, the, the other limitation. But, but truly, that's, that's how we get our viewers. You don't do it by, by ripping shirts off. I, I think that's a very short fix. When I was a young hot, younger leading man on the show, I'd go to appearances and young girls would ask me, "What's Mrs. Chancellor really like?" Or, I would go in the early, in the early 80s, late 70s, and we had the largest African-American audience than any of the soap operas. And at that particular time, we had no African-Americans on the show. No, that's right. So, you don't always have to be what you like to see. So, you know what I'm saying? Young girls can relate to, to Mrs. Chancellor. And African-Americans can relate to the apprentices flying in a, in a private jet to have a date in, in Paris with Leslie in, in Lance. I mean, I'm picking stories from the, the past. Because it, it, it removes them and it takes them into a world where you can enjoy. So the, the idea that 18-year-olds are interested in 18-year-olds and, and that's it. It's, it's ridiculous. If you sell a compelling story that, that has a heartbeat and, and soul to it, then your, your viewers will find you. And it's become so much a business that they forgot they're in entertainment. Because that's what it is. It is entertainment. I mean, if, if you can have takeaway value all the better. I mean, it bill used to throw in, you know, of age storylines and, and cancer storylines and, and, and everything to, to kind of spread the word. But really it was the, it was the storytelling and the fact that, oh my God, I can't wait to see how, how Jill reacts when, you know, Mrs. Chancellor comes home. That's, that's the storytelling. Yeah. So really. So when we get back to that, and I don't know if there has to be an Armageddon before that happens. Right. But, and at the rate they're canceling the shows, you know, ABC seems to be the only one holding on to their, their lineup. But I, I got to think that guiding light in its original form had more value than, and let's make a deal. Oh, absolutely. That's just my guess. And I, and I bet if we took a poll on our, with our Facebook friends, they might agree. Oh, absolutely they would. No doubt in my mind. Yeah. And in your opinion, where you see daytime right now, do you see Atlantic? Do you see it? Well, I think there's, you know, there's, it's become a scapegoat and, you know, they look, they look at the numbers of daytime and what they used to be. But I really think what it is, the cost of the shows, because they have 45 players and different sets and, but that, that's kind of what they built into it. And if, if I were king, I would simplify a lot of those things and get back to the basics. And if, if they do that, I think that it will be just as viable as financially viable as one host, one game show, one, one thing. But I, I don't see them going, we're not making those choices. We shoot very difficult things. We've got kids in, we've got, um, Stacey Haddock is playing very complicated roles. We have to do each scene twice. Windpaddy and Emily are in them. I mean, these are, these are not, of economic choices. They may be good storytelling choices. But I think somewhere in there you find a, a happy medium and, um, you can prevent things from, from happening like the demise of guiding light or, or, um, or as the world turns. I mean, I was not, I was not a big fan of them going out to their, their town to shoot stuff the way they did it. Yeah. And I, and I looked at the last week and I said, you know if they had been doing this three years ago, they wouldn't have canceled the show. Suddenly we've got compelling stories. You know, is what, is that just to make us feel bad that they're going to take it away from us? I mean, you're not the only one that felt that way. I, I did too because it got better towards the end. But it's like, why weren't you doing this before? Yeah. They drove them away. The hardest thing to do is get a viewer to come back. Because they have, they have, um, preconceived notions at that, at that juncture. And they'll have to try it on for size again. And, and in today's world, you've got a zillion options, a zillion on my phone. So then you add my computer, uh, television, you know, whatever. You, you, you, you, it's hard to find your way back. I am a creature of habit. I like the comfort of, of, of familiar place. And if they make you change it where I, I can't take another day of it, then that's where the problem lies. And all this, this MBA corporate finger pointing has got to go. It's the same way politics is run now. How is it reacting to polls? Well, you're not going to get anything done if you don't do what's in your heart. Right. Do what's in your heart. The rest will take care of itself. I mean, no, I think Obama mentioned that last night is that, you know, you can't run away by avoiding to say, avoiding the tough decisions and how people will react in the polls. You just can't do it. You can't. You, you've got to do what you feel. I mean, from, from defending our