‘The Young And The Restless’ Turns 48, 8 Fun Facts About Long-Running Soap

The residents of Genoa City have officially been heating up daytime screens with steamy romances, intriguing mysteries and plenty of sudsy fun for 48 years on “The Young and the Restless.”

The CBS soap is celebrating its 48th birthday on March 26, which is a big feat for Daytime dramas. To honor its legacy, check out these eight fun facts about the show.

It Is Currently The Third Longest-Running Soap On Air

While several soap operas have since gone off the air, there are still four shows remaining, and surprisingly, “The Young and the Restless” is the second-youngest of them. “General Hospital” will celebrate its 58th anniversary on April 1, while “Days of Our Lives” celebrated its 55th anniversary in November 2020. The shortest-running soap currently on air is “The Bold and the Beautiful,” which just celebrated its 34th anniversary.

It Is An Emmy Award Favorite

“The Young And The Restless” has earned an astonishing 360 Daytime Emmy Award nominations during its run, and has taken home 116 total prizes—including 8 for Best Drama Series. “General Hospital” holds the record for taking that particular prize home with 13 total wins.

It Almost Wasn’t Called “The Young And The Restless”

According to the book “The Young and the Restless: The Most Memorable Moments,” the soap had a working title of “The Innocent Years” until the show’s co-creators, William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell came to the conclusion that America’s youth had lost their innocence. To reflect on the changing times, the show’s current title was born.

Like “The Bold And The Beautiful,” It Is Set In A Real Town

While the soap opera hijinks are usually relegated to fictional locations like Port Charles, New York, Salem, Illinois, Pine Valley, Pennsylvania and more, the small town of Genoa City, Wisconsin, where “Y&R” is set, is a real place. While that town itself isn’t necessarily quite as dramatic as the fictionalized version, it is still very much in existence, with the latest population standing at 3,009 people.

Episodes Were Initially Only 30 Minutes Long

When the show first began to air, episodes were only half an hour in length, but as the show gained steam and became a hit, CBS pressured William Bell to expand episodes to last one hour in length. He later recalled in the book “Worlds Without End: The Art And History Of The Soap Opera” that it led to some crisis for the show, making it lose its #1 spot for a few years, as well as some of its actors.

The Show Has The Honor Of Being The First For An Actor To Receive A Star On The Walk Of Fame

One of the series’ longest-running stars, Jeanne Cooper, who portrayed Katherine Chancellor, became the first Daytime Soap star to earn a place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993, WTKR reports.

Real-Life Siblings Wound Up Playing Characters That Married On The Show

Heather and David Tom portrayed Victoria Newman from 1990-2003 and Billy Abbott from 1994-2014, meaning they both appeared on the show for a period of 9 years. Their characters went on to have a complicated on/off love story and history—but only after Heather left the show.

Katherine’s Facelift Was Actually Jeanne Cooper’s Real-Life One

When Jeanne Cooper opted to get a Facelift in real life, she became a pioneer for women who also considered the procedure—by having it written into her storyline on the show. Her character, Katherine, also underwent the same procedure with Cooper’s own real-life surgery filmed and used on the show.

“It opened up reconstructive surgery for so many people, youngsters getting things done,” she said afterward. “To this day, people will come up to me and say, ‘Thank you so much for doing that. My mom or I had something done, and not just cosmetic surgery.’ That was an incredible experience in my life.”

“The Young and the Restless” airs weekdays at 12:30 p.m. EDT on CBS.