The Young and the Restless (commonly abbreviated as Y&R) is a popular American television soap opera, first broadcast on CBS on March 26 1973.^[1] Y&R was created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who set their show in a fictional version of Genoa City, Wisconsin, a town near their annual vacation home in Lake Geneva.^[2]

When it debuted, the show originally focused on the personal and professional lives of two core families in Genoa City: the wealthy Brookses and the poor Fosters. After a series of recasts and departures in the early 1980s, most of the original characters were written out and the show shifted to the Abbotts, the Newmans, and the Williams. One basic plot that has run throughout almost all of the show's history is the rivalry between Jill Foster Abbott and Katherine Chancellor.

The series was originally broadcast as half-hour episodes, five times a week. It was expanded to one-hour episodes on February 1 1980. Y&R is currently the highest-rated daytime drama on American television. As of 2006, it has appeared at the top of the weekly Nielsen Ratings in that category for more than 900 weeks since 1988.^[3]

Y&R has won seven Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series; only General Hospital has won more times (nine).

Production

The show's healthy ratings are often attributed in part to the tight-knit writing and production staff.^{[citation needed]} The show was groundbreaking for daytime serials in its lush production values. When it premiered in 1973, The Young and the Restless stood out from other soaps on the air for its visual darkness. Soap operas at the time tended to be comparatively brightly-lit in tone. The show lighted primarily the actors, and not the background settings, so as to focus the attention of the viewer on the emotions of the actors. Also, its glamorous sets utilizing fresh cut flowers, and wardrobe and hairstyles were a huge contrast to existing soap operas, which often set the action in a simple living room or kitchen set, where characters would discuss their world over a cup of coffee. The Young and The Restless also utilized a lush, original background score composed by Jerry Winn, Bob Todd, and Don McGinnis. An album of selected background cuts were released in 1974 on PIP records. Other background music appearing in the show was to be found on the A&M records 1972 soundtrack from the movie "Bless The Beasts And The Children". An instrumental version of the title song from the movie (last used on Y&R in March 2003 when the Foster children leave to take Liz to the hospital) was frequently used in Y&R episodes as well as an alternate version of the Y&R theme that can be found on this album as well. This alternate version of the Y&R theme (Titled "Free" on the album), with lusher orchestration, was used primarily within the body of the show, during important turning points for the characters (i.e. The death of Cindy Lake, Traci and Danny make love for the first time, Leslie's departure from Genoa City). One cut from the Mystic Moods 1973 album "Awakening", titled "Universal Mind" was also used during important, watershed scenes (such as the first time Jill and Phillip Chancellor make love, and when a seriously ill 7 year old Chuckie asks his mother Sally if he's going to die.) With the exception of the original Y&R theme, "Universal Mind" remains the only background cut from the original Y&R score that has been released on CD. During the 80's, many new pieces were composed by Jez Davidson and Jack Allocco, and were intermingled with pieces from the 70's, creating a balance of giving the show "freshness" while still utilizing the original pieces to create a feeling of familiarity for the viewer. Many of these compositions from the 80's were released on a soundtrack CD from Paradigm records in 1998. It should also be noted that Y&R is one of the only soaps who used an actual orchestra for the background music, a lavish expense for a soap in the 70's.

When the show began as 30 minutes in 1973, it was shot in what is referred to as "Live To Tape", meaning it was basically like a stage play that was filmed, with actors freezing in place during the "Black Space" where commercials would later be inserted by the network and affiliates. Later, after the show went to 60 minutes in February of 1980, the taping style changed, and it was shot scene by scene, and edited, with which the format stands to this day.

In 2001, Y&R became the first - and, so far, only - daytime soap opera to be broadcast in high-definition.^[4]

Executive producing and head writing team

For the most part, the writers and producers of the show have stayed unchanged since the 1980s. Throughout most of the show's history since its inception, creator William J. Bell served as both the executive producer and head writer for Y&R. He also had a number of executive producers over the years including John Conboy, H. Wesley Kenney, Edward J. Scott, David Shaughnessy and John F. Smith. Starting in the mid-80s, Bell was credited as "Senior Executive Producer".

As the show continued to reach new, record heights in 1987, co-executive producer H. Wesley Kenney defected to network television's #1 mainstay in the soap ratings, General Hospital. This was rather ironic, since the following year it was Y&R that surpassed the longtime champ for the Nielsen top spot, with Kenney not being able to be a part of his former show's ultimate success. However, Kenney did keep GH near the top of the pack during his two-year tenure as executive producer there.