homeland to gay marriage. You've got to do what's right. And then you have to follow. I mean, the whole thing with the, was it Pat Robertson in the back with the devil? Yes. Well, up until that point, I'm sure a lot of people thought he was a reasonable person. And then suddenly you've got this, these things coming out of this mouth that are unbelievable if you haven't heard it, it's on YouTube. Yes. But I mean, the fact that there was an earthquake in Haiti, I don't think in any reasonable person's mind had to do with the Haitians making it packed with the devil to drive Napoleon out of Haiti. I mean, that just would not be in my top 250 reasons for an earthquake. Right. Well, it's, it's, it's, it's the fact that we have to think for ourselves. We have to, we have to go. Gee, I like, I, I like Christianity, but he's, he sounds like he's a little crazy. You need people to make those decisions and say, I'm going against that. I got to do what I believe. And all the way down into entertainment or, or corporate decisions, there was, there was a morality or a consciousness that would prevent people from doing things they didn't believe in. And now we've gotten to the point, I don't know if it was the yuppy years in the 80s where you do anything to, to make a dollar. But, but sometimes making the right decision in the long run will be the most profitable thing. And I think in every industry, including entertainment, including soap operas, that's what you got to get back to. And you can't listen to other people. You have to educate yourself and make your own decision. I remember way back when I had purchased the first Harry Potter book, and I was telling other parents about it. And I had some, some friends that said, their church said that it was about witchcraft and it was inappropriate for children. And I think that in the last, it's the, it's the best literature in the last, in my lifetime, because it gives values, it's well written. And I don't care what the subject matter is, because you look through that. It's a fantasy world. Right. So, until you read the book, don't listen to your church. Don't listen to your government. Do your research and make your own decision. And I think even, even the corporate people should say, is this working for me? Am I entertained? What are they listening to focus groups for? They don't have their own opinion? There are 300 million people in the United States. How many people are they focusing on? Twelve? I don't, I don't care what the demographics are in the twelve. That's true. That's true. Use your gut. I mean, all the people that make anything out of anything follow their gut. You can go back to Jack Warner or Louis B. Mayer or Howard Hawks. I don't care who you pick. They're not going after what the polls say. They're making their own decisions. And that's what we need to do again. Just because we can get opinions in fifteen minutes doesn't mean they know what they're talking about. I'll go back to that Anthony Gary quote. Sometimes they don't know what they want. Sometimes we've got a better idea than they can come up with. Maybe it's not the best thing for Victor and Nikki to write off into the sunset. That's why you watch. I can't believe they're doing that. Right? I have to agree with that though because I don't even know what I want. I have to be honest. I have no idea what I want. But I keep tuning in to see what they're going to do. And it's good. If they're directing their story from focus groups, get out of the business. Get out of the business. If it's a good story, good directing, good storytelling and it's running and it's going so well, don't ruin a good thing. Don't ruin a good thing. And I don't think you can spread it out over 450 people in a cast. I hate to say it, but that's part of what the economics of the show is about too. We've got a lot of people on our show. A lot of people. It's a lot. And you still have the same, what is it? 42 minutes of episode a day. I don't know that you can treat the characters the way they should be treated with that many characters in that amount of time. Actually 37, ten commercials. 37, okay. So they keep them like that. Yeah. So you can't do, how much can you do in a matter of 37 in a period? Right. Well, and you need to be able to make the connection. You need to be able to recognize you. One lady said that I tuned to see my faces. And if I can't see my faces, then I get bored. So you get your favorite characters and you want to see them. You don't want to go three, four, five, six episodes without seeing them. Right. I mean, whoever the characters happen to be. You know, I'm not picking favorites. I'm just saying that in all the shows, the group thing is awfully tough. Bill was a star maker. He picked a character in an age range and a demographic and run with it. And then it became about story. And believe me, I had my complaints then. In retrospect, I probably would have changed my opinion. And who knows, in ten years I could change what I'm saying, you know, I'm saying now. But