Time After Time/Soap World

I am extremely happy to have had the chance to interview the handsome star of The Young and the Restless Mr. Doug Davidson who plays the intrepid detective Paul Williams. Doug has some very honest answers to the questions I am very interested in in my quest to help save our soaps.

Missnanse: Hi Doug, I would like to thank you for agreeing to this interview...First I want you to know that I and many other fans think you need a major story-line ASAP.

Doug Davidson: That is so nice!! I would love that. For my first 25 years on the show I went from one storyline to another. Bill spoiled me. I was so young when I started, I took him for granted, much as children do with their own parents. I send him thanks and

gratitude everyday now.

Missnanse: Do you think the Daytime Emmy's will be televised? We want to see you win on TV.

DD: I really have no idea. I am honored to be recognized atall, so even if isn't and they just take slides, I am okay. I am not even nominated yet, so it is a bit premature to even guess about the outcome. If I do end up getting a nomination and winning, it is probably better for me if it is not televised. After 32 years in daytime I have so many people to thank, my speech could go on for days!!!!

Missnanse: I would like to know your thoughts on the cancellation of Guiding Light and As The World Turns?

DD: When one of our shows' is canceled it is bad for the genre. In my opinion, we need some really fresh thinking from all levels of daytime. Storytelling is as old as man, hard to believe it is out of fashion. We must be doing something wrong as an industry. I think B&B was the last show to arrive and that was, what 25 years or so ago? There is room in the American TV audiences’ appetite for daytime dramas. It is up to us to make it a feast! Because of YouTube and FaceBook, I have viewers send me episodes that are 20-30 years old. The basic elements still are brilliant, just the same way that Jack Benny is still funny. What happens between the creatives of today who come up with the ideas, and what is seen on TV continues to be a mystery to me.

Missnanse: What do you think of the state of Daytime soaps in general?

DD: What state? California! It is too expensive to shoot in New York City anymore Just kidding. We are chasing our tails in trying to GIVE the audience what they want. I don't think Bill Bell looked at "focus  groups", as long as I knew him. He wrote from his heart and soul. The process now is much like our government, it is all done by committee. It is really hard to get everyone to agree on any one thing. So, we are faced with compromise and compromise dilutes the outcome. Bill had only himself to please, and it just so happened the rest of America agreed with him.

Missnanse: Many of us soap fans are very distrustful of the Networks and feel the best solution for soaps would be a cable station. What is your opinion?

DD: You are getting out of the area of my expertise. Don't media companies own the networks and cable? Cost effective entertainment for a niche audience is what the daytime drama needs, how you get there is for the superhero that saves our genre to figure out. Einstein was once quoted saying: “The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. I will let you connect the dots.

Missnanse: Okay, now back to Young and the Restless. Any scoops or spoilers you can tell me?

DD: Absolutely not. We have a creative team that is doing everything they can to bring the viewers the best possible show on the

air. Part of their success is is predicated on the element of surprise and wonder. Living in the age of instant communication is a tough place to accomplish that. Often, our viewers know what is going to happen before I do. That isn't right!! How they have been able to keep the secret that Victor and Kay are the same person is amazing to me. Oop's

Missnanse: How about Paul Williams? What and who is in his future?

DD: That would be a question for our creative leader Maria Bell. I was raised during the age when you didn't make suggestions or comments about story.... Yes, I learned the hard way.

Missnanse: Any films or tv show appearances in your future?

DD: God, I hope so!! I just don't know what they are yet.

Missnanse: There have been many unkind words said by Victoria Rowell about Y&R and more personally about Peter Bergman. Do you think this is the reason they are not bringing her back? I understand if you do not want to answer.

DD: Historically our show has "danced" around the behavior of a few certain players to accommodate and improve the show as a whole. It is, at the very, least a group effort. In order to make it work, other individuals have had to do more than there share to take up the slack of those few. Most of our cast and crew work not for themselves, but for the finished product, we want to put the best possible show on the air. Two people that I would have no reservation in saying have always gone above and beyond to do just that are Peter Bergman and Kristoff St.John.

Missnanse: I would like to thank you so much for this interview. You are a Truly Professional  Soap Actor , a Gentleman and a real Hunk.

*Nanci Hughes*