Kay Alden took over as head writer after Bell stepped down in 1998. After Bell died in April 2005, Smith served as the sole executive producer.

In late February 2006, Lynn Marie Latham was promoted to head writer, while Alden and Smith served as co-head writers. In late August 2006, Latham was announced as the new executive producer (in addition to her writing role) by CBS Daytime Senior Vice President Barbara Bloom. More behind-the-scenes shakeups continued into September 2006 when Smith's contract as co-head writer wasn't renewed. Kathryn Foster, a long time producer and director since the 1980s, resigned in October 2006.

Alden resigned from the show in November 2006. She was hired by ABC Daytime in December 2006 to consult on All My Children and One Life to Live. After her consulting contract ended, Alden joined The Bold and the Beautiful as an Associate Head Writer. Josh Griffith, the show's former Creative Consultant, was named its new co-executive producer shortly after the departure of Smith. In June 2007, former Supervising Producer, Edward J. Scott was chosen by Sony Pictures Television to join Days of our Lives. Anthony Morina, husband of former series writer/story consultant Sally Sussman Morina, joined as producer shortly after Scott's departure.

The show had been known in the industry for its close-knit team that rarely changed; however, with Latham's ascension, many crew members that had been with the show since the '80s were fired or quit: Joshua S. McCaffrey, Trent Jones, Mike Denney, Janice Ferri Esser, Sally Sussman Morina, Jim Houghton, Marc Hertz, Sara A. Bibel. New crew members were hired: Kola Boof (ghostwriter)^{[citation needed]}, Neil Landau, Darin Goldberg, Brett Steanart, Valerie Ahern, Shelley Meals, Phideaux Xavier, Cherie Bennett, Jeff Gottesfeld, Bernard Lechowick, Scott Hamner, Diane Messina Stanley, Christian McLaughlin, Lynsey DuFour, Vincent Lechowick, James Stanley, Jenelle Lindsay, Tom Casiello, Paula Cwikly, Rick Draughon, and Chris Abbott.

As of 2007, only three writers from the pre-Latham era: Sandra Weintraub, Eric Freiwald and Natalie Minardi Slater, remain with the serial.

Due to the strike of the Writers Guild of America all of Y&R's staff writers have vacated their posts. Additionally, Lynn Marie Latham vacated her role as executive producer. It remains to be seen if she or any of the writing team will return at the conclusion of the strike. The final episode of the Latham era aired on December 24, 2007.

Currently, the serial's executive producer is Josh Griffith with Griffith and Maria Arena Bell acting as headwriters.

Current Y&R Main Crew

Budget

The show has a 1.25 million dollar per week budget. ^{[citation needed]}

Cast

The original March 1973 cast consisted of a mixture of veterans and young, relative unknowns. The most notable cast member was Robert Colbert, star of the 1960s TV series The Time Tunnel, as Stuart Brooks. Dorothy Green, a frequent guest star in numerous 1950s-60s TV programs, was cast as Stuart's wife Jennifer, while veteran actress Julianna McCarthy played Liz Foster.

Among the current cast members, longtime veteran actress Jeanne Cooper, who plays Katherine Chancellor, has been on contract with Y&R since Fall 1973. The other current senior cast members who joined the show in the 1970s are Doug Davidson (Paul Williams, 1978) and Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman, 1979). Eric Braeden joined Y&R as Victor Newman in 1980 after becoming notable for his roles in The Rat Patrol and Colossus: The Forbin Project, as well as a variety of guest starring roles in numerous primetime TV shows during the 1970s.

The only two original characters remaining since the program's debut in 1973 are Jill Foster Abbott, who has been played by Jess Walton since 1987, and Katherine Chancellor, played by Jeanne Cooper. Even though Katherine was not seen on-screen until November 1973, she was mentioned very early on in the show.

Current cast members

Recurring cast members

Comings and goings

Deceased cast members

Crossovers

Numerous crossovers have occurred between Y&R and sister show The Bold and the Beautiful. Several notable crossover characters include Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman), Ambrosia Moore (Adrienne Frantz), and Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson). Currently the recurring character Abigail "Abby" Carlton (Darcy Rose Byrnes) appears on both Y&R and B&B. The show has also had a few crossovers with As the World Turns.