from this moment, that's how I see it. You need to give it back to the creatives. If it were that easy, you could take all the music of all the popular music from 1950 to now and put it in a program and say, "What's the one common thing, musically, that happens in all these hit songs?" And a computer could spit out the commonality of that, mathematically, because music you can do that with. It won't work. It won't work because it's the combination of the person who does the song, how they do it. The phrasing that supersedes the mathematics of a pleasing sound or note combination. And for that easy, they'd be doing it. I watched American Idol last year, and I was a huge fan of Adam Lambert. He's got a miracle voice. And then he comes out with these songs now that it's not using his talents to the best advantage, in my opinion. Do you feel like what he's doing now is that of selling an image? Well, yeah, I guess it's an image. But he's got a set of pipes that you can't find anywhere. I'd be using those. Not the shock value. Think about shock value. He doesn't need it. He's got the chops. So I don't know who makes those decisions, but I would say he's got drama. He's got the vocal talent. I'd find something. And to me, it is barber Streisand-type talent, where you just can't get people to sing like that. And you can't go, "Hey, this might be popular. You don't need the gimmick." You may need it with some performers, but not with the ones who've got the gifts. Keep it simple. I think I saw satisfaction was the first thing, and I went, "My God, this guy's good." Oh, you did see that. I haven't seen that. It was that early on, and they kind of removed it off the Internet, but it was amazing. So you need people in power that can recognize it. And I don't think, necessarily, the people that could recognize it, have spent the time getting an MBA. That applies to, if you're thinking about it, that also applies to what's going on in the daytime right now. Let's look at this fashion. You can probably have one of the best new coming up and coming actors on your show. And then require a commitment story where they're on the canvas a lot. I think Billy Miller is probably the best example we have that they found somebody they liked, and they've given him great story. And he can handle it. He puts in some good work, and they're writing it. But that, to me, is a formula. Go with it. He's doing what you're writing. Keep going. But you lose momentum if you pull that person off the canvas. And I think he works well with Peter, if I believe the half-brother thing, I mean, it works. That's good news. So you don't need 15 people, you don't need 15 Billy Miller types now, because you got one. You have one. So commit to it. But I think that's what they're doing, hats off. Love it. And you know what else I love? Well, you got people on the line too. I love people on the phone. Okay. I do. I love my piece. I love my piece, call it in, because that kind of shuts us off. Well, let's talk about them. We can talk all night without them, but you know what? I don't want to be selfish. Let's not be selfish. No, I say go for it. I'm going for it, and we're going to bring on Phil. Who? Phil. Phil. Phil. Hey, who's going? I was wondering a couple things. Like, do you enjoy working with Eric Braden? Eric and I go back so far that I'd have to say, yeah. When we worked together, let's see, I think the last time we had some meaty scenes is when I come and chew them out about doing the nasty thing to my sister, using her to get at Jack. And I had a bunch of dialogue. We do it in one take. And I got to say that he was brilliant. Before we started, he said a few things to me that really struck me. It reminded me of our history together, and it took my mind away from the pressure of performing and doing it in one take and just get down to the business of what Paul and Victor had to do. So I got to say, yeah, that was a really, really satisfying experience. When you do a show every single day, if you're not too neurotic, you can get commonplace about your job. And I am lucky enough to be neurotic enough to try my hardest every day. And when he wants to, and I can't speak for him, but when he wants to, he's fabulous. So yeah, I do. You guys work great together. Every scene that you guys have is really good. It's definitely awesome to watch, that's for sure. And another thing I was wondering was, like, for your character, like what future story would you like to see? Like what would you like to see happen for your character? Well, it's funny because when I started, Bill ran the show, and you're on the show for about three minutes before you realize that you doesn't like to talk about the story, it's none of your business. And having so many years raised under that, I like to leave any of the second guessing and the freedom to the people who start with the blank page and send our characters wherever they want. My only gripe is that, you know, what I said to Deval earlier was that if you have too many people, you can't