Why Has Y&R Been #1? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

9999 · 04-28-2007, 07:36 PM

The Young And The Restless debuted during the 1972-1973 season in 17th position with a 5.0 household rating. By the 1987-1988 season, it had tied the television phenomenon General Hospital for 1st place with an 8.1 household rating. The following season, it become the highest rated daytime serial in households & among viewers. Y&R has since remained in the #1 position in both categories. What has been the key to THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS being America's most watched daytime drama for nearly 20 years?

Possible Reasons
1. Time Slot (11am Mountain/Pacific, 11:30 Central, 12:30 Eastern)
2. Appeal to all demographic groups (12-17, 18-49, 50+, Men)
3. Appeal to Black people
4. Storylines/Writing
5. Acting
6. Production values
7. Critical acclaim/buzz (reviews, awards, mainstream media attention)
8. Maintained identity
9. Lack of copycats
10. The Price Is Right as lead-in support
11. Lack of competition
12. Long-term vision in place
13. Balance among cast
14. Lack of interference from outside forces
15. Luck

Answer: The main reasons are #2-8, #11-14
Will Y&R ever fall out of the top spot?
Answer: Not unless they disregard reasons 2-8 & 11-14

bry · 04-29-2007, 01:37 AM

i'll tell you what i feel from my greensboro,nc market area:

port charles: scheduled opposite of Y&R. hard to get that crowd to switch.

days of our lives: has sucked in many years since i started watching it again. i started on 7/9/93 (the day carly manning "died" before being buried alive). it was incredible then after my 12 years without watching. it was so new to me. the return of stephano...masion blanche..of all things, the most evil and greatest character of all, curtis reed. that made the first few years of my return enjoyable. all that we have since marlena "killed" half the town of salem, is being lied to (all the victims were killed yet were actually replaced with standins while they were mysteriously transported to an unknown island..how stupid!!)...all we had have for years is lucas being betrayed by sami and they get back together, just to do it all over again. that and the tease of stephano..the 7 month long cliffhanger over nothing big..god it's pathetic.

passions: had a great start. since they dropped the witchraft topics as a main story, the show has just died. withcraft is there, but they have yet to delve into the history of the families in harmony. they have gotten so off tract with everything between theresa/ethan and sheridan/luis killing the show..how many times and years does it take to either stay together or give up on it?????? how many times has sheridan come back to life from the dead??? how many times do they have to give up great potential stories so they can replace good storytelling with the push of the homosexual/lesbian lifestyle!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
how many roles are recast and recast again?!?!?!?!!??

general hospital: i started watching on 10/28/93 when luke and laura returned. it was an incredible show for years. then it got stupid and hasn't recovered.
too much recasting and stupid drawn out stories. sonny corinthos is NOT a main character.

these shows are nothing in comparison to Y&R because Y&R is not filled with stupid stories and drawn out repetitive crap. i started watching it again back in '94...recasting is seldom, if ever. Y&R, like DAYS and GH have been great about getting old stars to return to resume their old roles for any length of time.

Y&R does not treat it's fans as stupid people. they have decent to great stories that anyone can relate to and enjoy. with a good cast, good writers, and has kept that fanbase loyally by giving them a good show. nobody else can figure it out, but the Bell's can.

Jrnygrl · 04-29-2007, 12:57 PM

One of the big factors I think, is the fact that the storylines are easy to follow. There is nothing compliated about Y&R, they keep it basic, not too many new charaters coming in. You can go away from watching and come back and you still know who is who, and what is going on.

If you ever watch the movie "Mr. Mom" the character that Michael Keaton plays is watching Y&R and really gets caught up in the soap along with the kids.

teddybare · 05-06-2007, 06:21 AM

One of the main reasons for Y&R's success at being #! year after was the creators the late Bill Bell and His wife whos name escapes me they got the best actors writers together with great storylines that were interesting, exciting, romantic, sexy, and sad. They would accept only the best from the cast & crew of Y&R and thats what they have gotten. Y&R tackled alot of controversial storylines that others shied away from like Rape, Date Rape, Child Abuse, Spousal Abuse,Senior Abuse, Drug Abuse, Alcoholism, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Mental Illness and more

Jrnygrl · 05-07-2007, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teddybare

One of the main reasons for Y&R's success at being #! year after was the creators the late Bill Bell and His wife whos name escapes me they got the best actors writers together with great storylines that were interesting, exciting, romantic, sexy, and sad. They would accept only the best from the cast & crew of Y&R and thats what they have gotten. Y&R tackled alot of controversial storylines that others shied away from like Rape, Date Rape, Child Abuse, Spousal Abuse,Senior Abuse, Drug Abuse, Alcoholism, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Mental Illness and more