Awards

Over its run, Y&R and its cast and crew have earned many awards. The following list summarizes awards won by Y&R:

Daytime Emmy Awards

Show

• 2007 "Outstanding Drama Series" tied with Guiding Light
• 2006 "Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team"
• 2004 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 2000 "Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team"
• 1997 "Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team" tied with All My Children
• 1993 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 1992 "Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team"
• 1986 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 1985 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 1983 "Outstanding Drama Series"
• 1975 "Outstanding Drama Series"

Individuals

• 2007 "Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to Daytime Television" Lee Phillip Bell
• 2007 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Christian LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin)
• 2007 "Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series" Bryton (Devon Hamilton)
• 2005 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Christian LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin)
• 2005 "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" Greg Rikaart (Kevin Fisher)
• 2005 "Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series" David Lago (Raul Guittierez)
• 2004 "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers Abbott)
• 2004 "Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to Daytime Television" Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor)
• 2002 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott)
• 2000 "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" Shemar Moore (Malcolm Winters)
• 2000 "Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series" David Tom (Billy Abbott)
• 2000 "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" Camryn Grimes (Cassie Newman)
• 1999 "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" Sharon Case (Sharon Newman)
• 1999 "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" Heather Tom (Victoria Newman)
• 1998 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Eric Braeden (Victor Newman)
• 1997 "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" Jess Walton (Jill Foster Abbott)
• 1997 "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers Romalotti)
• 1993 "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" Heather Tom (Victoria Newman McNeil)
• 1992 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott)
• 1992 "Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series" Kristoff St. John (Neil Winters)
• 1992 "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" Tricia Cast (Nina Webster Kimble)
• 1991 "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott)
• 1991 "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" Jess Walton (Jill Foster Abbott)
• 1985 "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" Beth Maitland (Traci Abbott)
• 1985 "Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series" Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren Fenmore)

TV Soap Golden Boomerang Awards

• 2006 "Hall of Fame Inductee" Eric Braeden (Victor Newman)

Writers Guild of America Awards

• 2003 "Best Daytime Serial" Written by Kay Alden, Trent Jones, John F. Smith, Jerry Birn, Jim Houghton, Natalie Minardi, Janice Ferri, Eric Freiwald, Joshua McCaffrey, Michael Minnis, Rex M. Best
• 2006 "Best Daytime Serial" Written by Kay Alden, John F. Smith, Janice Ferri, Jim Houghton, Natalie Minardi Slater, Sally Sussman Morina, Sara Bibel, Eric Freiwald, Linda Schreiber, Joshua S. McCaffrey, Marc Hertz, Sandra Weintraub

Storyline

When The Young and the Restless premiered in 1973, the show revolved around the dramas which befell two families: the wealthy Brooks and the poor Fosters. Patriarch Stuart Brooks was an upper class newspaper publisher while matriarch Liz Foster was a single parent struggling to pay the bills.

The rivalry between Liz's daughter Jill and socialite Katherine "Kay" Chancellor became one of the show's first and longest-lasting storylines. Kay was a boozy matron trapped in a loveless marriage to Phillip Chancellor II. After Jill went to work as Kay's paid companion, she and Phillip fell in love. After he returned from obtaining a divorce in the Dominican Republic, Kay picked him up at the airport, and in an attempt to kill both Phillip and herself, drove the car off a cliff. On his deathbed, Phillip married Jill and bequeathed her and their love child his fortune. Kay ended up getting a judge to declare that Jill and Phillip's marriage was illegal since Kay was drunk when signing her divorce papers. After the ruling, the rivalry between the two ladies spiraled out of control, each blaming the other for Phillip's death.

After a series of recasts and departures in the late 1970s-early 1980s, the Brooks and the Fosters were phased out, and two new core families were introduced: the Abbott and the Willams families, and later the Newmans. The Abbott–Newman family rivalry also extended to the corporate warfare between their respective companies, Jabot Cosmetics and Newman Enterprises. Core African American characters, the Barbers and the Winters, were later introduced in the 1990s.