do any of your character's justice. So you need to focus in on things you can accomplish. What was it? 37 minutes? In 37 minutes, five days a week. And that's the parameters. I mean, if you want to extend the show or change it to a novella type thing, but as the soap opera model goes down, that's what you have to deal with. And having too many people diminishes, I think, the impact of what each character needs to accomplish. And that's just in a general sense. I'm not saying we should fire people, but that's where the storytelling takes place. If you have to scratch your head after three cast changes going, wait a minute, who is this person again? They're related to who? Then we're wasting time having people focusing on other than the emotions of the people in Genoa City. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I agree. If you have a smaller cast you have, I mean, you can utilize everybody, you know, a lot pretty equal, but if you have too big a cast, it's like some people get left out and stuff. Yeah, well, it's hard to accomplish relating what a character has to say in a half page. A week. Yeah, I agree totally. Well, thank you so much for taking my call. Hey, my pleasure. Hey, thanks for your compliments. I will be really difficult to live with around the house tomorrow. Big fan. Thanks. You're welcome. Take care. Okay. Nice. Your ego is pretty nice. Yeah, a little bit. You're not getting any bigger on the other side of the phone, is it? My receiver seems to be getting smaller. All right. I was told to bring this guy on, and much obliged, I'm going to, and plus I like the guy. Brandon from Texas is joining us. Brandon from Texas? Brandon from Texas. Good people in Texas. What part of Texas? Austin, Texas, sir. Oh, that's great. I'm a big Texas fan. Got a lot of friends from Texas. That's terrific. Well, I'm a big Doug Davidson fan, so it all works out. Okay. I want to tell you that, first of all, you and Stacey are doing magnificent work together, and you were talking earlier about what the audience wants. I've been watching this for 25 years, and I've got to tell you, I'm still rooting for Paul and Lauren to get back together. Well, I got a text, honestly, I got a text from Tracey this morning saying we're working together next week. And she said she has to dance. I don't know if I'm dancing with her. But that's all she said. They said the original version was we were in bed together, and I guess they pulled back from that. So I can only say that something is in the offing. We've got a lot of history together. Like I said, on Facebook, somebody sent me Lauren's 21st birthday, and it stopped me cold. It was just like, "Holy cow, where did the time go?" Listen, you guys were magical together back in the day, and that chemistry is still there. Oh, thanks. That's sweet, Brandon. No, please. It's my pleasure. It's all true, believe me. So I have a quick question for you. I'm wondering how you guys are enjoying the Paul Roush experience. Let's see. I first met Paul, and he tried to hire -- I was in a storyline, Paul and Cassandra Rollins, and he tried to hire the two of us on Santa Barbara. And I came in, and he liked us both, and he wanted to recreate whatever magic we had on his show. And I got to tell you, I was pretty happy with where I was. And I think the writing was on the wall at that juncture that the show wasn't going to be around forever. And he read it, and he was really kind. He said, "You're not ready to leave, are you?" And I said, "No, I guess not. I just wanted to meet you and entertain the possibility." And so when he came on board, it was a familiar face. We've got an enormous respect for each other, and it's great to have someone that knows soap running, you know, sitting in that chair. So I got to say it's all positive. He's from Bill Bell Goldskull, too. I mean, he knows from it. He sure does. I mean, I don't know that he ever worked for Bill, but he did ask the world turns. I mean, he's been around. He knows the stuff. And you can ask him questions about, "Gee, I'm not sure what I got together with Nicky." I had some questions regarding how naive Paul was the fact that she's still in love with Victor. And my opinion was that these two people have come to a spot in their lives that maybe it's not the love of their life, but there's so much trust and compassion and love that they're able to maintain a relationship with each other. And I had this discussion with him, and he went through the whole thing, and it was great talking to someone who knew the characters and writing and the whole package. So yeah, I got to say it's a very positive experience having him there. Does that answer your question? It's a big switch from who you guys have had in that chair the past few years, ever since Bill retired. When I first heard that he was coming over there, I thought it might not be the easiest fit, but it seems to have been. He actually is in a place in his life right now that I think he understands what we need, and he is knowledgeable enough