Veteran showrunner Paul Rauch has opted to leave 'The Young and the Restless' effective April 1, 2011.

No, this isn't an April Fool's gag. Rauch, who's been sharing the executive-producer duties with Maria Arena Bell since 2008, is leaving to go home to New York.

Rauch, a Daytime Emmy winner, came to Y&R after helming a variety of soaps. His resume includes running 'Another World,' 'One Life to Live,' 'Santa Barbara' and 'Guiding Light.'

The exit is completely amicable. In a statement, Rauch said, "I have had great pleasure working with Y&R's magnificent cast and crew. I feel that I've accomplished everything that I set out to achieve, and it's now time for me to return to New York."

Andrea Evans is headed back to 'Young and the Restless' -- but with a bit of the twist. In true head-scratching fashion, Evans will play Tawny Moore, the character she created on the 'Bold and the Beautiful,' and not her original 'Y&R' character, Patty Williams, which is currently being portrayed by Stacy Haiduk. Evans' one-episode gig will air on May 12. [TV Guide]

More casting news after the jump.

Known as 'The Moustache' and 'The Dark Knight' on long-running CBS soap opera 'The Young and the Restless', Eric Braeden's character Victor Newman is the very definition of daytime TV icon. Even people who have never seen an episode in their lives know his name, his face, and his powerful low voice.

In the fall of 2009, 'Y&R' announced that Braeden would be leaving the show, citing contractual differences. What followed is perhaps one of the most raucous, vehement reactions to a soap star exiting in television history. People wrote; people blogged; people vented the world over – what would 'Y&R' be without Victor Newman?

After filming his last episode, which, for the record, runs through the actor's tenure on the show and compiles a series of clips ranging from his first appearances in the 80s to his latest conquests in the 00s, Braeden and the studio reached a last-minute agreement to keep him on the show. No details have been released, but Braeden seems amicable about the whole thing. If only we were that forgiving!

AOL TV Canada sat down and spoke with Braeden about what's it like being back on the show, whether Victor is a changed man after his various ordeals, and what he thinks of his cast mates.

I always imagined that being a Hilton is like living in a soap opera--wealth, scandal, and the occasional arrest. Apparently real life isn't dramatic enough for one member of the Hilton clan. Paris' mother, Kathy Hilton, will appear on The Young and the Restless as herself. The episode, which will air on May 13, was filmed on Wednesday.

Hilton's fictional self will ruffle some feathers in her Y&R cameo by taking over a magazine photo shoot. I'm not sure where that falls on a soap opera's bad behavior scale, but I'm sure that such workplace antics will at least earn Kathy a few dirty looks. The Hiltons have had plenty of TV exposure over the last month. Paris just did a cameo on a recent episode of My Name is Earl. Barron Hilton, Paris' brother, became a gossip show regular following his DUI arrest.

Here's some good news for fans of The Young and the Restless, As the World Turns and Guiding Light: CBS is now streaming full episodes on its site. New episodes will hit the Web every day at 6:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., but only for one week.

I predict that bored office workers who never cared about these soaps before will feel compelled to watch them online, resulting in a whole new breed of soap fanatics. I see five men stuffed into one cubicle, each one holding a box of Kleenex and snacking on Pringles as they become more and more engrossed in the storyline. Productivity will plummet, and companies around the United States will be forced to shut down, resulting in massive layoffs and rioting in the streets. I guess what I'm saying is that CBS will destroy us all with this new venture. Or maybe I'm overreacting.