Show creator William J. Bell resigned as head writer in 1998, and since 2000, Y&R has suffered audience erosion. Despite remaining the most watched daytime drama on American television since 1988, later head writers such as Kay Alden, John F. Smith, and Lynn Marie Latham began to rely on several highly publicized, retcon storylines to attract more viewers. Notable retcons introduced in the 2000s include revealing that Kay is Jill's actual birth mother, and Phillip II and Jill's baby was switched at birth. Recently the show began a new storyline with the Clear Springs explosion, promoted as "The Young and the Restless: Out of the Ashes". Several of Genoa City's most prominent residents are trapped under the collapse.

Broadcast history

Early Years, 1973-80

In spring 1973, CBS decided to discontinue production on two of its four in-house serials; one of these was the controversial Where the Heart Is, a show reminiscent of Peyton Place's sex-driven intrigue that focused on multiple-married characters and incestuous themes. In its place, the network sought a youth-oriented, Los Angeles-based (most soaps at the time still recorded in New York City), socially relevant show, and Screen Gems/Columbia, which had considerable success with NBC's Days of Our Lives, got the job as packager. Y&R, the result of such planning, began on March 26 at Noon Eastern Time/11 am Central with the handicap of inheriting the affiliate clearance problems attained by WtHI, especially in conservative small-to-medium-sized markets. It also faced a long-standing audience favorite, with which, ironically, it is now co-owned (via Sony): NBC's Jeopardy!, which had for years been daytime's number-two game.

Y&R's ascent was slow, but got major boosts from missteps made by the rival networks. First, NBC sent Jeopardy! to a mid-morning slot in January 1974, with the briefly-popular Jackpot! taking its place, only to eventually lose much of the old audience. Next, Password on ABC made the bad decision to convert to an all-celebrity format in November of that year, a move that would lead to its cancellation the following June. Perhaps the luckiest occurrence to allow Y&R to get a foothold, though, was NBC's decision to air a press conference by President Gerald Ford in January 1975 at the Noon hour, with ABC and CBS declining. This landed Y&R some of Jackpot!'s annoyed fans, eventually paving the way for that program's relocation and eventual cancellation later in the year. More importantly, though, was the fact that Jackpot! had appealed strongly to a demographic of young housewives and mothers, a group whose shift in viewing allegiances would be crucial for Y&R's continued audience growth.

By summer, ABC and NBC changed up their shows at Noon/11, offering two lightweight games that audiences shied away from, thereby enabling Y&R to enter the Nielsen serial top three. For its part, NBC would enter into a string of low-rated disasters at that timeslot for the next several years (among them an attempt to revive Jeopardy! in 1978-79), while ABC similarly struggled until it moved The $20,000 Pyramid there in January 1978. However, Pyramid's time was running out, and the former hit game wrapped up six years on the network in June 1980. The only parts of the country where Y&R experienced some trouble were those Eastern time zone markets where affiliates plugged the show into the network's half-hour access break at 1 p.m./Noon (in order to free the Noon hour for local newscasts); there, ABC's All My Children would somewhat hinder Y&R's progress, especially when the former show expanded to an hour in April 1977.

Rise to the Top, 1980s

When the long-running soap Love of Life was canceled on February 1, 1980, CBS rewarded Y&R's performance with an expansion to a full hour the following Monday. In so doing, it opted to counter AMC and Y&R's sister show Days (on NBC) head-to-head directly at the 1-2/Noon-1 time frame, marking the first time in nearly a quarter-century that the network placed a full-length show in the 1-1:30/Noon-12:30 slot. To those stations that carried the feed directly, namely the Eastern time zone affiliates again, it experienced at best mixed results, while Central time zone stations often tape-delayed the feed one day in order to keep the show in its original slot of 11 a.m., which meant that ABC's Family Feud, then daytime's highest-rated game, gave the soap considerable opposition.

With the less-than-impressive results, CBS reinstated the affiliate break to its traditional time network-wide and, taking into account the local stations' desire for scheduling flexibility, gave them the option of running Y&R at either Noon/11 (the preference of most) or 12:30/11:30 (mostly in the Eastern time zone), on different feeds. Beginning on June 8, 1981, the arrangement proved highly popular with fans all over the U.S., and the show has stayed put ever since. The wisdom of CBS' decision was confirmed by the continued downfall of NBC's ratings at midday and the eroding popularity of Feud, which by this time aired also as a five-day-per-week syndicated strip on local stations in the early-evening Access slots, something which likely brought the Richard Dawson-hosted game overexposure and consequent audience backlash. Also, another family-and-youth-oriented serial, ABC's Ryan's Hope, had never performed to network expectations in its 12:30/11:30 slot and proved no threat to Y&R at all.

