The Young and the Restless celebrates 50 years. Learn more here--->>
If you have been blessed to live on God’s green earth for at least fifty years, you can relate that breathing and living this thing called life is hardly an easy feat and to get to fifty years is indeed a major milestone that must be honored and celebrated.
On March 26, 1973, The Young and the Restless aired its first episode on the CBS network. And fifty years later, Y&R, Genoa City, its citizens, and the show’s fans are all still here! It has been so wonderful to see this much-deserved outpouring of love, honor, and reverence that the show has been receiving from everyone leading up to this auspicious 50th Anniversary.
Y&R began as a half an hour drama that aired five times a week, primarily centering on the wealthy Brooks family, the working class Foster family and the wealthy Chancellor family. Then in the early 1980s, there was a cosmic soap shift and a revamping that ushered in a new dawning of the show’s canvas. The majority of the original cast was replaced. New families such as the Abbotts and Williams families were brought on, followed by the Newman, Barber/Johnson/Winters, Fenmore/Baldwin/Fisher, Summers, Romalotti, Rosales, etc. clans. Need to say, Genoa City has housed some wonderful soap opera families.
These beloved families and characters have created some of daytime’s best couples, who the baby daddy question marks, love triangles, storylines, rivalries, catfights, OMG moments, and the like, in daytime. It is impossible so we dare not even try and list them all. So, please allow us the grace to highlight just a few as a part of our celebration.
Let’s begin with rivalries which may be one of the few topics listed below most soap fans can agree on. Now we won’t agree on who came out on top but we may be able to agree these are Y&Rs finest. May-be because we soap fans don’t really do the whole, we “all agree” thing.
Rivalries
Jill/Katherine, Victor/Jack, Phyllis/Sharon, are top-tier. The long-standing Lauren/Sheila rivalry has been so intricate and intense, it has spawned over two soaps, Y&R and The Bold and The Beautiful. If the Y&R version, was before your time, do yourself a favor and do a YouTube dive on that one.
A bit more recently Lily/Hilary was also must see. And as of late the show has stirred up an “oldie but goodie” rivalry with Phyllis/Diane.
Catfights
Oh, my goodness. Y&R has had some great ones stemming from their rivalries. Jill and Katherine most likely had the most. Serious question, which one reigns supreme? Their cake fight, the attic fight, or another one? Hard to choose!
Nikki and Sharon know how to brawl too! Nikki pushing an inebriated Sharon into a swimming pool is one you can’t forget but the brawl in the Newman stables has to be the best right? Great stuff!
Speaking of great stuff, have you seen what is coming up? In case you haven’t and want to remain spoiler free, we will only say it looks like Y&R hasn’t lost their touch for a good catfight, one is headed our way soon!
Paternity Storylines
Every soap worth its salt has to ask and answer, “Who The Baby Daddy?” more than once. Lily and Abby’s paternity storylines are among the show’s best however, the shocker of all shockers will always be that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis and not John Abbott. Whew, that one!
Love Triangles
You want to get soap fans engaged? Pen a hot love triangle! It works every time! Can you imagine if we had social media back in the 80s or 90s? Some of us would have stayed in Twitter Jail…
Victor/Nikki/Ashley will go down in history as one of the best triangles in daytime period. And right on its heels which arguably was the most heated/contentious triangle among fans in Genoa City’s history, and would have landed lots of people in Twitter Jail and banned from social media (LOL) is Sharon/Nick/Phyllis. One for the ages!
A bit more recently Neil/Hilary/Devon and Phyllis/Billy/Victoria got fans all riled up too!
Couples
Listen. If you start going down the best/favorite couple rabbit hole you will be still here in another fifty years. We all love who we love. So, let’s sayY&R has had more than their share of phenomenal pairings over the last fifty years. But still, note three who are iconic in their own right for various reasons. Fair enough?
Victor/Nikki, Neil/Dru, and Mariah/Tessa.
Deaths
Soap fans love their soap actors, actresses, and characters like family because they are. And when a favorite passes away on screen (or in real life) we mourn them. Some of the most painful and memorable character deaths have been Drucilla Winters, Brad Carlton, John Abbott, Colleen Carlton, Hope Wilson, Delia Abbott, Neil Winters, Katherine Chancellor, Hilary Winters, and Cassie Newman.
SOME Best Moments
In closing the last slippery slope, we will venture out on is giving our take on some of the soapiest, OMG moments in Genoa City. Obviously, this is not an inclusive list and it is not in any particular order.
« In the 1980s Jeanne Cooper had a facelift in real life. In turn, Katherine had one on the show and parts of the footage from Cooper’s real-life experience (before and after) were incorporated into the show. Iconic.
« Criminal David Kimble went to a plastic surgeon to get a new face to evade the law. He asked the surgeon to make him look like David Hasselhoff (ex-Snapper) but instead, the surgeon etched the word “KILLER” onto David’s forehead.
« The Tricia/Victoria/Ryan triangle culminated in a wedding day tragedy when cra-cra Tricia locked Victoria in a closet in the hopes that Ryan would marry her instead of Victoria. Ryan took the bullet discharged from Tricia’s gun that was meant for Victoria and died.
« We knew in 1986 how “controversial” it was for Ashley to have an abortion and now when you look back and see how this pro-choice/pro-life debate remains so polarizing and has even reached the highest court in our land, you can see just how groundbreaking the storyline was and how relevant it still is today.
« The Naked Heiress-Abby Newman on a mission to carve out her own infamy separate from both her namesakes, rides into the Athletic Club on a horse…clothed with nothing but her birthday suit.
« It was mentioned prior but worth noting again because the death of and the events surrounding Cassie Newman’s death rocked Genoa City and the aftershocks felt and reverberated for years.
« The Jack/Victor feud has produced several OMG moments including Victor’s takeover of Jabot, Jack throwing the CEO chair out the window and of course Jack leaving Victor to die (or so Jack hoped) after Victor collapsed during an argument between the two men.
There are so many more! In the comment section please tell us your favorite OMG moments!
Thank You
Our deepest gratitude to everyone (cast, crew, executives, etc.) who has had a hand in the last fifty years at The Young and the Restless and for bringing and keeping this soap a part of our lives.
And our deepest thanks to Mr. William and Ms. Lee Bell for this gift, Y&R, that keeps on giving to and entertaining millions!
Happy Anniversary to The Young and the Restless! Looking forward to seeing what the next 50 will bring!
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