to supply it. He's married to a concert pianist, and my daughter is going to the Royal College of Music in London, and so we've got that classical background together. He just knows art. I guess that's the easiest way to say it. And he's not setting out with anything ego-wise anymore, which may have been present in his earlier career. And I think he just wants to make our show the best show that he possibly can. He told me that he thinks he's doing his best work now than he ever has. And I think that's probably due to the fact that he's removed that ego from being the guy in charge and just working with all the personalities, trying to get the best show on the air that he can under the circumstances. Absolutely. Well, I tell you what, I think you're all doing terrific work. I think you are a magnificent actor, and you're one of my longtime favorites, and I look forward to seeing you continue on the show. Oh, thanks. Thanks. And Brandon, I appreciate it, and say hi to everybody in Austin. Sure will. Thanks a lot. And Brandon, before you go, I want to say happy one-year anniversary on your show, dude. Thank you, sir. That was really amazing. One-year anniversary, what? Brandon actually hosts his own show here on Blah Talk Radio called Brandon's Buzz. If you haven't checked it out, I think she would check it out. Great show. I listened to his one-year anniversary show the other night. Well, that's awesome. Hey, are you on Facebook? Yes, I am. Well, send me a request, and then I can follow what you're doing. I certainly will. And I've had a couple of YNR people on this past year. Oh, great. Caitlin? Yeah, Caitlin was on, and Nia Peoples was on, and yeah, it's... Awesome. So, yes, I will reach out to you, and we will get connected. Okay, thanks. And I appreciate you talking to you. All right, me too. All right, bye for now. See how that works out. People helping people. Isn't that great? Yeah, no, that's what it's all about. If you ever read a book called "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, I love that book. You know, it talks about people get together and create a force that is stronger than any individual. And there's a lot of energy in what you just did. People helping people. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. And this is going to sound very, very bad, but I saw all my calls to each... all my calls which were now that it's telling me to wrap it up, even though I don't want to. Because it's about the bottom. That's okay. I get it. It's like telling me, okay, we got to wrap it up next to you. That's, come on. And I'm like, oh, but... Whoa, whoa, whoa. We'll just have to do it again, Develle. Oh, I'm depressed. But we are going to do it again. Yeah. Before they cut it out, you're not going to cut it out when we do this. I want you to do a promo for us, like you do with Olivia. Okay. I'll do a promo for Buzzworthy. For what? For what? For Buzzworthy. For this show. Okay. I'm Doug Davidson. I'm the young and the restless. And when I'm buzzed, I'm buzzworthy. I feel like I need a drink after listening to that. Yeah. I got any liquor after that, man. No. Just need it toon in. That's... Oh, okay. Is that good enough? You want me to do another one? I got a million of them. All right. Do another one. Do another one. Okay. I'm Doug Davidson from the Young and the Restless. And I love listening to Buzzworthy. Are you both of them? How's that? Are you both of them? You do whatever you want. Yeah. I'll check you out on Facebook. It's been a pleasure. I've really enjoyed it. And you take care. We'll move on. Absolutely, man. All right. All right. You'll be seen in April. Okay. Sounds perfect. Let me know. Absolutely. All right. You take care and thank your listeners for me. I absolutely will, sir. Thank you so much for the pleasure. All right. Bye for now. Bye for now. I love him. I love this guy. I love that guy. Wonderful guy. Doug Davidson, everybody. Paul Williams on the Young and the Restless. Been playing the role of Paul Williams since 1978. You can check him out. CBS Daytime, the Young and the Restless, every day. If not, on CBS.com. You can check full episodes on there. And weeknight on SoapNet. But fine for now. We're going to do back on. Sometimes soon with our next guest, keep us up to date at buzzworthyradio.net where you can find all the latest information on everything that's coming up on BWR. That's buzzworthyradio.net. Find us on Twitter. @buzzworthyradio. Find us on Facebook. Buzzworthyradio. And that's it. That's all I got for you. Thanks so much, everybody, for coming out to the show tonight. As Paul, as David said, thanks to all the people in the chat room. Thanks to all the listeners. It's been a pleasure. I was so happy to do this show. And again. Bye for now. See you next time. Bye. Bye. Can't get enough of Buzzworthyradio.net. Knock on down to www.buzzworthyradio.net. To get the latest news, I'm upcoming guests, past shows and videos of all your favorite stars. Keep getting the latest buzz with Buzzworthy. (upbeat music)