Steady but Eroding, 1990s-present

All this propelled the soap to the top among CBS' serials, and, after General Hospital spent most of the 1980s on the top of the Nielsens, in 1988, after 15 years on the air, Y&R knocked GH off the throne to gain the crown; it has held it ever since. However, the triumph has been mitigated considerably by negative developments: Y&R's ratings have declined steadily since that time. From 1988 to 2006, the show lost a significant share of its audience, from eight million viewers to about six million, despite only attracting nominal competition from the two other traditional networks. This has occurred because of the explosion of viewing alternatives available to cable television viewers, which increased choices dramatically. Further, the steady increase in percentage of women working outside the home has cut the show off from a large segment of its historic audience (and the formerly preferred demographic of advertisers such as food and household products). Y&R has not been the sole victim of these trends, nor even the main one; all U.S. daytime network serials have witnessed similar declines in their ratings. The pace of the decline was sped up considerably by the events on and following the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, with all-news cable news networks swelling their audiences with around-the-clock coverage of the pursuit of Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi War.

Alternate Timeslots, Multiple Rebroadcasts (TV/Online)

Probably in an effort to maximize audience potential (such as students and people home from early work shifts), a few CBS affiliates show Y&R at 4 p.m. local time, finding it to be a viable lead-in to their 5 p.m. local newscasts. These include KMOV in St. Louis, WAFB in Baton Rouge, La., WLKY in Louisville, Ky,, and WRAL in Raleigh/Durham, N.C.

Only six Central, Mountain and Pacific time zone stations presently air Y&R on the 11:30 a.m. feed: KCBS in Los Angeles, WBBM in Chicago, KTVT in Dallas-Fort Worth, KOLR in Springfield, Mo.,WHBF in Quad Cities, IA/IL and WTVF in Nashville, Tenn. The first three are stations owned and operated by CBS.

In Honolulu, CBS affiliate KGMB airs Y&R at 1 pm local time, rather than at 11:30 am.

In Colorado Springs, Co., CBS affiliate KKTV aires Y&R at 2PM local time.

Those unable to view Y&R on CBS Daytime may watch it instead on the all-soap cable channel SOAPnet, which airs that day's episode at 7 p.m. ET, repeating that airing at 6 a.m. ET and Midnight ET Also, a block of the entire previous week's episodes airs Saturday evenings between 7 p.m. and Midnight. The network picked up Y&R in April 2006, its first CBS serial.

In late June, 2007, Y&R became available for viewing full episode on CBS online Audience Network. Episodes are placed online the following day of being broadcast at 3am ET/Midnight PT, and are removed after one week.

All of the above mentioned services, however, are only available within the United States.

