“The Young and the Restless” has a lot of things to celebrate. After getting renewed for another four years, the sudser has reached another major milestone. This week, the soap is celebrating 40 years since it was expanded to 60 minutes.
However, the soap’s head writer, creator, and executive producer, William J. Bell, wasn’t on board the idea of the genre-expanding. He spent hours with a lot of people who tried to convince him to agree to the additional 30 minutes.
In an interview with the Television Academy, Bell revealed that CBS execs called him back in 1979 to inform him that the soap’s time would be doubled. He didn’t like the idea, at first but eventually had to accept it whether he liked it or not.
“I was on the phone for a total of four hours with several people including Bud Grant [CBS Entertainment, president],” Bell shared.
“They wanted me to agree to the hour, but I just couldn’t go there. Finally, they [the network] said, ‘Bill, just know this: the ship is going to sail — with or without you,” he shared.
The soap struggled after they decided to expand each episode to an hour. It seems like the viewers had the same reaction to the change as that of Bell.
“We lost four share points when we went to an hour under protest. It took us three years to get them back,” Bell said.
But the show did more than just regain the lost points. In 1988, it ranked #1 on the total viewers, a position it held ever since.
“The Young and the Restless” also announced recently that it has been renewed for four more years. This means, the sudser will continue to air on the small screen until the 2023-2024 TV season.
CBS president Kelly Kahl said, “Having the No. 1 show for any length of time in any daypart is a tremendous accomplishment.”
“But The Young and the Restless has been daytime’s top drama for over three decades. The last time any other show was on top, Ronald Reagan was president, and the Berlin Wall was still standing,” he said.
“It’s a remarkable achievement and a testament to the extraordinary cast, gifted writers, talented producers and supremely passionate fans, as well as our tremendous partnership with [Y&R‘s studio] Sony Pictures Television,” he continued.
Stay tuned to The Young and The Restless and keep checking The Young and The Restless spoilers frequently for all the latest news, updates and developments!
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