The wife is Lee Bell

05-06-2007, 06:21 AM	#4
teddybare Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 13, 2003 Location: Martinsville Virginia Posts: 744	One of the main reasons for Y&R's success at being #! year after was the creators the late Bill Bell and His wife whos name escapes me they got the best actors writers together with great storylines that were interesting, exciting, romantic, sexy, and sad. They would accept only the best from the cast & crew of Y&R and thats what they have gotten. Y&R tackled alot of controversial storylines that others shied away from like Rape, Date Rape, Child Abuse, Spousal Abuse,Senior Abuse, Drug Abuse, Alcoholism, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Mental Illness and more
	__________________ Sanford & Son Fanatic

04-28-2007, 07:36 PM	#1
9999 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 28, 2007 Location: Brooklyn Posts: 7	Why Has Y&R Been #1? The Young And The Restless debuted during the 1972-1973 season in 17th position with a 5.0 household rating. By the 1987-1988 season, it had tied the television phenomenon General Hospital for 1st place with an 8.1 household rating. The following season, it become the highest rated daytime serial in households & among viewers. Y&R has since remained in the #1 position in both categories. What has been the key to THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS being America's most watched daytime drama for nearly 20 years? Possible Reasons 1. Time Slot (11am Mountain/Pacific, 11:30 Central, 12:30 Eastern) 2. Appeal to all demographic groups (12-17, 18-49, 50+, Men) 3. Appeal to Black people 4. Storylines/Writing 5. Acting 6. Production values 7. Critical acclaim/buzz (reviews, awards, mainstream media attention) 8. Maintained identity 9. Lack of copycats 10. The Price Is Right as lead-in support 11. Lack of competition 12. Long-term vision in place 13. Balance among cast 14. Lack of interference from outside forces 15. Luck Answer: The main reasons are #2-8, #11-14 Will Y&R ever fall out of the top spot? Answer: Not unless they disregard reasons 2-8 & 11-14

04-29-2007, 01:37 AM	#2
bry Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 21, 2003 Location: n.c. Posts: 819	i'll tell you what i feel from my greensboro,nc market area: port charles: scheduled opposite of Y&R. hard to get that crowd to switch. days of our lives: has sucked in many years since i started watching it again. i started on 7/9/93 (the day carly manning "died" before being buried alive). it was incredible then after my 12 years without watching. it was so new to me. the return of stephano...masion blanche..of all things, the most evil and greatest character of all, curtis reed. that made the first few years of my return enjoyable. all that we have since marlena "killed" half the town of salem, is being lied to (all the victims were killed yet were actually replaced with standins while they were mysteriously transported to an unknown island..how stupid!!)...all we had have for years is lucas being betrayed by sami and they get back together, just to do it all over again. that and the tease of stephano..the 7 month long cliffhanger over nothing big..god it's pathetic. passions: had a great start. since they dropped the witchraft topics as a main story, the show has just died. withcraft is there, but they have yet to delve into the history of the families in harmony. they have gotten so off tract with everything between theresa/ethan and sheridan/luis killing the show..how many times and years does it take to either stay together or give up on it?????? how many times has sheridan come back to life from the dead??? how many times do they have to give up great potential stories so they can replace good storytelling with the push of the homosexual/lesbian lifestyle!?!?!?!?!?!?!? how many roles are recast and recast again?!?!?!?!!?? general hospital: i started watching on 10/28/93 when luke and laura returned. it was an incredible show for years. then it got stupid and hasn't recovered. too much recasting and stupid drawn out stories. sonny corinthos is NOT a main character. these shows are nothing in comparison to Y&R because Y&R is not filled with stupid stories and drawn out repetitive crap. i started watching it again back in '94...recasting is seldom, if ever. Y&R, like DAYS and GH have been great about getting old stars to return to resume their old roles for any length of time. Y&R does not treat it's fans as stupid people. they have decent to great stories that anyone can relate to and enjoy. with a good cast, good writers, and has kept that fanbase loyally by giving them a good show. nobody else can figure it out, but the Bell's can.
	__________________ that's Y-A-T-E-S.

04-29-2007, 12:57 PM	#3
Jrnygrl Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 03, 2003 Location: wheel in the sky Posts: 4,540	One of the big factors I think, is the fact that the storylines are easy to follow. There is nothing compliated about Y&R, they keep it basic, not too many new charaters coming in. You can go away from watching and come back and you still know who is who, and what is going on. If you ever watch the movie "Mr. Mom" the character that Michael Keaton plays is watching Y&R and really gets caught up in the soap along with the kids.