Broadcasts outside the United States

• In Australia, Y&R airs on Foxtel's W. Channel at 12:00, and on the timeshift channel, W2, at 14:00. It previously aired on the Nine Network from 1975 to February 23, 2007, before joining the W. line-up on April 2, 2007. Episodes are 9-and-a-half months behind those airing in the US at present.
  Main article: Screening of daytime soap operas in Australia
• In Belgium, the show airs on RTBF-La Une as "Les Feux de l'amour" at 12:00 (dubbed in French).
• In Belize, Channel 5 Great Belize Television airs it on schedule with the US at 1:00 pm Central Time. Rival Channel 7 Tropical Vision Limited airs on schedule as well at 2:00 pm, Central Time.
• In Canada, Global TV airs the newest episodes one day earlier than CBS in the United States, which means the newest episode that CBS airs is the repeat of the episode that aired on Global the previous day. Most Global stations use Y&R as a late-afternoon lead-in for their local newscasts, but times vary by market. It also airs on CHEK-TV in Victoria but is not one day ahead.
  • In the French-speaking province of Quebec, a dubbed version airs on TVA, with the title Les Feux de l'amour (Fires of Love), about eight years after initial airing.
• In Finland the show aired on Finnish-language channel MTV3 under the title Tunteita ja tuoksuja ("Senses and scents").
• In France, the show screens on TF1 as "Les Feux de l'amour" at 13:55 (dubbed in French).
• In Germany, the show will air from March 2008 weekdays at 11:40 am on ZDF. The network will only show 20 minutes (parts one episode in two) the day in German synchronization. The Episodes are two years behind the US and the show is known as Schatten der Leidenschaft (Shadows Of The Passion).
• In Greece, the show airs on ET1 (Public TV Channel) at 16:00. Episodes are five years behind the US. It's known as Ατίθασα νιάτα (literally Untamedly nja'ta).
• In India, the show began airing in February, 2007 on Zee Cafe at 20:00. The channel started with episodes from the 2004-2005 season.
• In Italy, the show airs at 10:40 in the morning on Rete 4, using the Italian title Febbre d'amore (Love Fever). Episodes are two years behind the US. Y&R first Italian broadcast was in 1983.
• In the Republic of Macedonia, episodes from 1998 and 1999 were shown on Sitel TV a couple of years ago. Currently, reruns are shown.
• In New Zealand, Y&R airs on TV ONE. Episodes are four years behind the US.
• In Poland, Y&R aired in the middle 90's on Polsat as "Zar Mlodosci", which means "Fervor of The Youth". Polsat aired episodes from early 1990's. After three years of airing, cause of low ratings the show was cancelled. The Y&R have never backed on polish television since than.
• In Romania, the show is aired on Pro TV as "Tânăr şi neliniştit".
• In Slovenia, the show airs on Kanal A as Mladi in nemirni. Episodes currently air from August 2004.
• In South Africa, the show airs on e.tv at 17:30. The show was originally aired in South Africa in the early 1990s, dubbed into the Afrikaans language, and entitled 'Rustelose Jare' (Restless Years). The show returned to South African television screens in June, 2004, with no overhead foreign translations. Episodes are between 11 and 12 months behind the US.
• In Switzerland, the show airs on TSR at 11:10 as "Les Feux de l'amour".
• In Turkey, the show aired on TRT 2. It was called "Yalan Rüzgarı", which means "Wind of Lies". The name was derived from initials Y&R.
• In the United Kingdom, Y&R has aired on the digital channel Zone Romantica since September 3, 2007.

Theme Song and Other Music

"Nadia's Theme" has been the theme song of Y&R since the show's debut in 1973. The melody, originally titled "Cotton's Dream", was written by Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr. as incidental music for the 1971 theatrical film Bless the Beasts and Children. The melody was later renamed "Nadia's Theme" after the ABC television network lent the music for Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci's performance during the 1976 Summer Olympics.^[5]

Botkin wrote a rearranged version of the piece specifically for Y&R's debut, which has basically remained unchanged; save for a three-year stint in the early 2000s, when an alternate, more jazzy arrangement of that tune was used. The closing stinger of that arrangement is still used as a mid-show bumper.

Much of the show's background music comes from Rescue Records artists, including Blaire Reinhard, Girl Next Door, Beth Thornley, and Tena Clark.

Title sequence

The opening title sequence has also become well-known. For many years since the show's debut, it showcased the characters, drawn by an artist, on a white background. For the first year, the character's portraits were seen behind the The Young and the Restless title. For the remaining years until 1984, the characters' headshots were seen to the right of the show's title.

Starting in 1984, the sequence both began and ended with an interlocking Y and R painted on the white canvas in a sweeping brush motion. The logo (and in the earlier years, the drawings) were done by artist Sandy Dvore. The drawings were now sketched with a lighter shade of gray than the previous sketches. The drawings were replaced with live-action shots of the characters in formal or semi-formal wear, still on a white background, in 1988.

Beginning on November 1, 1999, in an unprecedented move for a main title sequence of a daytime soap opera, the names of the principal cast members (for that day's particular episode) were mentioned (whereas previously the main title only showed the cast members' faces). The 1999 version also included live-action shots of the characters, but in front of a red curtain in the background.

On March 21, 2003 the opening credits were given a complete makeover, now featuring black-and-white footage from the series with the actors' names in lower case in red at either the top or bottom of the screen (a possibly throwback to the shows early years when the cast members sketches were also black and white). In 2004, Y&R's sister show The Bold and the Beautiful began airing the performers' names on the opening credits, the only soap besides Y&R to do so.

For over 25 years, the announcer for the show's opening and closing credits was Bern Bennett, who would tell viewers to "Join us again for The Young and the Restless." In 2003, Bennett retired and CBS hired former casting assistant Marnie Saitta for the job of announcer. In 2006 Marnie Saitta was replaced by cast members announcing for the show.

