The Young and the Restless

The Young and the Restless is a CBS network soap opera created by William J. Bell & Lee Phillip Bell which premiered on March 26, 1973 and as of 2017, it has aired for 5662 episodes.

The show was originally broadcast as half-hour episodes, five times a week & then expanded to one-hour episodes on February 4, 1980. It is also currently the highest-rated daytime drama on American television.

Plot
Set in the fictional Wisconsin town of Genoa City, the series originally focused on two core families: the wealthy Brooks family and the working class Foster family.

After a series of recasts and departures in the early 1980s, all of the original characters except Jill Foster and Katherine Chancellor were written out. Bell replaced them with the new core families, the Abbotts and the Williamses.

Over the years, other families such as the Newmans, Winters & the Baldwin-Fishers were introduced.

Despite these changes, one storyline that has endured through almost the show's entire run is the feud between Jill Abbott & Katherine Chancellor (which is the longest rivalry on any American soap opera).

Ratings
As of 2010, "The Young and the Restless" has managed over 1,000 consecutive weeks in the #1 spot for daytime dramas.

On the week ending April 6, 2012, the show was watched by a new low of an average of 3,960,000 viewers for the week, beating its previous low of 4.209 million in October 2011, as well as being the only week to date below 4 million viewers.

Currently, the show is still the most-watched daytime drama; and for the season 2011–12, has a household rating of 3.5, and 1.5 for the Women 18–49 demographic.

As of 2008, the Tuesday episodes of "The Young and the Restless" on average is the most-watched daytime drama showing.

When introduced during the 1972–73 season, the show was at the bottom of the ratings, but rose rapidly: ninth by 1974–75 and third by 1975–76. By 1988–89, it had dethroned long-time leader "General Hospital" as the top-rated soap, a position it has held ever since.

Accolades
"The Young and the Restless" has won 116 Daytime Emmys, along with 360 nominations.