» theyoungandtherestless

'The Young and the Restless' fans were outraged when we first reported that longtime star Eric Braeden (aka Victor Newman) was leaving the show over a contract dispute.

Well, never mind.

TV Guide confirms that Braeden will not be leaving 'Y&R' after all; the actor will take a pay cut, as the rest of the cast had already agreed to do.

Victor Newman, bidding Genoa City adieu forever? Say it isn't so!

Sadly, that seems to be the latest hit to daytime TV, as 'The Young and the Restless' star Eric Braeden, who has played manipulative, sometimes ruthless town gazillionaire and Newman family patriarch Victor since 1980, is leaving the Emmy-winning soap after a contract dispute with 'Y&R' production company Sony.

The star, who's won a Daytime Emmy, People's Choice Award, Soap Opera Digest Awards and a star on the Walk of Fame during his lengthy 'Y&R' stint, will leave the show just as his Victor is being sent off to Europe to rehab from a heart transplant. Braeden's last airdate, barring any last-minute negotiations, will be Nov. 2.

Evil clones, friendly vampires, secret islands and much, much more.

When something's overly dramatic, we call it a soap opera.

And no wonder -- only in daytime serials do we find such plot twists as people we thought were dead being held captive on islands (that's actually happened more than once), characters coming back from heaven, comatose patients astrally projecting themselves.

We're not making any of these up -- these are our favorite crazy, wacko soap opera story lines.