Ratings

As of 2006, Y&R has managed 900 consecutive weeks in the #1 spot and 18 consecutive years.

When introduced during the 1972–73 season, the show was at the bottom of the ratings (as most debuting serials usually start out), but rose rapidly: ninth by 1974–75 and third by 1975–76. It remained a strong and increasingly important part of CBS daytime's lineup and by 1988-1989 had dethroned long-time leader General Hospital as the top-rated soap, a position it has held ever since.

Daytime History: Highest Rated Week (November 16-20, 1981) (Nielsen Media Research)

1995 Daytime Serial Ratings

1979-1980 Season (September 79 September 80)

• 1. General Hospital 9.9
• 3. The Young And The Restless 8.8

1981-1982 Season

• 1. General Hospital 11.2
• 5. The Young And The Restless 7.4

1982-1983 Season

• 1. General Hospital 9.8
• 4. The Young And The Restless 8.0

1983-1984 Season

• 1. General Hospital 10.0
• 3. The Young And The Restless 8.8

1984-1985 Season

• 1. General Hospital 9.1
• 3. The Young And The Restless 8.1

1985-1986 Season

• 1. General Hospital 9.2
• 2. The Young And The Restless 8.3

1986-1987 Season

• 1. General Hospital 8.3
• 2. The Young And The Restless 8.0

1987-1988 Season

• 1. General Hospital 8.1 (#1 in viewers)
• 2. The Young And The Restless 8.1 (#2 in viewers)

1988-1989 Season

• 1. The Young And The Restless 8.1

1989-1990 Season (1 HH rating = 921,000 Homes)

• 1. The Young And The Restless 8.0

1990-1991 Season

• 1. The Young And The Restless 8.1

1991-1992 Season

• 1. The Young And The Restless 8.2

1992-1993 Season

• 1. The Young And The Restless 8.1

1993-1994 Season (1 HH rating = 942,000 Homes)

• 1. The Young And The Restless 8.3

1994-1995 Season (1 HH rating = 942,000 Homes)

• 1. The Young And The Restless 8.6

1995-1996 Season

• 1. The Young And The Restless 7.7

1996-1997 Season

• 1 Y&R 7.5

1997-1998 Season

• 1. The Young And The Restless 7.3

1998-1999 Season HH Ratings

• 1. The Young And The Restless 7.1

1999-Present Season HH Ratings

• 1. Y&R

Latest Ratings

Week of November 5-9, 2007 (Compared To Last Week/Compared To Last Year)(Compared To 2003) 1. Y&R 5,471,000 (-43,000/-403,000)(-500,000)

Boys 12-17 1. Y&R 34,000 (+17,000/-1,000) (+8,000)

Cultural references

The Young and the Restless has been referenced in several movies and TV shows. For example, many TV programs use a variation of the Y&R name in some of their episode titles, including "The Jung and the Restless" from Charmed and "The Young & The Tactless" from Will & Grace. In the 1976 film Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) kicks his TV while watching a scene from Y&R between Jill Foster and Brock Reynolds.

In The Simpsons' episode "Pygmoelian", the opening sequence of the soap opera It Never Ends parodies that of Y&R. The titles have also been parodied on the Australian sitcom Kath and Kim.

Y&R is also parodied in the 1983 film Mr. Mom. After unemployed automotive engineer Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) becomes a regular viewer, watching actual footage featuring the characters of Victor Newman, Nikki Reed, Kevin Bancroft. Eventually he and his newfound friend Joan (Ann Jillian) engage in a spoof of soap operas in general with music from Y&R playing in the background. The parody gradually includes Jack's wife Carolyn (Teri Garr), who shoots him, his former supervisor Jinx (Jeffrey Tambor), who was going to give him his old job back, and Carolyn's boss Ron (Martin Mull), who leaves with her.

See also

• List of The Young and the Restless cast members
• List of The Young and the Restless characters
• CBS Daytime

References

• The Young and the Restless: Yearly Summaries

External links

• Official website
• Y&R at CBS Daytime
• Y&R @ BuddyTV
• The Young and the Restless at Yahoo! TV
• Toni's Y&R Spoiler Site
• The Young and the Restless at the W. Channel
• Full episodes of Y&R Available only to U.S. viewers
• In depth audio interview with Eric Braeden (Dec 2007)
• The New YR Totally Sucks