The Young & the Restless Exclusive: Head Writer Previews Shemar Moore’s Return as Malcolm
The Young and the Restless is poised for another visit from Shemar Moore as Malcolm Winters on Monday, June 8 and Tuesday, June 9. In advance of his arrival, Head writer Josh Griffith spoke with Soap Opera Digest about what’s ahead for Malcolm in Genoa City.
Family Matters
Now that Malcolm is healthy, having received a life-saving bone marrow donation from former son-in-law Cane (Billy Flynn), he’s got some happier business to attend to. “Malcolm has got to come back because he’s got some thanks to give to Cane,” Griffith says. “And now that he’s out of the woods and he’s not preoccupied with his own medical condition, he needs to make a connection with his new son,” Holden (Nathan Owens), his surprise offspring with Stephanie (Vivica A. Fox). And, of course, he’ll be spending some quality time with his biological daughter, Lily (Christel Khalil).
Griffith shares that the idea to give Malcolm a son in Holden “literally came to me watching a scene between Holden and Lily and watching Christel with Nathan. I wasn’t seeing it romantically, because I’m fixated on Lily and Cane, but I thought, ‘We need to bring him more into the world [of Genoa City]. We need to look at how to do that. And then I thought, ‘Wait a second, I want him to be Malcolm’s son!’ And so we decided that. And when I looked back into history, I thought, ‘Well, if you look at the timing, and he had this relationship with the character that Vivica Fox played, and I said, ‘I wonder if we can get Vivica back, as well.’ And then it just all fell together.”
The scribe admits that he isn’t sure he would have moved forward with the twist had Moore and Fox not been game to return. “I was confident,” he explains. “It just seemed like it was the perfect story, and so it had to work!”
Moore became a Y&R superstar — and a Daytime Emmy-winner — during his original stint as Malcolm, which lasted from 1994-2002, and Griffith declares that it means “everything” to him and to the show to be able to welcome him back to the canvas, however briefly. “I’m so grateful that he continues to feel like this is one of his homes that he can come to. There’s never any hesitation whenever we’ve reached out to him. It’s always been, ‘Y&R? I’m there.’ And for him to come back and step back into that role and help move along story for us is is priceless.”
As for the possibility of more pop-ins by Moore, Griffith says that is “always” on the table and winks, “I mean, if he wants to come back full-time, it’s okay with me!”
Conversation
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